'Mind the Kids': an ACAMH podcast

Latest Episodes:

Open Science, Rapid Publication, and Collaboration Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18841
For this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Catharina Hartman, Associate Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE) at the University Medical Centre, Groningen, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of our Open Access journal, JCPP Advances.
Catharina’s research team aims to advance the understanding of the onset, and course, of childhood onset psychiatric disorders and uses data from longitudinal studies to explore the interplay between genetics, behavioural and environmental factors.
Catharina has (co-) authored over 200 peer reviewed papers, and in this podcast, highlights some of the studies and findings that have had the greatest influence or are especially important to her, as well as provides insight into what barriers exist when translating research into practice.
Catharina talks us through some of her recent work with the CoCA (Comorbid Conditions of ADHD) project, and discusses what CoCA is, its overall goal, and why it is important for researchers and clinicians, who work in CAMH, to also think about prevalence and comorbidity in adults.
Furthermore, Catharina also discusses our Open Access JCPP Advances journal and details the importance of Open Science and rapid publication for the research community, in particular for those working in child and adolescent mental health.

Early Intervention, Maternal Depressed Mood & Child Cognitive Development Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18654
In this podcast, we talk to Professor Mark Tomlinson of the Department of Global Health Institute for Life Course Health Research, Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The focus of this podcast is on the JCPP paper, ‘First 1,000 days: enough for mothers but not for children? Long-term outcomes of an early intervention on maternal depressed mood and child cognitive development: follow-up of a randomised controlled trial’ (doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13482).
Mark is the lead author of this paper and sets the scene by providing insight into what prompted his interest in both young people’s mental health and, in particular, the impact of maternal depression on infant and child development.
Mark talks us through what his paper looks at, why he decided to research this area, highlights the methodology used in the paper, and shares his findings.
Mark then provides further insight into the finding that, although the paper describes how caregivers who received a home visiting intervention during their pregnancies and postpartum did show lasting improvements in depressed mood, and that the intervention was also associated with mothers being more sensitive and less intrusive in their interactions with their infants and to a higher rate of secure infant attachment at 18 months, there was a lack of long-term developmental benefit for the children.
Furthermore, Mark also discusses what message professionals, researchers, and policymakers should take from his findings, and provides additional information with regard to follow up research.

Combined polygenic risk scores, & predicting psychopathology Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18469
In this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Alex Neumann, of the VIB Centre for Molecular Neurology at the University of Antwerp, and Professor Henning Tiemeier, Professor of Social and Behavioural Science at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health in Boston and professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam.
The focus is on their co-authored JCPP paper ‘Combined polygenic risk scores of different psychiatric traits predict general and specific psychopathology in childhood’ (doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13501).
Alex and Henning begin by providing us with a quick insight into how they became interested in the field of child and adolescent mental health, before providing us with an insight into what their JCPP paper looks at and why they choose to explore this area.
Alex and Henning then provide insight into the methodology used in the research and share some of the findings, including how polygenic risk scores associated with school age psychopathology tended to either be associated with general psychopathology only or general and specific, but not except in the case of anxiety specific psychopathology only. Alex and Henning explain the importance of this finding and what it means for assessment and diagnosis.
Furthermore, Alex and Henning describe what the implications of their findings are for professionals working with young people and their families, what message they have to researchers in this field, and what they concluded in the paper.

Adolescent well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18457
In this podcast, we talk to Dr. Thorhildur Halldórsdóttir, Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology at Reykjavik University in Iceland and Director of the Icelandic Behavioural Genetics Centre.
The focus of this podcast is on the JCPP Advances paper, ‘Adolescent well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Are girls struggling more than boys?’ (https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12027).
Thorhildur sets the scene by providing a summary of the paper and highlighting the methodology used for her research, before sharing some of the key findings.
Thorhildur then defines the difference between active and passive social media use, before providing further insight into her finding that active social media use amongst boys and passive social media use amongst girls was associated with increased depressive symptoms.
Furthermore, Thorhildur also discusses the implications of her findings for professionals working with young people and their families, what policy makers should take from her findings, and what parents can do to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Reward- and threat-related neural function associated with depression Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18400
In this podcast, we hear from Dr. Johnna Swartz, Assistant Professor of Human Ecology at the University of California Davis.
The focus is on the JCPP paper ‘Reward- and threat-related neural function associated with risk and presence of depression in adolescents: a study using a composite risk score in Brazil’ (doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13496), co-authored by Dr. Johnna Swartz.
Johnna sets the scene by explaining why she opted for Brazil to conduct her research, and provides us with a summary of the paper.
Johnna then details why it is important to study low risk, high risk, and depressed adolescents, rather than just low risk versus high-risk adolescents or non-depressed versus depressed adolescents, before highlighting and explaining the key findings of her research.
Furthermore, Johnna also discusses the implications of the findings for professionals working with young people and their families, and whether the risk scores used in the study are being adapted for use in clinical settings to help assess depression risk for young people.

