STrAtegies for RelaTives (START): long-lasting effect on the wellbeing of family carers of dementia patients

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A group of UCL Mental Health MSc students summarise a recent RCT assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness over 6 years of the START intervention for family carers of people with dementia.

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Music to reduce anxiety and increase comfort among older people in care homes

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Hilary Shepherd appraises and summarises a recent Turkish randomised controlled trial, which explores the effect that music can have on the comfort and anxiety levels of older adults living in a nursing home.

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Should we be offering twice weekly psychotherapy for people with depression?

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Jack Kerwin and Derek Tracy summarise a new RCT published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, which suggests that twice weekly psychotherapy (CBT or IPT) may be more effective than once weekly sessions for people with depression.

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Exploring drop-out rates: new review shows poor retention in trials of apps for depression

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In his debut blog, Tom Steare summarises a systematic review looking at drop out rates in randomised controlled trials of smartphone apps for depression, which finds that depression apps with mood monitoring and human feedback were associated with greater retention of research participants.

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Depression in later life: healthcare professionals’ views about referrals and management

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Alison McKinlay summarises a literature review of qualitative research exploring healthcare professionals’ views of depression in later life, which highlights the quandaries faced by healthcare professionals in primary care, particularly in areas where funding and access to services are limited.

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Knitting makes me happy

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Dafni Katsampa reviews a recent qualitative study that examines the perceived benefits of knitting and its role in the lives of people who self-identified as passionate knitters.

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Transdiagnostic approaches to mental health: Keeping the baby and throwing out the bathwater

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Melissa Black and Tim Dalgleish summarise and critique a recent review on transdiagnostic psychiatry, which they feel presents an overly negative view of transdiagnostic approaches in mental health.

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Internalising problems in children and adolescents: little evidence for distinct disorders

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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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Younger mums may be at higher risk of mental health problems #ESMI

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Jennifer Burgess summarises the results of a small cross-sectional study of young pregnant women at risk of mental disorders, which found that young women had greater odds of having a common mental disorder and CMDs were associated with living alone and abuse.

Follow #ESMI today on Twitter for all of the updates from the ESMI study day (Effectiveness of Services for Mothers with Mental Illness).

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This be the verse? Negative cognitive styles in fathers and their children

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A group of UCL Mental Health Masters students summarise a cohort study that investigated associations between paternal negative cognitive styles during pregnancy and offspring negative cognitive styles 18 years later.

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