The impact of racism on mental health

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Alison Faulkner considers a recent report on racism and mental health by the Synergi Collaborative Centre, which covers the impact of interpersonal racism, the multidimensional nature of disadvantage, structural disadvantage and mental illness, and pathways to mental health care.

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Teenage depression linked to poor psychological and social outcomes in later life

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Maria Loades writes her debut elf blog on a recent systematic review and meta-analysis on the long-term psychosocial outcomes of teenage depression, which finds that depression as a youth is linked to poor academic outcomes, unemployment and problems with relationships in adult life.

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The case for social-emotional competence: essential skills for school and life? #MHED2018

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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.

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Persistent and severe postnatal depression predicts adverse outcomes in children

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Sophie Graham and Jennifer Burgess explore the associations between persistent and severe postnatal depression in mothers and mental health and educational outcomes in their offspring.

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The Origins of Happiness: can we predict life satisfaction?

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Paul Ramchandani considers the methods, findings and implications of a new book by Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Fleche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and George Ward, entitled: ‘The Origins of Happiness: The science of well-being over the life course’.

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Mindfulness in schools: what next?

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Jennifer Hanratty summarises the recent Campbell review on mindfulness-based interventions for improving cognition, academic achievement, behaviour and socioemotional functioning in schools. She considers what school leaders, researchers and policy makers should do next, considering the current uncertainty around mindfulness in schools.

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Mindfulness for young people: to meta-analyse or not to meta-analyse?

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Sarah McDonald and André Tomlin consider another meta-analysis of mindfulness in young people, which finds “small effect sizes on a range of outcomes”. They conclude that we badly need more RCTs that reliably evaluate the effectiveness, safety and cost effectiveness of mindfulness in young people.

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Tooth extraction: factors affecting anxiety and fear

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This review of factors affecting fear and anxiety in adult patients undergoing tooth extraction included 16 studies and identified a number of factors associated with anxiety although there are concerns over the quality of the available studies.

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Associations between video game use, academic performance and mental health issues in European primary school children

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Pete Etchells posts his debut Mental Elf blog on a recent study, which explored whether video games were associated with mental illness, cognition or social skills in young children.

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Eating disorders more common in schools with more girls or more educated parents

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Lucas Shelemy writes his debut Mental Elf blog about a paper by fellow Elf Helen Bould, which examines whether female student populations and higher levels of parental education are associated with changes in eating disorders prevalence.

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