This study explores readiness for change (RFC) in infant and early childhood education through the perspectives of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) consultants and social-emotional (SEL) coaches. Specifically, this research examines how these professionals perceive educators' RFC, identify barriers and facilitators to engagement,…

The child mental health crisis resulted in US legislative expansions of funding eligibility and access to clinical interventions in schools. In tandem with the movement to decentralize mental healthcare, we argue that schools are well-positioned to adopt place-based health care models. We describe this framework while summarizing the evidence of…

Background: Strategic implementation leadership is a critical determinant of successful implementation, hypothesized to create a more supportive implementation climate conducive to the adoption and use of evidence-based practices. Implementation leadership behaviors may vary significantly across contexts, necessitating studies that examine the…

Background: Implementation strategies used to enhance the implementation of interventions during efficacy and effectiveness studies are rarely reported. Tracking and reporting implementation strategies during these phases has potential to improve future research studies and real-world implementation. We present an exemplar of how this might be…

It is difficult for consumers to access the evidence base for prevention programs to determine which models or practices have the strongest empirical support for improving youth social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) outcomes within their specific service contexts. Researchers can address this evidence-to-practice gap through innovations in…

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by significant distress and avoidance surrounding social and performance situations with marked interpersonal and academic impairment. This review paper highlights cultural considerations relevant to the conceptualization, identification and treatment of SAD in Black youth. Research evaluating the…

Over 60 years of research reveal that informants who observe youth in clinically relevant contexts (e.g., home, school)--typically parents, teachers, and youth clients themselves--often hold discrepant views about that client's needs for mental health services (i.e., "informant discrepancies"). The last 10 years of research reveal that…

On page 1 of his classic text, Millsap (2011) states, "Measurement invariance is built on the notion that a measuring device should function the same way across varied conditions, so long as those varied conditions are "irrelevant" [emphasis added] to the attribute being measured." By construction, measurement invariance…

Background: Recent research has highlighted the intricate relationship between the quality of a neighborhood's social and physical characteristics and maternal well-being in promoting healthy parenting practices and improving child development. This study examined the associations between neighborhood characteristics, maternal depressive symptoms,…

Background: Educators in rural schools are uniquely situated to address youth mental health disparities, yet often face challenges in delivering mental health supports. This paper describes the process of adapting the evidence-based Coping Power program, a small group prevention program for youth with aggressive behavior problems, to be a…

Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is a widely implemented evidence-based program for supporting students with at-risk levels of social and emotional behavior concerns. It is comprised of several core features described in the previous literature, including "practice elements," which are the specific actions that are delivered directly to…

Individuals often vary in how they display signs and symptoms of personality disturbances and psychopathology. As such, comprehensive assessments of these signs and symptoms ought to capture how they manifest within and across time and contexts (e.g., community, home, work). Contexts may vary in the degree to which they influence personality and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the parent-report Short Form Positive Family Support Strengths and Needs Assessment (PFS-SaNA). The PFS-SaNA is designed to reduce the time and burden of collaborative mental health screening. Parents of 245 students in the Northwest completed the screener at third, fourth,…

In this post-pandemic era, teenagers are still experiencing high levels of mental health-related issues, and scalable solutions to promote adolescents' well-being are needed. Given that attention plays an important role in the management of stress and emotion, the current proof of concept study examines a digital 22-day intervention designed to…

Culturally responsive assessment practices include validated measures appropriate for use with diverse populations. Considering the increasing population of Latinx students in U.S. schools, measures need co-validated English and Spanish (SEHS) language forms. This study examined the Social Emotional Health Survey--Secondary with Latinx students…