The Bridge, ACAMH’s Magazine, shares the latest clinically relevant child and adolescent mental health research, best practice, and policy. We publish accessible, interesting, and useful articles to inform our readers’ work with young people, bridging the gap between expert evidence and current practice.
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Editor's Welcome
Welcome to Bridge 2021 New Issue 1: Relaunch
The Bridge is back with a new format and features, introduced by our Editor, Stephanie J Lewis. -
Expert Perspectives
Genetics research informing mental health care
Anita Thapar discusses that genetic studies of mental health have revealed important insights about the influence of genes and the environment, and the nature of disorders.Are ACE scores useful for identifying individuals at risk of health problems?
Clinics are increasingly screening for ACEs, but ACE scores may not tell us who will go on to develop poor health, explain Jessie R Baldwin and Andrea Danese.Complex PTSD in young people in care
Aishat Hamzat, Rachel M Hiller and Helen Minnis discuss what research tells us about the mechanisms underlying complex PTSD symptoms experienced by young people in care. -
Young Insights
Conflating risk and mental illness
In this thoughtful article, a young person, Anna, reflects on her experience of risk being conflated with mental illness in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), highlighting crucial lessons for clinicians, commissioners, and policy makers. -
Research Digests
Do autistic girls have better communication and interaction skills than autistic boys?
Do autistic girls talk differently about social groups?
What role does genetic risk play in shaping the developmental patterns of depressive symptoms?
Which perinatal exposures confer a risk of offspring depression?
What are the characteristics of arguments that precede youth suicide?
How effective are tools to help school staff better respond to young people who self-harm?
Summaries of clinically relevant research recently published in JCPP, JCPP Advances, CAMH, and other journals, written by Jessica K Edwards.
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Policy Reviews
Engaging with UK Parliament on child and adolescent mental health research and policy
Researchers and expert practitioners can contribute to parliamentary work to inform policy-making. Sarah Bunn and Stephanie J Lewis describe why engaging with Parliament is important and explain how this can be done.Mental Health Act White Paper: potential implications for children and young people
Reforms to the Mental Health Act will affect children and young people detained in hospitals. Susan Walker, Bernadka Dubicka, and David Kingsley discuss recent proposals for reform and consider their implications for children and young people. -
The Bridge Interviews
Submit a question for our first interview
In the next issue of The Bridge, we will be publishing an interview with Dr. Gordana Milavić, Chair of ACAMH. She is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with over 40 years of clinical experience, and is known for her exceptional leadership and pioneering service development. Please let us know what you’d like us to ask Dr. Milavić by emailing us your questions before Sunday 14 November 2021. -
Feedback
Tell us what you think about this issue of The Bridge
We are striving to continuously improve our offering to you, but we need your help. We would really appreciate it if you could complete our 2 minute survey. -
Quiz
Test your knowledge of the articles in The Bridge New Issue 1.
ACAMH members who score 70% or higher will receive two CPD points and a certificate to document this CPD activity. Simply screenshot your score and send it to membership@acamh.org
Not a member yet? See what we have to offer from just £35 a yearAll of the answers can be found in the articles of this issue.
Welcome to Bridge 2021 New Issue 1: Relaunch
I am delighted to relaunch The Bridge, ACAMH’s long-running magazine. The Bridge is back with a new format and features that we hope will be accessible, interesting and useful for readers. Our articles will share the latest high-quality and clinically relevant child and adolescent mental health research, best practice and policy. We aim to inform readers’ work with young people, to bridge the gap between expert evidence and current practice.
You’ll recognise our Research Digests, summarising the world-class research recently published in ACAMH’s journals – JCPP, JCPP Advances, and CAMH – and occasionally other journals. We’ll continue to publish Research Digests, which have been the backbone of the Bridge over recent years, keeping readers well-informed about scientific developments in our field.
New features
We’re now adding Expert Perspectives, which provide broader discussions, written by knowledgeable researchers and clinicians, to give richer context. We’re also including Young Insights, articles led by young people and parents, highlighting their experiences and priorities. These articles, and young people’s and parents’ contributions to other articles, will increase the relevance of what’s learnt from the Bridge for the young people and families we work with. Additionally, the Bridge now includes child and adolescent mental health policy updates in our Policy Reviews.
Coming soon, readers can test what they’ve learnt from the Bridge in our online quizzes. We’re also developing a section for ACAMH members to post Notices. Starting from next issue, we’ll include Interviews with leaders whose work has influenced our understanding of child and adolescent mental health and our practice. Readers can submit questions for each interview, including our first interview with Dr. Gordana Milavić.
Let us know what you think
I hope the Bridge will be an enjoyable read and provide a comprehensive understanding of key evidence on child and adolescent mental health. To inform further improvements, we’ll be asking readers for feedback: I’m really keen to hear from you! I’d like the Bridge to be your magazine, covering what you want to read, and continuing to adapt to be as interesting, informative, and relevant as possible.
Thanks for reading on!
About the author
Dr Stephanie J Lewis is Clinical Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. Steph is keen to promote the translation of research and expert evidence into clinical practice to improve mental healthcare for young people, so is delighted and proud to be Editor of the Bridge.