Implementing brief and low-intensity psychological interventions for children and young people with internalizing disorders: a rapid realist review

Abstract

Introduction Many children fail to receive the mental health treatments they need, despite strong evidence demonstrating efficacy of brief and low-intensity psychological interventions. This review identifies the barriers and facilitators to their implementation. Sources of Data PsycInfo, EMBASE and Medline were searched and a systematic approach to data extraction using Normalization Process Theory highlighted key mechanisms and contextual factors. Areas of Agreement Ten interventions from 9 papers, including 371 young people, were included. Studies identified organizational demands, lack of implementation strategy and stigma as barriers to implementation, and clear training and plans for implementation as facilitators. Areas of Controversy No standardized implementation outcomes were used across papers so meta-analysis was not possible. Growing Points Barriers and facilitators have been clearly identified across different settings. Areas Timely for Developing Research Longitudinal studies can identify methods and processes for enhancing long-term implementation and considers ways to monitor and evaluate uptake into routine practice.

Non-specialist delivered psycho-social interventions for women with perinatal depression living in rural communities: A systematic review

“…This review’s finding is somewhat at odds with the broader literature examining treatments for adult depression, an evaluation of which reveals strong supporting evidence for brief, low-intensity (LI) psychological interventions, particularly in the context of collaborative care and stepped-care models [ 49 ]. LI psychological interventions, abbreviated versions of evidenced-based therapies that can be delivered by workers with little to no formalized mental health training, are generally limited in terms of duration and frequency of contact (e.g., <6–10 distinct sessions) [ 50 , 51 ]. Numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated the effectiveness of LI interventions for treating a range of mental health conditions [ 38 , 43 , 52 , 53 ], and their integration with stepped-care treatment models have been encouraged by the Lancet Commission for Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development as well as the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Plan [ 49 , 54 ].…”

Clinical effectiveness of drop-in mental health services at paediatric hospitals: A non-randomised multi-site study for children and young people and their families – study protocol

“…It has been found that a lack of adequate training resources is a possible factor contributing to implementation challenges of low intensity psychological interventions for children and young people [ 31 ]. To address this issue, the current project has delivered training on low intensity psychological interventions for CYP in the context of LTCs for clinicians from participating hospitals [ 32 ].…”

The utility of mechanical objects: Aiding students' learning of abstract and difficult engineering concepts

“…All students individually solved the same three problems, spending approximately 15 min of class time on each task. The use of quasi‐experimental brief interventions has been seen in educational research (e.g., Lin & Powell, 2023; Strunk, 2012; Wisman et al, 2019) and is more common in psychological research, for example, in the treatment of self‐injurious behaviors (see Dobias et al, 2023 for a review), substance abuse (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1999), and anxiety and depression (see Roach et al, 2023 for a review). For the control section, the instructor simply handed each student the problem statement sheet.…”