Clinical and cost-effectiveness of parenting intervention for mothers experiencing psychosocial stress: insights from the early closure of the Mellow Babies RCT.

Background: Problems in children's early social and emotional development are likely to have major long-term consequences for the individual and society: maternal emotional well-being is associated with better outcomes. Interventions designed to improve both maternal mental health and the mother-child relationship are thus likely to benefit both maternal health and child development.

Objectives: To establish the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the Mellow Babies parenting intervention for women experiencing psychosocial stress and their 6- to 18-month-old babies.

Adaptability as a Journey: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study Exploring the Transition to Motherhood in the Context of Bipolar Disorder.

Despite growing evidence that women with bipolar disorder (BD) diagnoses are at a particularly increased risk for perinatal mental and physical health complications, our understanding of their experiences and support needs from pre-conception to early postnatal years is still in its early stages. To address this gap, a qualitative study was carried out employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to identify the underlying processes shaping women's journeys to motherhood in the context of BD. In-depth, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 10 mothers worldwide with a pre-existing diagnosis of BD and a first child under 5 years of age.

Modelling the associations between parental depressive symptoms, hypomanic traits, and infant socio-emotional development: The mediating role of parental reflective functioning.

Background: Although understanding of maternal hypomania in the postpartum period is gradually improving, the intergenerational pathways of risk associated with hypomania in the context of postpartum depression remain unknown. It is also unclear whether distinct or shared pathways of risk exist for infants exposed to different parental mood characteristics and whether these pathways are mediated by parental reflective functioning.

Methods: An online survey was administered to 1788 parents (89 % mothers, 50 % White) who were primary caregivers of a child under 2.

Management of the therapeutic relationship in a patient with Complex PTSD and Personality Disorder.

Individuals diagnosed with Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) have experienced repeated and often prolonged traumatic events. From a therapeutic perspective this can lead to difficulties in emotion regulation within-session, challenges with patient-therapist attunement, and impaired coregulation of emotions during therapeutic interactions. As a result, frequent therapeutic alliance ruptures can emerge, which in turn pose challenges for symptom-focused work.

Discriminant diagnostic validity of paediatric bipolar disorder screening tests: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Bipolar disorders (BD) are among the most significantly impairing of childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Although BD symptoms may begin in adolescence, they are frequently not diagnosed until adulthood, and accordingly BD scales could aid diagnostic assessment in paediatric populations. This review aims to synthesis the evidence for the accuracy of BD symptom index tests for discriminating BD from non-BD (other diagnoses or healthy controls) in paediatric population.

Digital mental health and peer support: Building a Theory of Change informed by stakeholders' perspectives.

Digital Mental Health and Peer support has the potential to bridge gaps in support through its scalability and accessibility. Despite the increasing use of these platforms, there remains a lack of understanding of how they operate in real life, from initial engagement to longer-term impact. We aimed to explore the key inputs, processes, user interactions, assumptions, barriers, facilitators, outcomes, and impacts associated with the use of DMH and peer support platforms by developing a Theory of Change with stakeholders.

Trajectories of risk and resilience: The role of empathy and perceived social support in the context of early adversity.

Background: Evidence overwhelmingly suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a risk factor for poor mental health outcomes. However, the specific mechanisms via which ACEs confer an increased risk of psychopathology are less well understood.

Objective: The study modelled the effect of empathy and perceived social support (PSS) on mental health outcomes in a mixed clinical and non-clinical population, within the context of exposure to ACEs.

"It is not all glowing and kale smoothies": An exploration of mental health difficulties during pregnancy through women's voices.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the experiences of women with moderate-to-severe mental health difficulties during pregnancy, with a focus on establishing their psychological needs. Psychological distress caused by mental health difficulties during pregnancy is common and can significantly impact women and their babies. However, women's subjective experiences of difficulties with their mental health throughout pregnancy, alongside their experiences of staff, services and treatments are less well understood.

Associations between maternal smartphone use and mother-infant responsiveness: A cluster analysis of potential risk and protective factors.

Contradictory results in the extant literature suggests that additional risk factors should be considered when exploring the impacts of maternal smartphone use on mother-infant relationships. This study used cluster analysis to explore whether certain risk factors were implicated in mother-infant dyads with high smartphone use and low mother-infant responsiveness. A cross-sectional survey of 450 participants in the UK measured infant social-emotional development, maternal depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, wellbeing, social support, smartphone use, and mother-infant responsiveness.

Psychosis Recovery Orientation in Malawi by Improving Services and Engagement (PROMISE) protocol.

Malawi has a population of around 20 million people and is one of the world's most economically deprived nations. Severe mental illness (largely comprising psychoses and severe mood disorders) is managed by a very small number of staff in four tertiary facilities, aided by clinical officers and nurses in general hospitals and clinics. Given these constraints, psychosis is largely undetected and untreated, with a median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) of around six years.

Investigating the relationship between specific negative symptoms and metacognitive functioning in psychosis: A systematic review.

Background: Disrupted metacognition is implicated in development and maintenance of negative symptoms, but more fine-grained analyses would inform precise treatment targeting for individual negative symptoms.

