Mental health conditions that involve difficulties with eating patterns — such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder — cause considerable distress for young people and their families. Recent estimates suggest that 0.2% of 12- to 18-year-olds — or approximately 700 youth in BC — may have these disorders at any given time.

Examining the experiences of more than 17,000 teens and young adults, researchers found that those with anorexia had more than five times the expected mortality rate, and those with bulimia had nearly two times the expected rate. As well, a study that included 15- to 19-year-olds who received care for eating disorders in a hospital in Ontario similarly found mortality rates five times higher than in the general population. Preventing eating disorders is therefore crucial, and childhood is the optimal time to intervene.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

This week marks two important awareness days focused on prevention and community support.

Sept. 9 is International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day. This day is part of FASD Awareness Month, which was officially recognized by the Canadian government in 2020. It advocates for better diagnosis and support for individuals with FASD, bringing attention to the disorder and highlighting the importance of avoiding alcohol during pregnancy. This year’s theme, Everyone Plays a Part: Take Action!, promotes healthy pregnancies and encourages everyone to work towards building a society that better supports individuals with FASD. To learn more about preventing prenatal alcohol exposure, see Vol. 5, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Sept. 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. Established in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in association with the World Health Organization, this day aims to inspire open and honest discussions about suicide. It promotes a cultural shift from stigma and silence to understanding and support. The day’s core message — that suicide is preventable — encourages families, advocates and communities to engage with policy-makers to ensure suicide prevention remains a public health priority. To learn more about suicide prevention for young people, see Vol. 16, No. 4 and Vol. 17, No. 1 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

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.

Since British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016 in response to the overdose crisis, over 16,000 people across the province have lost their lives to overdose.

As people in BC and around the world continue to lose loved ones, this year’s International Overdose Awareness Day focuses on bringing people together to take action under the theme “One big family, driven by hope.” This theme recognizes that overdose affects entire communities and works to break down harmful stigma that prevents people from seeking help.

Held annually on August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest campaign to end overdose. It is driven by the principle that overdose is preventable, and it advocates for community-wide action. You can access campaign resources on the International Overdose Awareness Day website.

For children and youth, early intervention and substance use prevention programs are showing promise. In an article in The Conversation, researchers from the Children’s Health Policy Centre examined prevention programs that were effective in preventing opioid misuse, as well as other substance use in children and youth. Learn more.

According to the United Nations, half of the people on our planet today are 30 years old or younger. Nurturing the health and success of this significant demographic is key to solving both local and global challenges.

International Youth Day, held annually on August 12, celebrates young people’s achievements and recognizes the challenges they face. Established by the United Nations in 2000, the day also promotes meaningful youth participation in society.

This year’s event focuses on how youth contribute to their local communities and how those contributions can help support global development goals. The celebration recognizes that young people bring creativity and insight to community challenges. It advocates for including youth voices in local planning and decision-making processes.

The day also encourages local and regional governments to engage young people in policymaking and promotes mentorship opportunities to help nurture future leaders.

You can learn more about International Youth Day 2025 on the United Nations website.

The results from a Children’s Health Policy Centre systematic review suggest that some children experiencing multiple mental health concerns can be treated using a single intervention. The review looked at three different treatments — Brief Behavioral Therapy, Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT) and Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT). The most successful intervention, RRFT, reduced PTSD and substance use symptoms. MDFT also reduced substance use and criminal offending, according to one evaluation, although two other evaluations found benefits for behaviour but not substance use relative to comparison treatments. And while Brief Behavioral Therapy reduced anxiety symptoms and improved overall functioning, it did not outperform treatment-as-usual for depressive symptoms. For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Researchers examining Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) have gone beyond studying its effectiveness, which includes reducing cannabis use and other mental health concerns for young people. They have also examined the link between practitioner fidelity — or how closely clinicians follow and implement the treatment as it was originally designed — and youth outcomes. In one study, independent raters reviewed videotaped sessions from 25% of MDFT cases to ensure a range of cases and sessions for each therapist.  Researchers found that MDFT adherence ratings predicted significant decreases in both youth substance use frequency and cannabis “dependence” at six months. (Because the study began in 2006, the researchers used this older “dependence” diagnosis in some of their analyses rather than the current term, cannabis use disorder.) These findings underscore the importance of delivering effective treatments as intended. Policy-makers can support practitioners to deliver with fidelity in typical community settings, for example, by ensuring needed training is available.

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