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Background: Perinatal anxiety and depression are widespread, with up to 20% of women affected during pregnancy and after birth. In the UK, management of perinatal mental health falls under the remit of general practitioners (GPs). We reviewed the literature on GPs' routine recognition, diagnosis and management of anxiety and depression in the perinatal period.Method: A systematic search of Embase, Medline, PsycInfo, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science was conducted. Studies were eligible if they reported quantitative measures of GPs' or Family Physicians' assessment, recognition and management of anxiety or depression in pregnancy or post-partum.Results: Thirteen papers, reporting 10 studies, were identified from the United States, Australia, UK, Netherlands and Canada. All reported on depression; two included anxiety disorders. Reported awareness and ability to diagnose perinatal depression among GPs was high. GPs knew about and used screening tools in the UK but less so in US settings. Antidepressants were the first line of treatment, with various SSRIs considered safest. Counseling by GPs and referrals to specialists were common in the post-natal period, less so in pregnancy. Treatment choices were determined by resources, attitudes, knowledge and training.Conclusions: Data on GPs' awareness and management of perinatal depression were sparse and unlikely to be generalizable. Future directions for research are proposed; such as exploring the management of anxiety disorders which are largely missing from the literature, and understanding more about barriers to disclosure and recognition in primary care. More standardized training could help to improve recognition and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Announces that Craig J. Whittington of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, and his colleagues were awarded 2004 Paper of the Year by "The Lancet" for their article "Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Childhood Depression: Systematic Review of Published Versus Unpublished Data." Statement from Richard Horton, editor of "The Lancet" about the study.

Background: Unmet pediatric mental health (MH) needs are growing as rates of pediatric depression and anxiety dramatically increase. Access to care is limited by multiple factors, including a shortage of clinicians trained in developmentally specific, evidence-based services. Novel approaches to MH care delivery, including technology-leveraged and readily accessible options, need to be evaluated in service of expanding evidence-based services to youths and their families. Preliminary evidence supports the use of Woebot, a relational agent that digitally delivers guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) through a mobile app, for adults with MH concerns. However, no studies have evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of such app-delivered relational agents specifically for adolescents with depression and/or anxiety within an outpatient MH clinic, nor compared them to other MH support services. Objective: This paper describes the protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of an investigational device, Woebot for Adolescents (W-GenZD), within an outpatient MH clinic for youths presenting with depression and/or anxiety. The study's secondary aim will compare the clinical outcomes of self-reported depressive symptoms with W-GenZD and a telehealth-delivered CBT-based skills group (CBT-group). Tertiary aims will evaluate additional clinical outcomes and therapeutic alliance between adolescents in W-GenZD and the CBT-group. Methods: Participants include youths aged 13-17 years with depression and/or anxiety seeking care from an outpatient MH clinic at a children's hospital. Eligible youths will have no recent safety concerns or complex comorbid clinical diagnoses; have no concurrent individual therapy; and, if on medications, are on stable doses, based on clinical screening and as well as study-specific criteria. Results: Recruitment began in May 2022. As of December 8, 2022, we have randomized 133 participants. Conclusions: Establishing the feasibility and acceptability of W-GenZD within an outpatient MH clinical setting will add to the field's current understanding of the utility and implementation considerations of this MH care service modality. The study will also evaluate the noninferiority of W-GenZD against the CBT-group. Findings may also have implications for patients, families, and providers looking for additional MH support options for adolescents seeking help for their depression and/or anxiety. Such options expand the menu of supports for youths with lower-intensity needs as well as possibly reduce waitlists and optimize clinician deployment toward more severe cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In China, there are approximately 70 million children, nearly 25% of the child population, who are left behind in the care of other family members when their parents migrate to urban areas, for increased economic opportunities. This paper presents a systematic review and a meta‐analysis of studies that have examined the phenomenon of depression among these left‐behind children (LBC). Methods: Six hundred three papers published between 2000 and 2017 were retrieved from five databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Weipu, PubMed, and Web of Science). Results: Twenty‐one studies (18 in Chinese and 3 in English) met the criteria for inclusion in this meta‐analysis. The pooled estimate of depression among LBC was 26.4%. A significant heterogeneity has been found in reported findings, and this heterogeneity was associated with three types of study characteristics, including using an unclear definition of LBC and using invalidated depression instruments, and the geographic location. Conclusions: The risk of mental health problems among this large number of LBC suggests the need to quantify the extent and distribution of their mental health state. Implications for methodological improvements for future research have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many contradictions in previous studies of the status of depressive symptoms among Chinese migrant children, the number of which in the compulsory education stage is about 13.9 million. This systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to compare depressive symptoms among migrant children and their urban children. Around 2,710 papers were retrieved from PubMed, OVID, the Web of Knowledge, CNKI, Wan Fang, Chongqing VIP, and Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index on January 27, 2020. Thirty-Two studies met study criteria with 14,906 migrant children and 10,792 urban children. Migrant children scored significantly higher for depressive symptoms score (SMD = 0.307, 95% CI [0.222, 0.393]). Region significantly influenced the difference of depressive symptoms between migrant children and urban children. Large effect sizes came from studies using scales that focus on depressive mood while studies using scales that focus on depressive behavioural symptoms had small effect sizes. Future research should focus on treatments to decrease depressive mood of migrant children. Future studies can add information about the length of their current stay in the urban location to improve the quality of study. PROSPERO registry: Systematic review registration no. CRD42018090676. