Depression is common in children and young people, particularly in adolescence and among girls. On average, an episode of depression lasts for about eight months and often occurs alongside non-depressive conditions such as ADHD.
Depression
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Depressed mothers and their offspring differ in terms of health risk profiles and allostatic load
Allostatic load is essentially the “wear and tear” that accumulates in the body in individuals exposed to chronic stress. Because some patients with psychiatric disorders have a shorter lifespan than their healthy counterparts,1 some researchers have suggested that there might be a link between disorders such as depression and increased allostatic load.
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PCIT-ED seems to improve parenting behaviour and affect towards children with depression
Data from a new study show that parenting behaviour and affect improved after completing a dyadic parent–child treatment for depression in young children (aged 3-6 years).
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Interventions for reducing loneliness seem effective in young people
Meta-analyses of interventions aimed at reducing loneliness among young people are distinctly lacking in the field. Now, Alice Eccles and Pamela Qualter have addressed this gap by compiling a review for Child and Adolescent Mental Health on interventions to reduce loneliness in young people.
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Young people’s ‘neural fingerprints’ might permit a precision-medicine approach to depression
Precision medicine has been discussed in medical research since the late 1990’s. Only recently, however, has this concept aroused interest and inspired relevant research in psychiatry, particularly in adolescents.
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How accurate are teachers’ assessments of children’s mental health?
Frances Mathews, Tamsin Ford and colleagues have performed a secondary analysis of the 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey, to understand how accurately teacher concern predicts the presence of a mental disorder in school children.
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September 2020 – The Bridge
The month of September is a challenging time for young people, as they start a new school year. September 2020 will be particularly difficult for many, as they must also deal with the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing, as well as the effects of increasing financial pressures on families.
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Depressed young people have lower vitamin B12 and vitamin D levels than their peers
Researchers in Turkey have studied serum folate, vitamin B12, homocysteine and 25-OH vitamin D levels in young people with and without depression.
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Depressed mood, inattention and worry might influence the risk for other symptoms in youth
Youth psychopathology has traditionally been conceptualized and measured at the level of disorders, which are highly heterogeneous and comorbid. However, there is growing evidence that focusing on the causes of individual symptoms might be useful.
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Are school-based interventions for depression and anxiety symptoms effective?
Gee et al. conducted a systematic search for randomised controlled trials of indicated psychological interventions delivered in an education setting. They focused on trials of interventions for adolescents aged 10-19 with elevated symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
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Implementing mental health support in schools faces many challenges
Researchers identified 50 studies that reported barriers or facilitators to implementing interventions for adolescent emotional disorders delivered in educational settings. They found several important factors, including barriers of practical and logistical problems, and facilitators of quality training and supervision.
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