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Child Mental Health: Fostering Wellness in Children

May 13, 2024
  • 00:05I'd like to really start
  • 00:07off by introducing Dr.
  • 00:08Doctor Rohrbog who is serves as
  • 00:10Deputy Dean for Professionalism and
  • 00:12Leadership and he also overseas
  • 00:14the Wellness programming for
  • 00:15the medical school community.
  • 00:16So welcome Doctor Rohrbog.
  • 00:20Thanks so much, Peggy.
  • 00:21One of OAP DS mission is to elevate
  • 00:25well-being for faculty and staff at
  • 00:27the School of Medicine and in surveys,
  • 00:29our faculty and staff have
  • 00:31suggested that the well-being of
  • 00:33children is among their their
  • 00:34most significant concerns.
  • 00:36We're really fortunate to have world renowned
  • 00:38faculty at the Yale Child Study Center
  • 00:40who can help us
  • 00:42to address that
  • 00:43issue and meet meet that goal.
  • 00:46And I'm going to turn it now over to Doctor
  • 00:48Christine Olson, the Chief Wellness
  • 00:49Officer of Fiona Haven Hospital
  • 00:51who will tell us a bit about
  • 00:54the PROS for peers program and
  • 00:55to and to introduce
  • 00:55Doctor Linda Mays who
  • 00:56will be our host for this program.
  • 01:00Thank you. Pros for Peers
  • 01:02brings our own experts
  • 01:03to improve the well-being of
  • 01:05our colleagues and communities.
  • 01:06And as indicated, colleagues said
  • 01:09that the their well-being would be
  • 01:11improved by better knowing how to
  • 01:13support the young people in their life,
  • 01:15especially in these times
  • 01:16that we're living in.
  • 01:17So thank you Doctor Mays,
  • 01:19the Yale Child Study Center and
  • 01:20the experts we have here today and
  • 01:22we look forward to being together.
  • 01:25Thank you so much, Doctor Mays.
  • 01:29Yes. So thank you Doctor Olson.
  • 01:31And I'm hi everybody.
  • 01:33I'm Doctor Linda Mays.
  • 01:35I'm the chair of the Child Studies Center.
  • 01:37And it's really just my pleasure
  • 01:39both to have you here today to be
  • 01:41joining with our colleagues from OAPD
  • 01:43and to be talking about something
  • 01:45that if the Child Studies Center
  • 01:47is our abiding concern every day
  • 01:49about the well-being of children.
  • 01:52I'm going to introduce my colleagues
  • 01:53and then turn it to them.
  • 01:54But just I want to just briefly tell
  • 01:57you for those of you who don't know
  • 01:58that the Yale Child Studies Center,
  • 02:00we're a department in the School
  • 02:02of Medicine work very closely,
  • 02:04very aligned with the health system.
  • 02:06And our whole focus is on thinking
  • 02:08about how children grow in their
  • 02:09understanding of their world,
  • 02:11of the world and their skills
  • 02:13they have to navigate that world,
  • 02:15that increasingly complex world.
  • 02:16We're a department that does
  • 02:18developmental research.
  • 02:19We deliver extensive clinical
  • 02:21services to children,
  • 02:23adolescents and their families.
  • 02:25And we have a large educational
  • 02:27program where we train the future
  • 02:29clinicians and leaders in this field.
  • 02:32And really most important to us
  • 02:34is also the ability to talk with,
  • 02:36with you like in this webinar to
  • 02:38really find the opportunities
  • 02:40to talk about what children not
  • 02:42only in our country need,
  • 02:43but across the world.
  • 02:46So across this month,
  • 02:47we're going to have sessions every week.
  • 02:50Where we are talking in this in this
  • 02:52May is Mental Health Month where
  • 02:54we actually talk about children,
  • 02:55we talk about children's development,
  • 02:58we talk about the clinical work we're doing.
  • 02:59We talk about how science informs how
  • 03:02we can most help children and very
  • 03:05much interested then and also what's
  • 03:07on your mind and how we can be helpful.
  • 03:10Today we're going to be focusing
  • 03:12a great deal on a number of the
  • 03:14areas that we talk about and work
  • 03:16on in the Child Studies Center
  • 03:18and I'll be and start to introduce
  • 03:20you now to to my colleagues.
  • 03:23But most importantly,
  • 03:24what we're going to try to do today
  • 03:26is to bring you into thinking
  • 03:28about how we help children manage,
  • 03:30for example, difficult emotions.
  • 03:31How we follow families across time
  • 03:34and stay involved in their lives.
  • 03:36How we bring the most contemporary
  • 03:39techniques from neuroscience and
  • 03:41neurogenetics to understanding
  • 03:43children's development and even how
  • 03:45we take insights from clinical trials
  • 03:47also to understand children's development.
  • 03:50Our first speaker will be
  • 03:52Doctor Jim Jamie Mcpartland,
  • 03:54who is the Harris Professor of
  • 03:56Child Psychiatry and Psychology.
  • 03:57He directs A Developmental Disabilities
  • 03:59clinic in the Child Studies Center and
  • 04:01is one of the Co leads for the new
  • 04:04Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health.
  • 04:06And Jamie will talk about how
  • 04:08brain science and improves the
  • 04:10care of children with autism.
  • 04:11Our next speaker will be Doctor Emily
  • 04:14Olson who is talking about how to
  • 04:17leverage genetics and understanding
  • 04:18childhood developmental needs.
  • 04:20I mean Emily will talk about not only
  • 04:23that particular work but how she came to it.
  • 04:27Doctor Julie Wolf is an associate
  • 04:29professor in the center,
  • 04:31working very closely with Doctor
  • 04:34Mcpartland and developmental disabilities.
  • 04:36And we'll be talking about how we go from
  • 04:38clinical practice to research and vice versa,
  • 04:40how we go back and forth.
  • 04:42Doctor Dennis Sogadowski will
  • 04:44be our fourth speaker,
  • 04:45a professor in the Child Studies Center,
  • 04:48and is focusing on how we help children
  • 04:50manage really difficult emotions,
  • 04:52emotions that are even as adults.
  • 04:54We're all very familiar
  • 04:55with like irritability,
  • 04:57how we manage them,
  • 04:58how we give children the skills to
  • 05:00do that so that they can flourish
  • 05:03and reach their fullest potential.
  • 05:05And then our final closing speaker
  • 05:07will be Doctor Ellie Leibowitz,
  • 05:09who is an associate professor in the
  • 05:11center and focuses a great deal on anxiety.
  • 05:15Anxiety is something that is certainly
  • 05:17for both adults and children in the
  • 05:19air often and Ellie will talk about how
  • 05:22he thinks about families and family
  • 05:24based kind of work in helping children.
  • 05:29We really encourage you to have questions.
  • 05:31Please send your questions in the chat.
  • 05:33Speak up while we want to
  • 05:34engage with you in a discussion.
  • 05:36Each person will speak about 5 minutes,
  • 05:39but our goal is to truly have a discussion
  • 05:41and to hear what's on your mind.
  • 05:43So may I First turn to Jamie.
  • 05:47Thank you so much, Doctor Mays.
  • 05:48It's such a pleasure to have
  • 05:50the chance to participate today.
  • 05:52As Doctor Mays said, I, I, I, I,
  • 05:54I exist in two primary roles here at Yale.
  • 05:58One of my jobs is that I'm
  • 06:00a a child psychologist.
  • 06:03Another job is that I'm a brain
  • 06:05scientist or a neuroscientist,
  • 06:06trying to understand the way the
  • 06:08brain is different in children who
  • 06:11experience developmental difficulties
  • 06:12or mental health challenges.
  • 06:14One of the the biggest challenges in
  • 06:17my role as a psychologist working
  • 06:20with children is the very limited
  • 06:23number of tools that we can deploy
  • 06:26to understand and to anticipate
  • 06:28difficulties in children's mental health.
