A new ARCH Lab paper published in Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry examines different mental health patterns in youth with chronic illness, how they shift over time and ways to better support their mental well-being.
The authors studied different patterns of mental disorder symptoms in youth with chronic physical illness and how youth shift across different symptoms over a two-year period. The study also explored if factors such as disability, parent psychological distress, and family income influence these changes.
Results showed youth fell into four mental health profiles, including low, internalizing, externalizing, and high symptoms. Most youth remained in the same group over time. Youth with more severe disabilities were less likely to move into lower-symptom groups, suggesting persistent mental health challenges. Youth whose parents had lower psychological distress were also less likely to transition into the low or externalizing groups, highlighting a potential influence of family well-being.
Identifying mental health profiles and the stability and change across profiles over time can help clinicians tailor interventions to specific symptom patterns and address the dynamic nature of youth mental health.
