Kailah is a 13-year-old cisgender female with two working parents, two younger siblings, and a history of mild asthma and overweight who recently presented for a problem-focused visit related to increasing anxiety. An interview of Kailah and her parents led to a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, and she was referred for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and started on a low-dose SSRI. She now presents 3 months later with decreased anxiety and is compliant with the SSRI and CBT. What next?
Positive psychology and psychiatry have emerged as scientific disciplines since Seligman et al.1 charged the field of psychology with reclaiming its stake in helping everyday people to thrive, as well as cultivating strengths and talents at each level of society – individual, family, institutional, and beyond. This call to action revealed the shift over time from mental health care toward a focus only on mental illness. And study after study confirmed that being “not depressed,” “not anxious” and so on was not the same as flourishing.2
Returning to Kailah, from a mental-health-as-usual approach, your job may be done. Her symptoms have responded to first-line treatments. Perhaps you even tracked her symptoms with a freely available standardized assessment tool like the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED)3 and noted a significant drop in her generalized anxiety score.
After a couple decades of research, the science of well-being has led to some consistent findings that can be translated into office practice with children and families. As with any new science, the first steps to building well-being are defining and measuring what we are talking about. I recommend the Flourishing Scale4 for its brevity, availability, and ease of use. It covers the domains included in Seligman’s formula for thriving: PERMA. This acronym represents a consolidation of the first decades of research on well-being, and stands for Positive Emotions, Engagement, (Positive) Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments. For a readable but deeper look at the science behind this, check out Seligman’s “Flourish.”5
With the Flourishing Scale total score as a starting point, the acronym PERMA itself can be a good rubric to guide assessment and treatment planning in the office. You can query each of the elements to understand a youth’s current status and areas for building strengths. What brings positive emotions? What activities bring a sense of harmonious engagement without self-consciousness or awareness of time (such as a flow state)? What supportive relationships exist? Where does the youth find meaning or purpose – connection to something larger than themselves (family, work, community, teams, religion, and so on)? And where does the youth derive a sense of competence or self-esteem – something they are good at (accomplishment)?
Your clinical recommendations can flow from this assessment discussion, melding the patient’s and family’s strengths and priorities with evidence-based interventions. “The Resilience Drive,” by Alexia Michiels,6 is a good source for the latter – each chapter has segments relating research to straightforward happiness practices. The Growing Happy card deck (available online) also has brief and usable recommendations suitable for many young people. You can use these during office visits, loan out cards, gift them to families, or recommend families purchase a deck.
Dr. Andrew Rosenfeld
To build relationships, I recommend the StoryCorps and 36 Questions To Fall In Love apps. They are free and can be used with parents, peers, or others to build relationship supports and positive intimacy. Try them out yourself first; they essentially provide a platform to generate vulnerable conversations.
Mindfulness is a great antidote to lack of engagement, and it can be practiced in a variety of forms. Card decks make good office props or giveaways, including Growing Mindful (mindfulness practices for all ages) and the YogaKids Toolbox. Plus, there’s an app for that – in fact, many. Two that are free and include materials accessible for younger age groups are Smiling Mind (a nonprofit) and Insight Timer (searchable). This can build engagement and counter negative emotions.
For increasing engagement and flow, I recommend patients and family members assess their character strengths at Strengths-Based Resilience by the University of Toronto SSQ72. Research shows that using your strengths in novel ways lowers depression risk, increases happiness,7 and may be a key to increasing engagement in everyday activities.
When Kailah came in for her next visit, a discussion of PERMA led to identifying time with her family and time with her dog as significant relationship supports that bring positive emotions. However, she struggled to identify a realm where she felt some sense of mastery or competence. Taking the strengths survey (SSQ72) brought out her strengths of love of learning and curiosity. This led to her volunteering at her local library – assisting with programs and eventually creating and leading a teens’ book group. Her CBT therapist supported her through these challenges, and she was able to taper the frequency of therapy sessions so that Kailah only returns for a booster session now every 6 months or so. While she still identifies as an anxious person, Kailah has broadened her self-image to include her resilience and love of learning as core strengths.
Dr. Andrew J. Rosenfeld is an assistant professor in the departments of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington. He said he has no relevant disclosures. Email him at pdnews@mdedge.com.
References
1. Am Psychol. 2000;55(1):5-14.
2. Am Psychol. 2007 Feb-Mar;62(2):95-108.
3. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1999 Oct;38(10):1230-6.
4. Soc Indic Res. 2009; 39:247-66.
5. “Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being” (New York: Free Press, 2011).