Early Intervention for Mental Health Problems in Children: A New Therapeutic Technique
Abstract
Mental health problems in children have been increasing at an alarming rate, leading to long-term consequences for both individuals and society. Early intervention is critical to prevent the development of severe mental health disorders in later life. Traditional methods of treatment often focus on managing symptoms, but emerging therapeutic techniques have shown promise in addressing underlying issues more effectively. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a new therapeutic technique designed for early intervention in children with mental health problems. The goal is to evaluate how this approach can improve emotional regulation, reduce symptoms, and foster long-term mental well-being. A cohort of 100 children, aged 6 to 12 years old, who exhibited early signs of anxiety, depression, or behavioral disorders, participated in a 12-week intervention program. The new therapeutic technique, which combines cognitive-behavioral strategies with mindfulness practices, was applied in weekly sessions. Data were collected through pre- and post-intervention assessments using standardized mental health scales and parent-reported measures. The results indicated a significant reduction in anxiety and depressive symptoms among the children who participated in the program. Additionally, improvements were observed in emotional regulation and overall behavioral functioning, with over 75% of participants showing clinically meaningful changes. Parents also reported enhanced social interactions and a decrease in problematic behaviors. The new therapeutic technique for early intervention in children with mental health problems shows promising results. This approach not only alleviates symptoms but also supports emotional and behavioral development, contributing to long-term mental health improvements.
Full text article
References
Blake, J. A., Thomas, H. J., Pelecanos, A. M., Najman, J. M., & Scott, J. G. (2024). The unique role of adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, and maternal-adolescent communication in their association with attachment in early adulthood. Acta Psychologica, 246. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104273
Bradley, C., & Kinchington, F. (2023). Trauma in Children and Young People: Reaching the Heart of the Matter. In Trauma in Children and Young People: Reaching the Heart of the Matter (p. 130). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003132882
Chang, Y.-S., Liao, F.-T., Huang, L.-C., & Chen, S.-L. (2023). The Treatment Experience of Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents from Healthcare Professionals’ Perspective: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010794
Chikwava, F., Cordier, R., Ferrante, A., O’Donnell, M., & Pakpahan, E. (2024). Trajectories of homelessness and association with mental health and substance use disorders among young people transitioning from out-of-home care in Australia. Child Abuse and Neglect, 149. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106643
Chopra, H., Paul, B., Virk, A., Pandey, G., & Lahariya, C. (2023). Triple Burden of Malnutrition among Children in India: Current Scenario and the Way Forward. Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 90, 95–103. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-023-04739-x
Comerford, K., Lawson, Y., Young, M., Knight, M., McKinney, K., Mpasi, P., & Mitchell, E. (2024). The role of dairy food intake for improving health among black Americans across the life continuum: A summary of the evidence. Journal of the National Medical Association, 116(2), 292–315. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2024.01.020
Craig, J. W., & Gliniak, C. (2024). The Role of Occupational Therapy and the Interprofessional Approach to Mitigating Developmental Sequelae Associated With Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome. In Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: Speech- Lang. Pathologists and Interprofessional Care (pp. 166–187). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003397267-8
Culshaw, A., & Bodfield, K. (2024). Trauma-informed education: A case for compassion-focused teaching? Pastoral Care in Education. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2024.2318776
da Gama, J., & Negreiros, J. (2023). Theoretical Study on the Psychological Assessment of Children and Adolescents: A Narrative Review of the Literature. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnostico y Evaluacion Psicologica, 4(70), 139–159. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.21865/RIDEP70.4.11
Davis, J. A., Finlay-Jones, A. L., Bear, N., Prescott, S. L., Silva, D. T., & Ohan, J. L. (2023). Time-out for well-being: A mixed methods evaluation of attitudes and likelihood to engage in different types of online emotional well-being programmes in the perinatal period. Women’s Health, 19. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057231184507
Dittmann, D., Dempfle, A., Nießen, A., Puchert, I., Konrad, K., & Herpertz-Dahlmann, B. (2024). Understanding and Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Abuse in Families Enrolled in Routine Mental Health and Welfare Services by Investigating the Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Mentalization-Based Early Intervention Program (UBICA-II Study): Study Protocol for a Non-Randomized, Open-Label, Single-Arm Feasibility Study. Children, 11(3). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11030267
Dobson, R., Li, L. L., Garner, K., Tane, T., McCool, J., & Whittaker, R. (2023). The Use of Sensors to Detect Anxiety for In-the-Moment Intervention: Scoping Review. JMIR Mental Health, 10. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.2196/42611
Ebert, C., Heesemann, E., & Vollmer, S. (2024). Two scalable interventions to promote health and mental development in early childhood: A randomized controlled trial in rural India. Journal of Human Capital, 18(1), 140–193. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1086/729064