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a systematic thematic analysis of one particular latency-aged children's group and includes a discussion about potentially helpful outcomes measures. The impetus for our small, practice-based qualitative research project came from the two papers by Reid (1999) and Canham (2002) about children's psychotherapy groups, particularly Canham's (2002) paper, ‘Group and gang states of mind’. Canham and Reid used Bion's theories of group functioning as the basis of their technique with children's groups. We felt that it would be an interesting follow-on from Reid and Canham's findings to explore in some detail the specific therapeutic factors involved in a shift from paranoid–schizoid to depressive functioning in group therapy. We hoped that this might give us some helpful clinical indications as to the circumstances in which group rather than individual psychotherapy and parallel parent work should be considered as the treatment of choice. The paper concentrates exclusively on group work with latency-aged children, therefore referring mainly to the limited number of papers published about psychoanalytic group therapy with this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores children’s trauma symptoms related to parental incarceration and lays the groundwork for the implementation of Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) within a clinical community-based setting treating children and adolescents affected by parental incarceration. Children and adolescents who experience parental incarceration are more likely to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): depression, anger, aggression, and isolating and self-harming behaviors. Although parental incarceration is a known source of trauma, there are no documented studies examining effective clinical treatments to reduce the effects of the trauma experienced by these children and adolescents. Except for children and adolescents affected by parental incarceration, TF-CBT, a promising model for treating and reducing the symptoms of PTSD, has been successfully applied to various populations affected by trauma. Children of incarcerated parents resemble populations treated with TF-CBT in earlier applications. In this paper, we present a case illustration that examines the application of TF-CBT with one child who experienced trauma symptoms related to parental incarceration, while discussing the results of that application and the potential for broader applicability of TF-CBT within community-based organizations that treat the population of children and families affected by parental incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and adolescents are at a significantly high risk of mental health problems during their lifetime, among which are depression and anxiety, which are the most common. Life skills education is one of the intervention programmes designed to improve mental wellbeing and strengthen their ability to cope with the daily stresses of life. This review aimed to identify and evaluate the effect of life skills intervention on the reduction of depression, anxiety and stress among children and adolescents. Following the Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome (PICO) model and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) 2009 checklist, eight databases (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Cochrane, MEDLINE, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science) were systematically reviewed from 2012 to 2020. The search was limited to English papers only. It included published experimental and quasi-experimental studies addressing the effect of life skills interventions on the reduction of at least one of the following mental health disorders: depression, anxiety and stress among children and adolescents (from the age of 5 years old to 18 years old). We used the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for experimental and quasi-experimental studies to evaluate the quality of the included studies. This study was registered in PROSPERO [CRD42021256603]. The search identified only 10 studies (three experimental and seven quasi-experimental) from 2,160 articles. The number of the participants was 6,714 aged between 10 years old and 19 years old. Three studies in this review focused on depression and anxiety, whereas one study investigated depression and the other anxiety. Three studies targeted only stress and two examined the three outcomes, namely, depression, anxiety and stress. Almost in all studies, the life skills intervention positively impacted mental disorders, considering the differences among males and females. The overall methodological quality of the findings was deemed to be moderate to high. Our results clearly indicated the advantages of life skills programmes among adolescents in different settings and contexts. Nonetheless, the results highlight some important policy implications by emphasising the crucial roles of developers and policymakers in the implementation of appropriate modules and activities. Further research examining life skills intervention with a cultural, gender perspective, age-appropriate and long-term effect is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastroparesis (GP) is a chronic, gastric dysmotility disorder with significant morbidity and mortality. The hallmark of GP is the delayed emptying of the contents of the stomach in the absence of any mechanical obstruction. Patients most commonly report chronic symptoms of nausea, vomiting, feeling full quickly when eating, bloating, and abdominal pain. Treatments are limited with relatively poor efficacy. As such, children with GP are at significant risk for the development of psychological co-morbidities. In this paper, we provide a topical review of the scientific literature on the psychological, social, and emotional impacts of gastroparesis in pediatric patients. We aim to document the current state of research, identify gaps in our knowledge with appropriate recommendations for future research directions, and highlight the unique challenges pediatric patients with GP and their families may face as they manage this disease. Based on the current review, research into the psychosocial impacts in children with GP is essentially non-existent. However, when considering research in children with other chronic digestive diseases, children with GP are likely to face multiple psychosocial challenges, including increased risk for anxiety and depression, stigma, and reduced quality of life. These significant gaps in the current understanding of effects of GP across domains of childhood functioning allow for ample opportunities for future studies to address psychosocial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) present a significantly higher risk for numerous emotional and social problems than those without ADHD, including poor self-image, depression, and interpersonal difficulties, which lead to academic and social underachievement. Objectives: Since these children are included in the general education classroom, the teachers need to understand their emotional difficulties better, in order to collaborate efficiently with the psychotherapist and to adapt their teaching strategies for an effective instruction of these children. Methods: The paper describes the development of two experiential technology-based metaphoric scenarios aimed to help teachers and psychotherapists in the diagnosis of self-image improvement in experiential psychotherapy of children diagnosed with ADHD. Results: There is a correlation between the way a child assesses himself and relates to himself, and how he evaluates and behaves in relation to his peers. This means that the improvement of self-image can be a primary goal in the psychotherapy of disruptive behavior disorders. Conclusions: The construction, validation and implementation of these scenarios in school settings is part of a larger research project that proposes a combined research strategy regarding the efficiency of expressive experiential psychotherapy in treating disruptive and emotional disorders in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented in which the author explores the research on child and adolescent psychopathology. It discusses various research focused on understanding factors that contribute to the development of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. It also states the development and evaluation of evidence based treatments for anxiety and depression in young people.

