Category: Criminal Justice / Forensics
Kaitlin Sheerin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Rumford, Rhode Island
Sarah Helseth, Ph.D.
Brown University School of Public Health
Providence, Rhode Island
Kathleen Kemp, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor (Research)
Brown University Medical School
Providence, Rhode Island
Craig Henderson, Ph.D.
Professor
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas
Kaitlin Sheerin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Rumford, Rhode Island
Sarah Helseth, Ph.D.
Brown University School of Public Health
Providence, Rhode Island
Johanna Folk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Casey Pederson, Ph.D.
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, Indiana
In a recent report on the current youth mental health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Surgeon General noted that justice-involved youth (JIY) were among those at highest risk for behavioral health problems (Office of the Surgeon General, 2021). Several other high-risk populations noted by the Surgeon General (e.g., Black and Latinx youth, LGBTQ+ youth) are disproportionately represented among JIY (Hirschtritt et al., 2019; Spinney et al., 2018), indicating the juvenile justice system represents a key point of intersection in the ongoing youth mental health crisis. Recent data also indicate JIY experience high rates of comorbid mental health and substance use disorders (Abram et al., 2015), which can be challenging to treat. Together, mental health and substance use problems are among the strongest predictors of recidivism in JIY (Tolou-Shams et al., 2014). Increasing JIY’s access to and utilization of effective behavioral health interventions would directly impact behavioral healthcare and the juvenile justice system, both major areas of public health concern.
Despite such a clear need for research, limited work has been done to develop and evaluate behavioral health interventions specifically for JIY (Olsson et al., 2021). Recent evidence indicates that existing approaches are of limited efficacy and a majority of prior research on JIY has focused on conduct problems. Multiple leaders of JIY research have called for new and innovative treatments for JIY with behavioral health concerns, arguing for work to specifically develop tailored implementation strategies, digital platforms (Bath et al., 2018), and personalized approaches (Olsson et al., 2021). This symposium seeks to highlight cutting-edge advances in clinical research that may help to mitigate the unprecedented behavioral health crisis facing JIY. Therefore, the present symposium has three foci: (a) research informing the next generation of behavioral health treatments for JIY; (b) novel treatment approaches for JIY; and (c) innovative implementation approaches to deliver evidence-based practices to JIY.
The first presenter will provide information on the stability of clinical profiles pertaining to psychopathy and mental health symptomatology of JIY over time, informing the future personalization of treatments. Our second presenter will report results of a systematic scoping review of randomized clinical trials of community-based treatments for behavioral health concerns among JIY. Then, the third presenter will describe the perceived acceptability of digital health approaches to reduce cannabis use among JIY. The forth presenter will focus on initial results of a study evaluating the use of dialectical behavior therapy with confined youth. Our final presenter will detail novel implementation strategies to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing for substance use within the juvenile justice system. Our discussant is the director of a statewide family court mental health clinic and has expertise in behavioral health treatments and implementation strategies for JIY. She will draw on her experiences conducting research and clinical work within the juvenile justice system to synthesize the presentations.
Presenter: Craig Henderson, Ph.D. – Sam Houston State University
Co-author: Trent Foulkrod, MA – Sam Houston State University
Co-author: Jared Ruchensky, Ph.D. – Sam Houston State University
Co-author: Ashley Malchow, MA – Sam Houston State University
Co-author: John Edems, Ph.D. – Texas A&M University
Presenter: Kaitlin Sheerin, Ph.D. – Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Co-author: Alyssa Viera, PhD – Bradley-Hasbro Children's Research Center
Co-author: Shannon Williamson-Butler, PhD – Bradley-Hasbro Children's Research
Co-author: Kathleen Kemp, Ph.D. – Brown University Medical School
Presenter: Sarah Helseth, Ph.D. – Brown University School of Public Health
Co-author: Grace J. Kim, NA – Brown University School of Public health
Co-author: Dayna Price, BA – Brown University School Of Public Health
Co-author: Melissa A Clark, PhD – Brown University School of Public Health
Co-author: Nancy P Barnett, PhD – Brown University School of Public health
Co-author: Anthony Spirito, PhD – Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Co-author: Sara J Becker, PhD – Brown University School of Public health
Presenter: Johanna B. Folk, Ph.D. – University of California, San Francisco
Co-author: Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy, MD – Practice-Based Research Network, UT Health San Antonio
Co-author: Phillip Yang, MS3 – UT Health San Antonio
Co-author: Jaisal Patel, MS3 – UT Health San Antonio
Co-author: Clara Yoon, MS2 – UT Health San Antonio
Co-author: Anne Thomas, PhD – Independent Practice
Presenter: Casey A. Pederson, Ph.D. – Indiana University School of Medicine
Co-author: Allyson Dir, Ph.D. – Indiana University School of Medicine
Co-author: Brigid Marriott, Ph.D. – Indiana University School of Medicine
Co-author: Zachary Adams, Ph.D. – Indiana University
Co-author: Matthew Aalsma, Ph.D. – Indiana University School of Medicine