  • 06:31So really the way that I can learn how to
  • 06:34help a child is by by talking with them,
  • 06:38by playing with them.
  • 06:40We work with adults,
  • 06:41of course we can talk with adults.
  • 06:43It's very important for us to talk
  • 06:45with parents or caregivers so we
  • 06:47learn about things that happen
  • 06:48outside of the context of our clinic.
  • 06:50But really when we think about all
  • 06:52of these different strategies,
  • 06:54we're relying upon a a human being's
  • 06:57ability to observe differences in
  • 07:00behavior and then we're putting
  • 07:02a lot of weight making very,
  • 07:04very important decisions based
  • 07:06on these observations.
  • 07:07This really, when you think about it,
  • 07:09the way that we diagnose and treat autism
  • 07:12and related conditions hasn't changed
  • 07:14in the history of autism since the 1940s.
  • 07:19The the challenges are that even among very,
  • 07:22very skilled clinicians like that I'm
  • 07:24fortunate to work with here at Yale,
  • 07:26there's only so much you
  • 07:28can see with your eyes.
  • 07:29There's only so much a parent can see.
  • 07:31And that kind of information doesn't
  • 07:34give you much at all to go on if
  • 07:36you really want to tell the future
  • 07:39or if you want to intervene in
  • 07:41a very nuanced and specific way.
  • 07:44And so some of the work that we do,
  • 07:47you know in the intersection of brain
  • 07:50science and clinical work is to try
  • 07:52to see if whether some of the tools
  • 07:54that we and others have developed to
  • 07:57understand differences in the brain can be,
  • 07:59can be useful in these clinical settings,
  • 08:01can kind of serve as a supplement,
  • 08:04A bolster if you will,
  • 08:06to the clinical insight that
  • 08:08we rely on currently.
  • 08:09If we could do this,
  • 08:11if we could use a biological
  • 08:13tool to inform clinical practice,
  • 08:15we would call that tool a biomarker.
  • 08:18So we apply this in a few different ways.
  • 08:20Now we're actually in the middle
  • 08:22of a very large study.
  • 08:24We've seen 400 children with
  • 08:26autism and without autism between
  • 08:28the ages of 6:00 and 11:00.
  • 08:30We're actually seeing a second group that
  • 08:33will bring our total to 800 children,
  • 08:35which is very large for neuroscience study.
  • 08:37And we're measuring specific things
  • 08:39in the brain that we think are
  • 08:42very relevant to how they perform
  • 08:44socially and to how they'll fare
  • 08:46mental health wise in the world
  • 08:48with these these 6 to 11 year olds.
  • 08:52Unfortunately for 6 to 11 year olds
  • 08:54with autism, about 42% of them will
  • 08:57have clinical levels of anxiety
  • 09:00by the time they're adolescents,
  • 09:0214% will have clinical depression,
  • 09:04which will be more like 30 or
  • 09:0740% by the time they're adults.
  • 09:09And so one of the the,
  • 09:10the ways that we hope to apply
  • 09:13these biomarkers is to understand
  • 09:15and to anticipate these kinds
  • 09:17of difficulties down the line.
  • 09:19I mean we'll hear from my colleagues
  • 09:21some of the really effective clinical
  • 09:23tools they've created to intervene
  • 09:26when these symptoms are manifest.
  • 09:29How wonderful would it be if we could
  • 09:31intervene even before these symptoms are
  • 09:34causing difficulties in a person's life?
  • 09:36I'll talk about one more
  • 09:39application of biomarkers,
  • 09:40and that's actually perhaps using biomarkers
  • 09:42as a treatment target unto themselves.
  • 09:45So when we develop a biomarker,
  • 09:47we therefore have an understanding
  • 09:49of the neural systems that
  • 09:52are involved in a condition.
  • 09:54So for example,
  • 09:55when we develop biomarkers
  • 09:56for depression and autism,
  • 09:58we have a sense of what brain regions
  • 10:00are functioning atypically there.
  • 10:02And we actually now have technologies
  • 10:04where we can change directly the
  • 10:06way those brain systems work.
  • 10:08We can use magnetic forms of
  • 10:12stimulation that illicit,
  • 10:14you know,
  • 10:15that encourage the brain to be
  • 10:16malleable to change that stimulate
  • 10:18under active brain regions.
  • 10:20And this,
  • 10:21this may sound like science fiction,
  • 10:23but it's not.
  • 10:24This technique is actually an FDA
  • 10:26approved treatment for depression.
  • 10:28It's long been established in
  • 10:30adults and actually last week was
  • 10:33approved for use in adolescence.
  • 10:35So we,
  • 10:35we really feel like we're on the
  • 10:38threshold of being able to make
  • 10:40significant advances in both
  • 10:42anticipating and then intervening in
  • 10:44mental health issues for children
  • 10:46and adolescents with autism.
  • 10:48I'll stop there.
  • 10:49Great.
  • 10:51Thank you, Jamie. Thank you so much.
  • 10:52What we'll do is we'll hear from
  • 10:55each person and then please
  • 10:57keep your questions and I'll
  • 10:59be following the chat and then
  • 11:01we'll have questions at the end.
  • 11:02So Emily, please.
  • 11:05So thank you for this opportunity and
  • 11:08it's lovely to get to follow Jamie.
  • 11:11So I am a child psychiatrist
  • 11:14and a genetics researcher.
  • 11:16And my interest in genetics really
  • 11:18stems from my experiences seeing
  • 11:21patients and wanting to understand
  • 11:22why they have a condition and the hope
  • 11:25that if we can better understand the
  • 11:27biology and what's going on that we
  • 11:29can then improve treatments for that.
  • 11:31And so I'm going to start with kind of
  • 11:33a historical perspective and kind of
  • 11:35bring us up to what we're doing right now.
  • 11:37So, you know,
  • 11:38we've known for a long time as clinicians,
  • 11:41as researchers that genetic factors are
  • 11:43important for the development of childhood
  • 11:47onset neuropsychiatric conditions.
  • 11:48And we know this, you know,
  • 11:50from family studies that look at
  • 11:51how these traits run in families.
  • 11:53We know this from twin studies that
  • 11:56compare identical twins who share
  • 11:59100% of their DNA with fraternal
  • 12:02with fraternal twins that share
  • 12:04on average 50% of their DNA.
  • 12:06And these studies have provided us with
  • 12:08what are called heritability estimates.
  • 12:10So this is how much of A trait is
  • 12:13due to inherited genetic factors.
  • 12:16And what we know is that childhood onset
  • 12:18psychiatric conditions are really heritable.
  • 12:21So things like autism that we
  • 12:23just heard about ADHD,
  • 12:24these have heritability estimates of 7080%.
  • 12:27And to me as a genetics researcher,
  • 12:30those are really impressive numbers.
  • 12:32But I think it's also important
  • 12:34to try and contextualize those in
  • 12:35terms of other medical conditions.
  • 12:37So things like coronary artery
  • 12:39disease has a heritability about 50%,
  • 12:41breast cancer is about 30% and
  • 12:45these are conditions where we know
  • 12:46that genetics are already impacting
  • 12:48prognosis and treatment.
  • 12:50And so this makes me hopeful that
  • 12:51if we better understand what are
  • 12:53those specific genetic risk factors
  • 12:55involved in childhood psychiatric
  • 12:57conditions that that could really
  • 12:59inform our clinical care.
  • 13:02But it's really only been recently
  • 13:05with advances in genomic technologies
  • 13:07that we're starting to get a handle on
  • 13:09what are those specific genetic risk
  • 13:12factors and especially kind of genomic
  • 13:14technologies like DNA sequencing and
  • 13:17genome wide arrays that really look
  • 13:19across all the genes in our bodies to
  • 13:21try and understand what are the genes
  • 13:24associated with these conditions.
