AIM Implementation & Equity Grantee: Dr. Galen McNeil
Although effective treatments exist for youth anxiety, most youth never access them. Waitlist times are at an all-me high, fed both by a worldwide mental health crisis and the fact that most treatments take extended periods to work. There is growing recognition that brief, scalable, and accessible interventions are needed to address this crisis. Burgeoning evidence suggests that youth who receive even single-session interventions fare beer than those who receive none, and that these effects were greatest for anxious children.
Typical anxiety interventions work by targeting fears and worries and reducing corresponding avoidance behavior. Less work has examined how to bolster positive emotions for anxious youth. Positive emotions such as joy, love, and gratitude expand our thinking and facilitate approach behaviors – enabling us to build social and emotional resources. More frequent positive emotion experiences increase resilience and lead to greater well-being (Cohn et al., 2009). Furthermore, robust evidence suggests that actively cultivating positive emotional experiences, including through practices of Loving-Kindness and Appreciate Joy, can strengthen overall positive emotionality and reduce symptoms in clinically anxious adults. In children, positive affect is associated with many beneficial outcomes such as increased life satisfaction and higher-quality relationships. Despite strong evidence for the benefits of positive emotion, little is known about how to help children cultivate them.
This project proposes a pilot randomized-controlled trial of the Youth Intervention for Positive Emotion Enhancement (YIPEE) protocol for treatment-seeking anxious youth and their caregivers. This novel, brief two-session intervention adapts two Buddhist meditation practices, Loving-Kindness and Appreciative Joy, both of which significantly increase positive emotion in adults. Caregivers will be involved to promote socialization of positive emotion after sessions, encourage homework compliance, and facilitate generalizability of skills. Administration over Telehealth will reduce barriers for lower resourced populations, and the strengths-based focus may make this intervention more appealing to communities where mental illness is stigmatized. To enhance immediate impact, we will recruit from an existing clinic waitlist.
Innovation & Impact: If successful, this project will provide support for long-term follow up examining whether this novel intervention enhances subsequent treatment efficacy or negates the need for additional clinical intervention.
Specific Aims
Aim 1: To examine the feasibility and acceptability of YIPEE for treatment-seeking anxious youth via a waitlist controlled RCT.
Aim 2: To examine outcomes with respect to increasing positive emotions, reducing anxiety and stress, strengthening resilience, and continued interest in anxiety treatment.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. MCNEIL HERE
Moving Upstream: A Proactive Approach to Addressing Behaviors and Bullying
Krista Reuther is the Assistant Director of Ohana’s Community Health and Prevention Program. She received her Masters in Public Health and Social Work at UC Berkeley. She comes to this position after 14 years of clinical social work experience at Stanford Children’s Hospital in pediatric oncology, critical care, and bereavement. Her goal is to reduce the incidence of mental illness in children and adolescents in Monterey County.
Dr. Guss is a 35-year veteran educator with a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. She served as a classroom teacher for 10 years, including two years as a teacher in a bilingual program in South Central Los Angeles. She has also served as a college professor, mentor teacher for new teachers, and a master teacher for teacher candidates completing their student teaching experience. She continues to be a strong advocate for the teaching profession.
Fellowship: Stanford University School of Medicine (1994) CA
Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. is a consultant, author and psychologist specializing in children and families. He is the supervising psychologist for the Belmont Hill School and has worked in more than seven hundred schools across the United States, as well as in international schools in Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
is 15 years old and a sophomore at Marina High School in Marina, CA. Her academic interests include math, history, and psychology. She joined the AIM Ideas Lab in 2021 because she wanted to be a part of something that could have a great impact on her community. Marwa is interested in youth mental health because she has always been fascinated with the human mind and she wants to support those that are suffering who may feel like their challenges in life aren’t important enough or are too afraid to seek necessary help.
Giovanna Panetta is a 16 year old junior at Carmel High School. She has always been called to STEM subjects, specifically biology. The AIM Ideas Lab instantly attracted her attention as a research opportunity. Gia has always comprehended the importance of mental health. She knows that COVID only exacerbated previously existing problems, and that as a community we can try and find the root of those problems. Mental health is an integral part of life, and can impede a body’s ability to be healthy. She strongly believes that life is worth living, and she wants to help anyone that thinks otherwise.
Dr. Friedman completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology from University of California San Diego (UCSD). She went on to complete her masters and doctorate degrees (Ph.D.) in Clinical Psychology from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/Chicago Medical School. Dr. Friedman completed her pre-doctoral internship at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, and her post-doctoral fellowship training at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Her clinical training and experience has been focused primarily on comprehensive assessment and effective treatments for anxiety, mood and related disorders. Dr. Friedman has extensive experience in providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for anxiety disorders (e.g. worry, OCD, social anxiety, phobias and PTSD), depression, adjustment disorders/life stress, insomnia and body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g. Trichotillomania and skin picking). She has received training in evidence-based interventions for a variety of specific problems, including exposure with response prevention (ERP) for treatment of OCD, Prolonged Exposure (PE) for treatment of PTSD, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). Moreover, she has specialty training in the treatment of childhood anxiety and related disorders, such as ADHD, selective mutism, separation anxiety, PTSD, depression and specific phobias. In addition, Dr. Friedman has developed an expertise in research on Trichotillomania and body-focused repetitive behaviors, which has led to numerous local and national presentations. Dr. Friedman regularly attends local and national conferences, training seminars and workshops in order to stay informed on the most up to date treatments and apply state of the art science into her clinical practice.
Dr. Piacentini is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist and Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. He directs the UCLA Child OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Clinic and Tourette Association Center of Excellence which provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment (both therapy and medication) for youth with the above problems. He also directs the UCLA Center for Child Anxiety Resilence, Education, and Support (CARES; carescenter.ucla.edu) which provides education and programming to parents, teachers, and clinicians about anxiety prevention and management.
Citlalli Nava is 18 years old and a first year majoring in Psychology at Hartnell Community College in Salinas, CA. She is passionate about understanding how mental health affects how youth think, act, and feel. Citlalli joined the AIM Ideas Lab in 2021 after witnessing the increase in mental health challenges in teenagers and considering the mental health issues they are facing. Citlalli is interested in youth mental health because it is a real problem faced by her generation.
Clinical and community psychologist and health care innovator Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, is CEO of the American Psychological Association, the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. With more than 146,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students as members, APA promotes and disseminates psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve lives – a mission consistent with Evans’ life work.