Falgas-Bague, I., Thembo, T., Kaiser, J. L., Hamer, D. H., Scott, N. A., Ngoma, T., Paul, R., Juntunen, A., Rockers, P. C., & Fink, G. (2023). Trends in maternal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic–evidence from Zambia. PLoS ONE, 18(2 February). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281091
Farooq, S., Sheikh, S., Dikomitis, L., Haq, M. M. U., Khan, A. J., Sanauddin, N., Ali, M. W., Ali, J., Khan, M. F., Chaudhry, I., Husain, N., Gul, M., Irfan, M., Andrews, G., Kaistha, P., Shah, S. M. U., Azeemi, I., Hamid, S., Minhaz, A., … Lewis, M. (2023). Traditional healers working with primary care and mental health for early intervention in psychosis in young persons: Protocol for the feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 13(7). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072471
Fontana, M., Fattori, F., Trezzi, S., Conte, M., Bernardini, L., Marando, L., Michelini, G., Trapani, A., & Costantino, M. A. (2023). Unaccompanied foreign minors and mental health: Implementation and evaluation of the RHS-15 screening procedure for unaccompanied foreign minors. Journal of Migration and Health, 7. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmh.2023.100177
Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2023). Toward a dimensional model of risk and protective factors influencing children’s early cognitive, social, and emotional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infancy, 28(1), 158–186. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12495
Holoch, E. (2023). The role of family pediatric nurses in early childhood intervention networks. Public Health Forum, 31(2), 87–89. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1515/pubhef-2023-0025
Hoza, B., & Shoulberg, E. K. (2024). Transdiagnostic considerations are critical to understanding childhood neurodevelopmental disorders. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1385873
Iorfino, F., Varidel, M., Marchant, R., Cripps, S., Crouse, J., Prodan, A., Oliveria, R., Carpenter, J. S., Hermens, D. F., Guastella, A., Scott, E., Shah, J., Merikangas, K., Scott, J., & Hickie, I. B. (2023). The temporal dependencies between social, emotional and physical health factors in young people receiving mental healthcare: A dynamic Bayesian network analysis. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 32. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796023000616
Katsantonis, I., & McLellan, R. (2024). The role of parent–child interactions in the association between mental health and prosocial behavior: Evidence from early childhood to late adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 48(1), 59–70. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231202444
Kos, E. A. (2023). The role of educational institutions in supporting children and adolescents with selective mutism. Psychiatria i Psychologia Kliniczna, 23(2), 110–114. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.15557/PiPK.2023.0015
Latino, F., & Tafuri, F. (2024). The role of physical activity in the physiological activation of the scholastic pre-requirements. AIMS Neuroscience, 11(3), 244–259. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3934/NEUROSCIENCE.2024016
Lee, S. H. (2024). Treatment, Education, and Prognosis of Slow Learners (Borderline Intelligence). Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(3), 192–196. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.5765/jkacap.240014
Liu, C.-C., Lan, C.-C., & Chen, Y.-S. (2024). The use of sertraline to treat an adolescent of dystonia comorbid with major depressive disorder with psychotic features. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports, 44(1), 275–279. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/npr2.12401
Liu, X. (2024). Trajectories of sleep problems and the longitudinal associations with mental health difficulties among Chinese adolescents. Social Science and Medicine, 358. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117203
Loftness, B. C., Rizzo, D. M., Halvorson-Phelan, J., O’Leary, A., Prytherch, S., Bradshaw, C., Brown, A. J., Cheney, N., McGinnis, E. W., & McGinnis, R. S. (2023). Toward Digital Phenotypes of Early Childhood Mental Health via Unsupervised and Supervised Machine Learning. Proc. Annu. Int. Conf. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. EMBS. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340806
Lynch, L., Moorhead, A., Long, M., & Hawthorne-Steele, I. (2023). The Role of Informal Sources of Help In Young People’s Access To, Engagement With, And Maintenance In Professional Mental Health Care—A Scoping Review. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(11), 3350–3365. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02498-5
MacBeth, A., Christie, H., Golds, L., Morales, F., Raouna, A., Sawrikar, V., & Gillespie-Smith, K. (2023). Thinking about the next generation: The case for a mentalization-informed approach to perinatal and intergenerational mental health. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12483
McAusland, L., Burton, C. L., Bagnell, A., Boylan, K., Hatchard, T., Lingley-Pottie, P., Al Maruf, A., McGrath, P., Newton, A. S., Rowa, K., Schachar, R. J., Shaheen, S.-M., Stewart, S., Arnold, P. D., Crosbie, J., Mattheisen, M., Soreni, N., Stewart, S. E., & Meier, S. (2024). The genetic architecture of youth anxiety: A study protocol. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05583-9
Moheize, S., Hsu, M., Matiz, L. A., Peretz, P., Medina, K., Esteves, A., Meyer, D., Maletz, B., Pineda, L., & Berger-Jenkins, E. (2024). The Role of an Early Childhood Community Health Worker in Addressing Psycho-Social Needs in the Perinatal and Early Childhood Period. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, 15. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/21501319241234478