  • 13:26And specifically in child psychiatry,
  • 13:29one approach that's been really fruitful
  • 13:31for helping us find risk genes is
  • 13:34comparing children to their parents DNA.
  • 13:37So what we call looking at these parent
  • 13:42child trios and this allows us not only
  • 13:44to look at inherited genetic changes
  • 13:46that are associated with conditions,
  • 13:48but also new or de Novo mutations
  • 13:51in the child That and all of us
  • 13:54have some de Novo mutations,
  • 13:56but when they occur within genes,
  • 13:59they can really disrupt the
  • 14:01function of the gene.
  • 14:03And this approach was really
  • 14:05pioneered in the field of autism.
  • 14:07We've already heard a little bit about that,
  • 14:09and they started by just looking at a
  • 14:11few hundred of these parent child trios.
  • 14:14But now they've looked at thousands
  • 14:17of families and they've
  • 14:18found hundreds of different genetic
  • 14:21risk factors, So specific genes that
  • 14:24are strongly associated with autism.
  • 14:26And so now in a group of kids who have
  • 14:29autism, you can find one of these genetic
  • 14:31risk factors in 10 to 20% of kids.
  • 14:34And this is really already informing
  • 14:37clinical care because for families just
  • 14:39understanding why they are child has a
  • 14:42condition can be helpful understanding
  • 14:44recurrence risk in other family members,
  • 14:47certain of these genetic mutations are
  • 14:49associated with medical comorbidities,
  • 14:51things like seizures and cardiac conditions.
  • 14:54And so recently with our work
  • 14:55in the CHILD Study Center,
  • 14:57we've been applying this genetic approach
  • 14:59to try and better understand what are
  • 15:02the genetic factors associated with other
  • 15:05childhood onset psychiatric conditions.
  • 15:07So looking at ADHD,
  • 15:09looking at obsessive compulsive disorder,
  • 15:12looking at anxiety,
  • 15:13we'll hear a little bit from Ellie
  • 15:15later and that's a we've been doing a
  • 15:18collaboration with his group as well.
  • 15:20And our work is showing that these
  • 15:22conditions also have an increased rate
  • 15:25of these new de Novo mutations and
  • 15:27that we can then use that approach
  • 15:30to try and find new risk genes
  • 15:32associated with these disorders.
  • 15:33So I'm going to wrap up now,
  • 15:35but I guess,
  • 15:36you know,
  • 15:36my hope is that as we learn more
  • 15:39about the genetics of these conditions
  • 15:41that this will help us not only
  • 15:44understand the biology but also
  • 15:46inform our treatments and really
  • 15:48help us care for these children
  • 15:49who are continuing to struggle,
  • 15:51right,
  • 15:51that we're seeing in the clinic
  • 15:52despite kind of our available
  • 15:54interventions right now.
  • 15:55So thank you so much for your time.
  • 15:59Thank you so much. Emily.
  • 16:01Julie, might I turn to you.
  • 16:03Yeah, hi everyone.
  • 16:04Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
  • 16:07So we've been hearing from my colleagues
  • 16:09about some of the exciting and ground
  • 16:11breaking science that's being done at
  • 16:13our center in the field of neurodevelopment.
  • 16:15I'm going to shift gears a little bit
  • 16:17and talk a little bit more about the
  • 16:19clinical side of our research and in
  • 16:21particular how participation and our
  • 16:23research can really benefit the families
  • 16:25that that choose to volunteer their time.
  • 16:28And I'll illustrate this through a case
  • 16:30presentation of a boy who I'll call Aiden.
  • 16:32So I first met Aiden in our
  • 16:35developmental disabilities clinic
  • 16:36when he was five years old,
  • 16:38and he came in with an existing
  • 16:39autism diagnosis, but he'd never had
  • 16:41a comprehensive evaluation before.
  • 16:43And so we saw him as part of a
  • 16:45multidisciplinary team to take
  • 16:47a look at how he was doing.
  • 16:49And Aiden was a adorable,
  • 16:52very chatty little guy,
  • 16:54talked our ears off.
  • 16:55But he really struggled with social
  • 16:57reciprocity in the way that we expect
  • 16:59to see in a child on the spectrum.
  • 17:02And in particular,
  • 17:02he tended to get really stuck
  • 17:04on preferred topics,
  • 17:05had difficulty sort of shifting
  • 17:08topics and he also really struggled
  • 17:11to follow another person's agenda.
  • 17:13So he's very self-directed,
  • 17:13kind of wanted to do his own thing
  • 17:16and didn't really have that social
  • 17:17reciprocity understanding of how
  • 17:19you have to kind of give and take a
  • 17:20little bit in social interactions.
  • 17:23And what happened is that this
  • 17:25this tendency really impacted
  • 17:27his test performance.
  • 17:28So I did a cognitive measure with him,
  • 17:31an IQ test and his score came out in the
  • 17:33range of intellectual disability at a 64,
  • 17:36which is you know,
  • 17:38much lower than we expect to
  • 17:39see for a child of his age.
  • 17:41But our entire team really felt
  • 17:43like this was an underestimate
  • 17:45because he was so self-directed.
  • 17:47So for as an as an example,
  • 17:49when I asked him to build with blocks,
  • 17:51you know,
  • 17:52I would have a target please
  • 17:53try to make this design.
  • 17:54He would say no thanks,
  • 17:56I'm going to build a house, right.
  • 17:57So he was really following his own
  • 17:59agenda and really struggled and as a
  • 18:02result that really affected his performance.
  • 18:03And so our team gave the family the
  • 18:06feedback that you know we're really
  • 18:08not sure that this is accurate and it
  • 18:10would be really great if you could kind
  • 18:12of monitor his development over time.
  • 18:14Well,
  • 18:14of course clinical evaluations can be
  • 18:16cost prohibitive for a lot of families.
  • 18:18Even with insurance coverage,
  • 18:20there's a often a pretty significant
  • 18:22out of pocket expense.
  • 18:23And this is where the benefits of
  • 18:25research really came in for this
  • 18:27family is because our research studies,
  • 18:29at least in the autism program
  • 18:31all include a no cost clinical
  • 18:33evaluation with a psychologist.
  • 18:34And so participating in our studies
  • 18:38gave this family an opportunity
  • 18:40to really obtain updates on
  • 18:42their son's progress over time.
  • 18:44So I saw him again about seven
  • 18:45months later when
  • 18:46he came in for a study
  • 18:48in Doctor Ventola's lab.
  • 18:50He continued to be pretty self-directed,
  • 18:52but I started to see a little bit of emerging
  • 18:55flexibility I think as a result of some
  • 18:57of the interventions that had been put in
  • 18:59place following our initial evaluation.
  • 19:01So for example, when I said,
  • 19:03you know it's my turn to show
  • 19:04you what to do with the blocks,
  • 19:05instead of resisting, he kind of self
  • 19:07talked through it and said it's OK,
  • 19:09I can't wait for it to be my turn again.
  • 19:11So there's a little bit more flexibility
  • 19:15there and this increased flexibility
  • 19:16was really evident in his test scores.
  • 19:18So his IQ where it was a 64 before just
  • 19:21seven months later came out at an 88,
  • 19:24which is in the low average range and that's
  • 19:26a huge jump to see in just seven months.
  • 19:28Now clearly we don't think that he actually
  • 19:31gained 24 IQ points in seven months,
  • 19:33but that this was really a reflection of his
  • 19:36improved social communication and ability
  • 19:38to follow or engage in adult LED activities.
  • 19:41And then I saw him one last time at the
  • 19:43age of seven when he participated in one
  • 19:45of the studies that Doctor Mcpartland
  • 19:47was just talking about in his lab.
