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Many young people with mental disorders are not identified until some years after the first onset of symptoms and then frequently do not receive professional intervention. One promising strategy to better identify these young people is mental health screening in schools. Despite a growing literature on the benefits of school-based screening, it remains a relatively uncommon practice and little is known about the practices of those schools that do screen. Moreover, the barriers that prevent schools from screening are not well understood. This study reports on the perceptions of school psychologists about universal mental health screening in schools regarding the prevalence of screening; the practices within schools that do screen; and the perceived barriers to implementing screening. Results indicated that screening remains uncommon, with only 14.8% of school psychologists working in schools that screened in the previous 12 months. The most significant barriers to screening related to being adequately resourced to implement programs, and particularly concerns about how to follow-up students identified as being at-risk. Despite this, school psychologists endorse the potential benefit of screening and report being likely to run screening programs if perceived barriers could be reduced. Impact and Implications statement Universal mental health screening in schools remains uncommon. The main perceived barriers relate to adequate resources – partly in terms of available time - and to management of at-risk students. Despite these barriers, school psychologists see school-based screening as useful for student wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study aimed to explore the suitability of a preventative intervention for internalising problems in young children with chronic physical health conditions. The pilot study focused on a subsample of 27 children with chronic physical health conditions within a population-level randomised controlled trial of the Cool Little Kids parenting programme. The Cool Little Kids parenting programme aims to prevent the development of internalising problems in inhibited (shy/anxious) preschool children by educating parents to reduce young children's avoidant coping styles and manage their anxiety/distress. The wider trial recruited 545 temperamentally inhibited preschool children. Measures included child health/development concerns and internalising symptoms at baseline, feedback on Cool Little Kids post-intervention and child internalising problems at one- and two-year longitudinal follow-up. At baseline, inhibited children with and without chronic physical health conditions had levels of internalising symptoms above the normative mean. At post-intervention, parents of children with chronic physical health conditions gave feedback that Cool Little Kids was helpful for managing their child's emotional distress. At follow-up, significantly fewer intervention than control children with chronic physical health conditions had specific phobia after 1 year (25% vs 70%) and specific fear symptoms after 2 years (mean 9.57 vs 16.89). As the pilot findings are promising, a further trial of Cool Little Kids in a physical health treatment service with a larger sample of children with chronic physical illness diagnoses would be worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parenting is a modifiable factor proposed to underpin the transmission of anxiety and depression from parents to children. This study examined the role of parenting in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety and depression across pre‐ and early adolescence. Method: Participants were 531 youth (Mage = 11.18, SD = 0.56; 50.85% boys) and their parent. Child and parent anxiety and depression, and parental rejection, warmth and overprotection were assessed annually over 3 years. Bidirectional relationships between parent and child anxiety and depression, and the mediating role of parenting behaviors, were examined using cross‐lagged panel models. Results: Results suggest bidirectional associations over time between parent and child depression, and parental rejection and child depression. Parental rejection and low warmth were associated with increases in child depression, but did not mediate depression transmission. Parental anxiety was associated with increases in child anxiety and depression, but there was no bidirectional association from child psychopathology to parental anxiety. There was little evidence that parenting predicted changes in child anxiety over time. Child anxiety and depression were associated with subsequent increases in parental depression. Conclusion: Parental depression, rejection and low warmth are independent risk factors for child depression. Parental rejection may also be a consequence of parenting a depressed youth. Parenting did not account for the apparent transmission of parental anxiety to increased child anxiety and depression. Child psychopathology increases risk of parental depression. Parental rejection may be an important modifiable risk factor for youth depression in early adolescence, and may also reduce later risk of parent depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online treatment delivery has the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental health care for children with anxiety disorders. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we evaluated the efficacy of Cool Kids Online, a family-based and therapist supported internet-delivered cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) designed to target anxiety disorders in children. Ninety-five children aged 7–12 years with a DSM-5 anxiety disorder were randomly allocated to Cool Kids Online or a waitlist control. Children were assessed at baseline, week 11, and 6-months following treatment. Children in waitlist received treatment after week 11 and also completed assessments immediately and six months after treatment, allowing treatment maintenance to be evaluated for all children. Compared to waitlist, Cool Kids Online led to significantly greater remission of anxiety disorders (primary and all anxiety diagnoses) and greater reduction of caregiver-reported anxiety symptoms and interference at week 11. Child-reported anxiety symptoms and interference and child- and caregiver-reported depressive or externalizing symptoms did not differ significantly between conditions. Medium to large within-treatment effects were observed for all children from pre to post treatment with post treatment effects maintained until follow-up. Overall, the findings provide support for the efficacy of the program in treating anxiety. Cool Kids Online compared to waitlist for the remission of anxiety disorders in clinically anxious children; anzctr.org.au ; ACTRN12615000947505. • Online family-based cognitive behaviour therapy reduces child anxiety disorders. • Therapist support during online child anxiety programs may be important for change. • Cool Kids Online is a promising method to improve access to child anxiety treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]