Expert review suggests that school-based depression and anxiety prevention...
It is estimated that 20% of children up to the age of 18 will have suffered an emotional disorder of depression or anxiety (Costello et al., 2003). These two mental health conditions commonly occur...
View ArticleHow can we best prevent suicide in young people? More questions than answers
Listening to a World Health Organisation podcast recently I learnt that someone dies as a result of suicide every 40 seconds; this equates to a million suicides each year. The podcast contains a myriad...
View ArticleThe dark side of universal prevention: Limited effectiveness and harmful...
Depression is a common problem in adolescence, with statistics showing that around 20% of young people will go through at least one clinically depressive episode by the age of 18 years. Given the...
View ArticleInternet-based alcohol and cannabis prevention: Climate Schools and salami...
Matt Field summarises the findings of a recent cluster RCT that uses internet-based prevention (an Australian programme called Climate Schools) to reduce alcohol and cannabis use, truancy,...
View ArticleCan schools prevent eating disorders?
In 2012 there was a call from Parliament to research school interventions to reduce body dissatisfaction. Helen Bould reports on an RCT of school-based prevention programme for eating disorders, which...
View ArticleCan family-based interventions prevent young people from starting to smoke?
Sally Adams summarises a recent Cochrane systematic review on family-based interventions for preventing smoking by children and adolescents, which shows the evidence is strongest for high intensity,...
View ArticleSchool interventions for ADHD: new HTA report of four systematic reviews
A warm woodland welcome to Joff Jones who pens his debut Mental Elf blog today about this new HTA report of non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD delivered in school settings. The post School...
View ArticlePsychosocial suicide prevention in youth: is the evidence strong enough?
Rachel Upthegrove appraises a recent systematic review of psychosocial suicide prevention for youth, which leaves her calling for better evidence to support investment in universal school-based...
View ArticleSchool-based CBT for anxiety and low mood: the FRIENDS programme
Alan Underwood appraises a recent RCT of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a school-based CBT programme (FRIENDS) to help prevent anxiety and low mood in children. The post School-based CBT...
View ArticleFocus on the person, not the problem #CORCforum
André Tomlin considers a new article about high integrity mental health services for children, which calls for mental health and wellbeing support to draw on self, families, school and community...
View ArticleBullying in childhood and adolescence: we need to do better
Tamsin Ford publishes her debut elf blog on an annual research review by Louise Arseneault in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, which looks at the persistent and pervasive impact of being...
View ArticleSchool-based mental health services: a good idea?
Pooky Knightsmith writes her debut elf blog on a recent meta-analysis, which looks at the effectiveness of school-based mental health services for 5-10 year old children. The post School-based mental...
View ArticlePreventing mental health problems: what can we do?
Josefien Breedvelt explores a brand new review looking at preventive strategies for mental health problems, published yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry. The post Preventing mental health problems:...
View ArticleThe case for social-emotional competence: essential skills for school and...
Michael Wigelsworth summarises a review by Celene Domitrovich on social-emotional competence, which she describes as an essential factor in promoting positive adjustment and reducing risk in children....
View ArticleIncredible Years Teacher Classroom Management: STARS trial suggests benefits...
Neil Humphrey is impressed by the STARS cluster randomised controlled trial published today in Psychological Medicine, which evaluates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Incredible Years...
View ArticleUniversal resilience: could it be the answer?
Lucinda Powell summarises a systematic review of universal resilience-focused interventions targeting child and adolescent mental health in the school setting. The post Universal resilience: could it...
View ArticleMental health stigma in schools: helping young people access support
Lucinda Powell considers a recent systematic review of qualitative evidence on stigma related to targeted school-based mental health interventions. The review provides some interesting findings and...
View ArticleEvidence-based school-based mental health programmes; the extent of their...
Tamsin Ford considers a literature review of the scope, scale, and dose of the world's largest school-based mental health programmes, which suggests that evidence-based programmes have reached millions...
View ArticleSchool based obesity prevention for 6 and 7 year olds
Alison Tonkin writes her debut elf blog on the WAVES study: a cluster randomised controlled trial looking at the effectiveness of a childhood obesity prevention programme delivered through schools,...
View ArticleA whole-school approach to enhance social, emotional and behavioural development
Julia Badger summarises a review on the effectiveness of interventions adopting a whole-school approach to enhancing social and emotional development. She finds that the evidence supports this...
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