Building Resilience During COVID-19: Recommendations for Adapting the DREAM Program - Live Edition to an Online-Live Hybrid Model for In-Person and Virtual Classrooms

Digital and Hybrid Pediatric and Youth Mental Health Program Implementation Challenges During the Pandemic: Literature Review With a Knowledge Translation and Theoretical Lens Analysis

BACKGROUND

The pandemic brought unprecedented challenges for child and youth mental health. There was a rise in depression, anxiety, and symptoms of suicidal ideation.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this knowledge synthesis were to gain a deeper understanding of what types of mental health knowledge translation (KT) programs, mental health first aid training, and positive psychology interventions were developed and evaluated for youth mental health.

METHODS

We undertook a literature review of PubMed and MEDLINE for relevant studies on youth mental health including digital and hybrid programs undertaken during the pandemic (2020-2022).

RESULTS

A total of 60 studies were included in this review. A few KT programs were identified that engaged with a wide range of stakeholders during the pandemic, and a few were informed by KT theories. Key challenges during the implementation of mental health programs for youth included lack of access to technology and privacy concerns. Hybrid web-based and face-to-face KT and mental health care were recommended. Providers required adequate training in using telehealth and space.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an opportunity to reduce the barriers to implementing tele-mental health in youth by providing adequate technological access, Wi-Fi and stationary internet connectivity, and privacy protection. Staff gained new knowledge and training from the pandemic experience of using telehealth, which will serve as a useful foundation for the future. Future research should aim to maximize the benefits of hybrid models of tele-mental health and face-to-face sessions while working on minimizing the potential barriers that were identified. In addition, future programs could consider combining mental health first aid training with hybrid digital and face-to-face mental health program delivery along with mindfulness and resilience building in a unified model of care, knowledge dissemination, and implementation.

The Resilience of Caregivers and Children in the Context of COVID-19: A Systematic Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated caregivers and school-aged children to adapt to ongoing changes and uncertainty. Understanding why some caregivers and school-aged children area able to adapt and others are not could be attributed to resilience. The relationships between caregiver or child resilience and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of COVID-19 remain largely un-explored. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to explore (1) what is currently known about the relationship between caregiver and child resilience in the context of COVID-19; and (2) the role of SES on caregiver or child resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases (i.e., MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were systematically searched, title/abstract and full-text screening were conducted, and 17 articles met the inclusion criteria (i.e., discussed resilience of caregivers/children during COVID-19, mean age of children between 7-10, primary research/grey literature, English), including 15 peer-reviewed and two grey literature sources. Thematic analysis revealed five themes: (1) the mitigating effects of child resilience; (2) overcoming the psychological toll of the pandemic; (3) the unknown relationship: caregiver and child resilience; (4) family functioning during COVID-19; and (5) the perfect storm for socioeconomic impacts. Results from this review provide the first synthesis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the resilience of caregivers and school-aged children. Future research should conduct longitudinal data collection to understand the possible long-term impacts of the pandemic on these populations' resilience. Understanding these impacts will be integral to assisting families in bouncing back from the long-lasting adverse circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measuring child coping in times of societal crises: Pilot development, reliability, as well as mental health and meaning mindset convergent validity of the children’s crisis coping scale (3Cs)

To date, there are no brief child self-report coping measures for the pandemic and other major societal events resulting in social or learning disruptions for children. Ignoring the voice of children can ultimately result in programs or services that fail to meet their needs. Thus, a child self-report measure called the 3Cs (Children’s Crisis Coping) was developed and underwent pilot evaluation. This measure was designed in collaboration with key stakeholders using a Knowledge Translation-Integrated development framework. Some of the primary concerns that were relevant in the literature for the development of a pandemic coping measure included stress, worries, loneliness, and unpredictable school changes. The completed 4-item measure, grounded in these concerns, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, as well as convergent validity with mental health and meaning mindset. A Second Wave Positive Psychology framework is presented concerning a spiritual concept called “meaning mindset” and it’s association with positive societal crisis coping (i.e., pandemic coping in the present study).