Background: Mental health problems are increasingly recognized as a significant and concerning secondary effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on previous epidemics/pandemics suggest that families, particularly mothers, may be at increased risk, but this population has yet to be examined. The current study (1) described prevalence rates of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms from an online convenience sample during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) identified risk and protective factors for elevated symptoms, and (3) described current mental health service use and barriers. Methods: Participants (N = 641) were mothers of children age 0-8 years, including expectant mothers. Mothers completed an online survey assessing mental health, sociodemographic information, and COVID-19-related variables. Results: Clinically-relevant depression was indicated in 33.16%, 42.55%, and 43.37% of mothers of children age 0-18 months, 18 months to 4 years, and 5 to 8 years, respectively. Prevalence of anxiety was 36.27%, 32.62%, and 29.59% for mothers across age groups, respectively. Binary logistic regressions indicated significant associations between risk factors and depression/anxiety across child age groups. Limitations: Cross-sectional data was used to describe maternal mental health problems during COVID-19 limiting the ability to make inferences about the long-term impact of maternal depression and anxiety on family well-being. Conclusions: Maternal depression and anxiety appear to be elevated in the context of COVID-19 compared to previously reported population norms. Identified risk factors for depression and anxiety across different child age ranges can inform targeted early intervention strategies to prevent long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family well-being and child development.

Context: Emotion regulation problems are increasingly recognized as an underlying mechanism of many disorders. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) holds potential as an effective transdiagnostic treatment for disorders with underlying emotion regulation deficits.Objective: Systematically review the evidence for DBT Skills Training Groups as a transdiagnostic treatment for Axis I disorders via meta-analysis. Study Selection: Randomized control trials of DBT Skill Training Groups for adults with Axis I disorders, and no comorbid Axis II disorder, were included. Data Synthesis: Thirteen RCTs met inclusion criteria (N = 515 participants). Overall, DBT resulted in a moderate effect on symptom reduction (g = 0.51, 95% CI [0.32, 0.70], p < .001). Improvements on emotion regulation outcomes yielded a small-to-moderate effect (g = 0.42, 95% CI [0.10, 0.74], p < .01). Results showed significant effects of DBT on depression (g = 0.44, 95% CI [0.23, 0.65], p < .01) and eating disorders (g = 0.83, 95% CI [0.49, 1.17], p = .001) but not for anxiety (g = 0.35, 95% CI [-0.07, 0.77], p > .08).Conclusions: Findings suggest DBT is an effective treatment for multiple Axis I disorders characterised by underlying emotion regulation deficits and many be considered as a promising transdiagnostic therapy.

The cognitive-interpersonal model of anorexia nervosa (AN) posits that cognitive and interpersonal traits contribute to the development and maintenance of AN. We investigated cognitive and interpersonal factors put forward by the model in a sample of 145 adolescent inpatients with AN using network analysis. Our main outcomes included core eating disorder symptoms, cognitive style, socio-affective factors, and mood symptoms. We estimated a cross-sectional network using graphical LASSO. Core and bridge symptoms were identified using strength centrality. Goldbricker was used to reduce topological overlap. The node with the highest strength centrality was Concern over Mistakes, followed by Eating Preoccupation, Social Fear, and Overvaluation of Weight and Shape. The nodes with the highest bridge strength were Concern over Mistakes, Doubt about Actions, Overvaluation of Weight and Shape, and Depression. Notably, both performance on a cognitive flexibility task and BMI were not connected to any other nodes and were subsequently removed from the final network. We provide partial support for the cognitive-interpersonal model while also supporting certain premises put forward by the transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral model. The high centrality of Concern over Mistakes and Social Fear supports the theory that both cognitive and interpersonal difficulties contribute to AN, particularly in adolescence.

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