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Background Prenatal measurement can highlight early attachment issues in mothers and prenatal attachment could be a predictor of postnatal attachment. It is necessary to better understand prenatal attachment trends in both genders to identify and intervene quicker when attachment issues are present. Aims This paper explores the changes in parent-fetal attachment throughout pregnancy, examining attachment score changes and differing gender trends. Methods Of the participants, 101 parents (59 female, 42 male) completed the respective Maternal/Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale ( Condon, 1993 ) at two administrations during pregnancy. Findings Paired t-tests revealed a significant increase in female scores (pConclusion Female attachment increased in strength as pregnancy progressed, while male attachment remained relatively stable throughout. Further research is needed to examine gender differences across trimesters, the impact of interventions designed to improve attachment and attachment in more diverse populations.

The aim of this article is to explore loss experiences within a counselling and psychotherapy training arena, an environment that effects individual change. It uses an auto-ethnographic case study ...

Engaging fathers has the potential to benefit the entire family through promoting fathers' wellbeing directly; building on fathers' vital capacity to support mothers' psychological wellbeing; maternal health behaviours; and promoting children's mental health and development. Benefits to a child's development include positive impacts on cognitive development, educational attainment, social competence, positive self-esteem and reduced incidence of emotional and behavioural problems. However, the barriers to father-inclusive practice are numerous and include personal, organisational, strategic and societal factors. This article reviews the need to work more closely and fruitfully with fathers, and acknowledges some of the barriers.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems in parents have been identified as a risk factor for child maltreatment. The perinatal period (from conception to 1 year) is a critical period but it is unclear whether perinatal mental health problems are also associated with increased risk. \ud \ud OBJECTIVE: To review evidence on perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment. \ud \ud METHODS: Searches were conducted on six databases and 24 studies reported in 30 papers identified. Studies were conducted in seven countries, mainly the USA (n = 14). Sample sizes ranged from 48-14,893 and most examined mothers (n = 17). Studies were conducted in community (n = 17) or high-risk (n = 7) samples.\ud \ud RESULTS: The majority of studies found a relationship between parental perinatal mental health problems and risk of child maltreatment, but inconsistent findings were observed between and within studies. The few studies that examined fathers (n = 6) all found a relationship between fathers' mental health and risk of child maltreatment. Meta-analysis of 17 studies (n = 22,042) showed perinatal mental health problems increased risk of child maltreatment by OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.29-4.03). This relationship was moderated by type of sample, with larger effects for risk of child maltreatment in high-risk samples. The relationship was not moderated by type of mental illness, child maltreatment; methodological or measurement factors.\ud \ud CONCLUSION: The association between perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment is similar to that observed at other times during childhood. Methodological heterogeneity and inconsistent findings mean conclusions are tentative and need to be considered alongside other individual, family and social/cultural risk factors.

In the spirit of ‘developing a student writing presence in the journal’ (House, Kalisch, & Proctor, 2016, p. 309), we have taken on the job of editing this section. We are interested in hearing exp...

Experts say more research is needed on impact of routine enquiry into adverse childhood experiences

We have developed a new parenting group based on National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for parenting groups for conduct disorder and the Solihull Approach, a multi-agency approach to improve the parent-child relationship and behaviour management. Our aims were to create a parenting group that was theoretically coherent, of proven effectiveness, time efficient, for universal through to more complex problems, for parents of children from birth to 18 years, accessible to parents with literacy difficulties, able to be run by community practitioners such as health visitors and school nurses, and supported by a cost-effective and uncomplicated staff training model. This article describes the development of the Solihull Approach Parenting Group and the results of its first large-scale pilot evaluation. The results show an improvement in child behaviour and reductions in parental anxiety.

An increased awareness about how trauma impacts upon children and adults is vital for the identification of vulnerability, development of trauma-informed policing and strengthening the case for the prevention. ACEs provide an easily understandable framework which could help to develop trauma-informed practice and responses. However, there are potential misuses of ACEs in policing, for example using ACE scores or specific single ACEs as the basis for decisions or as intervention thresholds. In this article we review the current evidence with a focus on the strengths, current issues and risks in the use of ACEs across policing.