Lene-Mari Potulski Rasmussen, M.S., PH-d candidate, The Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare - North, Tromsø, Norway
Joshua Patras, PhD, Associate Professor, The Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare - North, Tromsø, Norway
Frode Adolfsen, MA, PhD student, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Monica Martinussen, PhD, Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Kristin Martinsen, Cand Psychol, Ph-d candidate, Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Oslo, Norway
Solveig I Holen, PhD, Researcher, Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway (RBUP), Oslo, Norway
Anne Mari Sund, Phd, Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Marit Loetveit Pedersen, Cand. Polit., PhD student, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Mona Elisabeth Løvaas, Master in psychology, PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondehim, Norway
Simon-Peter Neumer, Phd, Researcher, Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Oslo, Norway
Introduction: Implementation of newly-developed interventions into routine primary care settings is a challenging process. Limited resources and a lack of support from implementing organizations and program developers present challenges to transition of interventions from adoption to full sustainability. Children`s mental health service settings are often multilayered and complex. Diverse policies and governmental regulations overlay service settings in which individuals with diverse attitudes and experiences work. Introducing the interventions in primary service settings removes barriers to reaching target populations, but it also adds an extra challenge regarding maintenance of implementation quality. Despite these challenges, research has shown that interventions that include implementation produce better outcomes than those that do not. The aim of the present study was to investigate the implementation quality of an ongoing effectiveness evaluation of the EMOTION intervention, an indicated CBT prevention program for children with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Methods: Trained health care and childcare professionals from different municipal services (e.g., school health care services) delivered EMOTION in schools. The professionals (N = 68) filled out a survey before and after running groups (96 % women, mean age = 39.6, SD=9.7). The pre-group survey contained questions regarding background, previous experience within the field, how the intervention fits within the service, and organizational factors (e.g., leadership, work culture, autonomy, and cohesion). The post-group survey measured the group leaders` satisfaction with the intervention and supervision, their intention to continue running EMOTION groups in the future, and possible barriers to running groups.
The children (N= 274) were assessed before, midway, and after completion of the intervention groups, using The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-C), and The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, short version (SMFQ).
Results: A model of the relationship between group leader characteristics, organizational characteristics, and treatment outcomes within the intervention group will be tested using multilevel, SEM analyses.
Discussion: The discussion will focus on how group leaders and their organizations affect the children`s outcome after completion of the intervention through the quality of delivery.
Conclusion: Delivering effective programs into primary care settings is critical for increasing their potential for public health impact. Improving the implementation processes by identifying relevant individual and organizational factors is an important contribution to succesfull implementation of indicated preventive interventions in children`s mental health services.
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