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Cited by 335Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Treatment and Access

Future Directions in Single-Session Youth Mental Health Interventions

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Schleider, Jessica L., Dobias, Mallory L., Sung, Jenna Y., Mullarkey, Michael C.·2020·Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology
DOI 10.1080/15374416.2019.1683852PMC PMC7065925
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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.

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  • SSOIs are low/no-cost, self-guided, easy-to-disseminate digital interventions for mental well-being, making them inherently scalable.

    “SSOIs are low/no-cost, self-guided, easy-to-disseminate digital interventions for mental well-being, making them inherently scalable (Schleider, Dobias, Sung, & Mullarkey, 2020).”

    From A single session online training reduces intolerance of uncertainty and improves mental health in emerging adults. (2025) · cites this paper as Schleider, Dobias, Sung, & Mullarkey, 2020

    The ‘Future Directions in Developing SSIs’ section describes web-based SSIs as self-administered, openly available online, and having high potential for scalability; Recommendation 4 says they can be accessed anywhere at any time. The paper does not establish that they are low- or no-cost, and Recommendation 5 calls for evaluating their cost-effectiveness. It describes scalability as a potential, not an inherent property. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The ultra-brief training can be delivered at scale globally and at no cost to the users.

    “Given that this ultra-brief training can be delivered at scale globally and at no cost to the users, it shows promise for significant public health impacts.”

    From A single session online training reduces intolerance of uncertainty and improves mental health in emerging adults. (2025) · cites this paper as Schleider et al., 2020

    In “Future Directions in Developing SSIs” (page unavailable), the paper says web-based single-session interventions can be made openly available online for youths to complete in any location, supporting their potential to scale. It does not establish that the particular ultra-brief training in the citing sentence can be delivered globally at no cost to users. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Research demonstrating the effectiveness of SPIs for adults with SITBs has resulted in their widespread implementation in adolescent settings.

    “Research demonstrating the effectiveness of SPIs for adults with SITBs has resulted in their widespread implementation in adolescent settings.47”

    From Safety Planning Interventions for Suicide Prevention in Children and Adolescents (2025) · cites this paper as [47]

    The section “Recommendation 2: Evaluate SSIs in high-acuity populations” discusses preliminary evidence for brief interventions addressing adolescent self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. It does not address whether effective SPIs for adults led to widespread implementation in adolescent settings; searches for adult SPI effectiveness and adolescent implementation found no passage establishing that link. The indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.72)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Schleider, J. L., Dobias, M. L., Sung, J. Y., & Mullarkey, M. C.
Affiliations
Stony Brook University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Dobias, Mallory L.
  • Sung, Jenna Y.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2019-12-04
Volume
49
Issue
2
Pages
264-278
ISSN
  • 1537-4416 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-4424
DOI
10.1080/15374416.2019.1683852
PMC
PMC7065925
OpenAlex
W2992554966
Cited by
335
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 73 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 11
FWCI
33.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • American Psychological Foundation (John and Polly Sparks Early Career Grant)
  • Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation (Access to Care Award)
  • NIH Office of the Director (DP5OD028123)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
single-session intervention, youth mental health, child and adolescent psychopathology, access to mental health care, cost-effectiveness, prevention, intervention design and evaluation, research agenda
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Mental Health Services

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