Francesca Bentivegna summarises a recent study of the benefits of reading for pleasure in childhood, which finds an association 3 years later with consuming more fruit and being less exposed to both cigarette and alcohol use.
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Julia Badger critiques and summarises a recent randomised controlled trial testing the Let’s Talk intervention for improving children’s language development.
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Ben Janaway summarises a recent Canadian community-based study, which examines emotional and behavioural difficulties in children experiencing gender non-conformity.
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Raphael Underwood summarises a recent umbrella review (a synthesis of meta-analyses), which aimed to evaluate the current literature regarding childhood sexual abuse and long-term outcomes (psychosocial outcomes, psychiatric diagnoses and physical health outcomes).
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Jack Barton summarises a recent longitudinal study from Finland, which suggests that sleep difficulties in infancy are associated with symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity at the age of 5 years.
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In Dr David Trickey’s debut blog for Mental Elf, he comments on the new ISTSS treatment guidelines for children and young people with post traumatic stress disorder.
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Andrea Cipriani and Anneka Tomlinson scrutinise a brand new umbrella review of the associations between antidepressants and adverse health outcomes, which suggests that antidepressants are safe for most people who experience mental health difficulties.
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Katie Finning explores a recent network analysis of internalising disorders (e.g. depression, anxiety, phobias) in children and adolescents, which demonstrates the interconnected nature of internalising symptoms, and challenges the view that such pathology takes the form of distinct disorders.
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Lucinda Powell looks at a recent study which finds little clear-cut evidence that screen time decreases adolescent well-being.
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Alison Tonkin writes her debut elf blog on the WAVES study: a cluster randomised controlled trial looking at the effectiveness of a childhood obesity prevention programme delivered through schools, targeting 6 and 7 year olds.
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