Program logic of a mental health outreach service for socially anxious youth

Youth mental health is a major concern both in Australia and internationally. Identifying at-risk young people is a core service priority. This report describes a "Youth Social Inclusion Program" developed in Australia to assist young people identified as having social difficulties that prevent them linking into formal mental health services. This report describes the Australian service context and uses the "program explication" methodology to document: the program activities, therapeutic processes, and underpinning evidence for the benefits of this service. Program explication is a consulting method designed to assist services to identify and review implicit program logic assumptions against evaluation literature. We demonstrate the application of this method in exploring the assumptions and evidence for the Youth Social Inclusion Program, targeting outreach to socially anxious young people in Australia. The Youth Social Inclusion Program involved seven logically consistent activities. Our literature search revealed moderate evidence for the expected benefits of the activities. This practice-based design drew on several theoretical perspectives. Given that the program logic has been established, we outline a proposal for further evaluation.

School Influences on Adolescent Depression: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study Amongst Catholic, Government and Independent Schools, in Victoria, Australia

This study examined associations between school sector (Government, Catholic or Independent) and depressive symptomology over the secondary school years. Six waves of data collected annually from a representative Australian sample were examined. Multilevel piecewise linear and logistic regression controlling for a variety of demographic variables and protective factors was undertaken. In all sectors, depressive symptomology decreased between 10 and 13 years of age, but significantly increased for girls at age 13. Adolescents in Catholic schools reported significantly fewer symptoms of depression compared to those in Government and Independent schools. Adolescents in Catholic schools were less likely to report clinical levels of depressed mood compared to adolescents in Government schools.

Strategies to Increase Uptake of Parent Education Programs in Preschool and School Settings to Improve Child Outcomes: A Delphi Study

Parent education programs, offered via family-school partnerships, offer an effective means for promoting the mental health and educational functioning of children and adolescents at a whole-school level. However, these programs often have a low uptake. This study aimed to identify strategies for increasing the uptake of parent education programs within preschool and school settings. A three-round Delphi procedure was employed to obtain expert consensus on strategies that are important and feasible in educational settings. First, thirty experts rated statements identified from the literature and a stakeholder forum. Next, experts re-appraised statements, including new statements generated from the first round. Ninety statements were endorsed by ≥80% of the experts. Primary themes include strategies for program selection; strategies for increasing the accessibility of programs and the understanding of educational staff on parent engagement and child mental health; strategies for program development, promotion and delivery; as well as strategies for increasing parent and community engagement. This study offers a set of consensus strategies for improving the uptake of parent education programs within family-school partnership.