Systematic review and meta-analysis: do best-evidenced trauma-focused interventions for children and young people with PTSD lead to changes in social and interpersonal domains?

Young people with post-traumatic stress disorder experience difficulties in social and interpersonal domains. We examined whether the best-evidenced treatments of PTSD for children and young people (Trauma-focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing; aged 5-25) improve social or interpersonal factors in randomised controlled trials, compared to a comparator condition.: The review was preregistered on PROSPERO (CRD42023455615; 18th August 2023).

A qualitative investigation into care-leavers' experiences of accessing mental health support.

Introduction: People who grew up under the care of children's social services are a highly vulnerable group, with 50% of this population meeting the criteria for a mental health problem at any one time. Emerging evidence suggests that there is a disparity between the number of people who require support, and those that receive it, and that they face several barriers to accessing timely and effective mental health support. We have a limited understanding of how to support the mental health of this group as they 'age out' of children's social services, and the transition to independence, which occurs around the age of 18.

A Scoping Review of Factors Associated With the Mental Health of Young People Who Have "Aged Out" of the Child Welfare System.

Young people who grow up in care and then exit care around the age of 18 (care-leavers) are a particularly vulnerable group, at increased risk for mental health problems even relative to other care-experienced groups. Yet, little is understood about the factors underpinning this association. We used scoping review methods to synthesize the quantitative and qualitative literature on factors that are associated with mental health problems for care-leavers.

Secondary data analysis of social care records to examine the provision of mental health support for young people in care.

Background: Young people in care are much more likely to experience mental health difficulties than the general population, yet little is known about the provision of mental health support for this group in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Using routinely collected social care data, we explored the provision of mental health support for 112 young people in care in the UK. We identified young people experiencing elevated internalising or externalising difficulties in their first year in care (based on strengths and difficulties questionnaire scores) and extracted data on mental health referrals and provision.