Intervention Development to Improve Foster Youth Mental Health by Targeting Coping Self-efficacy and Help-seeking

Overview

Journal Child Youth Serv Rev

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2023 Jan 30

PMID 36712385

Authors

Jennifer E Blakeslee

Brianne H Kothari

Rebecca A Miller

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study articulates the iterative development of an intervention called Strengthening Youth Networks and Coping (SYNC), which is designed to target coping self-efficacy and help-seeking intentions and behaviors among youth in foster care. The overarching goal is to design an intervention that will be a feasible and acceptable enhancement to existing child welfare services, and that will address modifiable determinants among adolescents involved in child welfare system that are related to elevated risk for mental health challenges, limited support network capacity, and service disengagement after exiting foster care. In this paper, we describe our initial needs assessment, explain how we selected proximal intervention mechanisms (i.e., intermediate outcomes) to target, and outline the preliminary intervention development process, including ongoing insights we received from a research advisory group including members with lived experience. Next, we report and discuss the initial acceptability pre-testing data collected from youth (N = 30) as well as feasibility data collected from providers (N = 82), results from which were used to refine the SYNC intervention framework prior to robust efficacy testing. Findings highlight the need and importance of targeting youth coping and help-seeking, integrating programming within existing transition services, delivering this content in a group-based format that includes near-peer mentors and facilitators with lived experience, and developing options that work for the heterogeneous population of young people in foster care. The results also highlight the key objective of capturing youth's interests prior to enrolling in the program (e.g., language used in recruitment materials), holding their interest throughout the program (e.g., creating opportunities for youth to engage with other youth with similar experiences), and suggestions to encourage youth's engagement and participation. This paper articulates the value of this intervention development approach, and the sequential phases of this intervention development process as well as the results, which may be useful to applied researchers and practitioners working with youth in foster care and other priority populations.

Citing Articles

Patterns and predictors of help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation compared to other health conditions among rural Chinese adults.

Wu Y, Chen Z, Guo Y, Han J BMC Psychiatry. 2024; 24(1):727.

PMID: 39448922 PMC: 11515480. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-024-06186-0.

Mental health service use of young people in child welfare services in Quebec, Canada.

MacDonald K, Desrosiers L, Laporte L, Iyer S J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024; 33(2):77-90.

PMID: 38952788 PMC: 11201724.

References

McMillen J, Zima B, Scott Jr L, Auslander W, Munson M, Ollie M . Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among older youths in the foster care system. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2004; 44(1):88-95. DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000145806.24274.d2. View

Blakeslee J, Best J . Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2019; 96:220-230. PMC: 6370300. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.11.049. View

Munson M, McMillen J . Natural Mentoring and Psychosocial Outcomes among Older Youth Transitioning From Foster Care. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2010; 31(1):104-111. PMC: 2630481. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.06.003. View

Keller T, Salazar A, Courtney M . Prevalence and Timing of Diagnosable Mental Health, Alcohol, and Substance Use Problems among Older Adolescents in the Child Welfare System. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2010; 32(4):626-634. PMC: 2840264. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.12.010. View

Moreno C, Wykes T, Galderisi S, Nordentoft M, Crossley N, Jones N . How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020; 7(9):813-824. PMC: 7365642. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30307-2. View

Kothari B, Blakeslee J, Miller R . Individual and interpersonal factors associated with psychosocial functioning among adolescents in foster care: A scoping review. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021; 118. PMC: 8653982. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105454. View

Assarroudi A, Heshmati Nabavi F, Armat M, Ebadi A, Vaismoradi M . Directed qualitative content analysis: the description and elaboration of its underpinning methods and data analysis process. J Res Nurs. 2021; 23(1):42-55. PMC: 7932246. DOI: 10.1177/1744987117741667. View

Munson M, Jaccard J . Mental Health Service Use Among Young Adults: A Communication Framework for Program Development. Adm Policy Ment Health. 2016; 45(1):62-80. DOI: 10.1007/s10488-016-0765-y. View

Chesney M, Neilands T, Chambers D, Taylor J, Folkman S . A validity and reliability study of the coping self-efficacy scale. Br J Health Psychol. 2006; 11(Pt 3):421-37. PMC: 1602207. DOI: 10.1348/135910705X53155. View

10.

McMillen J, Fedoravicius N, Rowe J, Zima B, Ware N . A crisis of credibility: professionals' concerns about the psychiatric care provided to clients of the child welfare system. Adm Policy Ment Health. 2006; 34(3):203-12. PMC: 3394428. DOI: 10.1007/s10488-006-0096-5. View

11.

Morton B . The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth. Child Abuse Negl. 2017; 75:73-81. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.04.021. View

12.

Munson M, Jaccard J, Smalling S, Kim H, Werner J, Scott Jr L . Static, dynamic, integrated, and contextualized: a framework for understanding mental health service utilization among young adults. Soc Sci Med. 2012; 75(8):1441-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.039. View

13.

Munson M, Katz C, Okpych N, Courtney M . Mental Health Management Among Older Youth in Foster Care: Service Utilization and Preparedness. J Adolesc Health. 2020; 67(2):225-231. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.02.017. View

14.

McCoy H, McMillen J, Spitznagel E . Older Youth Leaving the Foster Care System: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2009; 30(7):735-745. PMC: 2504335. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.12.003. View

15.

Gopalan G, Lee S, Harris R, Acri M, Munson M . Utilization of peers in services for youth with emotional and behavioral challenges: A scoping review. J Adolesc. 2017; 55:88-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.011. View

16.

Hsieh H, Shannon S . Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res. 2005; 15(9):1277-88. DOI: 10.1177/1049732305276687. View

17.

Webber M, Fendt-Newlin M . A review of social participation interventions for people with mental health problems. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017; 52(4):369-380. PMC: 5380688. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-017-1372-2. View

18.

Salazar A, Haggerty K, Roe S . Fostering Higher Education: A Postsecondary Access and Retention Intervention for Youth with Foster Care Experience. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2016; 70:46-56. PMC: 5036585. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.09.008. View

19.

Havlicek J, Garcia A, Smith D . Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders among Foster Youth Transitioning to Adulthood: Past Research and Future Directions. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2013; 35(1):194-203. PMC: 3677527. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.10.003. View

20.

McPherson K, Kerr S, Morgan A, McGee E, Cheater F, McLean J . The association between family and community social capital and health risk behaviours in young people: an integrative review. BMC Public Health. 2013; 13:971. PMC: 4015354. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-971. View