Effective evaluation of treatment requires the use of measurement tools producing reliable scores that can be used to make valid decisions about the outcomes of interest. Therapist-rated treatment outcome scores that are obtained within the context of empirically supported treatments (EST) could provide clinicians and researchers with data that are easily accessible and complimentary to existing instrumentation. We examined the psychometric properties of scores from the Therapist Perception of Treatment Outcome: Youth Antisocial Behavior (TPTO:YAB), an instrument developed to assess therapist judgments of treatment success among families participating in an EST, Multsystemic Therapy (MST), for youth with antisocial behavior problems. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of MST. The initial 20-item TPTO was completed by therapists of 111 families at mid-treatment and 163 families at treatment termination. Rasch model dimensionality analyses provided evidence for two dimensions reflecting youth- and caregiver-related aspects of treatment outcome, although a bifactor analyses suggested that these dimensions reflected a single more general construct. Rasch analyses were also used to assess item and rating scale characteristics and refine the number of items. These analyses suggested items performed similarly across time and that scores reflect treatment outcome in similar ways at mid and post-treatment. Multilevel and zero-order analyses provided evidence for the validity of TPTO scores. TPTO scores were moderately correlated with scores of youth and caregiver behaviors targeted in treatment, adding support to its use as a treatment outcome measurement instrument.

A commonly emphasized component of trauma-informed care is the practice of building cross-system collaboration (CSC). While existing research on CSC states numerous benefits and barriers associated with increasing collaboration between systems, there is limited empirical understanding on how to define and measure collaboration between county systems of care. The current study presents the psychometric evaluation of scores from the Perceptions of Overarching Cross-System Collaboration–Child Welfare and Behavioral Health Systems (POCSC-CW/BH), a 6-item self-report instrument completed by system administrative leadership and direct service providers, administered within child welfare and children’s behavioral health systems in 6 California counties. Psychometric analysis demonstrated good support of internal consistency, as well as the factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity of scores produced by the tool. There was also evidence for content validity. System-level analyses showed within-county child welfare, and children’s behavioral health system staff reported similar perceptions of CSC in 5 of 6 counties, whereas POCSC-CW/BH scores across counties showed variability. Exploratory results revealed CSC scores varied by staff role in each system. In general, the POCSC-CW/BH is a promising instrument that adds to a limited array of practical empirically supported measurement tools for measuring CSC between child welfare and children’s behavior health systems. The study limitations and implications for CSC measurement and trauma-informed practice are discussed.

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Objective To examine differences in caregiver and youth reported mental health symptoms for youth initiating mental health treatment through phases of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, compared with symptomology reported the prior year. Study design This retrospective study analyzes group differences in mental health symptoms (Pediatric Symptom Checklist; PSC-35) based on 7874 youth seeking treatment in publicly funded mental health treatment programs during California’s Stay-At-Home order (March–May, 2020) and the prolonged pandemic (May–December, 2020) phases of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared with matching groups in 2019. Results Youth entering mental health treatment services, and their caregivers, reported significantly increased internalizing, externalizing, and attention-related symptoms during the prolonged pandemic phase, but not during the acute stay-at-home phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with small effect sizes. Group comparison analyses did not detect a significantly larger effect for Sexual and Gender Diverse (SGD) youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, queer, and/or intersex, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). Conclusions A large-scale comparison of youth mental health symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that mental health was disrupted for youth seeking treatment as the pandemic prolonged throughout 2020.