By retrieving literature published from 2005 to 2015 from Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Vip, PubMed, and Web of Science, we filtered out studies using the Children’s Depression Inventory only and compared left-behind children and non-left-behind children. The methodological quality of the papers was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Finally, we included six studies to carry out a meta-analysis. The results showed that the Children’s Depression Inventory scores of left-behind children are significantly higher than those of non-left-behind children (standardized mean difference: −0.233, 95% confidence interval: −0.036 to −0.430, p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the once-weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a girl, called Ellie, aged eight at the start of her treatment. Ellie had a learning disability and displayed difficult behaviour at school and at home. In her therapy, Ellie grew in emotional intelligence, more in touch with and able to express her feelings. Her behaviour improved and so did her capacity to learn. In the therapy there were certain limitations to progress and this is discussed in terms of how Ellie's disability affected the basic achievements of emotional development, including a mind with a solid 'reality ego', able to contain anxiety, and able to maintain depressive functioning. The importance of parallel parent work, to share observations and understanding of the child's functioning is discussed. Difficulties for both child and parents in dealing with the pain of difference and how this limits emotional intelligence are discussed. The author hopes that this paper will encourage the offering of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to children and young people with learning disabilities, who are significantly more likely to suffer from mental health problems than their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research testing the reformulated theory of learned helplessness has been limited by the psychometric properties of instruments used to measure children's attributional style. Thus, the goal of this investigation was to modify a relatively new measure of attributional style that has demonstrated strong psychometric properties with young children and test its psychometric properties in a group administration with a sample of 238 fifth- and sixth-grade children. Results revealed strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability, significant correlations with another measure of attributional style, depressive symptoms, optimism, learned helplessness, and a factor structure that was consistent with theory. Overall, these results provide initial support for the use of a modified paper-and-pencil version of the Children's Attributional Style Interview in a group-administered format for children as young as fifth and sixth grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With regard to internalizing disorders we wanted to describe: 1) a possible change in diagnoses over time; 2) a possible corresponding change in causes for referral; 3) correspondence of hospital diagnosis with causes for referral. For 70 randomly selected records/year ( n =560), referral papers were examined and compared with register-data on all 8–13-year-old children examined in the study period (1995–2002). The hospital-based frequency increased for depressive disorders and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and decreased for anxiety disorders. A corresponding increase occurred for depressive and OCD symptoms as cause for referral. Agreement between referral causes and subsequent clinical diagnoses was modest. In most cases (68%) referred for internalizing symptoms, a clinical diagnosis within the internalizing spectrum was given. The increase in the diagnoses of depressive disorder and OCD seems partly due to an increase in patients referred for these disorders. Referrers identify internalizing disorders reliably but child psychiatric examination leads to more precise diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a qualitative family therapy process study which is part of a larger European-based outcome study comparing family therapy to child psychotherapy plus parent support for depressed children and their families. The family therapists and two clinical supervisors from the original study formed themselves into a research team to study the process of therapy with twelve families. Therapists selected the significant moments from fifty-nine sessions, and were then interviewed by the research team using a standard protocol to investigate the therapists' own thinking about the significant moments. Applying a thematic analysis, the significant moments were clustered into eleven themes. The paper discusses the rationale for this model of research, which is well suited for clinical teams, and the application of the themes to therapeutic work with depressed children and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children of affluence are generally presumed to be at low risk. However, recent studies have suggested problems in several domains--notably, substance use, anxiety, and depression--and 2 sets of potential causes: pressures to achieve and isolation from parents. Recognizing the limited awareness of these issues, the objectives in this paper are to collate evidence on the nature of problems among the wealthy and their likely causes. The first half of the paper is focused on disturbances among affluent children and the second half is focused on characteristics of their families and neighborhoods. Widespread negative sentiments toward the rich are then discussed, and the paper concludes with suggestions for future work with families at the upper end of the socioeconomic spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Childhood depression: a systematic review."

