Parental relations and referral of adolescents to Norwegian mental health clinics

Psychometric properties of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-C) used with a clinical sample of adolescents: a preliminary study

Background

Interpersonal problems are consistently identified with psychopathology that often has its onset in adolescence. Most of the commonly used instruments in child and adolescent psychiatry target non-interpersonal problems. The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) is a widely studied and utilized instrument in the adult mental health field.

Aims

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the IIP (circumplex version) used with a clinical adolescent population. Method: Sixty-two adolescents (13-17 years) who received treatment in a child and adolescent mental health clinic (CAMHS) were included in the study. To establish reliability and validity, we conducted confirmatory factor analyses, internal consistency, and validity analyses.

Results

Confirmatory analyses did not show optimal model fit. However, other indices like CFI and TLI were promising. The reliability of the eight scales was in the same range as previous studies and acceptable. There were expected significant correlations between IIP-C scales and the broadband scales of Youth Self-report (YSR).

Conclusion

The pioneer nature and its clinical focus are strengths however, there is a need for more research. The promising results are encouraging, and future research could also explore how best to bring the instrument into the digital age.

Parents' experiences of their adolescent's mental health treatment: Helplessness or agency-based hope

This article explores some core findings from a qualitative investigation of parents' experiences of their child's treatment in an adolescent mental health service in Sydney, Australia. In particular, the research question was, "How does parents' involvement in the child/adolescent's treatment influence their perception of how they can be helpful in their child's recovery?" The theme of parent hope emerged from the broad qualitative exploration of parent's experience of their involvement in their adolescent's intensive treatment program. A purposive sample of 14 sets of parents participated, being interviewed at admission, discharge, and 6 months following their adolescent's discharge. A continuum of high, moderate, and low levels of hope were evident in this parent sample 6 months after their treatment involvement. The strongly emergent theme was the relationship between parents' hope and agency/self-efficacy. Parents who remained more passive in expecting expert helpers to fix their child experienced reduced hope months after finishing the program. When parents positively changed their interaction with their child, they felt a more sustained hopefulness. These findings generate the hypothesis that if parents are actively involved in changing themselves as part of their child's treatment, they experience increased hope and effectiveness in contributing to their child's recovery.

Parent and family factors associated with service use by young people with mental health problems: a systematic review

AIM

To conduct a systematic review of parent and family factors associated with service use for young people with mental health problems, to inform early intervention efforts aimed at increasing service use by young people.

METHODS

A systematic search of academic databases was performed. Articles were included in the review if they had: a sample of young people aged between 5 and 18 years; service use as the outcome measure; one or more parental or family variables as a predictor; and a comparison group of non-service using young people with mental health problems. In order to focus on factors additional to need, the mental health symptoms of the young person also had to be controlled for. Stouffer's method of combining P-values was used to draw conclusions as to whether or not associations between variables were reliable.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight articles were identified investigating 15 parental or family factors, 7 of which were found to be associated with service use for a young person with mental health needs: parental burden, parent problem perception, parent perception of need, parent psychopathology, single-parent household, change in family structure and being from the dominant ethnic group for the United States specifically. Factors not found to be related to service use were: family history of service use, parent-child relationship quality, family functioning, number of children, parent education level, parent employment status, household income and non-urban location of residence.

CONCLUSIONS

A number of family-related factors were identified that can inform effective interventions aimed at early intervention for mental health problems. Areas requiring further research were also identified.