This $2,005,780 project grant was awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). The grant aims to develop a digital platform focused on advancing help-seeking behaviors in youth at clinical high risk for developing psychosis. The key components of the project include: Characterizing help-seeking subtypes in 25,000 youth who screened positive for psychosis risk through Mental Health America's online platform....
The National Science Foundation awarded $276,000 under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships federal grant program to Oneseventeen Media PBC for its SBIR Phase I project titled "An Intelligent Mental Health Care Companion for Kids." The project aims to develop a mobile-accessed system leveraging machine learning and cognitive behavioral therapies to detect and triage symptoms of loneliness, anger, anxiety, and depression in children ages 10-18. The system will utilize chatbots...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) supports the development and piloting of a brief digital intervention to help parents of pre- and early adolescents respond effectively to suicide risk alerts generated by digital monitoring apps. The $256,627 award to the University of Denver aims to co-create and refine a single-session intervention (SSI) paired with a just-in-time digital intervention...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $295,234 Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to 3-C Institute for Social Development Inc. (doing business as 3C Institute), a woman-owned small business located in Durham, North Carolina. The grant, awarded on July 19, 2024, with a completion date of July 18, 2025, will fund the development of ASSIST-MH, a new interactive digital support system for school mental health providers. The ASSIST-MH...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $2,234,643 Project Grant (CFDA 93.242 - Mental Health Research Grants) to the University of Oregon to establish the Transdisciplinary Center for Expanding Access and Accelerating Delivery of Interventions to Promote Mental Health for Underserved Adolescents (ACCESS). The 5-year project, beginning May 7, 2025, aims to improve the mental health of underserved youth, families, and school communities through school-based prevention programs...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), provides $742,353 to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to develop and pilot test caregiver-facing implementation strategies to support caregivers of children with or at-risk for ADHD in implementing evidence-based behavioral interventions and home-school communication approaches. The project, titled "IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES FOR CAREGIVER...
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program seeks to develop a digital mental health platform for children and adolescents. Awarded on July 15, 2022 for $275,932, the grant supports Bluewonder Creative Inc. to build a proof-of-concept platform leveraging technologies including natural language processing, machine learning, and chatbots. The platform aims to provide personalized mental and...
This federal Project Grant award in the amount of $2,917,827 was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). The award, effective September 4, 2024 through May 31, 2029, supports a hybrid effectiveness-implementation clinical trial to evaluate the impact of an executive functioning intervention called "Unstuck and On Target" on improving mental health services and outcomes for autistic youth. The primary...
This federal Project Grant award of $535,571 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) aims to enhance the effectiveness of measurement-based care (MBC) for youth in community mental health centers (CMHCs). The award will: Define and evaluate the full continuum of MBC fidelity indicators to better understand the extent to which MBC practices are delivered. Assess the impact of MBC fidelity on the mechanisms and clinical...
This $812,184 Project Grant award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (CFDA 93.307 - Minority Health and Health Disparities Research) will support the development and implementation of a guided group telehealth platform called TheraGroup to provide evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and coping skills training to address mental health needs among Black college students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Specifically, the grant...
MENTORHUB: A SUPPORTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY TOOL FOR MHAPPS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (30 LINES) IN THE UNITED STATES, 15 MILLION CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS NEED PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES; YET ONLY ONE-THIRD RECEIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES OF ANY KIND. EVEN FEWER RECEIVE CARE THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH EVIDENCE-BASED GUIDELINES FOR BEST PRACTICES. THIS GAP HAS WIDENED DRAMATICALLY WITH THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN, COMBINED WITH DISRUPTIONS TO SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. MENTAL HEALTH APPS (MHAPPS) SHOW EARLY PROMISE TO ALLEVIATE MILD TO MODERATE FORMS OF EMOTIONAL DISORDERS LIKE ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION, WHILE IMPROVING BROADER DOMAINS OF FUNCTIONING, INCLUDING ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE. THESE MHAPPS ARE DESIGNED TO PROMOTE YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH BY DELIVERING TARGETED, SKILLS-BASED CURRICULA IN AN INTERACTIVE AND ACCESSIBLE FORMAT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE POTENTIAL FOR MHAPPS HAS THUS FAR BEEN LIMITED BY LOW ENGAGEMENT, IMPROPER USE, AND HIGH RATES OF NONCOMPLETION. CARING ADULTS CAN HELP BOOST YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN MHAPPS THROUGH WHAT BEHAVIORAL SCIENTISTS REFER TO AS "SUPPORTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY"-THAT IS, REGULAR CHECK-INS, MONITORING, TROUBLESHOOTING, AND OTHER INTERACTIONS. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE POSITIVE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SUPPORTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND USER ENGAGEMENT, NUMBER OF LOGINS, USE OF INTERACTIVE TOOLS, AND OUTCOMES. IN FACT, THEY HAVE SHOWN THAT, WITH GUIDANCE, THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY-DELIVERED INTERVENTIONS ARE COMPARABLE TO THOSE OBTAINED IN FACE-TO-FACE INTERVENTIONS. BY CONTRAST, SELF-GUIDED PROGRAMS HAVE YIELDED RELATIVELY FEWER BENEFITS. MOREOVER, THE STUDIES HAVE FOUND NO DIFFERENCE IN OUTCOMES WHEN YOUTH WERE SUPPORTED BY CLINICIANS VERSUS EVERYDAY CARING ADULTS. BASED ON EVIDENCE THAT EFFECTIVENESS AND ADHERENCE TO EHEALTH INTERVENTIONS IS ENHANCED BY HUMAN SUPPORT, WE DEVELOPED A SOFTWARE FRAMEWORK (MENTORHUB) THAT COORDINATES THE DEPLOYMENT AND MONITORS THE USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED MHAPPS. WE ANTICIPATE THAT MENTORHUB WILL BE WIDELY USED IN YOUTH-SERVING ORGANIZATIONS (E.G., YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAMS) AND SCHOOL BASED SETTINGS (E.G., SECONDARY AND POST-SECONDARY SCHOOLS). THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IN PHASE I WILL FURTHER (AIM 1) REFINE THE MENTORHUB PRODUCT TO ESTABLISH USABILITY (UI/UX) AND FEASIBILITY IN A LARGE, YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM; AND (AIM 2) DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF THE PRODUCT ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES (TRANSDIAGNOSTIC INDICATORS OF RISK FOR MENTAL ILLNESS, INTERNALIZING AND EXTERNALIZING SYMPTOMATOLOGY, AND BROADER INDICATORS OF YOUTH FUNCTIONING). THE PILOT RCT STUDY WILL TEST THE SHORT-TERM EFFICACY OF THE PRODUCT IN A NATIONAL YOUTH MENTORING ORGANIZATION (BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS NEW YORK) AND INVOLVE 300 PARTICIPANTS (75 MENTOR-MENTEE PAIRS/DYADS RANDOMIZED TO THE TEST GROUP AND 75 MENTOR-MENTEE PAIRS/DYADS RANDOMIZED TO THE CONTROL GROUP). BY THE END OF PHASE I, WE WILL HAVE A TESTED PRODUCT READY FOR NATIONAL TESTING ACROSS BIG BROTHER BIG SISTERS LOCATIONS AND IN NEW SCHOOL-BASED SETTINGS. BY THE END OF PHASE II, WE ANTICIPATE A FULLY FUNCTIONING AND EVALUATED PRODUCT READY FOR COMMERCIALIZATION.