Two recent papers associated candidate genes with brooding rumination, a possible cognitive endophenotype for depression, in children ages 8–14 years. Stone et al. reported that BDNF val66met polymorphism predicted brooding in adolescence. Woody et al. reported that children carrying at least one copy of a CRHR1TAThaplotype reported less brooding than their peers in the presence of maternal depression. We attempted to replicate and extend these findings in a sample of twins aged 12–16 years. We analyzed the BDNF val66met (rs6265) polymorphism and two (rs242924 and rs7209436) out of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that Woody et al. used to create a CRHR1 haplotype. We controlled for maternal history of depression and clustering within families. Unlike Stone et al., we found higher brooding among BDNF Met carriers. This main effect was qualified by an interaction with pubertal status, with the effect driven by more physically mature participants. Similar to Woody et al., we found an interaction between CRHR1 SNPs and maternal depression, with the homozygous minor genotype acting as a protective factor against brooding in the presence of maternal depression. Findings provide partial support for the influence of candidate genes in two environmentally sensitive systems on brooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade there has been a huge increase in the number of behavioral genetic studies looking into anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. There are now enough data in this area to make a review of the results useful. This paper begins with an outline of the methods used in such research and moves on to review the results in extant studies. Overall, these studies indicate modest to moderate genetic influence on both anxiety and depression. However, behavioral genetic methods are also paramount for exploring environmental influences in addition to genetic influences. Shared environment (that which makes family members resemble one another) is rarely identified in adult studies of personality or psychopathology and does not appear to be a significant influence for depression but it is for anxiety. Nonshared environment, which makes family members differ from one another, is found to be a significant influence for both anxiety and depression. Patterns within these results due to rater effects, age effects, sex effects, the precise phenotype measured, and the study design are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence documenting risks for affective problems and disorders among minor children of alcoholics. Subjects studied were 98 youths from alcoholic-headed and control families participating in a risk for alcoholism research project (Johnson & Roll, see next paper in this issue). Depressive affect questionnaires were completed by the mothers of the youths as well as the youths themselves. ANOVA's and ANCOVA's (co-varying for age) indicated significant group differences on both maternal and youth ratings with more affective problems shown for the offspring of alcoholics. Outliers with extreme depressive affect scores occurred most frequently for the youths in the high risk for alcoholism group. Findings are discussed with regard to risk group membership, gender, source of information, and the data's implications for further analyses as well as for the design of future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the publication of papers concerning the use of Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRls) and Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Anxiety Disorders in children and adolescents. This paper was supported by national organization Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health to update informations on clinical use of medications, and to help clinicians on better understanding of evidence provide.

Background: Parental separation is associated with increased risk for offspring depression; however, depression outcomes are divergent. Knowledge of moderators could assist in understanding idiosyncratic outcomes and developing appropriately targeted prevention programs for those at heightened risk of depression following parental separation. Therefore, the objective of the review was to identify and evaluate studies that examined moderators of the relationship between parental separation and offspring depressionMethods: A search of scientific, medical and psychological databases was conducted in April 2015 for longitudinal research that had evaluated any moderator/s of the relationship between parental separation or divorce and offspring depression or depressive symptoms. Papers were assessed for quality by evaluating the study's sample, attrition rates, methodology and measurement characteristics.Results: Fourteen quantitative studies from five countries assessed sixteen moderating factors of the relationship between parental separation and offspring depression or depressive symptoms. A number of factors were found to moderate this relationship, including offspring gender, age (at assessment and at depression onset), genotype, preadolescent temperament, IQ, emotional problems in childhood and maternal sensitivity.Limitations: While robust longitudinal research was selected for inclusion, common issues with longitudinal studies such as low rates of participation and attrition were among the methodological concerns evident in some of the reviewed papers.Conclusions: The current review is the first to assess interaction effects of the relationship between parental separation and offspring depression or depressive symptoms. While further research is recommended, this assessment is critical in understanding variation in heterogeneous populations and can inform targeted policy and prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: the present paper work wants to outline the fact that emotional abuse may be at a certain moment one of the indexes of depression in school environment. Methods: observation, conversation, talk, case study. Summary of results: the entire structural demarche outlines the fact that, at the level of school population, in certain situation, it is exercised the emotional abuse by different persons under various forms, which determines an attitude and a special developed behavior, which may finally be found through the indexes that decode depression in educational environment, the pupil being considered in most cases vulnerable and emotional instable. Conclusions: centering in the near future on the necessity of involving the development factors (environment, education, and heredity) in decreasing/eliminating the emotional abuse in school environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research reveals limited knowledge of children's mental health among caregivers. This paper identifies predictors of mental health literacy among parents of children diagnosed with mood disorders that are seeking or already receiving help. Secondary data analysis using multivariate regression was conducted on data from a randomized, controlled efficacy trial with a sample of 165 children. Mental health literacy was higher for parents who were female, white, higher educated and had children who were older, had a bipolar diagnosis or received more services. Lifetime experience with mental health disorders also predicted literacy. Public mental health efforts are needed to raise caregiver mental health literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To identify relevant and pertinent themes and interventions within the literature relating to childhood traumatic grief, in order to provide a sound background of evidence for further research and service development. Background: Childhood traumatic grief is caused when a significant person in a child's life dies under circumstances that they perceive to be traumatic. This can leave a child unable to return to the same level of physical and emotional functioning that he or she had prior to the death occurring. