Latest Research

Couturier J, Lock J J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. Nov 2007; 16(4): 173–176. This Canadian review found that atypical antipsychotic medications such as Olanzapine may be useful for reducing eating-related anxiety in young people with Anorexia Nervosa.  There was less clear evidence regarding the usefulness of SSRI anxiolytic medication such as Fluoxetine in preventing relapse of Anorexia.  However, Fluoxetine was found to be useful as a first-line treatment for Bulimia Nervosa. The...

Madden S, Miskovic-Wheatley J, Wallis A,…Touyz S. Psychol Med. 2014 Jul 14:1-13 This paper from the Eating Disorder Service in Sydney, Australia demonstrated that shorter inpatient treatment for medical stabilisation followed by Family Based Therapy (FBT) was as clinically effective as (and potentially more cost-effective than) previously used longer admissions to hospital for both medical stabilisation and weight restoration. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25017941

Robinson J, Cox G, Bailey E…Herrman H. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2015 Feb 19. doi: 10.1111/eip.12229. [Epub ahead of print] This review of thirty studies (no intervention studies included) found that social media may be a useful vehicle for suicide prevention.  However, further research was recommended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of suicide prevention-related sites. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25702826

Merry SN, Stasiak K, Shepherd M,...Lucassen MFG. (2012). British Medical Journal, May 19, Vol.344(7857), p.16(1) This randomised controlled non-inferiority trial showed that SPARX, a fantasy-based eHealth game for treating depression was as good as face to face therapy in a primary care setting.  Clinical effects were maintained at 3 month follow-up.  SPARX is available free of charge to all young people with an New Zealand IP address. http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2598

Fleming TM, Cheek C, Merry SN, Thabrew H,  Bridgman H, Stasiak K., Shepherd M, Perry Y, Hetrick S. Spanish Journal of Clinical Psychology This systematic review of eHealth interventions for treating adolescent depression highlights the evidence of effectiveness of a few health games and offers suggestions for future research. http://www.aepcp.net/rppc.php?id=790&lang=gb

Hetrick SE, McKenzie JE, Cox GR, Simmons MB, Merry SN. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 11. This Cochrane review of newer generation antidepressants in children and adolescents identified 19 trials involving 3335 participants. Overall, these medications showed a statistically significant, but small effect with Fluoxetine demonstrating the strongest benefit.  Relative to placebo, these antidepressants had a relatively greater risk of suicidal ideation (.158 times greater t...

Ougrin D, Tranah T, Stahl D.....Rosenbaum Asarnow J. J Am Acad Child Adol Psychiatry. Published Online: October 24, 2014 This systematic review of  studies involving over 2,000 young people identified a few key effective interventions for reducing self-harm including dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and mentalisation based therapy (MBT). http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(14)00731-X/abstract?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=0890-8567_2...

Ougrin D, Tranah T, Leigh E, Taylor L, Asarnow JR. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;53(4):337-50 This review of interventions for young people with deliberate self-harm found that developmental group psychotherapy and multi-systemic therapy (MST) show some promise, while dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) remain to be formally studied using randomised controlled trials. The evidence base for deliberate self-harm treatment in young people remains lim...

Kowalenko, N., Mares, S. P., Newman, L. K.,...Karin, T. M. Medical Journal of Australia, 2012. Supplement 1(April), 14-17. Children who live with a parent with mental illness are at greater risk of psychosocial adversity.  This article summaries the issues faced by these children and the interventions available to help them. https://www.mja.com.au/open/2012/1/1/family-matters-infants-toddlers-and-preschoolers-parents-affected-mental-illness

Doom JR, Cicchetti D, Rogosch FA. J Am Acad Child Adol Psychiatry. 2014. 53(11): 1206-1215 Early childhood maltreatment can have long-lasting effects,  This study of 187 maltreated and 154 non-maltreated children (mean age 8.4 years) showed that the former group had different patterns of cortisol suppression, indicating that they had a blunted stress response.  Future studies of interventions for maltreated children may benefit from the assessment of changes in cortisol suppression followi...