A randomised controlled clinical and cost effectiveness trial of an online integrated bipolar parenting intervention (IBPI) compared to treatment as usual in improving child emotional and behavioural outcomes: a study protocol.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental health problem linked to substantial personal and social costs. Many individuals living with bipolar disorder are parents. Due to the nature of the condition, parents with BD often experience challenges in delivering consistent parenting.

How well can commonly used anxiety scales detect treatment outcomes in the context of autism?

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health challenges in autistic children, yet there is limited evidence on effective tools to measure treatment outcomes. Previous research with non-autistic children has found that the Child Anxiety Impact Scale, Parent Version achieved good diagnostic accuracy when measuring treatment outcomes and performed better than a commonly used symptom measure. However, this has not been evaluated for autistic children.

Evaluating a brief imagery-based intervention for adolescent depression: study protocol for a Phase IIB randomised control trial (INDIGO) in secondary schools.

Background: There is an urgent need for psychological interventions that can target depression in late adolescence and prevent it from having lifelong implications. Schools have been identified as a promising setting to enhance access to interventions and offer support earlier. We have co-developed a novel intervention, IMAGINE, that targets key cognitive mechanisms implicated in depression across the lifespan.

Development of a brief assessment tool to identify children with probable anxiety disorders.

Background: Difficulties identifying anxiety disorders in primary-school aged children present significant barriers to timely access to support and intervention. This study aimed to develop a brief assessment tool that can identify children with anxiety disorders in community settings, with a high level of sensitivity and specificity.

Methods: Children (aged 8-11 years), and their parents/carers and teachers from 19 primary/junior schools in England each completed a pool of questionnaire items that assessed child anxiety symptoms and associated impact.

The process of co-design for a new anxiety intervention for autistic children.

Background: Mental health difficulties are common for autistic people; however, almost no interventions have been co-designed with the autistic community. Co-design has the potential to add important insights from lived experience into intervention design, but there are currently limited examples of how rigorously to undertake this practice. This paper details a worked model of co-design and its process, focussed on adapting an evidenced parent-led intervention for non-autistic child anxiety (HYC), to meet the needs of young autistic children.

Addressing international research challenges in child and adolescent mental health during global crises: experience and recommendations of the Co-SPACE international consortium.

During the most recent global crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic, mental health researchers globally were tasked with carrying out high-quality and responsive research to understand the changes and long-term trajectories in young people’s mental health symptoms. Comparative international longitudinal research has been recommended as a particularly promising avenue to understand pandemic impacts and facilitate global solutions. The Co-SPACE International Consortium comprises researchers from 14 sites who aimed to compare findings on the impact of the pandemic on young people and family mental health.

Communication with children about parental bipolar disorder: a qualitative interview study.

Background: The impacts of parental bipolar disorder (BD) on families and children highlight the need to understand how best to talk to children about their parents' diagnosis, especially as their developmental capacity for understanding grows. This qualitative study aims to explore the strategies, challenges, and support needs of parents in relation to communicating with their children (5-12 years) about BD, in order to inform the development of further interventions and resources.

Methodology: Purposive and snowball sampling strategies were used to recruit parents with BD, their partners, and stakeholders who support parents with BD.

A Systematic Review of Guided, Parent-Led Digital Interventions for Preadolescent Children with Emotional and Behavioural Problems.

Emotional and behavioural problems (EBP) are prevalent amongst children, and guided, parent-led digital interventions offer one method of improving access to effective treatments. This systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42023484098) aimed to examine the evidence base for, and characteristics of, these types of interventions through a narrative synthesis. Systematic searches were conducted using Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science in January 2024 and February 2025, supplemented with hand searching in March/April 2024 and February 2025.

Technology Matters: Online Support and Intervention (OSI) for child anxiety problems - an example of the journey from research to practice.

Childhood anxiety problems are prevalent and impairing, yet many children are unable to access evidence-based treatment (i.e. cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT).

Protocol for the process evaluation for a cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating primary school-based screening and intervention delivery for childhood anxiety problems.

Introduction: Anxiety problems are prevalent in childhood and, without intervention, can persist into adulthood. Effective evidence-based interventions for childhood anxiety disorders exist, specifically cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in a range of formats. However, only a small proportion of children successfully access and receive treatment.

Parenting Experiences in the Context of Parental Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of the Qualitative Literature.

Parental bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with an increased risk of mental health problems in children. Despite the urgent need for clear guidance on how best to support parents with BD, current research lacks a unified analysis of the challenges and needs faced by these parents and their children. This review aims to explore the impact of BD on experiences of parent-child interactions or relationships to inform effective policies and interventions.

The association between experiences of racism and mental health on children and young people in the UK: rapid scoping review.

Background: Racism is increasingly recognised as a key contributor to poor mental health. However, the existing literature primarily focuses on its effects on adults.

Aim: To identify literature on the association between experiences of racism and mental health in children and young people in the UK.

Moderators of cognitive and behaviour therapies for prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Previous studies have indicated wide variation in the effectiveness of cognitive and behaviour therapies (CBTs) for preventing and treating anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, indicating the presence of moderators influencing outcomes. This meta-analysis investigated whether sample characteristics (child age, child baseline anxiety levels, parental baseline anxiety levels) and intervention characteristics (intervention duration, facilitator contact time, facilitator background, delivery formats, parental involvement) moderate the effectiveness of CBTs for universal prevention, targeted prevention, and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. We identified 86 eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of 98 CBTs versus non-active controls.