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an increased risk for childhood traumatic grief due to a high prevalence of orphanhood, environmental stressors, stigma, and abuse. This can have detrimental effects upon mental health. Methods: The review followed the York methodology: identifying the purpose and agreeing on the strategy beforehand; identifying relevant sources/studies; selecting the studies; charting the data; and collating, summarizing, and reporting results. Results and discussion: Interventions identified to prevent and/or manage traumatic grief included narrative exposure therapy, psychotherapy, mentoring, peer-group support, psychosocial support, a grief and loss therapy session, and memory boxes. Mental health remains neglected within service and policy development as well as in global health spending. The average amount expended on mental health services per person per year in low-income countries is less than $0.25. Only 36% of people in low income countries are covered by a mental health policy, compared with 92% in high income countries. Limitations: The sixth stage of the York methodology was omitted. Only papers written in English were included in the review. Conclusion: Childhood traumatic grief in young people is an important issue within Sub- Saharan Africa and has relevance to the global mental health agenda. Implications for nursing and health policy: With the HIV/AIDS pandemic continuing to threaten and the number of orphans estimated to rise, a number of recommendations developed from the literature are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study performed to investigate the impact of the conflict in Syria on Syrian refugee children. The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan was chosen for this task. Two control (comparison) groups of children were selected: one from the Jordanian Ramtha district, which is just across the border from Syria, and that indirectly feel the consequences of the Syrian conflict, and the other from Amman, the capital of Jordan, which is far away from the border. The study compared the Zaatari, Ramtha and Amman groups in terms of expressed anxiety and depression symptoms. They were also compared with respect to their gender and age. The Zaatari children were more distressed than the others, and the symptom ‘thoughts of ending your life’ was expressed only by this group. The Ramtha group also expressed some distress. The fact that this group indirectly experiences the consequences of violence emphasises the dire circumstances of children inside Syria who are trapped between fighting groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by McClimens and Gordon on considering how new and emerging use of technology could bring benefits to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, one by Brown and colleagues on targeted investment of time in focusing on one child, and one by Perez-Achiaga and colleagues on the major negative impacts of depression.

Background: Disasters are destructive, potentially traumatic events that affect millions of youth each year. Objective: The purpose of this paper was to review the literature on depressive symptoms among youth after disasters. Specifically, we examined the prevalence of depression, risk factors associated with depressive symptoms, and theories utilized in this research area. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and PubMed electronic databases for English language articles published up to May 1, 2013. Reference lists from included studies were reviewed to capture additional studies. Only quantitative, peer reviewed studies, conducted with youth under the age of 18 years, that examined postdisaster depressive symptoms were included. Seventy-two studies met inclusion criteria. Prevalence of depressive symptoms, disaster type, correlates of depressive symptoms, and theories of depressive symptoms were reviewed. Results: Only 27 studies (38 %) reported on prevalence rates among youth in their sample. Prevalence rates of depression among youth postdisaster ranged from 2 to 69 %. Potential risk factors were identified (e.g., female gender, exposure stressors, posttraumatic stress symptoms). Theories were examined in less than one-third of studies ( k = 21). Conclusions: Given the variability in prevalence rates, difficulty identifying a single profile of youth at risk for developing depressive symptoms, and lack of a unifying theory emerging from the studies, recommendations for future research are discussed. Use of established batteries of assessments could enable comparisons across studies. Merging existing theories from children's postdisaster and depression literatures could aid in the identification of risk factors and causal pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Childhood traumatic brain injury (CTBI) is one of the most common causes of mortality and disability in children and adolescents that impacts on neuropsychological, social and psychological development. A disruption of development in these areas often results in long-term problems with interpersonal relationships, participation in leisure and social activities and employment status. These social and psychological problems appear to persist longer in comparison to other functional consequences, although evidence is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to investigate social and psychological outcomes 15 years post-injury. Design/methodology/approach – In all, 36 participants post-CTBI (mean age 21.47 years, SD=2.74), 16 males) and 18 healthy controls (mean age 20.94 years, SD=2.21), 12 males) were recruited from a larger sample of a longitudinal study conducted at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. Information about social and psychological functioning was collected via questionnaires completed at 15 years post-injury. Findings – Results showed that post-CTBI, adolescents and young adults reported elevated risk of developing psychological problems following their transition into adulthood. CTBI survivors reported greatest problems on internalizing symptoms such as depression, anxiety and withdrawal. Social implications – Despite the reported psychological symptoms, the survivors of CTBI did not report more social problems than their peers. Further research is needed to identify long-term social and psychological problems so that optimal intervention may be provided. Originality/value – This is the first perspective longitudinal study investigating the young adults perspective of their long-term psychosocial outcomes following CTBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that on