BackgroundMental health problems and traits capturing psychopathology are common and often begin during adolescence. Decades of twin studies indicate that genetic factors explain around 50% of individual differences in adolescent psychopathology. In recent years, significant advances, particularly in genomics, have moved this work towards more translational findings.MethodsThis review provides an overview

BackgroundThere is not yet a consensus on the best way to conceptualise adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We used data‐driven methods across two populations to examine (a) if there were meaningful dimensions underlying ACEs and (b) whether dimensions were differentially associated with increased risk of adolescent psychopathology.MethodsParticipants were 18,539 British children from the UK Millennium

The transition from adolescence into adulthood is a pivotal phase in a person's life, marking a period of significant social, psychological, and biological changes that can profoundly impact an individual's well‐being and developmental trajectory. During this period, adolescents and young adults face increasing environmental demands from academic or occupational responsibilities and social interactions

BackgroundAre individual differences in attachment security inborn or shaped by the social environment? In infancy and early childhood, the evidence points to a substantial role of the environment, but a large twin study in early adolescence showed considerable heritability. Here we examined the twin heritability of attachment in middle childhood. We hypothesized that in middle childhood some heritability

BackgroundThe diagnosis of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool years (before age 6 years) is a marker of severity and poor prognosis. This study investigated a broad range of predictors of ADHD diagnosis during preschool age.MethodsPopulation‐based cohort study using Swedish registers. The final sample consisted of all children born in Sweden between 2001 and 2007 who could

BackgroundAlmost one in five (18.8%) UK adolescents are estimated to self‐harm and many young people initiate self‐harm early (average age 13 years). Prevention of self‐harm should be informed by knowledge about risk factors (e.g. socio‐demographic indices), characteristics (i.e. motivation for self‐harm and help‐seeking behaviours), as well as relative aetiological genetic and environmental processes

BackgroundChildhood adversity poses a major transdiagnostic risk for a host of psychiatric disorders. Altered threat‐related information processing has been put forward as a potential process underlying the association between childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders, with previous research providing support for decreased discrimination between threat and safety cues, in both children and adults

BackgroundAtypical reward processing is implicated in a range of psychiatric disorders associated with childhood maltreatment and may represent a latent vulnerability mechanism. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the impact of maltreatment on behavioural and neural indices of reward learning in volatile environments and examined associations with future psychopathology assessed 18 months later

Contemporary research on developing theory of mind emphasizes its cognitive and neurobiological foundations, but studies of its relational origins have potential for opening new terrain in this expansive literature. The study by Kochanska and colleagues shows this in several ways. First, it offers a model for constructing theoretically guided causal models built on longitudinal research enlisting multiple

BackgroundSocial connection factors play a key role for young people's mental health. It is important to understand how their influence may vary across contexts. We investigated structural (e.g. household size), functional (e.g. social support) and quality (e.g. feeling close) social connection factors in relation to adolescent internalising and externalising symptoms, comparing two countries Brazil

BackgroundInternalising problems have increased considerably among adolescents in the last decades, particularly among girls, resulting in widening gender gaps. This study examined whether the gender gap in psychological symptoms increased more in more gender‐equal countries in the period 2002–2022, and if so, to what extent this could be explained by changes over time in the experience of stressors

BackgroundMore than half of the current US population was exposed to adverse lead levels in childhood as a result of lead's past use in gasoline. The total contribution of childhood lead exposures to US‐population mental health and personality has yet to be evaluated.MethodsWe combined serial, cross‐sectional blood–lead level (BLL) data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES)

Low socioeconomic status (SES) is negatively associated with children's cognitive and academic performance, leading to long‐term educational and economic disparities. In particular, SES is a powerful predictor of executive function (EF), language ability, and academic achievement. Despite extensive research documenting SES‐related differences in these domains, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying

BackgroundAvoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a recently recognised feeding and eating disorder and is characterised by a lack of interest and motivation to eat. Despite burgeoning research, few studies to date have explored the underlying neurobiology of ARFID. Research examining the neural underpinnings of ARFID can greatly assist in understanding different mechanisms that play disorder‐specific

BackgroundCurrent understanding of the associations between adolescents' daily sleep and daytime alertness and fatigue under naturalistically occurring restricted (school) and unrestricted (vacation) sleep opportunities is limited.MethodsA convenience sample of adolescents (n = 205; 54.1% females, Mage ± SD = 16.9 ± 0.87 years) completed daily measures of sleep, alertness, and fatigue over 28 days

BackgroundOral language skills provide the foundation for formal education, and children may require language support over an extended period of time to maximise their education potential. Most work on language intervention, however, has focussed on the preschool or early school years. Here, we describe the development and evaluation of the Oral Language for Literacy Intervention (OLLI) programme which

BackgroundIt has been suggested that neuroborreliosis in children can manifest as psychiatric neurodevelopmental disorders or cause long‐term neurodevelopmental sequelae. However, previous studies were limited by size and design.MethodsWe performed a nationwide, population‐based, matched cohort study in Denmark between 1995 and 2021. We included all Danish residents <16 years old with a positive Borrelia