  • 19:50And he again,
  • 19:51having now also completed Doctor Ventola's
  • 19:55Social Communication Intervention Study,
  • 19:57I saw even more improvements in his
  • 20:00flexibility and social reciprocity,
  • 20:02and that's reflected again in his
  • 20:04test scores.
  • 20:05He now came out with an IQ of 108,
  • 20:07so solidly in the average range.
  • 20:09And this was really much more on
  • 20:11par with our team's initial clinical
  • 20:14impressions that this was a boy
  • 20:16who probably was average cognitive
  • 20:17ability in the in from the get go,
  • 20:20but just didn't have those social
  • 20:22communication skills to be able
  • 20:24to demonstrate his abilities.
  • 20:25So it was really exciting to see
  • 20:28this progress over time to get
  • 20:30to follow this youngster.
  • 20:32And I think that this case really
  • 20:35highlights the benefits of our
  • 20:37research program for families.
  • 20:38We were able to follow his
  • 20:40trajectory at no cost to the family,
  • 20:41which might not have been possible for
  • 20:43them given their resources if they were
  • 20:46pursuing purely clinical evaluation.
  • 20:47And as a result of this updated
  • 20:50knowledge about his trajectory,
  • 20:52we were able to kind of make
  • 20:55developmentally appropriate
  • 20:56recommendations for continued supports
  • 20:57and interventions for their child.
  • 20:59So I will stop there.
  • 21:01Thank you.
  • 21:03Thanks so much, Julie,
  • 21:04and thank you for making it come
  • 21:06to life with this story too.
  • 21:08Thank you, Dennis.
  • 21:10And I turn to you. Thank
  • 21:13you. It's a pleasure to
  • 21:14be part of this panel.
  • 21:16I'm a clinical psychologist by training
  • 21:19and professor in the El Child Study Center.
  • 21:22My lab conducts research on challenging
  • 21:25emotions in children and adolescents,
  • 21:28and this includes experiences such
  • 21:30as being easily frustrated and
  • 21:33behaviours such as anger outbursts,
  • 21:35meltdowns and temper tantrums.
  • 21:37On one hand, this experiences and behaviours
  • 21:41are part of life and typical development.
  • 21:44On the other hand,
  • 21:46if outbursts become too frequent,
  • 21:48too intense, or pose risk of
  • 21:50injury to the child or to others,
  • 21:53this could represent a symptom
  • 21:55of a mental health disorder.
  • 21:57Some psychiatric disorders are diagnosed
  • 21:59based on the presence and severity of
  • 22:02anger outbursts as the primary concern,
  • 22:04and this include oppositional
  • 22:06defined disorder and disruptive
  • 22:08mood dysregulation disorder.
  • 22:10Other childhood disorders,
  • 22:11such as ADHD, anxiety,
  • 22:13and depression and autism often
  • 22:16include frequent and impair and anger
  • 22:19outbursts as an associated feature.
  • 22:22During the past 10 years,
  • 22:24this tendency to become easily frustrated
  • 22:27and express anger and developmental
  • 22:29inappropriate ways has been referred
  • 22:33to as pediatric irritability.
  • 22:35So my lab investigates different
  • 22:38forms of psychotherapy that can be
  • 22:41helpful for reducing irritability.
  • 22:44For younger children,
  • 22:46family therapy or parenting interventions
  • 22:48can be particularly effective.
  • 22:51During this type of therapy,
  • 22:52parents learn how to best anticipate
  • 22:55and understand their child's
  • 22:57experiences or being upset,
  • 22:59frustrated,
  • 23:00and how to provide guidance when
  • 23:04navigating potentially frustration
  • 23:06situations in a common way.
  • 23:08This includes strategies
  • 23:09such as validating emotions,
  • 23:11identifying alternative,
  • 23:12more appropriate course of actions.
  • 23:15This is something that we refer
  • 23:17to as positive opposites and
  • 23:20providing consistent praise and
  • 23:22appreciation when the child
  • 23:24demonstrates appropriate behavior
  • 23:27in potentially frustrating situations.
  • 23:30Starting from 8 years of age,
  • 23:32children are also likely to
  • 23:34benefit from cognitive behavioral
  • 23:36therapy for irritability,
  • 23:37and this is a form of psychotherapy
  • 23:40that teaches emotion regulation
  • 23:41and problem solving skills that are
  • 23:44practiced in therapy and then between
  • 23:47sessions to address potentially
  • 23:50anger producing situations.
  • 23:52Specific skills may include appropriate
  • 23:54verbal responses to peer provocation
  • 23:57and collaborative problem solving
  • 23:59of disagreements with parents about
  • 24:02rules and expectations at home.
  • 24:04Social perspective taken is also another
  • 24:06skill that is stored during cognitive
  • 24:09behavioral therapy for irritability,
  • 24:11and it refers to recognizing emotions
  • 24:13and motivations of other people who
  • 24:16are involved in a conflict situation.
  • 24:20In addition to developing
  • 24:22behavioral intervention in,
  • 24:23my lab is also testing if clinical
  • 24:26improvements can be parallel by
  • 24:28changes in the brain mechanisms
  • 24:31or biomarkers of irritability.
  • 24:34And to this end,
  • 24:35we discovered a number of structural
  • 24:38and functional differences in
  • 24:40prefrontal cortex of children
  • 24:42seeking treatment for irritability.
  • 24:45This includes reduced thickness of
  • 24:48ventral lateral prefrontal cortex and
  • 24:51reduced connectivity of prefrontal
  • 24:53cortex with the rest of the brain.
  • 24:57We're also testing if the effects of
  • 25:01multiple occurring disorders influence
  • 25:03the brain systems implicated in
  • 25:06irritability and aggressive behaviour.
  • 25:08So, for example,
  • 25:09we found that the presence of social
  • 25:12impairment such as difficulty
  • 25:14understanding social situations is
  • 25:17mediating the association of anygdala
  • 25:20connectivity with ventralateral
  • 25:22prefrontal cortex and known by a
  • 25:25marker of emotion dysregulation.
  • 25:27So this knowledge about brain structure,
  • 25:29function and development is guiding our
  • 25:32search for biomarkers and newer predictors,
  • 25:35or psychotherapy for emotion dysregulation.
  • 25:39Even best evidence,
  • 25:42evidence based interventions are only
  • 25:44helpful for about 60 to 65% of participants.
  • 25:47So we're all hope that finding by
  • 25:50markers of effective psychotherapy
  • 25:52will help us identify who is
  • 25:56likely to benefit and develop new
  • 25:59treatments for children who are not
  • 26:02benefiting from existing treatments.
  • 26:03So currently we're developing and
  • 26:06testing new psychosocial interventions
  • 26:08for patient populations where effective
  • 26:11treatments are not yet available.
  • 26:13We are conducting A clinical
  • 26:15trial of comprehensive therapy
  • 26:17for irritability in adolescence
  • 26:19with Otis and spectrum disorders.
  • 26:21So this is a fairly narrowly
  • 26:24defined population in terms of
  • 26:27age and symptoms severity,
  • 26:29but a group that really doesn't have
  • 26:34much by ways of research or clinical
  • 26:37services for anger outbursts and
  • 26:39irritability that can be really
  • 26:42impaired for these children.
  • 26:44And the long term goal of our clinical
  • 26:47research is to identify evidence
  • 26:50based treatments that engage brain
  • 26:52mechanisms of psychopathology,
  • 26:54reduce symptoms,
  • 26:55severity and most importantly,
  • 26:58optimize quality of life of
  • 27:01children and their parents.
  • 27:04Thank you,
  • 27:05Dennis. Thank you very much.
  • 27:06And there is a real relationship
  • 27:09between irritability and anxiety and.
  • 27:11And anxiety. Yes. Yeah.
  • 27:14Let me turn to Ellie.
  • 27:17Well, thank you very much.
  • 27:19I'm Ellie Leibowitz.
