A Child Development Fund Program, Emotional Development, and Poverty Reduction

Responding to Acute Mental Health Crises in Black Youth: Is It Safe to Call 911?

Mental health professionals routinely advise the public to call 911 in case of an acute mental health crisis to access emergent care and ensure safety. Although there is no national database collection process, available data shows that individuals experiencing an acute mental health crisis and Black youth are both at a significantly elevated risk of being harmed or killed by law enforcement during any encounter. This brief analytic essay explores whether advising the public to call 911 is truly the best practice recommendation for Black youth in a mental health crisis. An alternative to the traditional law enforcement response is a mobile unarmed crisis response program. The authors describe successful existing programs and advocate for more widespread adoption of such teams, which likely would provide safer, cost-effective, evidence-based alternatives during acute mental health crises.

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk in Autistic Youth: Findings from a Clinician Survey in a Pediatric Psychiatric Emergency Setting

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) and emergency department (ED) utilization are prevalent in autistic youth. The current study surveyed clinicians in a pediatric psychiatric ED to examine differences in attitudes on suicide-related care for autistic and non-autistic patient populations. While clinicians rated addressing STB in ASD as important and adaptations to care as necessary, less than half identified ASD as a suicide risk factor and confidence ratings were significantly lower for autistic patients. Previous ASD training predicted confidence and accounted for approximately 25% of the variance in confidence scores. Findings highlight the urgency to develop and disseminate ED clinician training, and address the lack of validated assessment tools, adapted suicide prevention practices, and evidence-based treatments for STB in autistic youth.

Modifiable Factors for the Trajectory of Health-Related Quality of Life among Youth Growing Up in Poverty: A Prospective Cohort Study

Poverty is a decisive risk factor for poor health and well-being, and its negative consequences could be more severe and substantial among children. Understanding the factors associated with improvement in well-being is vital to design interventions. This is a prospective cohort study of 546 youth growing up in families in poverty in Hong Kong. All participants were assessed twice, in 2016 and 2019, in regard to their physical and mental health, as well as for different economic, social, and psychological variables. The results show that approximately 41% experienced an improvement in their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Findings from the logistic regression analyses suggest that the health and development of youth in poverty may be restored by promoting social support, a sense of hope, future orientation, job stability, and money management practices, such as savings, during childhood and adolescence. The findings shed light on future policy making and forms of service development that could help to end the vicious cycle of poverty and hampered health.