Many new and expecting parents struggle with depression during pregnancy or after having a baby. Depression care for pregnant and postpartum people usually includes talk therapy for the parent, and possibly medications. These services are focused on the parent alone, rather than the parent-child relationship. This project adds a brief parenting support program, called Promoting […]
This pilot project will explore how principles and practices drawn from therapeutic communities might strengthen the support Adult Family Homes (AFHs) provide for people living with serious mental illness. Therapeutic communities use everyday social life, shared responsibilities, and mutual support as active elements of treatment and recovery. Research on therapeutic communities is promising but limited, […]
Our team previously developed brief, self-directed text message interventions that deliver coping skills and support to individuals experiencing mental health problems following exposure to traumatic and destabilizing events. In this project, we will adapt our interventions for patients in the perinatal period. The perinatal period—pregnancy, birth, and postpartum—often includes significant stressors and increased risk for […]
Over the last decade, perinatal mental health has worsened while rates of perinatal substance use have increased. These conditions are leading contributors to maternal morbidity and mortality and are linked to preterm birth, low birth weight, and cognitive and educational challenges later on in childhood. Yet, organizational resources are often limited, and at the individual […]
Fathers have significant unmet mental health needs. One in ten fathers experience depression or anxiety during the perinatal period; even more exhibit adverse behaviors like aggression and substance use. Mental health symptoms are exacerbated by financial, social, and familial stressors of parenting. Fathers’ poor mental health adversely impacts their partners, parenting behaviors, and family wellbeing. […]
Depression can be difficult to treat, and even effective therapies do not work for everyone. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive treatment that can help people whose depression has not improved with medications or psychotherapy, but patients often undergo daily treatments for several weeks before knowing whether it will work for them. At present, […]
The proposed study aims to develop and pilot a brief, firefighter-specific, peer-led psychoeducation program to address hazardous drinking within the context of occupational stress and trauma exposure. The program consists of a single, in-person, group-based session that provides practical, evidence-informed education on the relationships among trauma, stress, alcohol use, resilience, and behavioral health resources. The […]
The proposed study seeks to develop and pilot the first trauma-informed, firefighter-specific personalized feedback intervention (PFI) to reduce hazardous drinking by integrating qualitative methods, user-centered design, and implementation science. The intervention will be developed iteratively with firefighters and evaluated using a pilot randomized controlled trial. This work will establish the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy […]
One in ten fathers experience severe mental health challenges due to the stressors of parenting. Fathers’ mental health plays a pivotal role in early child social-emotional development with impact throughout a child’s lifespan. Parenting interventions that support effective parenting knowledge, skills, and behaviors improve parent-child mental health outcomes, including in low- and middle-income settings. Yet […]
The Brief Intervention for School Clinicians (BRISC) has been the subject of two research studies funded by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). In the most recent study, 48 high schools in three states (WA, MD, MN) were recruited and assigned to BRISC (n=23) or school-based services as usual (SAU; n=25). Clinicians working in schools […]
