College presents unique opportunities and stressors that challenge psychosocial adjustment. This 4-year longitudinal study examines multiple aspects of adjustment in 5,532 college students from immediately pre-college across each of 4 academic years. Student adjustment generally worsens across the first 2 years in the domains of psychological functioning (decreased self-esteem; increased depression, anxiety, and stress), cognitive-affective strategies (decreased active emotional coping, increased avoidant emotional coping), and social adjustment (decreased social support from friends). The latter 2 years generally witness improvement, though only recovering to pre-college levels in self-esteem and active emotional coping for women, and just the latter for men. Women experience worse initial psychological functioning (more distress and lower self-esteem), though their self-esteem recovers by the end of college. Men exhibit worse friend support and active emotional coping, and a pattern of worsening avoidant emotional coping throughout college. Current findings highlight the first 2 years as an extended transition period when prevention programs may be especially needed.

The uses of technology-delivered mental health treatment options, such as interventions delivered via computer, smart phone, or other communication or information devices, as opposed to primarily face-to-face interventions, are proliferating. However, the literature is unclear about their effectiveness as preventive interventions for higher education students, a population for whom technology-delivered interventions (TDIs) might be particularly fitting and beneficial. This meta-analytic review examines technological mental health prevention programs targeting higher education students either without any presenting problems (universal prevention) or with mild to moderate subclinical problems (indicated prevention). A systematic literature search identified 22 universal and 26 indicated controlled interventions, both published and unpublished, involving 4763 college, graduate, or professional students. As hypothesized, the overall mean effect sizes (ESs) for both universal (0.19) and indicated interventions (0.37) were statistically significant and differed significantly from each other favoring indicated interventions. Skill-training interventions, both universal (0.21) and indicated (0.31), were significant, whereas non-skill-training interventions were only significant among indicated (0.25) programs. For indicated interventions, better outcomes were obtained in those cases in which participants had access to support during the course of the intervention, either in person or through technology (e.g., email, online contact). The positive findings for both universal and indicated prevention are qualified by limitations of the current literature. To improve experimental rigor, future research should provide detailed information on the level of achieved implementation, describe participant characteristics and intervention content, explore the impact of potential moderators and mechanisms of success, collect post-intervention and follow-up data regardless of intervention completion, and use analysis strategies that allow for inclusion of cases with partially missing data.

The PAID-T and P-PAID-T are valid, reliable, and useful measures of diabetes-specific distress for teenagers with type 1 diabetes and parents of teenagers.

This meta-analysis found empirical support for the effectiveness of indicated prevention programs for higher education students at risk for subsequent mental health difficulties based on their current subclinical levels of various presenting problems, such as depression, anxiety, or interpersonal difficulties. A systematic literature search identified 79 controlled published and unpublished interventions involving 4,470 college, graduate, or professional students. Programs were effective at post-intervention overall (ES = 0.49, CI [0.43, 0.55]), and for both targeted outcomes (ES = 0.58, CI [0.51, 0.64]) as well as additional nontargeted outcomes assessed in the studies (ES = 0.32, CI [0.25, 0.39]). Interventions compared with a no-intervention or a wait-list control (ES = 0.64, CI [0.57, 0.71], k = 68) demonstrated significantly larger effects overall than did interventions compared with an attention-placebo control (ES = 0.27, CI [0.11, 0.43], k = 11), although both were significant. Among the former group, modality and presenting problem emerged as significant moderators of intervention effectiveness, and among the 43 of these that assessed effectiveness at an average follow-up period of 35 weeks, the positive effects from intervention remained strong (ES = 0.59, CI [0.50, 0.68]). Overall, programs were fairly brief, attracted and retained students, were positively rated by students, and effective when administered by paraprofessionals as well as professionals. Current findings are promising and stimulate recommendations for improving future research, such as expanding the range of outcomes assessed, and clarifying moderators and mediators of intervention impact. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective Children with type 1 diabetes and their parents face daily self-care demands, leading to diabetes-specific emotional distress. A standardized measure of diabetes distress can guide clinical care and prevent negative outcomes. Methods This study evaluated the psychometric properties of child-and parent-report measures of the Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale, adapted for children ages 8-12 (PAID-C) and their parents (P-PAID-C). Participants were from 42 diabetes camps in the United States. Children (N ¼ 804; mean age ¼ 10.3 6 1.1) and parents (N ¼ 968) completed measures of diabetes distress, diabetes-related strengths, and self-care skills. Half of the sample was used for exploratory factor analyses (EFA) with direct oblimin rotation and the other half for confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). Results For the PAID-C, EFA and CFAs supported an 11-item two-factor measure, Cronbach's a ¼ .91, accounting for 54.6% of the variance. For the P-PAID-C, analyses resulted in a 16-item measure, Cronbach's a ¼ .92, accounting for 51.9% of the variance. PAID-C and P-PAID-C scores were positively correlated with HbA1c (r child ¼ .08, p ¼ .04; r parent ¼ .18, p < .001), and negatively correlated with diabetes-related strengths (r child ¼ À.38, p < .001, r parent ¼ À.29, p < .001) and parent report of child self-care skills (r parent ¼ À.13, p < .001; r child ¼ À0.07, p ¼ ns). Conclusions Initial psychometrics suggest that the PAID-C and P-PAID-C reliably and validly capture diabetes-specific emotional distress for children and their parents. Associations with glycemic control, self-care, and diabetes strengths demonstrate criterion validity. Both measures have potential applications for routine, clinic-based assessments of diabetes distress and may guide clinical decision-making.

