The primary purpose of the current study was to test a model examining the process by which parent dispositional mindfulness relates to youth psychopathology through mindful parenting and parenting practices. The universality of the model across youth at three developmental stages was examined: young childhood (3 – 7 yrs.; n = 210), middle childhood (8 – 12 yrs.; n = 200), and adolescence (13 – 17 yrs.; n = 205). Overall, participants were 615 parents (55 % female) and one of their 3-to-17 year old children (45 % female). Parents reported on their dispositional mindfulness, mindful parenting, positive and negative parenting practices and their child's or adolescent's internalizing and externalizing problems. Consistent findings across all three developmental stages indicated that higher levels of parent dispositional mindfulness were indirectly related to lower levels of youth internalizing and externalizing problems through higher levels of mindful parenting and lower levels of negative parenting practices. Replication of these findings across families with children at different developmental stages lends support to the generalizability of the model.

Disruptive behaviors of childhood are among the most common reasons for referral of children to mental health professionals. Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the most efficacious intervention for these problem behaviors, yet BPT is substantially underutilized beyond university research and clinic settings. With the aim of addressing this research-to-practice gap, this article highlights the considerable, but largely unrealized, potential for technology to overcome the two most pressing challenges hindering the diffusion of BPT: (1). The dearth of BPT training and supervision opportunities for therapists who work with families of children with disruptive behaviors and; (2). The failure to engage and retain families in BPT services when services are available. To this end, this review presents a theoretical framework to guide technological innovations in BPT and highlights examples of how technology is currently being harnessed to overcome these challenges. This review also discusses recommendations for using technology as a delivery vehicle to further advance the field of BPT and the potential implications of technological innovations in BPT for other areas of children’s mental health are discussed.

Change in parenting behavior is theorized to be the mediator accounting for change in child and adolescent externalizing problems in behavioral parent training (BPT). The purpose of this review is to examine this assumption in BPT prevention and intervention programs. Eight intervention and 17 prevention studies were identified as meeting all criteria or all but one criterion for testing mediation. Parenting behaviors were classified as positive, negative, discipline, monitoring/supervision, or a composite measure. Forty-five percent of the tests performed across studies to test mediation supported parenting as a mediator. A composite measure of parenting and discipline received the most support, whereas monitoring/supervision was rarely examined. More support for the mediating role of parenting emerged for prevention than intervention studies and when meeting all criteria for testing mediation was not required. Although the findings do not call BPT into question as an efficacious treatment, they do suggest more attention should be focused on examining parenting as a putative mediator in BPT.

Objective Early onset Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs) are overrepresented in low-income families; yet, these families are less likely to engage in Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) than other groups. This project aimed to develop and pilot test a technology-enhanced version of one evidence-based BPT program, Helping the Noncompliant Child (HNC). The aim was to increase engagement of low-income families and, in turn, child behavior outcomes, with potential cost-savings associated with greater treatment efficiency. Method Low-income families of 3-to-8 year old children with clinically-significant disruptive behaviors were randomized to and completed standard HNC (n =8) or technology-enhanced HNC (TE-HNC) (n = 7). On average, caregivers were 37 years old, female (87%), and most (80%) worked at least part-time. Half (53%) of the youth were boys, average age of the sample was 5.67 years. All families received the standard HNC program; however, TE-HNC also included the following smartphone-enhancements: (1). Skills video series; (2). Brief daily surveys; (3). Text message reminders; (4). Video recording home practice; and (5). Mid-week video calls. Results TE-HNC yielded larger effect sizes than HNC for all engagement outcomes. Both groups yielded clinically significant improvements in disruptive behavior; however, findings suggest that the greater program engagement associated with TE-HNC boosted child treatment outcome. Further evidence for the boost afforded by the technology is revealed in family responses to post-assessment interviews. Finally, cost analysis suggests that TE-HNC families also required fewer sessions than HNC families to complete the program, an efficiency that did not compromise family satisfaction. Conclusions TE-HNC shows promise as an innovative approach to engaging low-income families in BPT with potential cost-savings and, therefore, merits further investigation on a larger scale.

Context Depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances have been identified as a symptom cluster among breast cancer patients. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the temporal relations between these symptoms surrounding diagnosis and treatment. Objectives The current study investigated the co-occurrence of and interrelations between non-somatic depressive symptoms, fatigue, and sleep disturbances in breast cancer patients at three time points: prior to, after, and six to eight months following adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. Methods Separate samples of premenopausal (N = 67) and postmenopausal (N = 67) breast cancer patients completed self-report measures of depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances at all three time points. Path analysis was used to explore within- and cross-symptom paths across time. Results Depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances were correlated within each time point. Continuity paths, whereby prior levels of symptom severity tended to predict subsequent severity of the same symptom at the subsequent time point, were significant in both samples, except for depression in the premenopausal sample. Instead, significant cross-symptom paths emerged whereby baseline fatigue predicted post-chemotherapy depression, and post-chemotherapy fatigue predicted depression at follow-up in the premenopausal patients. No significant cross-symptom paths emerged for the postmenopausal sample. Conclusion Findings supported the notion that depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances manifest as a symptom cluster. Fatigue may precede non-somatic symptoms of depression among premenopausal breast cancer patients and represents a potential intervention target.