This editorial explores how adopting a social determinants and systemic perspective can enhance preventative measures to boost the mental health of young people. It argues that to effectively elevate the mental health of young people, it is essential to tackle both the overarching influences and their specific local impacts. We maintain that a strategy combining systems thinking with evidence tailored

BackgroundThis study investigated associations among temperament, executive functioning (EF), and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom severity at two developmental stages.MethodsParticipants were 61 4‐year‐old children and 165 8–11‐year‐old children (126 ADHD, 39 typically developing [TD]). Caregivers reported on temperament (effortful control [EC], negative affect, and surgency)

BackgroundFifteen million infants annually are born prematurely, placing them at high risk for life‐long adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Whether brain tissue abnormalities that accompany preterm birth persist into young adulthood and are associated with long‐term cognitive or psychiatric outcomes is not known.MethodsFrom infancy into young adulthood, we followed a population‐based sample of consecutively

There is substantial evidence that adolescent mental health has deteriorated considerably since the early 2010s across many countries, and much more strongly among girls than boys. This is probably due to a combination of societal changes that strongly influenced the lives of adolescents. The societal changes include the rise of social media and of academic pressure, the COVID‐19 pandemic and increasing

BackgroundParenting interventions are effective for improving child conduct problems (CPs), but online self‐directed interventions are required to improve reach and impact. Mothers are the main users of such programmes; fathers show low participation rates despite evidence of increased efficacy when they participate.MethodsThis randomised controlled trial examined the efficacy of Family Man, a brief

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health problems, but many children who experience ACEs do not develop such difficulties. A warm and supportive adult presence in childhood is associated with a lower likelihood of developing mental health problems after exposure to ACEs. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, as previous research has not accounted

A substantial portion of interventions designed to support autistic children are also designed to be delivered by caregivers (i.e. are ‘caregiver‐mediated’). Brown et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2024) are one of the first groups to critically examine the baseline skills that caregivers bring as they prepare to learn a class of interventions called Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral

BackgroundChildren born preterm are at heightened risk for neurodevelopmental impairment, including specific deficits in attention. Few studies have investigated change over time in attention problems prior to school entry. The current study aims to describe trajectories of attention problems from age 2 through 5 years in a cohort of children born <30 weeks of gestational age (GA), identify sociodemographic

Individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit varied responses to pharmacological treatments (e.g. stimulants and non‐stimulants). Accurately and promptly detecting treatment‐related improvements, response failure, or deterioration poses significant challenges, as current monitoring primarily relies on subjective ratings. In this commentary, we critically evaluate the evidence

BackgroundAlthough it is widely assumed that avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) originates in childhood, there is little prospective research to substantiate this claim. We therefore aimed to determine whether presumed childhood risk factors predict AvPD traits at 16 years.MethodsA population‐based sample (n = 1,077; 50.9% female) from the 2003 and 2004 birth cohorts in Trondheim, Norway was examined

BackgroundMany studies show that both callous‐unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., low empathy, lack of guilt) and cognitive difficulties increase risk for externalizing psychopathology across development. However, other work suggests that some aggression (e.g., relational, proactive) may rely on intact cognitive function, which could vary based on the presence of CU traits. Moreover, no prior research has

BackgroundThe mechanisms linking early‐life adversity with psychopathology over the life‐course are complex. In this prospective study, we collectively examined cognitive, affective, and developmental mediators previously found to individually link childhood threat and deprivation experiences to adolescent psychopathology to identify the most potent mechanisms.MethodsData came from a community sample

BackgroundAdolescence is a critical developmental period for the study of anorexia nervosa (AN), an illness characterized by extreme restriction of food intake. The maturation of the reward system during adolescence combined with recent neurobiological models of AN led to the hypothesis that early on in illness, restrictive food choices would be associated with activity in nucleus accumbens reward

BackgroundAntipsychotic medications (AP) are inappropriately prescribed to young people. The goal of this pragmatic trial was to test a four‐component approach to improved targeting of antipsychotic prescribing to people aged ≥3 and <18 years.MethodsClinicians in four health systems were cluster randomized by the number of previous AP orders and service line – specialty mental health and all others

BackgroundSymptoms related to mood and anxiety disorders (emotional disorders) often present in childhood and adolescence. Some of the genetic liability for mental disorders, and emotional and behavioral difficulties seems to be shared. Yet, it is unclear how genetic liability for emotional disorders and related traits influence trajectories of childhood behavioral and emotional difficulties, and if

BackgroundAdolescents exposed to victimization are at an increased risk for a variety of adverse mental health outcomes, including depressive symptoms. Yet, the biological pathways underlying these associations remain poorly understood. Focusing on within‐person processes, we examined whether low‐grade systemic inflammation mediated the longitudinal associations between peer victimization and depressive

BackgroundThe interactions of typically developing (TD) children within the family context are associated with their social skills in preschool, and the question guiding this study, which focused on boys, was whether the same would be true for autistic children. A specific focus was on the importance of the boys' engagement in triadic, mother–father–child interactions over and above their engagement

