This component analysis used meta-analytic techniques to synthesize the results of 77 published evaluations of parent training programs (i.e., programs that included the active acquisition of parenting skills) to enhance behavior and adjustment in children aged 0-7. Characteristics of program content and delivery method were used to predict effect sizes on measures of parenting behaviors and children's externalizing behavior. After controlling for differences attributable to research design, program components consistently associated with larger effects included increasing positive parent-child interactions and emotional communication skills, teaching parents to use time out and the importance of parenting consistency, and requiring parents to practice new skills with their children during parent training sessions. Program components consistently associated with smaller effects included teaching parents problem solving; teaching parents to promote children's cognitive, academic, or social skills; and providing other, additional services. The results have implications for selection and strengthening of existing parent training programs.

Mental health encompasses a range of mental, emotional, social, and behavioral functioning and occurs along a continuum from good to poor. Previous research has documented that mental health among children and adolescents is associated with immediate and long-term physical health and chronic disease, health risk behaviors, social relationships, education, and employment. Public health surveillance of children's mental health can be used to monitor trends in prevalence across populations, increase knowledge about demographic and geographic differences, and support decision-making about prevention and intervention. Numerous federal data systems collect data on various indicators of children's mental health, particularly mental disorders. The 2013-2019 data from these data systems show that mental disorders begin in early childhood and affect children with a range of sociodemographic characteristics. During this period, the most prevalent disorders diagnosed among U.S. children and adolescents aged 3-17 years were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, each affecting approximately one in 11 (9.4%-9.8%) children. Among children and adolescents aged 12-17 years, one fifth (20.9%) had ever experienced a major depressive episode. Among high school students in 2019, 36.7% reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless in the past year, and 18.8% had seriously considered attempting suicide. Approximately seven in 100,000 persons aged 10-19 years died by suicide in 2018 and 2019. Among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years, 9.6%-10.1% had received mental health services, and 7.8% of all children and adolescents aged 3-17 years had taken medication for mental health problems during the past year, based on parent report. Approximately one in four children and adolescents aged 12-17 years reported having received mental health services during the past year. In federal data systems, data on positive indicators of mental health (e.g., resilience) are limited. Although no comprehensive surveillance system for children's mental health exists and no single indicator can be used to define the mental health of children or to identify the overall number of children with mental disorders, these data confirm that mental disorders among children continue to be a substantial public health concern. These findings can be used by public health professionals, health care providers, state health officials, policymakers, and educators to understand the prevalence of specific mental disorders and other indicators of mental health and the challenges related to mental health surveillance. US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provisions for children with preexisting conditions (e.g., the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) (51-54).This report updates and expands the 2013 surveillance report on mental health among children (8). Similar to the 2013 report, this report provides an overview of nine federal surveillance system...

This article reviews the state of the science on psychosocial treatments for disruptive behaviors in children, as an update to Eyberg, Nelson, and Boggs (2008). We followed procedures for literature searching, study inclusion, and treatment classification as laid out in Southam-Gerow and Prinstein (2014), focusing on treatments for children 12 years of age and younger. Two treatments (group parent behavior therapy, and individual parent behavior therapy with child participation) had sufficient empirical support to be classified as well-established treatments. Thirteen other treatments were classified as probably efficacious. Substantial variability in effectiveness of different programs within the same treatment family has been previously documented; thus, a particular level of evidence might not hold true for every individual program in a treatment family. Systematic investigations of implementation, dissemination, and uptake are needed to ensure that children and families have access to effective treatments. Investigations into how to blend the strengths of the effective approaches into even more effective treatment might also lead to greater impact.

Introduction Although several systematic reviews have concluded that home visiting has strong evidence of effectiveness, individual evaluations have produced inconsistent results across and within programs. We used a component-based, domain-specific approach to determine which program characteristics most strongly predict outcomes across a range of programs and models. Methods Medline and PsycINFO searches identified evaluations of universal and selected home visiting programs implemented in the United States. Coders trained to criterion coded characteristics of research design, program content, and service delivery. We conducted random-effects, inverse-variance-weighted linear regressions using program characteristics to predict effect sizes (ESs) on six outcome domains (birth outcomes, parenting behavior, maternal life course, child cognitive outcomes, child physical health, and child maltreatment). Results Aggregated to a single ES per study (k=51), the mean ES was 0.20 (95% CI = 0.14, 0.27), with a range of – 0.68 to 3.95. Mean ESs were significant and positive for three of the six outcome domains (maternal life course outcomes, child cognitive outcomes, and parent behaviors and skills), with marked heterogeneity of ESs in all six outcome domains. Research design characteristics generally did not predict ESs across the six outcome domains. No consistent pattern of effective components emerged across all outcome domains. Conclusions Home visiting programs evidenced small but significant overall effects, with wide variability in the size of domain-specific effects and in the components that significantly predicted domain-specific effects. Communities may need complementary or alternative strategies to home visiting programs to ensure widespread impact on these six important public health outcomes.