A Telepsychology-Based Social Competence Intervention for Youth with Learning Disabilities and Mental Health Difficulties During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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dc.contributor.advisorPepler, Debra J.
dc.contributor.authorDiplock, Benjamin David
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-18T21:23:50Z
dc.date.available2024-07-18T21:23:50Z
dc.date.copyright2024-04-16
dc.date.issued2024-07-18
dc.date.updated2024-07-18T21:23:49Z
dc.degree.disciplinePsychology (Functional Area: Clinical-Developmental)
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractYouth with learning disabilities (LDs) have a heightened risk for co-occurring mental health difficulties. The co-occurrence of LDs and mental health difficulties (LDMH) is associated with further risk of adverse impacts on cognitive and academic performance. Therefore, the availability of effective social competence interventions for youth with LDMH is essential to scaffold skill development and prevent cascading difficulties into adulthood. That said, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the immediate pause of most in-person therapeutic services. In response to worsening of youths’ mental health difficulties and the significant challenges that the pandemic created for mental health service delivery, the Child Development Institute in Ontario, Canada, transitioned their in-person Social Awareness, Competence, Engagement, & Skills (ACES) intervention service to virtual implementation. I conducted two studies with the purpose of gathering qualitative and quantitative data to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the telepsychology-based adaptations of Social ACES from the clinician, caregiver, and youth perspectives. <b>Methods:</b> Data collection occurred through in-depth semi-structured interviews of nine Social ACES clinicians (Study 1), four caregivers and four youth who partook in the telepsychology-based intervention (Study 2); lived experiences were analysed using the qualitative approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. For a mixed-methods perspective, I also examined outcomes of the intervention through quantitative parent ratings of their child’s social competence pre- post-treatment, augmented by clinicians’ reports (Study 2). The data was triangulated to provide a deeper perspective of the youths’ progress through the program and challenges experienced. <b>Results:</b> The findings resulted in the emergence of four (Study 1) and two (Study 2) major themes, as well as elucidating four integrated youth case studies, to help clarify clinicians’, caregivers, and youths’ perceptions of the adaptation. <b>Conclusions:</b> These studies provided preliminary evidence for the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of virtual Social ACES. The findings have implications for the future of mental health service delivery, raise further questions about the effectiveness of social competence programming during and after a time of significant disruption, and point to several lines of inquiry for future critical research on virtual interventions for children and youth.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/42170
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectClinical psychology
dc.subjectMental health
dc.subject.keywordsLearning disabilities
dc.subject.keywordsMental health difficulties
dc.subject.keywordsMental health
dc.subject.keywordsChild
dc.subject.keywordsYouth
dc.subject.keywordsClinicians
dc.subject.keywordsCaregivers
dc.subject.keywordsAdolescents
dc.subject.keywordsPsychology
dc.subject.keywordsClinical developmental psychology
dc.subject.keywordsPerspective
dc.subject.keywordsTelepsychology
dc.subject.keywordsVirtual
dc.subject.keywordsOnline
dc.subject.keywordsSocial competence programming
dc.subject.keywordsSocial awareness competence engagement and skills
dc.subject.keywordsSocial ACES
dc.subject.keywordsVirtual adaptation
dc.subject.keywordsVirtual Social ACES
dc.subject.keywordsIntervention
dc.subject.keywordsCOVID-19
dc.subject.keywordsPandemic
dc.subject.keywordsChild Development Institute
dc.subject.keywordsYork University
dc.subject.keywordsOntario
dc.subject.keywordsCanada
dc.subject.keywordsSocial coaching
dc.subject.keywordsEmbedded research
dc.subject.keywordsQualitative research
dc.subject.keywordsMixed-method research
dc.subject.keywordsInterpretative phenomenological analysis
dc.subject.keywordsFeasibility
dc.subject.keywordsAcceptability
dc.subject.keywordsEffectiveness
dc.subject.keywordsLived experience
dc.subject.keywordsMental health service delivery
dc.subject.keywordsCommunity mental health
dc.subject.keywordsDissertation
dc.titleA Telepsychology-Based Social Competence Intervention for Youth with Learning Disabilities and Mental Health Difficulties During the COVID-19 Pandemic
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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