  • 27:20And I have to say just this past
  • 27:24half hour really captures why I
  • 27:29love my job and working at a place
  • 27:33like the child study center and
  • 27:36why I feel so fortunate to be you
  • 27:39know this this is my my day-to-day
  • 27:41of people listening to this call.
  • 27:43Maybe they're you know have like
  • 27:45a here's a chance to listen this
  • 27:47is my day-to-day of you know
  • 27:49just be working with these folks.
  • 27:50And so it it's such an honor and
  • 27:53and a real joy and my focus is on
  • 28:00anxiety which even as I like to say
  • 28:04even in the best of times is the
  • 28:07most common mental health problem in
  • 28:10children really throughout the lifespan.
  • 28:13And the reality is that we haven't
  • 28:17been living through the very best of
  • 28:19times and there are so many stressors
  • 28:22kids you know are coping with over the,
  • 28:25you know, recent years and we've
  • 28:27seen so much escalation,
  • 28:28so much real surges in the
  • 28:33prevalence of anxiety disorders
  • 28:35and elevated anxiety overall.
  • 28:37And so it's a really important
  • 28:39field to be to be thinking about.
  • 28:41I know that so many parents are concerned
  • 28:44about anxiety in their in their kids.
  • 28:47And one thing that has been really
  • 28:50exciting for me is to be part of a
  • 28:53rethinking of the way that we understand
  • 28:56and think about anxiety in children.
  • 28:59Because historically,
  • 29:01anxiety in children was understood
  • 29:05essentially as the same thing as
  • 29:07anxiety in adults in a smaller package,
  • 29:11but basically the same problem And
  • 29:14treatment was also geared toward that,
  • 29:17toward that understanding.
  • 29:20But one thing that has really
  • 29:22become more and more a focus for
  • 29:25our field in this area of anxiety
  • 29:27is the acknowledgement of the fact
  • 29:29that actually anxiety doesn't work
  • 29:31quite the same way in children.
  • 29:33And one reason for that is that
  • 29:36children are born not really very good
  • 29:39at defending themselves from threats.
  • 29:41And so we're kind of evolutionarily
  • 29:44programmed when we're anxious
  • 29:46and young and immature,
  • 29:47and this is true across mammalian life,
  • 29:49we're really programmed to look
  • 29:51to our parents, our caregivers,
  • 29:52to look to them for help when
  • 29:54we're feeling anxious.
  • 29:56And that means that when a young
  • 29:58person struggles with chronic anxiety,
  • 30:00their parents tend to struggle as well,
  • 30:03and to get really sucked in to
  • 30:06responding to that child's anxiety.
  • 30:08And parents of anxious kids face endless
  • 30:11dilemmas about how should I best respond?
  • 30:13You know,
  • 30:14when is it right to push?
  • 30:15When is it right not to?
  • 30:16How much should I reassure?
  • 30:18And they find themselves doing a lot
  • 30:20of accommodations of their child's anxiety,
  • 30:23meaning changing their own behavior in
  • 30:24order to help their child not feel anxious.
  • 30:27And that's really well-intentioned,
  • 30:29but a lot of research actually
  • 30:31shows that it doesn't necessarily
  • 30:32reduce anxiety over time.
  • 30:34And so one implication of this,
  • 30:36one really important translation
  • 30:38of this has been into an entirely
  • 30:40parent based treatment that
  • 30:42we developed right here at
  • 30:43the Child Study Center and that is
  • 30:46now really widely disseminated around
  • 30:47country or around the the world.
  • 30:50And it focuses on helping parents
  • 30:52to change how they are responding
  • 30:55to their child's anxiety in order
  • 30:58to help that child to cope better.
  • 31:01And another really important benefit
  • 31:03of that is that if you have an
  • 31:05anxious child who is not themselves
  • 31:07an ideal candidate for treatment,
  • 31:09well parents are actually able to
  • 31:11do that treatment even then and
  • 31:13still help the child to get better.
  • 31:15And going back to what I really
  • 31:16started with about, you know,
  • 31:17really the the joys of working here,
  • 31:19some of that is the collaborations that
  • 31:21we've been able to form in this context.
  • 31:24Emily mentioned the work that we've
  • 31:26done together in in in genetics.
  • 31:29I also work with collaborators who are
  • 31:31collaborators who are really brilliant
  • 31:33neuroscientists like Dilly G in psychology.
  • 31:36And we did some really interesting research.
  • 31:38And what we showed is that when
  • 31:40parents are able to follow this
  • 31:42treatment and change how they're
  • 31:44responding to their anxious child,
  • 31:46cut back on some of those accommodations,
  • 31:48build the child's own confidence in coping,
  • 31:51you actually see really significant changes
  • 31:54in that child's brain response to fear.
  • 31:58So that before the treatment children
  • 32:01tend to really struggle with engaging
  • 32:04anxious children at least really struggle
  • 32:07to engage their regulatory circuitry.
  • 32:09You know those parts of their
  • 32:10brains that are going to be crucial
  • 32:12in turning off the anxiety ones,
  • 32:13it is triggered and following the treatment.
  • 32:17We see a really big increase in
  • 32:18that so that children are just
  • 32:20engaging those regulatory regions
  • 32:22in a much more powerful way.
  • 32:24I think that's an incredible take
  • 32:25home message for any parent.
  • 32:27It's like you can change how
  • 32:29you're responding to your anxious
  • 32:30child and not only do you see them
  • 32:32getting less and less anxious,
  • 32:34you're actually changing how
  • 32:36their brain processes fear.
  • 32:38That's I think a really hopeful message.
  • 32:42And I'm sure lots of you listening have
  • 32:45a lot of questions from everything that
  • 32:48you've from everything that you've heard,
  • 32:50starting with Jamie and and and Julie
  • 32:52and Emily and Dennis and myself.
  • 32:55And so we're happy to do our best to,
  • 32:58you know,
  • 32:59answer whatever questions there might be.
  • 33:00Thank you so much,
  • 33:05Linda. I think you're muted.
  • 33:08Thank you. Thank you.
  • 33:09After so many years on Zoom,
  • 33:10I remember that never goes away and
  • 33:13I never heard that there's a number
  • 33:15of there's a couple of questions
  • 33:17on in the question and answer that
  • 33:19that may just start with and Emily,
  • 33:21I think maybe both of these
  • 33:23might be good for you.
  • 33:25First one is how early the
  • 33:27earliest age can you compare
  • 33:29children to their parents DNA.
  • 33:30That's one.
  • 33:31And then the second is how accurate
  • 33:34is QB testing in the diagnosis
  • 33:37of ADHD in teens And there's some
  • 33:39question about the Vanderbilt tool.
  • 33:41So I know that ADHD is one of your
  • 33:44your areas of interest as well.
  • 33:46So may I turn both of those to you?
  • 33:50I will. I will do my best, but I have,
  • 33:52I think there's other expertise here
  • 33:54as well in the group on on this.
  • 33:56So in terms of specific DNA testing,
  • 34:01so clinical testing usually right
  • 34:05now is restricted to as I as I
  • 34:08discussed in my talk really autism.
  • 34:10We we know the most about the
  • 34:13genetics and most of the governing
  • 34:15bodies kind of suggest that if a
  • 34:18child has a diagnosis of autism
  • 34:21that they should have a chromosomal
  • 34:24microarray which looks at these larger
  • 34:27copy number variants and that they
  • 34:29should have Fragile X texting and if
  • 34:35and and as well as kind of a few
  • 34:38other specific tests but the but the
  • 34:41and then if nothing is found on those
  • 34:44tests then they often kind of maybe
  • 34:46we'll consider DNA sequencing really
  • 34:48looking at all the bases in the body.
  • 34:51And I will say you know those
  • 34:54recommendations have been here for a
  • 34:56while and I think the field is actually
  • 34:58moving faster like we're discovering
  • 35:01more and more genetic changes.
