A systematic review by the Children’s Health Policy Centre provided promising evidence that transdiagnostic treatments — mental health approaches that treat multiple conditions at once — can address symptoms of two different mental disorders concurrently. These results suggest six implications for policy and practice:

• Use effective transdiagnostic treatments when there is more than one problem. Practitioners regularly encounter children who are experiencing more than one disorder. By using an effective transdiagnostic intervention, each concern can be addressed. Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT) reduced both substance use and posttraumatic stress symptoms, while Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) reduced both substance use and behaviour concerns, including criminal offending. So these two approaches are a good starting point.

• Learn from young people’s engagement in transdiagnostic treatments. Some research has found that children with concurrent disorders are more likely to drop out of treatment. However, for the studies reviewed where participation was assessed, adolescents randomized to the transdiagnostic treatment completed more sessions than those receiving typical treatments. So, these interventions have the potential to increase treatment completion.

• Encourage parents’ involvement in children’s mental health care. Parents played a crucial role in the two most successful transdiagnostic therapies — RRFT and MDFT. Consequently, involving parents in treatment, beyond just these two therapies, may be beneficial for many young people.
• Ensure practitioners have the time and resources to deliver transdiagnostic treatments well. Practitioners with limited experience delivering transdiagnostic interventions will need time and resources to learn these new approaches and to learn to deliver them with fidelity. Policy-makers can help by ensuring that practitioners have the training and supports they need so children receive effective treatments for all the mental health concerns they face.
• Build on what works. Practitioners will also need to treat children experiencing combinations of disorders not addressed by currently available transdiagnostic treatments. While more research is needed on treating multiple conditions concurrently, practitioners can nevertheless still rely on proven interventions for each individual disorder — delivering both.
• Practise prevention. Concurrent disorders cause added challenges for children. Prevention should therefore be the highest priority — providing effective interventions for individual disorders as well as those that are concurrent. With more widespread use of effective prevention interventions, it may be possible to avert much unnecessary suffering for children and their families.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.