Child development

  • Yan Li and Christian Hakulinen

    How Mental Health Affects School Performance

    Discover how mental health conditions impact school performance in children and adolescents. Explore research on over 837,000 young people, highlighting the effects of anxiety, depression, gender differences, and age of onset on academic achievement—and why early support matters.

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  • very sad boy. offended a child. close up portrait looking at the camera. feels lonely misses parents. freedom Ukraine

    Assessing and Treating PTSD in Young Children 

    Learn how PTSD appears in young children, why it’s often missed, and how PTSD-YC criteria and CBT-3M improve early identification and treatment. Blog by Professor Francisco Musich.

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  • Sarah Jayne Blakemore

    Meet the expert on the Adolescent Brain – Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

    Join ACAMH on 8 July 2026 for a workshop on adolescent brain development with Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Explore neuroscience insights and real-world applications.

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  • Thinking student and idea with child in home for brainstorming math solution and vision. Reflection problem solving and education mindset with girl in house for studying curious and memory

    The Teenage Brain: Social Sensitivity, Risk-Taking, and What It Means for Practice

    Explore how teenage brain development shapes social sensitivity, peer influence and risk-taking, with practical insights for clinicians and educators. Blog by Professor Francisco Musich

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  • Sarah Jayne Blakemore

    Understanding the Adolescent Brain: From Research to Real-World Practice

    Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore leads an interactive online workshop session exploring the cognitive and emotional processes shaping adolescent behaviour. Through a combination of scientific insights and interactive activities, participants will develop a clearer understanding of how these processes play out in real-world settings, and what this means for everyday practice.

    Event type
    Workshop
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • Anna Biavati

    Meet the expert: a nervous system approach to selective mutism, with Anna Biavati

    We caught up with the presenter – Anna Biavati, a Speech and Language Therapist and founder of Steps to Brave Talking Therapy and Support – about the topic itself, her career, and her hopes for the event.

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  • DBTA adolescent girl staring into the distance

    Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents: Evidence, Applications, and Emerging Considerations

    Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is a developmentally adapted, evidence-based intervention for young people experiencing emotion dysregulation, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. In recent years, a growing body of evidence such as randomised trials and meta-analyses have suggested DBT-A’s effectiveness across outpatient, inpatient, and community settings (Mehlum et al., 2014; McCauley et al., 2018; Kothgassner et al., 2021; Syversen et al., 2024).

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  • teenagers sitting, drinking beer from glass bottle and holding cigarette

    Neuroanatomical Variability and Early Substance Use Initiation: Insights from the ABCD Study

    Adolescence is a period of rapid brain development, making it a sensitive window for experiences that may shape long-term outcomes. A new study from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) project examined whether neuroanatomical variability is linked to early initiation of alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis. Drawing on baseline brain images taken before substance use began, the researchers found regionally specific differences in cortical thickness and surface area among early initiators. The findings highlight the complexity of adolescent neurodevelopment and point to the value of large-scale, longitudinal studies in clarifying how brain structure and behaviour unfold together.

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  • Portrait of son hugging his father, together at home. Son caring for his father, putting hand on his shoulder, comforting and consoling him. Family love, bonding, care and confidence

    Social Fears in Children: The Roles of Parental Communication and Child Temperament

    A recent longitudinal study by Zeytinoglu and colleagues (2025) provides insights into how parental verbal communication and child characteristics contribute to the transmission of social fears. The study shows the impact of both positive and negative maternal statements about ambiguous social situations, finding that positive comments were linked to reductions in children’s social fear beliefs, while negative comments predicted increases, especially among children who were behaviourally inhibited or had high anxiety.

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  • 26

    Neurodiversity: Cutting-Edge Research, Evolving Perspectives, and Effective Innovations – 2025 Jack Tizard Memorial International Conference

    ‘Neurodiversity: Cutting-Edge Research, Evolving Perspectives, and Effective Innovations’ is the 2025 Jack Tizard Memorial Conference that brings together leading experts to explore neurodiversity research and practices in mental health, genetics and brain development, and lifespan interventions.

    Event type
    Jack Tizard Memorial International Conference
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