Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Cullins, Lisa M.; Mian, Ayesha I.

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2015.06.010

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Safe and appropriate alternatives to cope with stressors need to be offered. Before "Western" coping strategies are promoted, local helpful and acceptable means of resilience will need to be explored and developed into meaningful interventions (56).…”

Section: Recommendations For Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child witchcraft confessions as an idiom of distress in Sierra Leone; results of a rapid qualitative inquiry and recommendations for mental health interventions.

Yoder

Jong

Tol

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Reports about child witchcraft are not uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study we approach child witchcraft as an idiom of distress. In an environment that may prohibit children from openly expressing distress, the shared imagery of witchcraft can provide a cultural idiom to communicate about psychosocial suffering. We used an ecological approach to study how some children in distressing circumstances come to a witchcraft confession, with the aim to set out pathways for mental health interventions.Methods We employed rapid qualitative inquiry methodology, with an inductive and iterative approach, combining emic and etic perspectives. We conducted 37 interviews and 12 focus group discussions with a total of 127 participants in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Inductive analysis was used to identify risk and protective factors related to witchcraft accusations and confessions.Results We identified risk and protective factors related to the individual child, the family, peer relations, teachers and other professionals in a child’s life, traditional healers, pastors and the wider society. We found that in the context of a macrosystem that supports witchcraft, suspicions of witchcraft are formed at the mesosystem level, where actors from the microsystem interact with each other and the child. The involvement of a traditional healer or pastor often forms a tipping point that leads to a confession of witchcraft. Conclusions Child witchcraft is an idiom of distress, not so much owned by the individual child as well as by the systems around the child. Mental health interventions should be systemic and multi-sectoral, to prevent accusations and confessions, and address the suffering of both the child and the systems surrounding the child. Interventions should be contextually relevant and service providers should be helped to address conscious and subconscious fears related to witchcraft. Beyond mental health interventions, advocacy, peacebuilding and legislation is needed to address the deeper systemic issues of poverty, conflict and abuse.

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Section: Recommendations For Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child witchcraft confessions as an idiom of distress in Sierra Leone; results of a rapid qualitative inquiry and recommendations for mental health interventions.

Yoder

Jong

Tol

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…One assumed important aspect of the synthesis process is to identify core elements that appear to be responsible for an intervention’s effectiveness and which after adaptation will have to be implemented with fidelity to the original design (14). This is particularly challenging when translating knowledge originating primarily from Western, high-income countries to interventions that are feasible and relevant for children and adolescents in settings with low resources and different belief systems (69).…”

Section: Distilling the Information—synthesis And Translation Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Addressing stigma in the community is one aspect of an ecological approach which increasingly is considered to be preferential to an individual approach in MHPSS interventions for children and adolescents (54, 69, 103, 104).…”

Section: Implementing Interventions—delivery Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on “Building Back Better” Child and Adolescent Mental Health Care in a Low-Resource Postemergency Setting: The Case of Sierra Leone

Brink

2019

Front. Psychiatry

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Over the past three decades, Sierra Leone has experienced two major humanitarian crises: an armed conflict (1991–2002) and an Ebola virus disease outbreak (2014–2015). In addition to these country-wide crises, the capital Freetown experienced a mudslide affecting thousands of people in 2017. In response to these emergencies, donors and aid organizations showed an increased interest in supporting and implementing mental health and psychosocial support interventions. Despite these efforts, the mental health infrastructure of the country remains frail. Specifically, systemic improvements in the implementation of evidence-based mental health care for children and adolescents appear to be lacking. In this article, the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation is used as a tool to analyze issues related to the development of a sustainable, contextually relevant child and adolescent mental health-care delivery system. The author draws on her long-term experience as a child mental health specialist in Sierra Leone. Observations and hypotheses are tested and supplemented by formal and informal reports and national and international literature. The three systems described by the Interactive Systems Framework are explored in the context of Sierra Leone: (1) Synthesis and Translation, (2) Support, and (3) Delivery. Interaction between the three Systems is discussed as critical to the successful dissemination and implementation of interventions. Ample attention is given to contextual factors that are believed to be paramount to the development of child and adolescent mental health care in Sierra Leone. The article concludes with a reflection on the usefulness of the Interactive Systems Framework in the dissemination and implementation of child and adolescent mental health-care interventions in low-resource, postemergency settings. It is suggested that, in addition to funding and policies, the child and adolescent mental health system in Sierra Leone could benefit from the development of contextually relevant interventions, improvement of capacity-building efforts, and acknowledgment of the role of community-based practitioners in the delivery of services. Local mental health experts, especially those trained in child and adolescent mental health, should be empowered to work together with culturally competent expatriate professionals to improve child and adolescent mental health care in Sierra Leone.

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“…Anxiety is a common emotion in childhood that facilitates adaptive defensive responses to dangerous situations that can cause discomfort or injury (Rosen & Schulkin, 1998). However, excessive and frequent anxiety in nonthreatening situations becomes maladaptive, resulting in the development of psychopathology and impairment in several life settings (Cullins & Mian, 2015; Lyneham et al, 2013; Palitz & Kendall, 2020). Anxiety disorders have an early onset, thus are common during school age and tend to co‐occur with depressive symptoms, worsening the prognosis (Melton et al, 2016; Merikangas et al, 2010; Polanczyk et al, 2015; Romero et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spanish version of Super Skills for Life in individual modality: Improvement of children's emotional well‐being from a transdiagnostic approach

et al. 2021

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Objective(s): This study analyzed the short-term effects of the Super Skills for Life (SSL) program in its individual format from the parents' perspective. Methods: Parents of 70 Spanish children aged 8-11 years (M = 9.31; SD = 1.16) completed assessment instruments about their children's emotional state at the baseline and postintervention. Results: Analyses revealed significantly lower scores in depression (The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire), anxiety, and specific disorders (The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale) (i.e., panic attack/agoraphobia, separation anxiety, social phobia, and generalized anxiety). Significant improvements were also found in anxiety life interference at home (The Child Anxiety Life Interference Scale), total difficulties, internalized and externalized problems, emotional symptoms, peer problems, and hyperactivity/inattention (The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at posttest. SSL was effective in reducing psychopathological symptoms similarly in both girls and boys. Conclusions: These promising results provide preliminary support for the usefulness of the SSL program in individual format for the indicated prevention of children's emotional problems. This study provides a valuable resource for research and clinical practice.

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Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Cited by 16 publications

References 18 publications

Child witchcraft confessions as an idiom of distress in Sierra Leone; results of a rapid qualitative inquiry and recommendations for mental health interventions.

Child witchcraft confessions as an idiom of distress in Sierra Leone; results of a rapid qualitative inquiry and recommendations for mental health interventions.

Reflections on “Building Back Better” Child and Adolescent Mental Health Care in a Low-Resource Postemergency Setting: The Case of Sierra Leone

Spanish version of Super Skills for Life in individual modality: Improvement of children's emotional well‐being from a transdiagnostic approach

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