Positive Wellbeing and Resilience following Adolescent Victimisation Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18322
In this podcast, we talk to Jessica Armitage, a PhD researcher currently based in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol.
We hear about Jessica’s interest in understanding the factors that enable individuals to overcome experiences and adversity, plus what prompted her interest in this field.
Jessica also discusses her co-authored JCPP Advancespaper, ‘Positive wellbeing and resilience following adolescent victimisation: An exploration into protective factors across development’ (doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12024), including a summary of the paper, insight into the methodology used, and her key findings.
Jessica also explores how she defines ‘good wellbeing’, and elaborates on her paper’s findings that factors that support wellbeing do not necessarily reduce the risk of depression.
Furthermore, Jessica talks about the concept of school competence, providing further insight into her findings from the paper showing that victims of bullying who hold higher perceptions of scholastic competence in childhood have greater wellbeing in adulthood than victims who reported lower scholastic competence in childhood. Jessica also elaborates on what other protective factors proved important moderators of adult wellbeing following peer victimisation in childhood.

Self-harm & Self-Injury – Episode. 9 ‘Autism a parents guide’ Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18254
In this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Ann Ozsivadjian, independent clinical psychologist and visiting senior lecturer at King’s College London, and Dr. Penny Williams, consultant speech and language therapist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Ann and Penny set the scene by explaining the difference between self-harm and self-injurious behaviours in the context of autistic children, and provide insight into how common self-harm is in autistic people, as well as what is currently understood about why autistic children and young people self-harm.
In addition, Ann and Penny discuss whether there are certain situations that can act as triggers, how parents can help to reduce these stressors, where parents can get help for an autistic child who is harming themselves, and what support can they expect to receive. We also hear about nonverbal strategies that can help when it comes to self-injurious behaviour.
Furthermore, Ann and Penny also talk to us about whether there is a link between self-harm and suicidal ideation, what parents should do if they are worried about this, and what advice they have for autistic older children and young people who may be listening to this podcast.
We are delighted that this podcast series for parents is supported by the Autism Diagnostic Practice at Clinical Partners. Working nationwide with only the most experienced consultants, Clinical Partners ensures you get the best ASD diagnosis and help tailored specifically to your child, as fast as possible.

The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 School Closures Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.18071
In this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Karen Mansfield, a postdoctoral research scientist from the School Mental Health Project, and Associate Professor Mina Fazel, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
The focus is on the JCPP Advances paper ‘‘Covid-19 partial school closures and mental health problems: a cross sectional survey of 11,000 adolescents to determine those most at risk’’. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12021

In this podcast, we hear Mina explain what the School Mental Health project is and what are its’ aims. Karen then provides us with a summary of their co-authored paper, its’ methodology and its’ key findings. Furthermore, we hear Mina and Karen discuss that the risk groups identified would benefit from a broad curriculum of support for education and wellbeing, plus their suggestions as to how this support might be delivered and in what form.
Mina and Karen also talk to us about how the findings from the paper tie in with other findings from the OxWell data, and what the implications of their findings are for professionals working with young people and their families.

The Anxiety and Grief of the Ecological Crisis Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.17994
As the world focuses on the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), we caught up with Dr. Laelia Benoit, a French and Brazilian Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, invited as a Fulbright Research Scholar at the Yale School of Medicine.
Laelia’s research focuses on ecoanxiety among children and adolescents, and she is a co-author of the recent paper ‘Ecological awareness, anxiety, and actions among youth and their parents – a qualitative study of newspaper narratives’, published in the Special Issue of CAMH. doi.org/10.1111/camh.12514You can access this paper free until 3 December 2021
Laelia sets the scene by defining ‘ecoanxiety’ and ‘ecological grief’ in children and adolescents, and provides insights into how these can manifest in children and young people.
Laelia then provides a summary of her recently co-authored CAMH paper, explaining the methodology used for the research and outlining the key findings and conclusions.
Furthermore, Laelia also talks us through the various ways in which children are depicted in the press according to their perspectives on climate change and how parents can best support their children who are experiencing ecological grief and anxiety.
Laelia also discusses the role of existential psychology as a useful framework to approach the climate crisis, and what the implications of her findings are for professionals working with young people, public health officials, and policymakers.

The Bridge is back! Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.17546
For this podcast, we are honoured to spend time talking with Dr. Steph Lewis about the relaunch of ACAMH’s magazine, The Bridge.
Steph is the Editor of The Bridge and a Clinical Research Training Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London.
Steph sets the scene by explaining what made her specialise in child and adolescent mental health, before explaining what The Bridge is, its aims, and why its existence is necessary and valuable.
Steph also discusses what has changed about The Bridge and why, plus possible challenges The Bridge may face initially. Steph also provides details as to what type of content to expect and why evidence-based research is so important.
Furthermore, we hear Steph talk about what more can be done to disseminate and promote evidence-based research and what more can be done to translate evidence-based research into practice.

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