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Hutton JS, Dudley J, Horowitz-Kraus T, DeWitt T, Holland SK. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(1):e193869. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3869 This interesting study of 417 preschool children is the first to demonstrate that higher than recommended screen time is associated with (1) lower measures of microstructural organization and myelination of brain white matter tracts that support language and emergent literacy skills and (2) lower corresponding cognitive assessment results. https://jamanetwor...

Thabrew H, D'Silva S, Darragh M, Goldfinch M, Meads J, Goodyear-Smith F. J Med Internet Res 2019;21(12):e13911. DOI: 10.2196/13911. PMID: 31793890. PMCID: 6918206 This New Zealand study shows that YouthCHAT, a composite tablet-based electronic screener is quicker to complete than face to face HEEADSSS assessment, acceptable to students and staff and that it can identify a range of psychosocial issues including anxiety, depression and substance use. Although further research on its use is requ...

Tebbett-Mock, Alison A. et al. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 59, Issue 1, 149 – 156 Although clinicians who work in adolescent inpatient settings often utilise the principles of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) to support young people, DBT itself is usually a community treatment modality.  This US study (an RCT using a historical control) including over 400 participants found that a formal inpatient DBT programme reduced the number of s...

Mowatt Haugland, Bente Storm et al.Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Published online Janury 2020 This study compared brief (5 session) and standard (10 session) school-based and anxiety focussed cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with a waitlist control.  The authors found that both forms of CBT were superior to the control therapy in terms of reducing anxiety symptoms (small-moderate effect size) and that standard CBT was better than brief CBT. ht...

Sucksdorff, Minna et al. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Published online January 2020 This study of over 1000 children found that low maternal vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels during pregnancy were associated with an elevated risk for offspring ADHD (OR 1.65). If replicated in independent samples, this finding may have significant public health implications. https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(19)32232-4/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_aip_email

Nguyen HV. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(1):e193912. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3912 Does banning substances really work?  This Canadian study found that young people residing in states where e-cigarette use was banned were less likely to use them and better informed about their dangers, but more likely to source them from peers. So, additional public health measures may be needed to truly reduce the dangers of substance use. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2...

Simonoff, Emily et al. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Published online January 2020 This longitudinal study found that although cognitive symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) improve between 12-23 years of age, core autism symptoms remain unchanged.  It would have been interesting to know if the same were true over the earlier period of life. https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(19)32231-2/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_aip_email

Downs SM, Bauer NS, Saha C, Ofner S, Carroll AE. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(12):e1917676. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.17676 This study demonstrates the feasibility of instituting digitally-supported screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into a primary care setting.  Given that ASD can now reliably be identified during toddlerhood, this is one way in which more routine early diagnosis and intervention may be achieved.  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/full...

Bethell C, Jones J, Gombojav N, Linkenbach J, Sege R. JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(11):e193007. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3007 There has recently been a lot of discussion regarding the long-term physical and psychological impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).  This study of over 6000 individuals from Wisconsin, USA, illustrates how positive childhood experiences (PCEs) can counteract the impact of ACEs in a dose-dependent manner.  So, regardless of a childâ...

Black N, Stockings E, Campbell G, Tran LT, Zagic D, Hall WD, Farrell M, Degenhardt L. Lancet Psychiatry. 2019 Dec;6(12):995-1010. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30401-8. Epub 2019 Oct 28. Despite calls to legalise cannabinoids for everything from the treatment of pain to cancer, this review demonstrates that they are more likely to lead to harm than good when it comes to the treatment of mental disorders.  There was only low quality evidence regarding their effectiveness for treating anxiety...