Dona was the founding director of the Hunter College Center for Gifted Education and Development, City University of New York, has taught at universities in Canada and the US, and for many years she ran a busy private practice doing assessments, counselling, and consultations with children, families, and schools. She has written dozens of articles and book chapters, and written or co-written several books, including "Beyond Intelligence: Secrets of Raising Happily Productive Kids"; "Being Smart about Gifted Learning"; "The Development of Giftedness and Talent across the Life Span"; and "The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education". Her most recent book is "Imperfect Parenting: How to Build a Relationship with Your Child to Weather any Storm," published by the American Psychological Association.
Follow Dona on BlueSky: @donamatthews.bsky.social
This RCT of 674 diverse, disadvantaged parents found that Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) group parenting support improved wellbeing and parent-child relationships at modest cost.
Does a first cancer diagnosis increase a person’s risk of suicide? This national study from Denmark offers rare clarity, tracking 30 cancer types across two decades to uncover patterns that clinicians and policymakers cannot afford to ignore.
Dona Mathews highlights a new study showing a doubled risk of depression after a medical diagnosis – especially in the first month post-diagnosis, for those who are hospitalised for their medical condition, those with multiple medical conditions, those over 60, and for women.
Dona Matthews summarises a recent trial which suggests that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can maintain or improve quality of life for people with early stage motor neuron disease.
In her latest blog, Dona Matthews summarises a recent publication in The Lancet Psychiatry, which mapped the psychiatric diagnostic trajectories of 184,949 Danish patients over a 10-year period.
Dona Matthews reviews a retrospective cohort study of 47 million people exploring the risk of suicide after diagnosis of severe physical illness, such as low-survival cancers, chronic ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and degenerative neurological conditions such as Huntington’s disease.
Dona Matthews reviews a paper on an evidence-based theory of psychological adjustment to long-term physical health conditions and applications in clinical practice, which will be presented at the #BABCP2022 conference in London later this week.
Dona Matthews summarises a recent study in The Lancet which estimates that worldwide COVID-19 increased depression and anxiety disorders by more than 25% in 2020.
Dona Matthews summarises a comprehensive global meta-analysis that presents our best current knowledge on the age of onset of various mental disorders. This review has major implications for our mental health promotion and prevention efforts.
In her debut blog, Dona Matthews reviews a longitudinal cohort study by Caspi and Moffitt which explores how mental disorders and comorbidities have affected over one thousand people in New Zealand across four decades.
This Dunedin birth cohort study research will be presented by Prof Terrie Moffitt at the #IoPPNfestival later today.
