Mood disorders
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Progressive cortical thinning might identify children at risk of developing psychotic spectrum symptoms
Offspring of patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have an increased risk of developing these conditions. However, our capacity to predict the long-term outcomes of these at-risk individuals is limited. Now, researchers have investigated whether longitudinal changes in brain structure differ in individuals at high familial risk who develop psychotic spectrum symptoms, compared to those who do not and to low-risk controls.
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Chronic illness may present barriers to engaging in CBT for depression
Between 10 and 20% of teenagers have a chronic illness:1 an ongoing health condition that lasts at least 3 months, and for which a cure is unlikely. Research suggests that teenagers with chronic illnesses are more likely to also have low mood and develop depression than their healthy peers.2
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Professor Joan Luby
“I look forward to joining the JCPP team and being a part of this distinguished and high-quality international journal. I see this as an opportunity to review and advance rigorous and innovative research on developmental psychopathology.”
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January 2021 – The Bridge
This issue of The Bridge features summaries of recent child and adolescent mental health research. I hope you enjoy reading about this excellent work which improves our understanding of a wide range of conditions and informs mental health care for young people.
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Which disorders precede the development of mood disorders in young people?
Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) typically emerge in childhood or adolescence. Now, researchers in Switzerland, the USA and Canada have investigated whether certain other mental health disorders precede the onset of mood disorders
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Insufficient sleep during adolescence might pose a risk for later depression and anxiety
A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry has found that young people who have poor sleep quality and quantity might be at risk of poor mental health later in adolescence and early adulthood.
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A machine learning approach identifies unique predictors of borderline personality disorder
Researchers in the USA have identified critical predictors of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in late adolescence, using a machine learning approach. Joseph Beeney and colleagues harnessed data from a large, prospective, longitudinal dataset of >2,400 girls who were evaluated yearly for various clinical, psychosocial and demographic factors.
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Depressed mothers and their offspring differ in terms of health risk profiles and allostatic load
Allostatic load is essentially the “wear and tear” that accumulates in the body in individuals exposed to chronic stress. Because some patients with psychiatric disorders have a shorter lifespan than their healthy counterparts,1 some researchers have suggested that there might be a link between disorders such as depression and increased allostatic load.
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PCIT-ED seems to improve parenting behaviour and affect towards children with depression
Data from a new study show that parenting behaviour and affect improved after completing a dyadic parent–child treatment for depression in young children (aged 3-6 years).
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Young people’s ‘neural fingerprints’ might permit a precision-medicine approach to depression
Precision medicine has been discussed in medical research since the late 1990’s. Only recently, however, has this concept aroused interest and inspired relevant research in psychiatry, particularly in adolescents.
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