futuresTHRIVE Launches Game-Changing AI Platform to Transform Youth Mental Health Screening

Insights from Recent Research Study Expose Significant Gaps in Standard of Care

DARIEN, Conn., Nov. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — futuresTHRIVE, (“the Company”), a mental health technology company committed to transforming the identification and tracking of mental health challenges in youth, today unveiled groundbreaking data from a comprehensive research study conducted as part of The National Science Foundation (NSF) Phase I work. The study highlighted substantial limitations in the standard of care for mental health screening in youth.

Comprising 100 participants (ages 5-16), the study compared futuresTHRIVE’s TweenScreen™ and tScreen™ (assigned based on age and reading ability), against the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), the current standard in the testing of mental health in youth.

Key findings included:

• There was an 87% correlation between the futuresTHRIVE platforms with the PSC, underscoring the efficacy of TweenScreen and tScreen in identifying mental health concerns.
• Moreover, TweenScreen and tScreen provided a wealth of additional data, including specific areas of concern and respondents’ thoughts on related questions, often validated by anecdotal parent reporting.
• Approximately 40% of participants not identified as “impaired” by the PSC were found to have concerns as detected by the TweenScreen platform.
  • Specific insights revealed troubling concerns, such as feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm, family environment risks and personal feelings and experiences.
• Among the participants, 62% disclosed experiencing the loss of a loved one, with individual accounts spanning from the loss of a grandparent to the passing of a pet.
  • The TweenScreen and tScreen platforms empower children to openly articulate their feelings and thoughts stemming from these experiences, allowing for a deeper exploration of emotions (i.e., sadness).
• Only 3.5% of the open-ended questions offered were skipped, underscoring their vital role in providing context and evidence to understand the underlying factors contributing to the feelings discussed during the assessment.
  • Notably, it was observed that children frequently attempted to provide answers or comments on the PSC, indicating its limitations for comprehensive screening.

“This data vividly demonstrates futuresTHRIVE’s ability to uncover mental health concerns often missed by the traditional PSC screening,” said Wendy Ward, CEO of futuresTHRIVE. “What’s especially remarkable is that TweenScreen identified additional issues in nearly 40% of the participants who had previously undergone PSC screening. At a time when over 17 million young people experience mental health disorders by the age of 18, innovative solutions are an essential first line of defense. Not only do they challenge existing standards, more importantly, they emphasize the growing need to bridge gaps in existing processes and practices, offering the promise of timely support to children and families in dire circumstances.”

Ward continued, “During the study, we observed firsthand how our technology impacts children. Many kids struggled to understand the questions on the PSC, which led to confusion and disengagement. In contrast, TweenScreen’s user-friendly, age-appropriate design and clear, easily understandable questions significantly enhanced children’s ease of use. With TweenScreen taking just 15 minutes to complete, children remained engaged and thus, were able to provide valuable insights into their mental health.”

Developed in the 1980s, the Pediatric Symptom Checklist is a 37-item questionnaire designed to identify children with difficulties in psychosocial functioning. Its primary purpose, which is to alert pediatricians at an early point about which children would benefit from further assessment, has been used in more than 200 studies in the United States.

TweenScreen, designed for kids aged 9-16, and tScreen, tailored for non-reading children aged 5-9, both harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide practitioners with an extensive dataset of mental health information. These innovative tools cover a wide spectrum of areas, including adverse childhood experiences, positive childhood experiences, relationships, routines, school and home functioning, family disruptions, anxiety, depression and suicidality. These innovative, child-friendly platforms use gamified functions to capture both spoken and unspoken communication.

“The futuresTHRIVE screeners provide unparalleled insights into youth mental health, exceeding the capabilities of existing methods and facilitating a holistic examination of conditions like depression, anxiety, ADHD, relational conflict and emotion regulation,” said Dr. Amanda Craig, Medical Advisory Member, futuresTHRIVE. “As user-friendly as an eye chart, this AI-powered tool blends validated questions with emotion matching and voice inflection recognition, delivering precise detection and invaluable data to support clinicians in treatment decisions. The data collected will no doubt enable healthcare professionals and families to identify mental health concerns sooner, fostering a deeper understanding of their underlying causes.”

About futuresTHRIVE
futuresTHRIVE is at the forefront of the battle against the growing crisis of youth mental health concerns, pioneering innovative tools that enable the early and frequent identification and tracking of pediatric mental health. Their revolutionary early intervention mental health screening tools seamlessly combine game-based technology with artificial intelligence, addressing the pressing needs of healthcare professionals, educators and families. For more information, please visit: https://www.futuresthrive.com, and follow the Company on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.

Media Contacts
Shana Marino / Michael Ganci
futuresTHRIVE@kcsa.com