average, children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overestimate their competence in various domains. ADHD also frequently co-occurs with disorders involving aggressive and depressive symptoms, which themselves seem to influence estimations of self-competence in social, academic, and behavioral domains. In particular, high levels of aggressive behavior are generally associated with overestimations of competence, and high levels of depressive symptoms are related to underestimations of competence. This paper reviews studies of overestimations of competence among children with ADHD and examines the extent to which comorbid aggressive or depressive symptoms may be influencing these estimates. Although significant challenges arise due to limited information regarding comorbidities and problematic methods used to assess overestimations of competence, existing evidence suggests that ADHD may be associated with overestimations of competence over and above co-occurring aggression. As well, studies suggest that comorbid depression may reduce the appearance of overestimations of competence in children with ADHD. Underlying mechanisms (e.g., neuropsychological deficits or self-protection) of overestimations in children with ADHD are discussed, each with particular clinical implications for the assessment and treatment of ADHD. Future research would do well to carefully consider and explicitly describe the comorbid aggressive and depressive characteristics among individuals with ADHD when overestimations of competence are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Well-functioning collaboration between professionals in the welfare sector has a strong influence on the contacts with parents of children and adolescents suffering from mental illness, and it is a precondition for the availability of support for these parents. This paper describes how such parents perceive collaboration between professionals in mental health care, social services, and schools. Methods: This was a small-scale qualitative study. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with seven parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with anxiety and depression. The families were selected from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health patient records kept by the Stockholm County Council (Sweden), and they all lived in a catchment area for Child and Adolescent Mental Health outpatient services in Stockholm. Results and discussion: Our results suggest that when the encounter between parents and professionals is characterised by structure and trust, it is supportive and serves as a holding environment. Parents think that communication links and coordination between professionals from different organisations are needed in the collaboration, along with appropriately scheduled and well-performed joint meetings to create structure in the parent-professional encounter. Parents also think that establishment of trust in this interaction is promoted by individual professionals who are available, provide the parents with adequate information, are skilled, and show empathy and commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attributional style models of depression in adults (Abramson et al. , ) have been adapted for use with children; however, most applications do not consider that children's understanding of causal relations may be qualitatively different from that of adults. If children's causal attributions depend on children's level of cognitive development, then support for attributional models of depression in young people will vary with cognitive development. In this paper, a new measure of cognitive development, the Peabody Causal Reasoning Test (PCRT), is introduced to assess children's understanding of ability versus effort, task difficulty, and luck as causal factors. Analyses revealed that in 8- to 16-year-old children, failure to control for level of cognitive development suppressed empirical support for cognitive diathesis-stress models of depression. Statistically controlling for measures of cognitive development strengthened support for this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper set out to contribute to the literature by linking research into offending pathways with the study of longitudinal effects and intergenerational transmission of mental health. Data was used from two generations of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a longitudinal study of 411 men from London and their children who were followed since 1961–62. Findings from this study (1) indicate that symptoms of depression and anxiety were highest among those who commenced offending in adulthood and (2) demonstrated familial continuity of mental health: poor offspring mental health was related to father's criminality, but not to their offender group. A thorough understanding of the heterogeneity of offenders is essential for policy and practice. It is suggested that future research further examines individuals who only commence offending in adulthood, since they have been shown to not only face a variety of adverse outcomes themselves, but are also likely to have children with distinct patterns of internalizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the theory and research linking attachment relationships to cognitive vulnerability to depression and assesses evidence that early attachment experiences contribute to the development of these cognitive processes. Most research in this area has involved adult participants using self-report measures of both attachment and depressive vulnerabilities and thus cannot convincingly speak to the existence of such a developmental pathway. Several studies, however, have followed individuals from infancy and examined the emergence of self-esteem and responses to failure throughout childhood and adolescence. These studies suggest that early experiences in non-secure attachment relationships place an individual at-risk for developing a cognitive framework that increases their vulnerability to depression following stressful life events. The paper concludes with a discussion of how future research might best explore specific mechanisms through which distinct attachment relationships may lead to divergent developmental pathways sharing the common outcome of cognitive processes that place individuals at risk for depression. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Numerous studies show that survivors of childhood sexual abuse suffer as adults from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and drug abuse, and other mental illnesses. As such, the effect of experiencing traumatic events during childhood including sexual abuse can have lasting implications. