Parental reflective functioning (RF) has garnered tremendous support as a predictor of secure attachment in infancy, though little work has examined RF among parents of older children. In this study, we used a high-risk community sample of parent–child dyads (N = 117) to explore whether parental RF comprises self- and child-focused factors, whether parental RF is associated with parent and child attachment security, and whether parental RF mediates the association between parent and child attachment security. Results suggested that parental RF can be characterized as having both self- and child-focused components, and that child-focused parental RF is associated with child but not parent attachment security. Further, child-focused parental RF indirectly mediates the association between parent attachment avoidance and child attachment security. These findings extend previous work on parental RF to parents of school-age children and, in so doing, inform developmental models of attachment relationships in middle childhood. Discussion focuses on the importance of these findings in informing theory, prevention, clinical practice, and policy.

Evidence-based assessment, which requires the use of reliable and valid measurement tools, is an essential component of many services that school social workers provide to promote the social, emotional, and behavioral health of students. A wide variety of psychometrically sound assessment tools exist to choose from, but it can be difficult for school personnel to identify and access the tools best suited to meet their needs. In an effort to reduce these barriers, the authors of this article provide a concise guide to free, validated measurement tools that are feasible for routine use in school settings for the most common youth mental health concerns (anxiety, depression, and disruptive behavior). The psychometric properties and other practical characteristics of 37 measurement tools are reviewed, accompanied by links to access each tool and suggestions to help social workers identify which may best fit any particular combination of the diverse goals, school settings, and student populations they serve.

Previous surveys indicate infrequent use of evidence-based treatment (EBT) manuals in usual care youth mental health, but the extent to which providers use core and common EBT strategies and what contextual factors impact EBT strategy implementation need further study. In a national, multidisciplinary survey of 1092 youth-serving providers, providers reported regular use of many EBT strategies. Provider learning theory orientation, more recent degree, more standardized and ongoing assessment use, more positive attitudes toward innovation and evidence, fewer low-income clients, and perceptions that their agency valued quality care and provided fewer training resources predicted more frequent EBT strategy use.

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One in 5 youth experience a psychiatric disorder in any given year, but fewer than half of these youth receive mental health services. This lack of service utilization is often attributed to structural and perceptual barriers, and school-based mental health programs have been proposed as a means of addressing these barriers and increasing youths’ access to services. While universal prevention programs and targeted treatments may benefit most youth receiving services in schools, collaborations between schools and child psychiatry may benefit youth with the most severe symptoms and the greatest impairment. This article describes the Bridge Program, a school-based psychiatric program funded by a county-wide mental health tax initiative designed to provide psychiatric services in local schools without any out-of-pocket expenses for youth and families within 10 days of referral. Two case reports provide a description of the delivery of psychiatric services through the Bridge Program. Future research is needed to compare the feasibility and effectiveness of different approaches to increasing access to youth psychiatric care.

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Intervention scientists have proposed a focus on empirically supported principles of change (ESPCs) in psychotherapies. We explored this proposition as applied to youth psychotherapies, focusing on five candidate ESPCs—calming, increasing motivation, changing unhelpful thoughts, solving problems, and practicing positive opposites. We synthesized 348 treatment–control comparisons from 263 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) spanning six decades, testing treatments for anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct problems. We found that ESPCs could be reliably identified and distinguished by independent coders and that psychotherapies most often included fewer than three ESPCs. However, across the entire study pool and the anxiety subsample, when we controlled for dose, treatments with all five ESPCs showed effects about twice as large as treatments with fewer ESPCs. The findings suggest that ESPCs are reliably identifiable, that they are associated with variations in treatment effect size, and that treatments containing more ESPCs may produce greater therapeutic benefit.