Research report: Brightline can be effective in lessening caregiver strain and improving functioning in a pediatric population

Brightline, the leading mental health solution supporting children, teens, and their families, released research on their evaluation of the effects of a technology-enabled pediatric and family mental health service on clinical outcomes among children and caregiver strain. The results of the retrospective study are published in JMIR Formative Research and conclude that "Tele-behavioral health offerings can be effective in improving caregiver strain and psychosocial functioning and depression and anxiety symptoms in a pediatric population. Moreover, these digital mental health offerings may provide a scalable solution to children and their families who lack access to essential pediatric mental health services."

Key findings

According to study co-author Theoren Loo, researchers observed that caregivers and pediatric patients in Brightline therapy experienced reliable improvements in their collected clinical outcomes:

• 68.8% on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) total score

• 70.6% on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) internalizing score

• 70.7% on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) score

• 67.5% on the Patient Health Questionnaire 8-item (PHQ-8)

• 65.2% on the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire-Short Form 7 (CGSQ-SF7) total score

About Brightline:

Brightline is a therapy and psychiatry practice that delivers expert pediatric, teen, and parental mental health care to families and kids up to age 18. In addition to therapy and psychiatry, Brightline’s virtual and in-person outpatient services include medication management, comprehensive psychological testing (to assess learning differences, school readiness, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and autism), and specialty programs for Anxiety & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention & Behavior. Their experienced clinical teams identify barriers and create a clear care path based on what they know will work for each issue — and for each child. Parents get the answers they’ve been searching for through diagnostic evaluations, findings, and recommendations. The lines of communication between the care team and parents stays open, and support through a robust digital library means the information families need between sessions is just a few clicks away, day or night.