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Background: The evidence suggests an increased risk of developing anxiety problems in children of anxious parents. The current study explored the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention with anxious parents of young children, to inform the possibility of further trials. Methods: Participants were recruited through primary and secondary care psychological services and social media. Participants who had a current or recent anxiety disorder and a child aged 12–47 months were included. Assessments of parental and child outcomes occurred at baseline, after the intervention (week‐2) and follow‐up (week‐8). The intervention was delivered in a small group format, in two sessions, one week apart, using videoconferencing. Results: Out of 32 participants, 30 (94%) attended the full intervention. All found the intervention acceptable and reported it as useful and relevant. There was a reduction in parental depression (MD = 2.63, 95%CI 1.01–4.26), anxiety (MD = 3.93, 95%CI 2.49–5.37) and stress (MD = 4.60, 95% CI 3.02–6.18) and increases in parenting confidence. Conclusions: The online group intervention was feasible and acceptable. There were moderate to large effects on parental mental health and no adverse effects on children (decline on outcome measures). This indicates that intervening early in parenting with anxious parents is possible and warrants further investigation to establish prevention efficacy with a larger, controlled trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background Attachment disorders in adopted and fostered children may be overdiagnosed and could obscure more common disorders. Methods A case note review of 100 referrals to a specialist adoption and fostering service compared community referrals with the specialist assessments of attachment disorders. Results Attachment disorders were identified four times more often in community referrals versus the specialist service, but this only partly explained the significant under-identification of more common disorders in the community, especially for neurodevelopmental factors and conduct disorder by up to 10-fold. Conclusions The relevant practice parameters are discussed and implications for service models for adopted and fostered children reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looked‐after children (LAC) (also known as children in care) are among the most vulnerable group in our society. This is in terms of their risk of a range of poor outcomes including mental health, educational attainment and social wellbeing (Meltzer, Gatward, Corbin, Goodman, & Ford, 2003). Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that LAC have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than the general population, including children living with their families in ‘high‐risk’ populations. These children present with high rates of, not only emotional and behavioural problems, but also neurodevelopmental problems. The present Virtual Issue focusing on the mental health of this group of young people brings together research published in CAMH over the past 15 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are increasingly expected to supplement their children's school-based learning by providing support for children's homework. However, parents' capacities to provide such support may vary and may be limited by the experience of depression. This may have implications for child development. In the course of a prospective, longitudinal study of children of postnatally depressed and healthy mothers, we observed mothers (N = 88) and fathers (N = 78) at home during maths homework interactions with their 8-year-old children. The quality of parental communication was rated and analysed in relation to child functioning. The quality of communication of each of the parents was related to their mental state, social class and IQ. While postnatal depression was not directly related to child development, there was some evidence of the influence of maternal depression occurring in the child's school years. Different aspects of parental communication with the child showed specific associations with different child outcomes, over and above the influence of family characteristics. In particular, child school attainment and IQ were associated with parental strategies to encourage representational thinking and mastery motivation, whereas child behavioural adjustment at school and self-esteem were linked to the degree of parental emotional support and low levels of coercion. Notably, the influence of maternal homework support was more strongly related to child outcome than was paternal support, a pattern reflected in mothers' greater involvement in children's schools and schoolrelated activities. Some parents may need guidance in how to support their children's homework if it is to be of benefit to child functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of cognitive vulnerability to depression in young children have, in the main, relied on self-report questionnaires (e.g. of self-esteem, attributional style). They have failed to produce convincing evidence of a cognitive vulnerability to depression in children under 8 years. In the current study latent depressive cognitions were investigated in the 5-year-old children ( N= 94) of depressed and well mothers in a situation of mild stress, that is, the threat of losing a card deal in a modified version of the competitive children's card game 'Snap'. In the context of 'losing', but not 'winning', deals, children who had been exposed to maternal depression, either in the previous 12 months or at any other time during their lifetime, were more likely than nonexposed children to express depressive cognitions (hopelessness, pessimism, and low self-worth). The association between depressive cognitions and recent exposure to maternal depression was in part accounted for by current maternal hostility to the child. The results of this study stand in contrast to those of studies which have used questionnaire methods to assess vulnerability to depressive cognitions in this age group. They suggest that it might be important to employ ecologically realistic situations to access latent self-cognitions in young children; and they underscore the importance, increasingly evident in research with adults and older children, of employing methods that involve the induction of low mood in order to elicit cognitions relevant to depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looked after children ( LAC) are among the most vulnerable group in our society in terms of their risk of a range of poor outcomes including mental health, educational attainments and social wellbeing. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that LAC have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than the general population, including children living with their families in 'high-risk' populations. These children present with high rates of, both emotional and behavioural problems, and also neurodevelopmental problems. This Editorial highlights a collection of 10 articles and accompanying Introduction for a Virtual Issue on LAC, published as a free resource at: ( ISSN)1475-3588/homepage/ LAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]