Aims: This systematic review identifies and examines datasets that test whether specific metacognitive capacities distinctly influence negative symptoms.

Materials & Methods: PsycINFO, EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane Library databases plus hand searching of relevant articles, journals and grey literature identified quantitative research investigating negative symptoms and metacognition in adults aged 16+ with psychosis.

Pathways from childhood trauma to aberrant salience: A structural equation approach to mentalization model.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between affective disturbances and aberrant salience in the context of childhood trauma, attachment, and mentalization in an analogue study.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, an online community sample completed self-report measures of key variables. Structural equation modelling was used to test childhood trauma's influence on aberrant salience via a set of intermediate risk factors (depression, negative schizotypy, and insecure attachment).

Metacognitive interpersonal therapy-eating disorders cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders for non-underweight adults with eating disorders: study protocol for a pilot pre-registered randomized controlled trial.

Eating disorders (ED) are serious disorders characterized by an alteration of eating habits and excessive concern about weight and body shapes (Fairburn, 2002), accompanied by significant impairment inequality of life, high mortality rates and serious organic consequences (Jenkins et al., 2011; Treasure et al., 2015; 2020).

Thinking about the next generation: The case for a mentalization-informed approach to perinatal and intergenerational mental health.

Background: There has been substantial progress made across multiple disciplines to emphasize the importance of perinatal mental health both for parents and offspring. This focuses on what has been termed the 'First 1000 Days' from conception to the child's second birthday. We argue that our understanding of this issue can go further to create an intergenerational approach to mental health.

Experiential techniques and therapeutic relationship in the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder: The case of Laura.

Experiential techniques can be used to address maladaptive interpersonal patterns in patients with personality disorders (PDs) as long as they are delivered minding about the therapeutic relationship. We present the case study of Laura, a 38-year-old woman presenting with covert narcissism, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and complicated grief treated with metacognitive interpersonal therapy. Laura initially refused to engage in any experiential work out of fear of being judged and abandoned by her therapist.

The association of different presentations of maternal depression with children's socio-emotional development: A systematic review.

Maternal depression from the perinatal period onwards is a global health priority associated with an increased likelihood of suboptimal socio-developmental outcomes in offspring. An important aspect of this association is the extent to which sustained maternal depression impacts on these outcomes. The current review synthesised the evidence on maternal depression from the perinatal period onwards and offspring internalising, externalising, and social competence outcomes.

An examination of behavioural and emotional problems in children exposed prenatally to the 27F Chilean earthquake: findings from the ELPI cohort.

Purpose: Associations between prenatal earthquake exposure and children's mental health remain unclear. Moreover, there is a paucity of research using quasi-experimental statistical techniques to diminish potential selection bias. Thus, this study aimed to explore the impact of prenatal exposure to the Chilean earthquake of 2010 on children's behavioural and emotional problems between 1½ and 3 years old using propensity score matching.

Exploring service users experiences of remotely delivered CBT interventions in primary care during COVID-19: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Primary Care Mental Health Services (PMHCS) aim to provide accessible and effective psychological interventions. However, there is a scarcity of qualitative research focused on patients' experiences. Service users' experience can inform development of accessible, high-quality mental health services.

"There's more love between us": The parental experience of attending Mellow Babies, a targeted, early intervention program for parents and their babies.

It is recognized that parenthood in the context of psychosocial adversity can have negative implications for infant development. Parenting programs are the first line of intervention to improve outcomes for families; however, evidence for the effectiveness of group-based, targeted early interventions is still scarce. Preliminary findings indicate Mellow Babies (MB) as a promising group-based parenting program for families at risk for parenting difficulties.

The effectiveness of psychological interventions for anxiety in the perinatal period: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Anxiety disorders are relatively common during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Despite their potential acceptability to users, psychological interventions research for this population is still in its infancy. The meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing perinatal anxiety.

Multi-Trajectories of Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, and Peer Problems Across Childhood: Results from the Growing Up in Scotland Birth Cohort.

Using a person-centred approach, this study inspected multi-trajectories of conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems, and associated risk factors for group membership. The sample included 3,578 children (50.8% males) from a population birth cohort in Scotland (Growing Up in Scotland).

What factors influence dyadic synchrony? A systematic review of the literature on predictors of mother-infant dyadic processes of shared behavior and affect.

Dyadic behavioral synchrony is a complex interactional process that takes place between the mother and her infant. In the first year of life, when the infant is prelinguistic, processes such as synchrony enable the dyad to communicate through shared behavior and affect. To date, no systematic review has been carried out to understand the risk and protective factors that influence behavioral synchrony in the mother-infant dyad.

General and age-specific fertility rates in non-affective psychosis: population-based analysis of Scottish women.

Purpose: Women diagnosed with non-affective psychosis have a lower general fertility rate (GFR) and age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) than women in the general population. Contemporary data on GFR in this group remain limited, despite substantive changes in prescribing and management. We calculated contemporary estimates of the GFR and ASFR for women diagnosed with non-affective psychosis compared with the general population of women without this diagnosis.