Dr. Mario Cappelli is a Child Clinical Psychologist and a Clinician-Scientists working with children, youth, young adults and their families. He is currently the Senior Clinician Scientist at the Knowledge Institute for Child and Youth Mental Health and Addiction, an Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cappelli’s research focus is how to best identify mental health and addiction needs and to match these needs to mental health services to children and youth in an effective and integrated way. He is the principal developer of the HEADS-ED tool which is widely to help screen mental health and addiction needs of young people and guide their care. His current research includes how to manage child and youth who are in crisis and present to Emergency Departments; and how to improve the integration of services between primary care, hospital, and community-based child and youth mental health and addiction services.
Research Projects
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BRAVA: A randomized controlled trial of a brief group intervention for youth with suicidal ideation and their caregivers
16/07/2025
This randomized controlled trial evaluated BRAVA, a six‑week virtual group intervention designed to support adolescents with mild to moderate suicidal ideation and their caregivers. The study found that while both the intervention and control groups showed improvements, BRAVA participants demonstrated greater reductions in perceived stress, depression, and anxiety—benefits that were maintained at three‑month follow‑up. These findings suggest that BRAVA may offer meaningful support for youth experiencing suicidal ideation.
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HEADS-ED Under 6: A clinician-administered mental health and developmental screening and triage tool
03/04/2025
It is estimated that 10% to 25% of children under the age of 6 years have mental health (MH) concerns (1–5). In young children, MH risk factors may include eating and sleeping problems, late or abnormal development, attachment issues, adverse childhood experiences, behavioural or emotional dysregulation, language delays, and unstable or unsafe home environments (5–7). However, the challenge of measuring prevalence of MH concerns during infancy and early childhood is partially due to low identification rates by health professionals (4,8,9). When clinicians assess infant MH, they can provide resources to parents and/or refer families to specialists if red flags are identified (7). Health professionals who rely solely on clinical judgement detect less than 30% to 50% of MH problems (8); thus, one way to increase early identification and assist with clinical decision-making may be for primary care providers and pediatricians to use MH screening tools (7,10,11).
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Improving transitions in care for children and youth with mental health concerns: implementation and evaluation of an emergency department mental health clinical pathway
31/03/2025
The emergency department (ED) is a common access point for children and youth seeking mental health (MH) and addiction care [1]. Pediatric MH visits to EDs have significantly increased since 2009 in Ontario, Canada [2,3,4]. Over 50% of children and youth use the ED as the first contact for MH concerns without previously seeking outpatient care, with many patients returning to the ED to seek additional care [5]. Although families increasingly rely on EDs for MH care, these settings are often unprepared to manage children and youth with urgent and emergent MH concerns [5]. EDs lack standardized screening tools, clinical resources, and clinicians trained to confidently manage pediatric MH patients [5,6,7]. Adding to this problem is the complex and fragmented MH system in Canada, which creates difficulty in providing a coordinated transition for patients between the ED and community services. The lack of streamlined referral processes to MH resources in the community results in ED clinicians discharging their patients without appropriate recommendations for follow-up care based on their needs [8]. Each of Ontario’s 33 geographical service areas have lead agencies that are responsible for ensuring that core child and youth MH services are available to their respective communities. Lead agencies can directly deliver these core services or work in partnership with other core service providers in their communities to develop and strengthen pathways to care. Pathways between lead MH agencies and EDs have been established in Ontario and are evolving, but many gaps in care remain.
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Closing the Referral Loop: Piloting a Clinical Pathway Between Primary Care and Community-Based Mental Health and Addictions Services
21/01/2024
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A Primary Care Mental Health Pathway for Children and Youth: A Mental Health Services Quality Improvement Initiative in Ontario
07/06/2023