  • 35:02And so I my sense is in the future it
  • 35:05will shift to kind of DNA sequencing
  • 35:07coming earlier on in the algorithm as we
  • 35:10know more of the genes involved and the
  • 35:13clinical implications are more clear.
  • 35:15And I I think also the other
  • 35:17thing about this is you know the
  • 35:18cost is dramatically declining.
  • 35:19I didn't talk about this,
  • 35:21but you know often in these genetics
  • 35:23talks when they're slides you see that
  • 35:25classic kind of curve of how the cost of
  • 35:29DNA sequencing has dramatically dropped
  • 35:33and and so now you know it's only a few
  • 35:37$100 to sequence your DNA which compared
  • 35:40to like a brain MRI is really cheap.
  • 35:43So, so it's it's I I think it
  • 35:45is something that will become
  • 35:47part of more in clinical care.
  • 35:50But I I wanted to say that I don't
  • 35:52think there's a limit on the age
  • 35:55definitely for research studies,
  • 35:56not necessarily We tend to in our research
  • 35:59studies see kids above a certain age
  • 36:01when we do it just because they have to
  • 36:03have kind of had the diagnosis already.
  • 36:05And usually kids, you know,
  • 36:07there's can be a delay in terms of
  • 36:09when they received these diagnosis,
  • 36:11but I don't think there's a limit.
  • 36:12And the thing about looking
  • 36:14at your DNA is your DNA,
  • 36:17it doesn't really change that much, right.
  • 36:19Like you have that test done and it's kind
  • 36:21of those are your genetic changes throughout.
  • 36:24Yeah.
  • 36:24I mean, you acquire some mutations, right,
  • 36:26like cancers and acquired mutations,
  • 36:28but you know, your DNA is your DNA.
  • 36:31So it's kind of one of those
  • 36:33tests you only do once and you
  • 36:36can reanalyze it as we know more.
  • 36:39So anyways,
  • 36:40so those are some thoughts,
  • 36:41but others please feel free to add on
  • 36:45to that as well 'cause we have a lot
  • 36:47of the autism experts on the call,
  • 36:49if they may have different thoughts.
  • 36:51The other question about ADHD testing,
  • 36:55so I'm not I wouldn't say I'm in,
  • 36:58I do do research on ADHD,
  • 36:59but I think probably some of the
  • 37:01groups that other the psychologists
  • 37:03on the group may be able to answer in
  • 37:06terms of the validity of these tests.
  • 37:08I will say classically when we diagnose ADHD,
  • 37:12we do kind of look at multiple assessments,
  • 37:15right.
  • 37:16So if you're doing it based on
  • 37:19kind of self report,
  • 37:21which is what the Vanderbilt is or
  • 37:23the SNAP or something like that,
  • 37:24you know, we give screeners,
  • 37:27we have the parents complete them,
  • 37:29we compare them to the teachers
  • 37:30because we want to see that they're
  • 37:33having kind of clinically significant
  • 37:35symptoms in multiple settings.
  • 37:37They do kind of work differently
  • 37:39a bit in teens.
  • 37:40Like if you look at the questions,
  • 37:41some of the screeners are a
  • 37:43little better for some age groups
  • 37:46compared to other age groups,
  • 37:48but but there also are.
  • 37:50So that's kind of the self report testing
  • 37:52that often like pediatricians will give out,
  • 37:54they'll give out Vanderbilts
  • 37:56like at an appointment,
  • 37:57but then there also are kind of
  • 38:00more formal kind of clinician
  • 38:02administered assessments,
  • 38:03so things like the Connors and
  • 38:05stuff like that which can be a
  • 38:08little more specific as well.
  • 38:12Does anyone want to add any thoughts to
  • 38:13these? I know we have a lot of people who
  • 38:15do these types of assessments as well.
  • 38:18Any other thoughts? I'm
  • 38:21happy to add. Specifically I wasn't
  • 38:23familiar with the the QB test.
  • 38:25I just looked at it online and
  • 38:27it actually it's you know it's a
  • 38:30proprietary version of of a test
  • 38:32that psychologists or and and others
  • 38:34use really to evaluate symptoms of
  • 38:36ADD to the test that requires you to
  • 38:39continuously maintain attention and and
  • 38:40sees how good you are at you are at.
  • 38:42So that in principle it's it's
  • 38:45a valid approach.
  • 38:46I think the problem with anything like
  • 38:48that is that your attention can be
  • 38:51disrupted because you're anxious that day.
  • 38:53You're depressed because you
  • 38:55have autism many.
  • 38:57And so that that style of approach is valid.
  • 39:01But you would want to pursue it
  • 39:03in the context of a relationship
  • 39:05with a clinician who can think in
  • 39:08a careful way about not just your
  • 39:10performance on the test today,
  • 39:12but your history and then all the
  • 39:14other different kinds of diagnosis
  • 39:16that could be ruled in or ruled out.
  • 39:22I think another question comes up
  • 39:24that actually may apply to to everyone
  • 39:26and to is to ask how can people
  • 39:29in the community, our community,
  • 39:32our health system community more more
  • 39:34broadly and help make advances in the
  • 39:37areas that you've been talking about?
  • 39:39Do you have any of you have
  • 39:40thoughts about that?
  • 39:41Well, Jamie in particular,
  • 39:44Oh my gosh, do I have thoughts about that?
  • 39:46Yes, we have the we have a really
  • 39:49strange job in that we our whole
  • 39:52purpose is to learn about these
  • 39:54conditions that affect children.
  • 39:56But we can't make any progress at all
  • 39:59without the collaboration and partnership
  • 40:01with those children and their families.
  • 40:05Every person that you heard speak
  • 40:07today can't do their work unless a
  • 40:10family decides it is worth their
  • 40:12while to get in the car to come to the
  • 40:15Child Study Center to meet with us.
  • 40:18Whether it's for a clinical appointment
  • 40:19or whether to come to one of our
  • 40:21research facilities and participate
  • 40:22in the study so that, you know,
  • 40:24I'm so glad that Doctor Wolf talked
  • 40:26about the way that research can benefit
  • 40:29participants from a clinical perspective.
  • 40:32You're also benefiting everyone else
  • 40:34in your shoes forever down the line.
  • 40:38And so really it is,
  • 40:40it is an important,
  • 40:41it can be beneficial to you on that day,
  • 40:45it can be beneficial to you and
  • 40:46your child down the road and
  • 40:48it can be beneficial to earth.
  • 40:50And so it is a families are hugely important
  • 40:53and can help us forward in that way.
  • 40:58So here's here's some other
  • 40:59questions that have come forward
  • 41:01in the question and answer.
  • 41:02Then I think I'll pose this next
  • 41:04one broadly again to the group Can
  • 41:07spirituality help with interventions
  • 41:08and growth for children's for children,
  • 41:12Anyone want to start with that?
  • 41:19And I can say it's not my area of expertise,
  • 41:21but we definitely think about spirituality
  • 41:24as a protective factor for kids.
  • 41:27You know if they if that's an
  • 41:29important part of their life.
  • 41:31In fact even you know if we
  • 41:32conduct a risk assessment,
  • 41:33if we have concerns about,
  • 41:34you know, child harming themselves,
  • 41:35one of the questions we ask about is
  • 41:38spirituality and whether that is something,
  • 41:40you know, that's important to them.
  • 41:41And and if so,
  • 41:42we see that as a positive,
  • 41:43as something that would be sort
  • 41:45of protective against them wanting
  • 41:47to bring harm to themselves.
  • 41:48So it's definitely a relevant
  • 41:50factor that we think about.
  • 41:53Maybe I could, I would just add IA 100%
  • 41:56agree spirituality is a protective factor
  • 41:59and it it can be a really important one.
  • 42:02But it is also important to remember that
  • 42:06spirituality is not the forceful imposition
  • 42:10of a particular attitude on a child.