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a history of childhood sexual abuse is related to women's educational attainment and returns to schooling, and to examine whether such effects are a function of the severity of abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is support for a differentiated model of early internalizing emotions and behaviors, yet researchers have not examined the course of multiple components of an internalizing domain across early childhood. In this paper we present growth models for the Internalizing domain of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment and its component scales (General Anxiety, Separation Distress, Depression/Withdrawal, and Inhibition to Novelty) in a sample of 510 one- to three-year-old children. For all children, Internalizing domain scores decreased over the study, although girls had significantly higher initial levels and boys had steeper declines. General Anxiety increased over the study period and, when modeled individually, girls evidenced higher initial levels and greater increases. For all children, Separation Distress and Inhibition to Novelty decreased significantly over time, while Depression/Withdrawal remained low without change. Findings from our parallel process model, in which all components were modeled simultaneously, revealed that initial levels of internalizing scales were closely associated while rates of change were less closely related. Sex differences in variability around initial levels and rates of change emerged on some scales. Findings suggest that, for one- to three-year-olds, examining scales of the internalizing domain separately rather than as a unitary construct reveals more meaningful developmental and gender variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration is a complex social process that subjects children to physical and social stressors and may result in mental health problems. This paper explores the current understanding on how migration, in terms of the premigration experience, migration process, and postmigration, impacts on children's mental health. A literature search was conduced for articles published in the English language within Medline, PUBMED, Eldis, and Google since 1990. Results indicate that previous studies have (a) highlighted the challenges of defining mental health in children and in different cultural groups, (b) reported the barriers toward access to health care for adults and children with mental health problems, and (c) reported the risk of mental health problems for certain migrant subgroups (e.g., war/conflict victims). Limited information is available on how premigration experience and the migration process affects children's mental health. Most studies on children migration experiences have been conducted in Western countries despite migration being very common elsewhere (e.g., China). More research is required in this area and, in particular, into effective interventions that may influence mental health outcomes in migrant children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with a parent who suffers from depression are at raised risk for the disorder themselves. Relatively little is known about the development of psychological vulnerability to depression through childhood, particularly during infancy and early childhood. This paper describes results from a longitudinal prospective study of the development of children, studied from birth to 16 years, of mothers who experienced postnatal depression; it highlights the roles of the developing mother-child relationship, and of physiological functioning and social relationships in the development of adolescent vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the phenomenology of childhood depression as understood from the perspective of psychoanalytic child psychotherapy within National Health Service (NHS) practice. Brief time-limited psychotherapy has a promising outcome in working with severely depressed young people when combined with support for parents and careful attention to the child's social and educational context. The currently planned IMPACT study (Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment) led by Professor I. Goodyer will provide an opportunity to explore both the effectiveness of short-term therapy for a large cohort of moderate to severely depressed youngsters and also to research models of underlying mental processes and some of the processes of change in psychotherapy (Fonagy, 2009; Rustin, 2009). Child psychotherapy theory and practice is rooted in both psychoanalytic and developmental frames of reference and has been deeply influenced by Bowlby's work. The importance of aggression and particularly aggressive thoughts, both conscious and unconscious, in understanding depression is also fundamental. Two clinical cases are discussed which are typical of those patients seen in NHS child psychotherapy, and of the type of patients who will be seen in the IMPACT trial. They share serious adverse life histories: one with a focus on childhood abuse and the other on neglect and abandonment. The different nature of these traumatic experiences shapes the nature of the depression which can be observed. The importance of attending to the depressive elements of the co-morbid presentation characteristic of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) patients also needs to be emphasized. Psychotherapy provides an opportunity for containment of unbearable emotion and for the development of mental function which can serve as a bulwark against further breakdown. The conceptualization draws attention to the loss of personal potency which accompanies depression and the consequent risk of life failure in both work and personal spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the phenomenological features of early childhood onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD; defined as children meeting DSM-IV criteria for OCD with age of onset <8 years). Fifty-eight children (ages 4–8) were included in the sample. OCD and comorbid diagnoses were determined by structured interview, and OCD severity was measured using the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Mean age of OCD onset was almost five, and mean age of presentation was between 6 and 7. Mean symptom severity was in the moderately severe range. Comorbidity and family history of OCD were common. Contamination and aggressive/catastrophic obsessions and washing and checking compulsions were endorsed most frequently. Results indicate that early childhood onset OCD may have a lower boy to girl ratio and lower rates of depressive disorders, but may be similar to later childhood onset OCD in terms of OCD symptom presentation and severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressive disorders in children with chronic illnesses have received little attention despite some evidence suggesting that these children experience increased psychological difficulties as a result of their medical condition. Most of the research on depressive disorders among children has been conducted primarily with Caucasian youth, limiting generalizability to ethnically diverse populations. Further, even less research exists on depressive disorders among African American children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and for African American youth from lower socioeconomic status who are at greater risk for depressive disorders. This paper is an extensive review of the major studies conducted on depression and psychosocial aspects of SCD in African American children. The Transactional Stress and Coping model is provided as a conceptual framework. Following the review, clinical and research implications are provided, as well as an illustration of a psychoeducational family intervention with an African American child who has SCD and internalizing behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the