Adolescence is a time of biological, social, and emotional transformation, presenting a unique window of opportunity to shape healthy adjustment and personality. According to a recent study, internalizing disorders are more prevalent than externalizing disorders in children and adolescents (Viswanathan et al., 2023). Parenting is an integral part of the adolescent’s environment, and their socio-emotional adjustment is molded in response to the quality of attachment and caregiving. It is an established predictive and perpetuating factor in adolescent psychopathology, but more importantly, it is a modifiable factor. In India and other Eastern countries, parental goals for emotional socialization and suggested strategies for emotional regulation differ from those in Western countries (Kathuria et al., 2023). As existing interventions are developed in the Western context, the development or adaptation of a parent-integrated therapeutic framework must be informed by relevant stakeholder perspectives. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed and expert-validated to explore challenges faced by adolescents, identify needs and barriers in psychotherapy, and understand the role of parent participation. It was administered to six experts with a minimum of five years of expertise in child and adolescent psychotherapy, and to three parent-adolescent dyads/triads where the adolescent is aged between 12-17 years, diagnosed with internalizing disorders, who had undergone psychotherapy as part of their treatment. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings provide insights into unique cultural demands and barriers, which will inform the development of a parent-child integrated intervention for adolescents with internalizing disorders.

Authors:
Niranjana Sunil, National Institute of Mental Health and Allied Sciences, India
Roopesh Bangalore Nagaraj, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India
Eesha Sharma, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India

About the Presenter(s)
Niranjana Sunil is currently a PhD scholar at the Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS. She works in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit. Her research involves developing a parent-integrated intervention for internalizing adolescents

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/niranjana-s-619824140/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

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