Keeping you up to date with reliable mental health research, policy & guidance
While depression is the leading cause of disability for both males and females, the burden of depression is 50% higher for females. In fact, depression is the leading cause of disease burden for women in both high-income and low- and middle-income countries (WHO, 2008). Research has shown that women with unidentified and untreated maternal depression [read the full story...]
Conduct disorders are the most common reason why children are referred to mental health services and it’s estimated that around 5% of all UK children aged 5-16 have a diagnosis of the condition. Around half of the young people affected by conduct disorders go on to have a serious mental health problem as an adult. [read the full story...]
Hands up who doesn’t have an opinion about the best way to help babies get to sleep? It’s been a hotly contested topic in recent years, at dinner parties and playgrounds across the land. Behavioural sleep techniques have been shown to be effective at reducing sleep problems in infants and the associated maternal depression in the [read the full story...]
We don’t have accurate statistics on the numbers of children living with alcohol misusing parents. It’s estimated that 79,000 babies in England are living with a parent who is classified as a ‘problematic’ drinker (‘hazardous’ or ‘harmful’). The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has published a Rapid Evidence Assessment about the impact that alcohol misuse [read the full story...]
Any parent whose child has a chronic or life-threatening illness will attest to the fact that it can be a worrying, stressful and exhausting journey. Parents can struggle to juggle caring for their child with work, social and other commitments. This can lead to parents suffering from mental health problems themselves, in addition to the [read the full story...]
Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is a preventive programme for vulnerable first time young mothers. It offers intensive and structured home visiting, delivered by specially trained nurses, from early pregnancy until the child is two. The Department of Health has published 3 new reports that provide the results of further evaluative studies of the FNP programme. [read the full story...]
Conduct problems in young children are common and costly, so there’s lots of interest in training programmes that can help parents and children cope better. This new review from the Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group assesses the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of behavioural and cognitive-behavioural group-based parenting programmes for improving child conduct problems, parental [read the full story...]
‘Preparation for Birth and Beyond: a resource pack for leaders of community groups and activities’ aims to help the NHS, local authorities and the voluntary sector in planning or running groups for expectant and new parents. The pack is a practical tool that aims to improve outcomes for babies and parents through a refreshed approach [read the full story...]
This randomised controlled trial published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry looks at the effectiveness of a new cognitive-behavioural parenting-based approach for treating anxiety in young children. Timid to Tiger is an entirely parenting-based approach to managing anxiety in children aged nine years or below. It is based on evidence that anxious children benefit [read the full story...]
Family Nurse Partnership is a preventive programme for vulnerable first time young mothers. It offers intensive and structured home visiting, delivered by specially trained nurses, from early pregnancy until the child is two. The Family Nurse Partnership began in England in 2007 with initial testing in 10 sites. There are now over 50 sites across [read the full story...]
