Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]
NICE have recently started publishing a series of evidence summaries looking at unlicensed and off-label medicines. The second summary in the series looks at the use of prolonged-release melatonin tablets as a treatment for sleep disorders in children and young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Future mental health summaries include ‘Quetiapine for generalised [read the full story…]
Nearly a year ago I blogged about a promising but small RCT, which showed that Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy may help young children with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The blog generated a fair bit of feedback from readers and so I’ve been on the look out ever since for a systematic review that brings [read the full story…]
Much of the research about depression in children and adolescents focuses on how to treat the illness during the acute phase. This review from the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group is more concerned with the ways in which interventions can be used to prevent relapse or recurrence of depressive disorders. The review looks specifically at two [read the full story…]
It’s hardly surprising that teenage girls and boys express dissatisfaction with their bodies. The vast majority of TV, magazine, billboard and Internet images of the human body present a wholly unrealistic and unattainable version of the male and female physique. Young people cannot help but compare themselves to these standards and feel that they come [read the full story…]
These new recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) cover home visits, early education and childcare for vulnerable children. The public health guidance recognises that disadvantage before birth and in a child’s early years can have life-long, negative effects on health and wellbeing. It aims to ensure that both universal and [read the full story…]
The ADHD Voices (Voices On Identity, Childhood, Ethics and Stimulants) report was published yesterday and received a significant amount of press coverage. The outcomes of this work are a 46-page report and 18-minute video, that aim to inspire a fresh public conversation about the ethics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and stimulant drug treatments [read the full story…]
The prevalence of depression goes up sharply in mid-adolescence and it’s estimated that by age 19 up to 20% of people will have suffered from at least one episode of clinical depression. So it makes sense that prevention programmes should be targeted at young people in schools, and indeed, published research has shown that classroom-based [read the full story…]
The relationship between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substance use in children is hotly debated. ADHD symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity and conduct disorders, and there’s considerable interest in finding out which of these predicts early substance use. If we have reliable evidence that answers this question we can make informed decisions about treating ADHD and [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…]
