Table 1.
Typology of D&I Research on Children’s Mental Health Policy
| Type of Policy D&I Study |
Objectives | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Policy Dissemination Research | ||
| Formative Studies of Policymakers | Characterize policymakers’ awareness about, attitudes towards, support for, and preferences for receiving information about children’s mental health policy issues | Stewart et al. (2018) used survey data to state mental health agency officials’ attitudes towards policies that incentivize the use of evidence-based treatments |
| Identify discrete and meaningful sub-groups among policymakers that vary in terms of their attributes related to children’s mental health policy issues | Purtle et al. (2018b) used survey data and latent class analysis to identify three different types of legislator that vary in terms of their thinking about mental health issues | |
| Understand how contextual factors influence policymakers’ support for, and decisions about, children’s mental health policy issues | Hyde et al. (2016) used interview methods to understand factors influencing uses of research evidence in state policy decision-making related to mental health services for youth being served by child welfare agencies | |
| Dissemination Effectiveness Studies of Policymakers | Test dissemination strategies to determine which are most effective at changing policymakers’ awareness about, attitudes towards, support for evidence-based children’s mental health policies | Crowley et al. (2018) conducted a pilot trial of a prevention science evidence provision service for U.S. Congresspersons and their staff |
| Policy Implementation Research | ||
| Policy Process Implementation Studies | Describe the process through which a policy has been implemented | Purtle et al. (2018b) used survey data to assess inter-agency strategies used by state mental health agencies to support implementation of federal mental health parity laws |
| Identify policy implementers’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to policy implementation, acceptability/feasibility of implementation strategies, or fidelity | Regan et al. (2017) conducted interviews to understanding barriers and facilitators to implementation of the California Mental Health Services Act on child serving mental health agencies in Los Angeles County | |
| Policy Impact Implementation Studies | Test or contrast policy implementation strategies to determine which are most effective at improving implementation outcomes | Bruns et al (2019) studied the association between modifiable and unmodifiable inner and outer context factors on the implementation of evidence-based practices in state mental health systems |