Compensating for ASD: masking the truth?

“Compensation” is a phenomenon by which individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show improvements in overt symptoms, namely their understanding of others (“theory-of-mind”, ToM), despite persisting deficits at the cognitive and neurobiological levels.

9 May 2018

Low activity levels affect child mental development

High activity levels (AL) in early childhood are associated with sub-optimal social and behavioural outcomes, but whether low AL have negative outcomes is unclear. Now, a study conducted by researchers at Boston University has demonstrated that AL are curvilinearly related to mental development.

1 May 2018

Rumination affects mother–infant interactions

1 April 2018

School-based interventions are effective, but are they efficient?

School-based interventions (SBIs) are effective for preventing and treating common medicopsychological problems and disorders in pupils, according to data from a practitioner review published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

1 March 2018

Digital health interventions for the young: meeting expectations?

The number of digital health interventions for mental health disorders is increasing, but research from Chris Hollis and colleagues suggests that the clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness are unclear. Consistent methods of reporting and evaluation are required to extract definitive conclusions from clinical trials.

1 February 2018

Mental health workers have more empathy

Mental health workers have greater empathy than physicians or other professionals, according to a study from Favaloro University, Buenos Aires.

2 January 2018

Telephone support for parents in ADHD

Due to its high prevalence, treating ADHD can place a burden on services. Self-help and remote interventions could offer a way to deliver treatment at scale, if they’re effective.

2 January 2018

Unpicking assessment for Adult ADHD

Variability in assessment methods could be behind the vast range of rates given for the persistence of ADHD into adulthood – from 5% up to 75%.

2 January 2018

Brain firing, but not wiring, is different in children with ADHD

When in a relaxed state, the brains of children and adolescents with ADHD tend to fire differently to those without the disorder, although there don’t seem to be changes in the physical connections or ‘wiring’ of their brains.

2 January 2018

Syrian refugee study to be presented at WHO HQ

A JCPP study looking at the effectiveness of support groups for Syrian refugees living in Jordan has been presented at a WHO meeting in Geneva. According to the authors, the randomised controlled trial is the first to apply such robust evaluations to humanitarian interventions for refugee mental health. It found the community-based programme offered modest […]

10 November 2017