Why it’s good to ban smacking

I remember going to an international conference on child abuse and neglect many years ago and thinking before I went, that the UK was pretty far ahead in terms of the services we offer. I was shocked when one presentation went through some of the evidence on how smacking is related to physical abuse, and how many countries in the world allowed it.

15 November 2019

Noisy home environments affect autonomic reactions in infants

Previous research has suggested that children who are exposed to a stressful environment early in life are at a higher risk of adverse long-term outcomes, including mental disorders and cognitive impairment. Now, a team of researchers in the UK have monitored autonomic reactions.

14 November 2019

Intolerance of uncertainty underlies demand avoidance behaviours in children

Researchers in Newcastle have conducted one of the first studies to conceptualise and understand the behavioural features of the pathological demand avoidance (PDA) profile — a proposed subtype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — in children and young people.

14 November 2019

Teacher assessments could replace high-stake testing to improve student well-being

Many students experience anxiety and distress during exams, and these emotions can have a negative effect on achievement. Notably, one of the top-reported concerns voiced by children in the UK is the stress and anxiety associated with school work and exam performance.

14 November 2019

Child anxiety symptoms affect mothers via an environmental mechanism

Intergenerational anxiety associations in families are well reported, but the underlying mechanisms of anxiety transmission are unclear. Now, researchers in the UK and the USA have conducted the first genetically sensitive study to explore the effects of genetic and environmental anxiety transmission in families during middle childhood.

14 November 2019

Parental consanguinity predicts ASD severity

Parental consanguinity could predict ASD severity in this study after controlling for the effects of maternal health and developmental indicators.

14 November 2019

Epidemiology of self-harm – Prof. Dr. Paul Plener

8 November 2019

In Conversation… Dr. Ramya Mohan

In this podcast, Ramya Mohan discusses the interactive and practical method combining neuroscience and the creative arts CAPE (Creative Arts for Processing Emotion) as a therapeutic technique.

30 October 2019

Parental Mental Illness Edition Editorial

In this edition we focus on parental mental illness and its effect on children. This is published in advance of the ACAMH conference “Parental Mental Illness – Supporting children and young people who live with a parent with a mental illness”.

28 October 2019

Prof. Stephen Scott – Parenting

Professor Stephen Scott talks about using parenting as an intervention in young people’s mental health and future prospects. The discussion includes the latest research on parenting programmes, insecure attachment and digital interventions.

25 October 2019