Background: Evidence-based treatments (EBTs) with a single-disorder focus have improved the potential for youth mental health care, yet may be an imperfect fit to clinical care settings where diagnostic comorbidity and co-occurring problems are commonplace. Most EBTs were developed to treat one diagnosis or problem (or a small homogenous cluster), but most clinically referred youths present with multiple disorders and problems. Findings: Three emerging approaches may help address the comorbidity that is so common in treated youths. Conceptually unified treatments target presumed causal and maintaining factors that are shared among more than one disorder or problem area; preliminary open trials and case studies show promising results. Modular protocols combine the 'practice elements' that commonly appear in separate single-disorder EBTs and repackage them into coordinated delivery systems; one modular protocol, MATCH, has produced positive findings in a randomized effectiveness trial. Monitoring and Feedback Systems (MFSs) provide real-time data on client progress to inform clinical decision-making, encompassing comorbid and co-occurring problems; one study shows beneficial effects in everyday practice with diverse youth problems. Conclusions: All three approaches -conceptually unified, modular, and MFS -can be strengthened by increased research attention to treatment integrity, clinician user-appeal, design simplicity, and the infrastructure necessary for successful implementation.
Key Practitioner Message• Most evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for youths were developed to treat a single target disorder or problem domain, or a homogenous cluster, but most clinically referred youths present with multiple disorders and problems.• When client comorbidity is not directly addressed by EBTs, clinicians may be left without evidence-based guidance. To address this gap, three approaches warrant attention.• Unified manuals that address presumed causal and maintaining factors of more than one disorder may be of value, particularly for problems with shared theoretical and empirical literatures.• Modular approaches to EBTs may be an effective way for clinicians to treat multi-problem and comorbid youths, even those with conceptually distinct conditions, and one approach, MATCH, has been found to be effective in a randomized trial.• Monitoring and feedback systems provide real-time case-specific evidence that can guide the clinical decision-making required in treating comorbid clients, regardless of the treatment approach employed.