It is an absolute honour to be the new editor of The Bridge. I’ve taken over from Dr Juliette Kennedy, who has been The Bridge’s editor since 2017. Juliette led this publication to its current monthly digital format and maintained high-quality trusted content. ACAMH and I would like to thank Juliette very much for her hard work and dedication.
As editor of The Bridge, I will strive to address our aim of disseminating child and adolescent mental health research to inform clinical practice and future research. Achieving this aim is incredibly important because mental illness has a devastating impact on many young people’s lives,1 and reducing this burden requires evidence-based clinical developments. But understanding and implementing research is challenging.2 At an individual level, busy clinicians, researchers, and other professionals in the field often struggle to find time to keep up-to-date with scientific literature – I know this from personal experience! So, to make the literature more accessible, The Bridge brings you research highlights in a digestible format.
We will continue to summarise relevant child and adolescent mental health research published in ACAMH’s journals, JCPP and CAMH. In this issue, we summarise recent studies on a wide range of topics – including sleep, sensory symptoms, emotional symptoms, disinhibition, alcohol misuse, complex PTSD symptoms, and self-harm – which reveal new insights helping us to better understand and address psychopathology in young people.
We will also produce more articles written by experts for The Bridge, including academic and clinical leaders, as well as young people who have had mental health difficulties and their parents. Their experience will provide valuable context and further food for thought. Importantly, The Bridge will continue to be freely available, emailed to ACAMH members monthly, and can be accessed by all from the ACAMH website: www.acamh.org/the-bridge. So please do share with your colleagues.
I’d also really like to hear from you, our readers. If you have any suggestions or feedback on The Bridge, please email me at stephanie.j.lewis@kcl.ac.uk.
I look forward to bringing you more accessible and informative child and adolescent mental health articles in future!
References
- Whiteford HA, Degenhardt L, Rehm J, et al. (2013) Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet 382: 1575-86. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6
- Lenfant C. (2003) Clinical research to clinical practice — lost in translation? N Engl J Med 349: 868-74. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa035507
Each of the articles can be read via the links below, and they each have individual pdfs to download.
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Research Digests
- Boys and girls show different vulnerabilities to maternal postnatal depression
- Can genetic discoveries for age-at-first-birth predict disinhibitory behaviours?
- Can we predict (complex) PTSD in young people in foster care?
- DBT-A can enhance emotion regulation in ethnic minority youth
- More research is needed into effective interventions for sensory symptoms
- Persistent peer victimization is associated with differential effects on cortisol production between boys and girls
- Presenting as ‘in control’ may mask risk for alcohol misuse in adolescents with symptoms of BPD
- Variable sleep schedules might put preschoolers at risk of academic difficulties
- Who can best support young people who self-harm?
- Would delaying the school day prevent anxiety in adolescents?