Monthé-Drèze, C., Aris, I. M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Shivappa, N., Hebert, J. R., Oken, E., & Sen, S. (2023). The Role of Prenatal Psychosocial Stress in the Associations of a Proinflammatory Diet in Pregnancy with Child Adiposity and Growth Trajectories. JAMA Network Open, 6(1), E2251367. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.51367
Pavarini, G., Lyreskog, D. M., Newby, D., Lorimer, J., Bennet, V., Jacobs, E., Winchester, L., Nevado-Holgado, A., & Singh, I. (2024). Tracing Tomorrow: Young people’s preferences and values related to use of personal sensing to predict mental health, using a digital game methodology. BMJ Mental Health, 27(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2023-300897
Ram, J. R., & Shelke, S. B. (2023). Understanding Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescent Population. Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 19(1), 60–69. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/09731342231179267
Rezun, E. V., Slobodskaya, H. R., & Semenova, N. B. (2023). The structure of adolescent mental health problems: The role of effortful control and school safety. Journal of Adolescence, 95(5), 947–963. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12166
Rubin, L. H., Maki, P. M., Dastgheyb, R. M., Steigman, P. J., Burke-Miller, J., Xu, Y., Jin, W., Sosanya, O., Gustafson, D., Merenstein, D., Milam, J., Weber, K. M., Springer, G., & Cook, J. A. (2023). Trauma Across the Life Span and Multisystem Morbidity in Women With HIV. Psychosomatic Medicine, 85(4), 341–350. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001192
Schipperijn, J., Madsen, C. D., Toftager, M., Johansen, D. N., Lousen, I., Amholt, T. T., & Pawlowski, C. S. (2024). The role of playgrounds in promoting children’s health – a scoping review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 21(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01618-2
Schwarze, C. E., von der Heiden, S., Wallwiener, S., & Pauen, S. (2024). The role of perinatal maternal symptoms of depression, anxiety and pregnancy-specific anxiety for infant’s self-regulation: A prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 346, 144–153. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.035
Sevim, D., Baranov, V., Bhalotra, S., Maselko, J., & Biroli, P. (2024). Trajectories of Early Childhood Skill Development and Maternal Mental Health. Journal of Human Resources, 59(Supplement), S365–S401. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1222-12693R3
Seymour, M., Pecora, L., McMahon, G., Wood, C. E., Feinberg, M., Hock, R., & Giallo, R. (2024). Trajectories of psychological distress for Australian fathers parenting a child on the autism spectrum: Evidence from early childhood to adolescence. Autism. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241272005
Soepnel, L. M., Mabetha, K., Norris, S. A., Motlhatlhedi, M., Nkosi, N., Klingberg, S., Lye, S., & Draper, C. E. (2024). The role of a community health worker-delivered preconception and pregnancy intervention in achieving a more positive pregnancy experience: The Bukhali trial in Soweto, South Africa. BMC Women’s Health, 24(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-024-02982-8
Starr, M., Cordier, R., Pakpahan, E., Robinson, M., Speyer, R., & Chung, D. (2024). Understanding how young people transitioning from out-of-home care acquire and develop independent living skills and knowledge: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. PLoS ONE, 19(6 June). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304965
Talib, M., Papazova, A., & Nicolis, H. (2024). The role of nutrition in the understanding and management of psychopathology from prenatal period to early adulthood, according to a developmental approach. Revue Medicale de Bruxelles, 45(2), 93–109. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.30637/2024.23-016
Tamminga, C. A., Trivedi, M. H., Wagner, K. D., Wakefield, S., Jeffrey Newport, D., Norcross, J., Lakey, D. L., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2024). The Texas child mental health network: A child and adolescent research registry. Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry, 45–46. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmip.2024.100124
Ta?el-Günal, Z., & Ar?kan, G. (2023). The Role of Maternal Sensitivity in Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment and Psychopathology in Early Childhood. Turkish Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 30(1), 1–10. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4274/tjcamh.galenos.2021.96168
Tein, J.-Y., Wang, F. L., Oro, V., Kim, H., Shaw, D., Wilson, M., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2023). The Role of Early Intervention for Adolescent Mental Health and Polydrug Use: Cascading Mediation Through Childhood Growth in the General Psychopathology (p) Factor. Developmental Psychology, 59(8), 1484–1495. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001543
Wais, M., Bégin, M., Sharp, C., & Ensink, K. (2024). Trauma-related symptoms in adolescents: The differential roles of sexual abuse and mentalizing. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1364001
Watkins, K. B., Kandel, H., & Leval, R. (2023). The Role of Pediatricians in Recognizing Postpartum Depression and/or Psychosis. Current Pediatrics Reports, 11(4), 133–141. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40124-023-00304-4
Wilksch, S. M. (2023). Toward a more comprehensive understanding and support of parents with a child experiencing an eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(7), 1275–1285. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23938
Yu, Q., Hernandez, B., Swineford, C., Walker, N., MacNeill, L., Zhang, Y., Wakschlag, L. S., & Wiggins, J. L. (2023). Toward an optimized assessment of adolescent psychopathology risk: Multilevel environmental profiles and child irritability as predictors. JCPP Advances, 3(4). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12180
Authors
Copyright (c) 2024 Rezeki Nur, Sri Nur Rahmi, Guijiao Zou

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.