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International audience; Previous research has provided evidence on the effectiveness of CBT in the symptomatic improvement of children with obsessive–compulsive disorders. There is also increasing recognition of the importance of involving parents and families in treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term effectiveness of such an intervention that promoted family strengths [(quality of life therapy (QoLT)] for mothers of children with obsessive–compulsive disorders (OCD). The sample consisted of 40 children with OCD and their mothers, who had been referred to clinics in Esfahan city in Iran. Mothers were randomly allocated to an experimental (QoLT) and waiting list control group. Mothers participated in eight QoLT group sessions over 4 weeks. QoLT incorporated CBT techniques in managing OCD symptoms. Measures were completed pre- and post-intervention by both groups. Children completed the Yale–Brown obsession compulsion scale for Children, the Revised children's manifest anxiety scale, and the brief multidimensional student's life satisfaction scale; mothers completed the quality of life inventory (QoLI). QoLT was associated with decrease in OCD and anxiety symptoms and increase in children's satisfaction in the global, family and environment domains, as well as with increased QoLI scores in their mothers. Parenting interventions like QoLT can complement individual modalities such as CBT in the presence of family-related difficulties. This can be particularly applicable in countries and settings with limited resources and high stigma of child mental health problems.

Exposure to war trauma has been independently associated with posttraumatic stress (PTSD) and other emotional disorders in children and adults. The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between ongoing war traumatic experiences, PTSD and anxiety symptoms in children, accounting for their parents’ equivalent mental health responses. The study was conducted in the Gaza Strip, in areas under ongoing shelling and other acts of military violence. The sample included 100 families, with 200 parents and 197 children aged 9–18 years. Parents and children completed measures of experience of traumatic events (Gaza Traumatic Checklist), PTSD (Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale, PTSD Checklist for parents), and anxiety (Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale for parents). Both children and parents reported a high number of experienced traumatic events, and high rates of PTSD and anxiety scores above previously established cut-offs. Among children, trauma exposure was significantly associated with total and subscales PTSD scores, and with anxiety scores. In contrast, trauma exposure was significantly associated with PTSD intrusion symptoms in parents. Both war trauma and parents’ emotional responses were significantly associated with children’s PTSD and anxiety symptoms. Exposure to war trauma impacts on both parents’ and children’s mental health, whose emotional responses are inter-related. Both universal and targeted interventions should preferably involve families. These could be provided by non-governmental organizations in the first instance.

Children with conduct disorders and their families come into contact with a range of community and specialist agencies. The aim of this study was to establish the lifetime service utilisation rates among children with conduct disorders from the Great Britain National Study (N=10,438), and to examine the association between comorbid disorders, family and social factors, and service utilisation. The Development and Well-Being Assessment, a service checklist, and a battery of family and social functioning measures were used. The weighted prevalence of oppositional and conduct disorders was 5.4%. Within this group (N=403), 241 (59.8 %) had conduct disorder only, 79 (19.6 %) comorbid emotional, 72 (17.9 %) comorbid hyperkinetic, and 11 (2.7 %) comorbid emotional and hyperkinetic disorders. These subgroups were compared on service utilisation with children with other psychiatric disorders (N=351). Children with conduct disorders had significantly higher lifetime rates of utilisation of social and educational services than children with other psychiatric disorders. Contact with primary health, specialist health, and educational services was significantly associated with comorbid physical and psychiatric disorders. In contrast, contact with social services was associated with family discord and social sector tenancy. The findings are discussed in the context of organisation and co-ordination of health, other statutory, and nonstatutory services, also taking into account previous research on interventions for children with conduct disorders and their families.

Mental health booklets may provide a low-cost means of promoting mental health self-management and help seeking in schools. The aim of the study was to assess the (a) use, (b) acceptability and (c) impact of booklets for students in primary (10–11 years) and secondary school (12–13 years) alone and in conjunction with funding for targeted mental health support. This was a 2 × 2 factorial cluster randomized controlled trial, in which 846 schools in England were randomly allocated to receive/not receive: (1) booklets for students containing information on mental health self-management and help seeking, and (2) funding for mental health support as part of a national mental health initiative. 14,690 students (8139 primary, 6551 secondary) provided self-report on mental health, quality of life (baseline and 1 year follow-up) and help seeking (follow-up). (a) Approximately, 40 % primary school students and 20 % secondary school students reported seeing the booklets. (b) Of these, 87 % of primary school students reported that the booklet was ‘very helpful’ or ‘quite helpful’, compared with 73 % in secondary school. (c) There was no detectable impact of booklets on mental health, quality of life or help seeking, either alone or in conjunction with additional funding through the national mental health initiative. Lack of discernable impact of booklets underscores the need for caution in adopting such an approach. However, it is feasible that the impact was obscured by low uptake or that booklets may be more effective when used in a targeted way. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-016-0889-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.