BackgroundAttention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrates unique developmental manifestations in adolescence with implications for optimized, age‐appropriate treatment. This 10‐year update is the third in a series of systematic reviews examining the efficacy and safety of adolescent ADHD treatments. We broadly examined efficacy on ADHD symptoms, impairments, and other reported outcomes

BackgroundEconomic evaluations of treatments for children with behavioural difficulties (i.e., characteristics of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)) usually rely on data of randomised controlled trials or are model‐based. Findings of such studies may not be representative of cost‐effectiveness and cost‐utility in clinical practice. The current

BackgroundFood fussiness (FF) describes the tendency to eat a small range of foods, due to pickiness and/or reluctance to try new foods. A common behaviour during childhood, and a considerable cause of caregiver concern; its causes are poorly understood. This is the first twin study of genetic and environmental contributions to the developmental trajectory of FF from toddlerhood to early adolescence

Qualitative research is notable by its relative absence from the translational science studies in the field of child mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in general, and the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry in particular. In this editorial, I argue for a pragmatic integration of qualitative and quantitative methods to speed up the development of new and more effective interventions

BackgroundCharacteristics of parent‐child interaction (PCI) early in life have been associated with later development in the child. Twin studies can help to disentangle child contributions to parent‐child interaction, for example, by assessing the influence of the child's genetics on his/her social environment, which includes parental behaviour.MethodsInfant twins from a community sample [354 monozygotic

BackgroundMaternal postpartum depression is an important risk factor for internalizing and externalizing problems in children. The role of concurrent paternal depression remains unclear, especially by socioeconomic status. This study examined independent and interactive associations of postpartum maternal and paternal depression with children's internalizing/externalizing symptoms throughout childhood

BackgroundThe Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study is a longitudinal study of US adolescents with a wide breadth of psychiatric, neuroimaging and genetic data that can be leveraged to better understand psychiatric diseases. The reliability and validity of the psychiatric data collected have not yet been examined. This study aims to explore and optimize the reliability/validity of psychiatric

BackgroundAutism commonly co‐occurs with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but less is known regarding how ADHD symptoms impact the early presentation of autism. This study examined early behavioral characteristics of a community sample of toddlers later identified with autism diagnosis, ADHD symptoms, combined autism and ADHD symptoms, or neither condition.MethodsParticipants were 506

BackgroundSelf‐harm is very common in young people and is associated with suicide. Rates of both self‐harm and suicide have increased in young people, particularly in females. There is a clear need to identify new approaches to prevent repeat self‐harm.MethodWe significantly update and build on previous reviews with the aim of identifying issues in research relevant to clinical practice. We identify

We emphasize the potential importance of the role of early alterations in sleep and circadian rhythms as a biological marker of early‐onset depression in the preschool period. This builds on findings of the reciprocal relationship between sleep and mood as well as the validity of preschool depression well established in the extant literature. This editorial highlights two recent studies published in

BackgroundChildhood maltreatment contributes to a large mental health burden worldwide. Different measures of childhood maltreatment are not equivalent and may capture meaningful differences. In particular, prospective and retrospective measures of maltreatment identify different groups of individuals and are differentially associated with psychopathology. However, the reasons behind these discrepancies

BackgroundThe genetic and environmental aetiology of autistic and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traits is known to vary spatially, but does this translate into variation in the association of specific common genetic variants?MethodsWe mapped associations between polygenic scores for autism and ADHD and their respective traits in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

BackgroundNon‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is common among adolescents receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment and the months post‐discharge is a high‐risk period for self‐injurious behavior. Thus, identifying predictors that shape the course of post‐discharge NSSI may provide insights into ways to improve clinical outcomes. Accordingly, we used machine learning to identify the strongest predictors

BackgroundThe real‐world effectiveness of exposure‐based therapies for youth depends on the willingness and ability of young people to tolerate confronting their fears, which can be experienced as highly aversive and create problems with treatment engagement and acceptance. Recently, neuroscientific research on the nonconscious basis of fear has been translated into novel exposure interventions that

BackgroundWhile research has described the profile of children with poor mental health, little is known about whether this profile and their needs have changed over time. Our aim was to investigate whether levels of difficulties and functional impact faced by children with a psychiatric disorder have changed over time, and whether sociodemographic and family correlates have changed.MethodsSamples were

Recently, more effort has been devoted to ensuring that scientific knowledge can be mobilised to make a positive impact on individuals and society. Scientists are encouraged, and even required, to communicate their findings beyond academic circles – to inform interested groups. However, there can be challenges with language use and communicating concepts; interpreting results; and from time pressure

There is a growing exploration of how Registered Reports can benefit individual researchers and wider research fields as part of a wider shift towards open research principles and practices. In ‘Misaligned incentives in mental health research – the case for Registered Reports’, Baldwin examines this in the context of mental health research, arguing that Registered Reports (RRs) can be a valuable solution

BackgroundResearch implies early relational factors – parental appropriate mind‐mindedness (MM) and mutually responsive orientation (MRO) – as antecedents of children's Theory of Mind (ToM), yet the longitudinal path is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about the process in father–child relationships. In two studies of community families in a Midwestern state in United States, we tested a path