Future Directions in Single-Session Youth Mental Health Interventions

Abstract

The United States spends more money on mental health services than any other country, yet access to effective psychological services remains strikingly low. The need-to-access gap is especially wide among children and adolescents, with up to 80% of youths with mental health needs going without services, and the remainder often receiving insufficient or untested care. Single-session interventions (SSIs) may offer a promising path toward improving accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and completion rates for youth mental health services. SSIs are structured programs that intentionally involve only one visit or encounter with a clinic, provider, or program; they may serve as stand-alone or adjunctive clinical services. A growing body of evidence supports the capacity of SSIs to reduce and prevent youth psychopathology of multiple types. Here, we provide a working definition of SSIs for use in future research and practice; summarize the literature to date on SSIs for child and adolescent mental health; and propose recommendations for the future design, evaluation, and implementation of SSIs across a variety of settings and contexts. We hope that this paper will serve as an actionable research agenda for gauging the full potential of SSIs as a force for youth mental health.

Figures

Figure 1.

Testimonal from “Kat” age 16, included in “Activate Action” (Schleider, Mullarkey, Mumper, & Sung, 2019, https://osf.io/qj94c/). Section 1a appears first, followed by section 1b, which the user sees after being asked to give Kat advice for how to “get out of her negative mood spiral.”