Telepsychology holds promise as a treatment delivery method that may increase access to services as well as reduce barriers to treatment accessibility. The aim of this rapid evidence assessment was to assess the evidence for synchronous telepsychology interventions for 4 common mental health conditions (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and adjustment disorder). Randomized controlled trials published between 2005 and 2016 that investigated synchronous telepsychology (i.e., telephone delivered, video teleconference delivered, or Internet delivered text based) were identified through literature searches. From an initial yield of 2,266 studies, 24 were included in the review. Ten studies investigated the effectiveness of telephone-delivered interventions, 11 investigated the effectiveness of video teleconference (VTC) interventions, 2 investigated Internet-delivered text-based interventions, and 2 were reviews of multiple telepsychology modalities. There was sufficient evidence to support VTC and telephone-delivered interventions for mental health conditions. The evidence for synchronous Internet-delivered text-based interventions was ranked as "unknown." Telephone-delivered and VTC-delivered psychological interventions provide a mode of treatment delivery that can potentially overcome barriers and increase access to psychological interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) is an intervention that targets common mechanisms that maintain symptoms across multiple disorders. The UP has been shown to be effective across many disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive episode (MDE), and panic disorder, that commonly codevelop following trauma exposure. The present study represented the first randomized controlled trial of the UP in the treatment of trauma‐related psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms. Adults (N = 43) who developed posttraumatic psychopathology that included PTSD, MDE, or an anxiety disorder after sustaining a severe injury were randomly assigned to receive 10–14 weekly, 60‐min sessions of UP (n = 22) or usual care (n = 21). The primary treatment outcome was PTSD symptom severity, with secondary outcomes of depression and anxiety symptom severity and loss of diagnosis for any trauma‐related psychiatric disorder. Assessments were conducted at intake, posttreatment, and 6‐month follow‐up. Posttreatment, participants who received the UP showed significantly larger reductions in PTSD, Hedges’ g = 1.27; anxiety, Hedges’ g = 1.20; and depression symptom severity, Hedges’ g = 1.40, compared to those receiving usual care. These treatment effects were maintained at 6‐month follow‐up for PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptom severity. Statistically significant posttreatment loss of PTSD, MDE, and agoraphobia diagnoses was observed for participants who received the UP but not usual care. This study provides preliminary evidence that the UP may be an effective non–trauma‐focused treatment for PTSD and other trauma‐related psychopathology.

Qualitative research plays an important role in helping us describe, interpret and generate theories about complex phenomena in healthcare. Complete and transparent reporting of research informs readers about the significance and rigor of the work. The aim of this scientometric study was to determine the quality of reporting of qualitative research in nursing social science. Studies were identified by manually searching the table of contents for qualitative papers published in the June (or closest subsequent) 2018 issue of 115 nursing journals. Adherence with the 32-item Consolidated Criteria for REporting Qualitative (COREQ) research was determined for each study by two researchers. Additional information about the study (e.g., sample size, field of nursing) and the publishing journal (e.g., endorsement of COREQ) were also extracted. Using established criteria, COREQ compliance was coded either good (≥ 25 items), moderate (17 to 24), poor (9 to 16), very poor (≤ 8) based on the number of items addressed in each study. One hundred and ninety-seven manuscripts were included. The quality of reporting was generally rated as either moderate (57%) or poor (38%). Journal endorsement of qualitative reporting guidelines was associated with better reporting. The reporting of qualitative research in nursing social science journals is suboptimal. Researchers, authors, reviewers and journal editors need to ensure their papers comprehensively address the requirements of COREQ to ensure comprehensive and transparent reporting of their research.

Background: This study investigates the sex, ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in emotional difficulties over childhood and adolescence using longitudinal cohort studies in the UK and Australia. Estimating cross-national differences contributes to understanding of the consistency of inequalities in mental health across contexts. Methods: Data from 19,748 participants in two contemporary representative samples in Australia (Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, n = 4,975) and UK (Millennium Cohort Study, n = 14,773) were used. Emotional difficulties were assessed using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at ages 4/5, 6/7, 11/12 and 14/15 years and the self-reported Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire at age 14/ 15. Latent Growth Curve Modelling was used to examine mental health over time. Results: There were significant increases in emotional difficulties in both countries over time. Emotional difficulties were higher in Australian children at all ages. The gender gap in self-reported depressive symptoms at age 14/15 was larger in the UK (8% of UK and 13% of Australian boys were above the depression cut-off, compared with 23% of girls). Ethnic minority children had higher emotional difficulties at age 4/5 years in both countries, but over time this difference was no longer observed in Australia. In the UK, this reversed whereby at ages 11/12 and 14/15 ethnic minority children had lower symptoms than their White majority peers. Socioeconomic differences were more marked based on parent education and employment status in Australia and by parent income in the UK. UK children, children from White majority ethnicity and girls evidenced steeper worsening of symptoms from age 4/5 to 14/15 years. Conclusions: Even in two fairly similar countries (i.e. English-speaking, high-income, industrialised), the observed patterns of inequalities in mental health symptoms based on sociodemographics are not the same. Understanding country and context-specific drivers of different inequalities provides important insights to help reduce disparities in child and adolescent mental health.