Predicting remission following CBT for childhood anxiety disorders: a machine learning approach.

Background: The identification of predictors of treatment response is crucial for improving treatment outcome for children with anxiety disorders. Machine learning methods provide opportunities to identify combinations of factors that contribute to risk prediction models.

Methods: A machine learning approach was applied to predict anxiety disorder remission in a large sample of 2114 anxious youth (5-18 years).

Validation of the Parent-report Pandemic Anxiety Scale (PAS-P) in the context of COVID-19.

Unlabelled: To be able to develop effective policy and targeted support for children and young people, it is vital to develop and validate measures that enable us to understand what aspects of pandemics are associated with anxiety and stress across a wide age range. We examined the psychometric properties of the Pandemic Anxiety Scale- Parent-report (PAS-P), which measures levels of child and adolescent pandemic-related anxieties. Factor structure, reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity of the PAS-P was assessed in a convenience sample of parents/carers (= 8410) over at three time points in 2020 when COVID-19 case rates and restrictions varied.

Cognitive and behavioural processes in adolescents with social anxiety disorder.

Background: A better understanding of the processes that maintain social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents could improve treatment outcomes. This study aimed to establish whether cognitive and behavioural processes known to be important in the maintenance of adult SAD are observed in adolescent populations and whether they are specific to SAD.

Methods: We recruited three groups of adolescents (12-18y): (1) 90 adolescents with a SAD diagnosis, (2) 58 adolescents with an anxiety disorder that was not SAD, and (3) 45 community-based adolescents.

Moderators of the Effects of a Digital Parenting Intervention on Child Conduct and Emotional Problems Implemented During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From a Secondary Analysis of Data From the Supporting Parents and Kids Through Lockdown Experiences (SPARKLE) Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: A smartphone app, Parent Positive, was developed to help parents manage their children's conduct and emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. A randomized controlled trial, Supporting Parents and Kids Through Lockdown Experiences (SPARKLE), found Parent Positive to be effective in reducing children's emotional problems. However, app effectiveness may be influenced by a range of child, family, socioeconomic, and pandemic-related factors.

Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Translation of the Parent Overprotection Measure for Mother and Father Reports.

The Parent Overprotection Measure (POM) is a promising scale to measure parent overprotection toward a child from the parent's perspective. However, no Japanese translation of the scale has been developed, and whether the POM can be applied to a Japanese population is unknown. This study translated the POM into Japanese and examined its psychometric properties.

CoDesign of a digital intervention for parents with bipolar disorder informed by integrated knowledge translation principles.

Objectives: To provide detailed information on the codesign of a digital intervention to support parents with bipolar disorder (BD) who have young children. Each step of this process is reported, as well as a detailed description of the final version of the intervention in line with the TIDieR framework.

Methods: Clinical experience and lived experience experts participated in online workshops, meetings, and remote feedback requests, informed by Integrated Knowledge Translation (IKT) principles.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following exposure to acute psychological trauma in children aged 8-16 years in South Africa: protocol for the Sinethemba longitudinal study.

Introduction: Children exposed to trauma are vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other adverse mental health outcomes. In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), children are at increased risk of exposure to severe trauma and co-occurring adversities. However, relative to high-income countries, there is limited evidence of the factors that predict good versus poor psychological recovery following trauma exposure in LMIC children, and the role of caregiver support in these high-adversity communities.

Measurement invariance of the higher-order model of Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) across child age, gender, parental anxiety, and pandemic period in England.

The Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) is a parent-report scale measuring young children's anxiety symptoms involving five specific anxiety symptoms (separation anxiety, physical injury fears, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety) that load on a higher-order factor representing general anxiety shared by all specific anxiety symptom subtypes. Although the PAS has been widely used to assess anxiety symptoms in young children, few studies have tested its measurement invariance for group comparisons. Using data from a sample of 2,221 children and their parents/carers in the United Kingdom, this study investigated the measurement invariance of the higher-order model of the PAS across child age (4-6 years vs.

Patterns of sub-optimal change following CBT for childhood anxiety.

Background: Children and adolescents demonstrate diverse patterns of symptom change and disorder remission following cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders. To better understand children who respond sub-optimally to CBT, this study investigated youths (N = 1,483) who continued to meet criteria for one or more clinical anxiety diagnosis immediately following treatment or at any point during the 12 months following treatment.

Methods: Data were collected from 10 clinical sites with assessments at pre-and post-treatment and at least once more at 3, 6 or 12-month follow-up.

Maternal experienced bereavement and offspring mental health in early adulthood: the role of modifiable parental factors.

Background: It is estimated that 78% of children experience the death of a close friend or family member by 16 years of age, yet longitudinal research examining the mental health outcomes of wider experiences of bereavement is scarce. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of the association between maternal experienced bereavement before the age of 11 years and offspring depressive and anxiety disorders at age 18 and examined moderation of this association by modifiable parental factors.

Methods: We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK-based birth cohort, including 9,088 child participants with data available on bereavement.