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. 2024 Nov 10;14(11):1134.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci14111134.

The Development of a Brief but Comprehensive Therapeutic Assessment Protocol for the Screening and Support of Youth in the Community to Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis

Margaret Danielle Weiss  1   2 , Eleanor Castine Richards  1   2 , Danta Bien-Aime  1 , Taylor Witkowski  1 , Peyton Williams  1 , Katie E Holmes  1 , Dharma E Cortes  1   2 , Miriam C Tepper  3   4 , Philip S Wang  5   6 , Rajendra Aldis  1   2 , Nicholas Carson  1   2 , Benjamin Le Cook  1   2
Affiliations

The Development of a Brief but Comprehensive Therapeutic Assessment Protocol for the Screening and Support of Youth in the Community to Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis

Margaret Danielle Weiss et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a therapeutic assessment protocol for the Screening and Support of Youth (SASY). SASY provides brief but comprehensive community-based screening and support for diverse youth in the community.

Methods: SASY screening evaluates symptoms, functioning and clinical risk. The Kiddie Computerized Adaptive Test was used to evaluate seven different diagnoses and symptom severity. The Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Self was used to measure functional impairment. Measures were scored according to nationally developed norms. An algorithm was developed to aggregate symptom and function ratings into an overall score for clinical risk. The results are discussed with participants in a motivational interview designed to promote insight, followed by the opportunity for the participant to engage in an online intervention. Protocol changes necessitated by social distancing during the pandemic led to innovative methods including the use of a QR code for recruitment, integration of both online and offline participation, and expansion from in-person recruitment within the schools to virtual engagement with youth throughout the community. The final sample included disproportionately more Black or African American and Hispanic youth as compared to school and community statistics, suggesting that optimization of online and offline methods in research may facilitate the recruitment of diverse populations. Qualitative interviews indicated that the screening and feedback raised youth awareness of their wellbeing and/or distress, its impact on their functioning, and engagement with options for improved wellbeing.

Conclusions: The emergence of innovative methods optimizing the advantages of both online and offline methods, developed as a necessity during the pandemic, proved advantageous to the feasibility and acceptability of community-based recruitment of at-risk, minoritized youth.

Keywords: access to treatment; health equity; pandemic; virtual research; youth mental health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors Margaret Danielle Weiss, Benjamin Le Cook, Eleanor Richards, Nicholas Carson, and Rajen Aldis are employed by the hospital Cambridge Health Alliance. Margaret Danielle Weiss has received honoraria from Peri, Revibe, and Ironshore; travel expenses and honoraria from Pearson, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the United Kingdom Adult ADHD Network, Cooper University, and Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University; has been on the advisory board of Ironshore; and receives royalties from Multi-Health Systems and Johns Hopkins University Press. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Youth responsive flyers.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Algorithm for combining symptoms and functioning into a clinical risk score.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Completed screenings over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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