history of the concept of infant depression, which has been at the beginning of the discipline of infant mental health, and reviews classification and diagnosis issues, along with some animal models. Several diagnostic criteria have yielded different prevalence rates, and some being unrealistic, but we still do not know when infant depression begins, what its outcome is, and what are its different aspects. It is suggested that infant depression needs a certain amount of emotional and cognitive development to unfold, and that it might not exist before 18–24 months of age, a crossover during which major autoreflexive, cognitive, and emotional abilities emerge. Depression could be an outcome of attachment disorganization in infancy, as depression and disorganization seem to share the same learned helpnessness psychopathological process. Developmental psychopathology considers trouble more from a dimensional point of view rather than from a categorical one, and more as the result of several factors with a sequential action rather than the effect of a genetic disorder with direct expression. Before the limit of 18–24 months, the concept of relational withdrawal seems more applicable and useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a multilevel perspective on resilience to depression, with a focus on interactions among social and neurobehavioral systems involved in emotional reactivity and regulation. We discuss models of cross-contextual mediation and moderation by which the social context influences or modifies the effects of resilience processes at the biological level, or the biological context influences or modifies the effects of resilience processes at the social level. We highlight the socialization of emotion regulation as a candidate process contributing to resilience against depression at the social context level. We discuss several factors and their interactions across levels—including genetic factors, stress reactivity, positive affect, neural systems of reward, and sleep—as candidate processes contributing to resilience against depression at the neurobehavioral level. We then present some preliminary supportive findings from two studies of children and adolescents at high risk for depression. Study 1 shows that elevated neighborhood level adversity has the potential to constrain or limit the benefits of protective factors at other levels. Study 2 indicates that ease and quickness in falling asleep and a greater amount of time in deep Stage 4 sleep may be protective against the development of depressive disorders for children. The paper concludes with a discussion of clinical implications of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantitatively reviews longitudinal studies examining three central cognitive theories of depression—Beck’s theory, Hopelessness theory, and the Response Styles theory—among children (age 8–12) and adolescents (age 13–19). We examine the effect sizes in 20 longitudinal studies, which investigated the relation between the cognitive vulnerability–stress interaction and its association with prospective elevations in depression after controlling for initial levels of depressive symptoms. The results of this review suggest that across theories there is a small relation between the vulnerability–stress interaction and elevations in depression among children (pr = 0.15) and a moderately larger effect (pr = 0.22) among adolescents. Despite these important findings, understanding their implications has been obscured by critical methodological, statistical, and theoretical limitations that bear on cognitive theories of depression. The evidence base has been limited by poor measurement of cognitive vulnerabilities and over reliance on null hypothesis significance testing; these have contributed to a field with many gaps and inconsistencies. The relative paucity of research on developmental applications of such theories reveals that surprisingly little is known about their hypothesized etiologic mechanisms in children and adolescents. Ways to advance knowledge in the area of cognitive theories of depression among youth are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depression as a disorder in childhood began to be increasingly recognised in the 1970s. Epidemiologic community and clinic-based studies have characterised the prevalence, clinical course, and complications of this illness throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This paper reviews two instruments for assessing depression in prepubertal children – the Dominic Interactive and The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Both instruments are useful in screening for psychiatric disorders and reliably identifying the presence of depressive symptoms in young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Given the widespread reports involving the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in children, the present paper reviews and discusses published double-blind, placebo-controlled studies assessing the safety and efficacy of SSRIs in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder. METHODS: Published and unpublished double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of SSRIs in children and adolescents with depression during the years 1990–2004 were reviewed. A MEDLINE search was performed using the words ‘depression’, ‘randomised controlled trial’, ‘SSRIs’, ‘children’ and ‘adolescents’. The GlaxoSmithKline website was also searched for relevant studies on paroxetine. Outcome measures were the Clinical Global Impressions scale, the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the depression subscales of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for Adolescents-Lifetime version, and the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Adverse effects and withdrawal rates are reported. RESULTS: There were seven randomised, placebo-controlled trials involving 1619 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years in total. The SSRIs fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline and citalopram were reported to exhibit safety and efficacy for treatment of depression in children and adolescents. Reanalysis of published and unpublished studies by the US FDA and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) raised alerts regarding higher suicidal ideation rates from SSRIs in this population. Present guidelines are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: SSRIs remain a first-line pharmacological treatment for depression in children and adolescents for whom psychotherapy has failed or is unavailable. Suicidal ideation and behaviours merit close monitoring. More studies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is relatively common in children and adolescents, and if left undetected and untreated, can have long-term negative consequences. Social workers providing services to families, children and adolescents need to understand the characteristics, and conduct developmentally appropriate assessments, of depressive symptoms. This paper provides a review of current literature related to the definition, prevalence, co-occurrence, and measurement of depression in childhood and adolescence. It also highlights relevant gender, race, and ethnic influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]