Twenty-five RCTs are reviewed. The majority of studies (n = 15) focused on interventions targeting both children and adolescents and their caregivers and were delivered in diabetes clinics, outpatient settings, mental health clinics, or participants' homes. Family-based interventions for youth with T1D appear effective at improving diabetes and family-centered outcomes. Additional research is needed to examine the pathways to improvement in glycemic control, as outcomes were mixed. Future research should also involve measures beyond HbA1c given new markers for sustained health improvement and outcomes are being explored.

Objective Youth with chronic illness are at higher risk for psychosocial difficulties, leading to a call for screening via patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The purpose of the current review is to summarize PRO implementation in pediatric medical specialty settings. A literature review of PRO implementation in these settings, conceptual issues, value and approach, legal and ethical concerns, as well as a case example of PROA in type 1 diabetes are presented. Methods A systematic review was conducted to identify relevant articles published since the most recent Journal of Pediatric Psychology Special Issue on Evidence-Based Assessment in Pediatric Psychology (2008). Results Thirty-two articles were identified and reviewed. The majority of studies reported that PROA was feasible, did not disrupt clinic flow, identified psychosocial issues warranting intervention, and was acceptable to families and providers. Response to elevated scores and impact on behavioral health referrals varied. Conclusion While many evidenced-based assessment measures are well-validated within pediatric chronic illness groups, the literature regarding implementation of PROs is still emerging. Research findings are promising, with PROs being feasible, acceptable, and leading to increased discussion of psychosocial issues when integrated into pediatric medical settings. Additional research is needed to evaluate the longitudinal impact of PROs and the optimal manner of responding to assessment data, particularly when clinically-elevated. Ultimately, identifying psychosocial issues in pediatric medical settings can promote optimal health and well-being of youth with chronic illness and their families.

Aim Participants in clinical trials assessing automated insulin delivery systems report perceived benefits and burdens that reflect their experiences and may predict their likelihood of uptake and continued use of this novel technology. Despite the importance of understanding their perspectives, there are no available validated and reliable measures assessing the psychosocial aspects of automated insulin delivery systems. The present study assesses the initial psychometric properties of the INSPIRE measures, which were developed for youth and adults with Type 1 diabetes, as well as parents and partners. Methods Data from 292 youth, 159 adults, 150 parents of youth and 149 partners of individuals recruited from the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange Registry were analysed. Participants completed INSPIRE questionnaires and measures of quality of life, fear of hypoglycaemia, diabetes distress, glucose monitoring satisfaction. Exploratory factor analysis assessed factor structures. Associations between INSPIRE scores and other measures, HbA1c, and technology use assessed concurrent and discriminant validity. Results Youth, adult, parent and partner measures assess positive expectancies of automated insulin delivery systems. Measures range from 17 to 22 items and are reliable (α = 0.95–0.97). Youth, adult and parent measures are unidimensional; the partner measure has a two‐factor structure (perceptions of impact on partners versus the person with diabetes). Measures showed concurrent and discriminant validity. Conclusions INSPIRE measures assessing the positive expectancies of automated insulin delivery systems for youth, adults, parents and partners have meaningful factor structures and are internally consistent. The developmentally sensitive INSPIRE measures offer added value as clinical trials test newer systems, systems become commercially available and clinicians initiate using these systems.