  • 42:14It is the, you know it Sometimes it's it's
  • 42:18hard to distinguish between your spirituality
  • 42:21as a parent and how your child feels.
  • 42:26And I think the things that provide
  • 42:28the that protective element,
  • 42:30that build that resilient, you know,
  • 42:33they're the shared factors.
  • 42:34They're things like the
  • 42:35the sense of community,
  • 42:37the sense of purpose in life,
  • 42:39the sense of love and belonging.
  • 42:42These are the elements that end up providing
  • 42:46that really important protective factor.
  • 42:49So just I guess what I'm saying is
  • 42:52important to remember the distinction
  • 42:54between spirituality and the and the
  • 42:56sense that it provides and any specific
  • 42:59or particular attitude or approach or,
  • 43:01you know, thought system.
  • 43:04Thank you, Allie. Anyone else?
  • 43:10Molly, another question has come
  • 43:12across in the question and answers
  • 43:14about our holding parent workshops
  • 43:16for parenting an anxious child.
  • 43:18I thought that might be for you. Yes.
  • 43:21Well stay tuned is the is the best answer I
  • 43:26can give right now because actually yeah,
  • 43:29we are planning to have current workshop.
  • 43:33We have done events with many parents.
  • 43:36We have had an annual anxiety forum that
  • 43:39was typically live in person and then
  • 43:42also was done over zoom because of COVID.
  • 43:45But we're we're planning to have a
  • 43:48parent specific sort of mini workshop and
  • 43:50we're ironing out some of the details.
  • 43:52So I guess I would say stay tuned for
  • 43:54that and more information to follow.
  • 43:57But in the meantime, without the workshop,
  • 43:59if people want to kind of learn a
  • 44:01little bit more about the parenting
  • 44:03approaches that I was referring to
  • 44:05and if that's why they're asking,
  • 44:08I would point to some other resources.
  • 44:09Like there's a website that focuses
  • 44:12on the treatment that I mentioned and
  • 44:15the website isspacetreatment.net and
  • 44:17there's a book that really lays it out
  • 44:19in a very parent friendly kind of way,
  • 44:21which is called If you'll forgive
  • 44:22the self plug,
  • 44:23because I am the author of the of the
  • 44:26book and make $0.05 every time you buy it.
  • 44:28So I I'll acknowledge that,
  • 44:30but the book is called Breaking
  • 44:33Free of Child Anxiety and OCD.
  • 44:36And so until you tool work is worth
  • 44:40coming for the parent workshop,
  • 44:41those are other ways to gain
  • 44:43more information about it.
  • 44:46Thank you. Another question,
  • 44:47which I actually would just
  • 44:49put to the whole group.
  • 44:52When will a child's brain
  • 44:55fully finish to develop?
  • 44:56And is there any point in that
  • 44:59development where things like
  • 45:00anxiety or depression or any of
  • 45:03the things that we're talking about
  • 45:05will change as the brain develops,
  • 45:10certain systems develop?
  • 45:11May I bring that to the group?
  • 45:17So I I can probably start by
  • 45:22expressing my hope that the
  • 45:24brain doesn't stop the device
  • 45:26that doesn't start to develop,
  • 45:28that it continues to
  • 45:29develop through a lifetime.
  • 45:31And there are certainly developmental
  • 45:33periods that provide windows of
  • 45:36opportunity to give children the tools of
  • 45:41emotion regulation or social emergencies.
  • 45:44That can change the transition of
  • 45:49symptom development from chronic
  • 45:51anxiety to time limited anxiety where
  • 45:54a child can outgrow a particular
  • 45:57emotional disorder such as anxiety,
  • 46:00depression or temper tantrum.
  • 46:02So that in my area we actually see that
  • 46:06the majority of children outgrow anger
  • 46:09management difficulties so that we're
  • 46:11trying to see how to help those who
  • 46:14tend to stay on a chronic trajectory
  • 46:20miss others other responses.
  • 46:24I I would agree with what Jenna said.
  • 46:26I think, I'm not sure what
  • 46:27is behind the question,
  • 46:28but I I guess I would just say for
  • 46:30anxiety and for depression, yeah,
  • 46:32these things can change as the brain matures,
  • 46:36but everything we know about these
  • 46:39problems suggests you should not be
  • 46:42waiting for a child to outgrow them.
  • 46:45And I I don't know that that is like
  • 46:47part of the thinking in the question.
  • 46:48But if it is, it would not be my advice
  • 46:51to wait for a child's brain to kind of
  • 46:53mature out of anxiety and depression.
  • 46:55These problems untreated actually
  • 46:57tend to be quite chronic,
  • 46:59lasting well into adulthood,
  • 47:01even if they start in childhood.
  • 47:05And I think a much better suggestion
  • 47:08would be to treat it and treat it soon
  • 47:11because they are treatable problems,
  • 47:13but they don't actually tend to
  • 47:15all that frequently just kind
  • 47:17of go away on on their own,
  • 47:18even as the brain does develop
  • 47:20and some changes might occur.
  • 47:24And I think the one thing that
  • 47:25I would also add is one of the
  • 47:28very exciting things about our
  • 47:29field is we used to have this,
  • 47:31this notion that brain development,
  • 47:33by the time you got to a certain
  • 47:35age and adolescence was done,
  • 47:37what we realized is the brain is an
  • 47:40extraordinary dynamic organ and is changing,
  • 47:42developing throughout the lifespan,
  • 47:44even in old age, which is one of
  • 47:47the reasons now we know that with
  • 47:49strokes that the quicker we intervene,
  • 47:52the more likely for recovery because
  • 47:54the brain is repairing itself.
  • 47:56So we think a lot about periods of what
  • 47:59we call plasticity or openness to change,
  • 48:02but we know that the brain is really
  • 48:05changing tremendously throughout and very
  • 48:08open to input from environment experience.
  • 48:13Let's see,
  • 48:14there's some other questions here.
  • 48:17Are there clinical, are there clinical
  • 48:20differences in treatment when it is
  • 48:21a child has a mental health diagnosis
  • 48:24due to a traumatic brain injury?
  • 48:27Anyone want to start with that?
  • 48:35I mean, yes, I think that it's going to it.
  • 48:38Traumatic brain injury can mean many
  • 48:40different things, but I mean it means
  • 48:43that the in a generic way it means the
  • 48:46brain isn't going to be working as
  • 48:48you would expect it to and how that
  • 48:50can look and can be in different ways.
  • 48:52So individually, you might treat anxiety or
  • 48:55irritability using the same kinds of tools,
  • 48:58for example, that Ellie and Dennis described.
  • 49:01But you'd also really want to be aware of
  • 49:03many of the different kinds of learning,
  • 49:06sensory, perceptual differences that
  • 49:07might be at play in a person who's
  • 49:10experienced traumatic brain injury.
  • 49:12Because, you know, most of the most of
  • 49:14the therapies that we heard are about are
  • 49:16about teaching in one form or another.
  • 49:18And so those children are going
  • 49:20to learn very differently.
  • 49:21But it's a, it's a complicated question.
  • 49:23But yeah, there's in fact, in fact,
  • 49:25even if you don't have TBI,
  • 49:27any person with a different kind
  • 49:29of learning profile is going to
  • 49:30experience some nuance in the way
  • 49:31they're going to respond to him,
  • 49:32you know, and best be taught these
  • 49:34different kinds of therapies.
  • 49:35So that's an extreme example.
  • 49:37But yes,
  • 49:39more thoughtful and nuanced
  • 49:40approaches would need to be applied.
  • 49:42And what in that circumstance,
  • 49:43what you probably want to do is have
  • 49:45what's called the neuropsychological
  • 49:47assessment so that you have a really
  • 49:49deep understanding of what kinds
  • 49:51of cognitive systems are intact and
  • 49:53which have been affected in a in
  • 49:55a detrimental way by the injury.
