Latest Research

Lau N, O'Daffer A, Colt S, Yi-Frazier JP, Palermo TM, McCauley E, Rosenberg AR. Android and iPhone Mobile Apps for Psychosocial Wellness and Stress Management: Systematic Search in App Stores and Literature Review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 May 22;8(5):e17798. doi: 10.2196/17798. PMID: 32357125; PMCID: PMC7275252. Although a plethora of wellbeing apps is available for children and young people, very few have research evidence of their effectiveness, as shown by this systematic review. htt...

Nunes, A., Castro, S.L. & Limpo, T. A Review of Mindfulness-Based Apps for Children. Mindfulness 11, 2089–2101 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01410-w Despite the enthusiasm for eHealth and mindfulness-based interventions, this review of 36 available mindfulness apps for children found that they only achieved a mean of 3.41 out of 5 on the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and that few had research evidence of their clinical effectiveness. https://link.springer.com/article...

Glasson, E. J., Buckley, N., Chen, W., Leonard, H., Epstein, A., Skoss, R., ... & Downs, J. (2020). Systematic review and meta-analysis: mental health in children with neurogenetic disorders associated with intellectual disability. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Psychiatric disorders are more common in children with intellectual disability and neurodevelopmental disorders.  This review describes five syndromes in particular that confer greater ris...

Zhang, M., Palaniyappan, L., Deng, M., Zhang, W., Pan, Y., Fan, Z., ... & Pu, W. (2020). Abnormal Thalamocortical Circuit in Adolescents With Early-Onset Schizophrenia. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. We are slowly getting closer to understanding how/why psychosis occurs. This functional MRI-based study demonstrates that thalamic cortical circuit imbalance may be responsible for some of the symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations and heighten...

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/retrospective-study-of-intramuscular-clozapine-prescription-for-treatment-initiation-and-maintenance-in-treatmentresistant-psychosis/18360F55ADED98C47097D271AB789A21 Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic, but often not prescribed due to concerns about treatment adherence. An intramuscular preparation is now available and may offer a solution to at least starting people on this valuable medication.

Ceraso  A, LIN  JJ, Schneider-Thoma  J, Siafis  S, Tardy  M, Komossa  K, Heres  S, Kissling  W, Davis  JM, Leucht  S. Maintenance treatment with antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD008016. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008016.pub3 This systematic review confirms the clinical benefit of remaining on antipsychotic treatment vs. discontinuation for up to 2 years following the onset of first episode psychosis. ...

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2770078?guestAccessKey=501a9ecb-779d-4e9a-a7f9-658e904e1c80&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jamapsychiatry&utm_content=olf&utm_term=090220 Although the risk is quite small, and far outweighed by their benefits, this study confirms that Serotonin Selective Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) can increase the chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Freeman, T. P., Hindocha, C., Baio, G., Shaban, N. D., Thomas, E. M., Astbury, D., ... & Bloomfield, M. A. (2020). Cannabidiol for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: a phase 2a, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, adaptive Bayesian trial. The Lancet Psychiatry. Medically prescribed cannabidiol may reduce cannabis use in the short term according to the results of this study. However, further work needs to be done to prove its safety and longer-term benefit. https://www.t...

Lavis, A., & Winter, R. (2020). # Online harms or benefits? An ethnographic analysis of the positives and negatives of peer‐support around self‐harm on social media. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry. This study explores the reasons why users of social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Reddit post self-harm related material. The authors conclude that the benefits of peer support need to be balanced with the risk of contagion.   https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley...

Zhou X, Teng T, Zhang Y, et al. Comparative efficacy and acceptability of antidepressants, psychotherapies, and their combination for acute treatment of children and adolescents with depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(7):581-601. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30137-1. This systematic review and network meta-analysis of 71 studies found that a combination of fluoxetine and cognitive behaviour therapy is best for the treatment of moderate-...