Anxiety disorders

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    January 2021 – The Bridge

    This issue of The Bridge features summaries of recent child and adolescent mental health research. I hope you enjoy reading about this excellent work which improves our understanding of a wide range of conditions and informs mental health care for young people.

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  • Which disorders precede the development of mood disorders in young people?

    Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) typically emerge in childhood or adolescence. Now, researchers in Switzerland, the USA and Canada have investigated whether certain other mental health disorders precede the onset of mood disorders

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  • Cognitive inflexibility contributes to both externalising and internalising difficulties in ASD

    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience internalising and externalising symptoms, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms are unclear. In their latest study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Ann Ozsivadjian and colleagues examined the role of three cognitive factors that might contribute to these difficulties.

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  • Do children with social anxiety disorder benefit from social skills training?

    Social anxiety disorder (SAD) in children can be difficult to treat, as evidenced by the varied outcomes reported post-treatment.1,2 Although childhood treatments for SAD commonly involve at least some social skills training,3 it isn’t clear whether children with SAD have particular difficulties with social skills. There is therefore a need to better establish whether social skills are an effective target for treating SAD.

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  • Consistency is needed when measuring and reporting outcomes in child and adolescent anxiety disorders trials

    This year, Cathy Creswell, Maaike Nauta and colleagues from around the world convened a series of international activities based around measuring and reporting in treatment trials for child and adolescent anxiety disorders.

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  • Does an internet gaming disorder prospectively predict psychiatric symptoms?

    A minority of children and adolescents develop addiction-like engagement in gaming that is associated with impaired function.1 Preliminary data suggest that affected children with these symptoms, indicating an Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), might present with more symptoms of common psychiatric disorders than those without an IGD.

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  • Insufficient sleep might affect children’s emotional health

    Data from a new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry suggest that insufficient sleep can affect emotional health in children. The study, conducted by Candice Alfano and colleagues, assessed the impact of sleep duration on different aspects of emotion in a cohort of 53 children aged 7-11 years old.

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    November 2020 – The Bridge

    The research featured in this issue covers a wide range of topics relevant to our work with young people, including neurodevelopmental, emotional, and behavioural disorders, their comorbidity, and their links with functioning and quality of life.

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  • Paediatric anxiety disorders confer a considerable public health burden

    Anxiety disorders usually begin in childhood or adolescence and are the most common mental health condition across the life span.1,2 Consequently, intense research efforts are focused on delineating the underlying mechanisms of paediatric anxiety so that we can better identify those at risk and intervene early.

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  • How common and costly is persistent health anxiety in young people?

    Health anxiety – characterized by excessive and impairing worry about health issues1 – has been minimally described in childhood and adolescence, and longitudinal studies are lacking.

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