  • 49:59Thank you. Anyone else on that question,
  • 50:04I
  • 50:07want to pick up another question that I
  • 50:09can certainly start with a response to,
  • 50:12but then I'll turn to my colleagues as well.
  • 50:15One of the questions is,
  • 50:17are barriers being addressed
  • 50:18for families to be able to
  • 50:20participate in accessing treatment.
  • 50:22And the person asking the question
  • 50:25raises something that keeps us up at
  • 50:27night all the time and that is that
  • 50:29families face difficulty in getting
  • 50:31access to mental health treatments.
  • 50:33And that is absolutely true.
  • 50:36And and I'm not being light when
  • 50:38saying that it actually is one of the
  • 50:41things that worries us a great deal
  • 50:43and that we're trying to work on.
  • 50:45Indeed it is.
  • 50:46It is true across the country that
  • 50:50among the many children who need care,
  • 50:53mental health care,
  • 50:5580% of those children won't have access.
  • 50:58So access is not just a local issue,
  • 51:00it is a national issue,
  • 51:02indeed an international 1.
  • 51:03So I can say First off,
  • 51:06we would be if you have a if you have,
  • 51:08you say that the questioner says they
  • 51:10found it really difficult to provide.
  • 51:12Find a provider. I'd be glad.
  • 51:14I'd be glad to talk to you.
  • 51:17We'd be glad to try to help to connect you.
  • 51:20The other piece I would say is that
  • 51:21some of the things that we're doing
  • 51:23and then I'll turn to my colleagues is
  • 51:25that for example we're Co locating or
  • 51:28embedding mental health clinicians,
  • 51:30psychologists and pediatricians practices
  • 51:33in our Pediatrics subspecialty services.
  • 51:37We have a new grant from the state to help
  • 51:39us do that in community pediatric practice.
  • 51:42We're really working on telehealth and
  • 51:44how to continue to make telehealth or
  • 51:47virtual virtual treatments available.
  • 51:49We're still about a third.
  • 51:52Our treatments are delivered
  • 51:54virtually and we're constantly trying
  • 51:56to breakthrough this access issue
  • 51:58'cause it it is, it is probably,
  • 52:00I think,
  • 52:01the most single concerning thing
  • 52:03about mental health care for children
  • 52:05and adolescents in our country.
  • 52:07But let me let me turn to my colleagues
  • 52:09and see what else they would add.
  • 52:18I mean, I would read it,
  • 52:19reiterate what you said.
  • 52:22You know, it is a huge challenge that
  • 52:24we're facing and trying to grapple with
  • 52:27and it's something we think actively a lot.
  • 52:28We don't always have perfect solutions.
  • 52:30But for example, I sit on our
  • 52:32department's assessment triage team
  • 52:34where we review intakes from families
  • 52:36interested in psychological assessment
  • 52:38and sort of decide which of our
  • 52:40programs would be best for them.
  • 52:42And and access and sort of getting
  • 52:43families in as quickly as possible
  • 52:45is one of the things we're always
  • 52:47talking about in that meeting.
  • 52:48You know, which clinic can see them soonest.
  • 52:50A lot of times we send them to
  • 52:52research studies just to again,
  • 52:53highly benefit of research as many
  • 52:56times their needs can be met through
  • 52:57a research study that doesn't
  • 52:59have a weight at all.
  • 53:00So, you know,
  • 53:01there's no perfect solutions to this problem,
  • 53:02but it is something that we're
  • 53:04always thinking a lot about.
  • 53:05Thank
  • 53:06you, Julie. So I think we have time for
  • 53:10maybe one more question and and Dennis
  • 53:12this to be a question for you on the
  • 53:15question is in any of the interventions,
  • 53:18the interventions that you're doing
  • 53:20like something like positive opposites
  • 53:22be helpful for parents who are managing
  • 53:25episodes of irritability in their
  • 53:27adolescence and their teenagers?
  • 53:32Absolutely. And I I think that in
  • 53:36clinical practice we always use
  • 53:38kind of a combination of parenting
  • 53:41strategies and interventions that
  • 53:43are conducted with the child.
  • 53:45So there is always a mix of working with
  • 53:48a family and working with a teenager
  • 53:51and there is like a long list of of
  • 53:57strategists that clinicians can pick
  • 53:59depending on the family circumstances
  • 54:02and particular personality profiles of
  • 54:05the teenager and and their parents.
  • 54:08So overall I would say that the
  • 54:12strategists exist and of course then
  • 54:15kind of irritability and anger outburst
  • 54:19could be just the top portion of like
  • 54:24a long list of other difficulties
  • 54:27that a teenager might experience.
  • 54:29So this is really important to have
  • 54:32a comprehensive evaluation to make
  • 54:35sure that this emotional outbursts
  • 54:38are understood in terms of like deep
  • 54:42clinical evaluation of the child.
  • 54:46Thank you, Dennis. So I did say we
  • 54:48had time for one more and that was it.
  • 54:50But there's one more of that maybe Julie,
  • 54:53Jamie, you can take the accuracy of
  • 54:56assessment tools for non-native English
  • 54:58speaking children comments on that.
  • 55:03I mean they're most of the
  • 55:04tools that we use are available
  • 55:06in many different languages.
  • 55:07I think the the more relevant
  • 55:09limitation is the the,
  • 55:11the diversity of languages
  • 55:12spoken by the clinicians,
  • 55:13that's a real challenge.
  • 55:14And so the way that we address
  • 55:16that we'll never have a clinician
  • 55:17who could speak every language and
  • 55:19all that all the patients that
  • 55:20we would love to see can speak.
  • 55:22And so the way we we handle that
  • 55:23as we leverage the resources of
  • 55:25the hospital system which have
  • 55:27interpreters who do speak just
  • 55:29about every language that anyone
  • 55:31whoever want to see with us.
  • 55:31And so we administer those those
  • 55:33assessments in tandem and partnership
  • 55:35with an interpreter so that we
  • 55:36make sure we're understanding
  • 55:37families and children in a in
  • 55:39the language that they're most
  • 55:41comfortable communicating in.
  • 55:43The only thing I'll add to that is
  • 55:45that we also have to be mindful about
  • 55:47the content of the tests because if
  • 55:49we're giving a a test that was norm
  • 55:51for an English speaking or American
  • 55:53population with somebody you know
  • 55:55from a different country or culture,
  • 55:57then there might be content in there
  • 55:59that's not, you know, relevant.
  • 56:00And so we just have to be thoughtful
  • 56:01when we're interpreting those
  • 56:02results of those factors as well.
  • 56:05Thank you. Well,
  • 56:07we really appreciate all of you joining.
  • 56:10I thank you for taking the time.
  • 56:13If you want to hear more about our work,
  • 56:16First off we're doing three more
  • 56:18sessions with others of our colleagues.
  • 56:20Next week, next Wednesday we'll be talking
  • 56:22about work in the community because
  • 56:24the trial studies center you heard a
  • 56:26lot about our clinical research today.
  • 56:29We are very embedded in the community.
  • 56:30We do a lot of work in the community.
  • 56:32So next week we hear about that.
  • 56:35You're also very welcome to come to our
  • 56:38grand rounds on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00.
  • 56:40They we do always have a virtual link
  • 56:42which we can certainly send out.
  • 56:44And next week we're talking about
  • 56:46the use of art and mental and work
  • 56:49with mid children and adults around
  • 56:52mental health and have a one of
  • 56:54our faculty who is also an artist
  • 56:56on giving giving a talk.
  • 56:58So again thank you so much for joining us.
  • 57:01And to OAPD and Dr.
  • 57:03Rohrbao and Dr.
  • 57:04Olson thank you for bringing us all
  • 57:06together and honor Mental Health Month.
  • 57:08Thank you.