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Shearer, J., Papanikolaou, N., Meiser-Stedman, R., et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatr. Published online December 2017. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12851 This randomised controlled trial of cognitive therapy for children and adolescents who had experienced a trauma in the previous 2-6 months demonstrated a cost-effectiveness ratio at 3 years of 2,250 GBP vs 20-30,000 GBP per QALY decision threshold for usual care.  Pevention may well be better than cure. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp....

Retzlaff, Ruediger, et al. Family Process 52.4 (2013): 619-652. This article offers an excellent summary of the evidence base regarding family therapy interventions treating internalizing disorders in children and adolescents.  There is a similar article by Sydow et al. regarding the value of these interventions for externalizing disorders. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/famp.12041/full

Sydow, Kirsten, et al. Family Process 52.4 (2013): 576-618. This article offers an excellent summary of the evidence base regarding family therapy interventions for treating externalizing disorders in children and adolescents.  There is a similar article by Retzlaff et al. regarding the value of these interventions for intrnalising disorders. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/famp.12047/full

Craig, Tom KJ et al. The Lancet Psychiatry , Volume 0 , Issue 0 , AVATAR therapy is a new therapy, developed by Julian Leff in the UK, during which people listening to a digital representation of their auditory hallucinations (voices) narrated by their therapist.  As therapy progresses, the avatar becomes less hostile and concedes power.  This randomised controlled trial of this novel approach showed that AVATAR therapy significantly reduced the frequency of auditory hallucinations, compare...

Simon TE Baker, Jennifer Nicholas, FionaShand, Rachel Green, Helen Christensen. Australasian Psychiatry. First Published November 21, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856217743888 This review of LifeSpan (adopted by Australia), European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD), and Zero Suicide (US) multi-component models of suicide prevention found that only EADD currently has some (albeit mixed) evidence for effectiveness and that LifeSpan and Zero Suicide approaches require further eva...

Blake, M. J., Blake, L. M., Schwartz, O., Raniti, M., Waloszek, J. M., Murray, G., Simmons, J. G., Landau, E., Dahl, R. E., McMakin, D. L., Dudgeon, P., Trinder, J. and Allen, N. B. (2017), J Child Psychol Psychiatr. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12842 This secondary analysis of data from a study of SleepSense, a sleep improvement therapy based on cognitive behaviour therapy and mindfulness found that adolescents with higher levels of anxiety and depression benefited more from the intervention than those ...

Fanshawe TR, Halliwell W, Lindson N, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Nov 17;11:CD003289. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003289.pub6. (Review) PMID: 29148565 This comprehensive Cochrane review of 41 studies involving more than 13,000 adolescents identified limited evidence for either behavioural interventions or smoking cessation medication.  Group-based behavioural interventions were more effective than individual approaches. https://plus.mcmaster.ca/EvidenceAlerts/NewArticles.aspx?Pa...

Lewis G, et al. The Lancet Psychiatry 2017, Volume 4 , Issue 12 , 920 - 926 This large study investigated links between paternal depression when children were 7 or 9 years old and later adolescent depressive symptoms in 6070 participants of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) and Millennium Cohort Studies (MCS).  A 3-point increase in paternal depressive symptoms (measured via the CES-D scale for adult depression) was associated with an increase of 0.24 points and 0.18 points (measured via the S...

Pillinger T, Beck K, Stubbs B, et al. The British Journal of Psychiatry Dec 2017, 211 (6) 339-349; DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.117.200907 People who develop psychosis (including schizophrenia) are at greater risk of developing high cholesterol and lipid levels, which can lead to heart disease and early death. Debate exists regarding whether it is the illness or the treatment (antipsychotic medication) that is responsible for these changes.  This meta-analysis (review) of data from over a tho...

Cabrera, N. J., Karberg, E., Malin, J. L. and Aldoney, D. (2017). Infant Ment. Health J., 38: 757–771. doi:10.1002/imhj.21682 Although play is important for children’s development, the way in which mothers’ and fathers’ play affect their children may differ.  This study of 73 low-income families participating in the Early Start Research Evaluation Project found that paternal playfulness with toddlers was associated with improved pre-kindergarten vocabulary skills while maternal playf...