The association between poverty and longitudinal patterns of adverse childhood experiences across childhood and adolescence: Findings from a prospective population-based cohort study in the UK.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect up to half the general population, they are known to co-occur, and are particularly common among those experiencing poverty. Yet, there are limited studies examining specific patterns of ACE co-occurrence considering their developmental timing.

Objective: To examine the longitudinal co-occurrence patterns of ACEs across childhood and adolescence, and to examine the role of poverty in predicting these.

Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization as Risk Factors for Self-Harm: Results From a Longitudinal Cohort Study of 13-14-Year-Olds in England.

Purpose: Cyberbullying is a crucial issue that affects adolescent mental health, with evidence to suggest that adolescents who are victims of cyberbullying are at higher risk for self-harm. However, longitudinal evidence is lacking, meaning the direction of effects cannot be established. This study investigated longitudinal associations between levels of cyberbullying involvement (bully, victim, or both), frequency, and self-harm a year later in an adolescent sample.

The relationship between type, timing and duration of exposure to adverse childhood experiences and adolescent self-harm and depression: findings from three UK prospective population-based cohorts.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-established risk factors for self-harm and depression. However, despite their high comorbidity, there has been little focus on the impact of developmental timing and the duration of exposure to ACEs on co-occurring self-harm and depression.

Methods: Data were utilised from over 22,000 children and adolescents participating in three UK cohorts, followed up longitudinally for 14-18 years: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study.

Investigating How People Who Self-harm Evaluate Web-Based Lived Experience Stories: Focus Group Study.

Background: The positive and negative effects of interacting with web-based content on mental health, and especially self-harm, are well documented. Lived experience stories are one such type of static web-based content, frequently published on health care or third-sector organization websites, as well as social media and blogs, as a form of support for those seeking help via the web.

Objective: This study aimed to increase understanding about how people who self-harm engage with and evaluate web-based lived experience stories.

Emotional dysregulation in childhood and disordered eating and self-harm in adolescence: prospective associations and mediating pathways.

Background: Emotional dysregulation may be a risk factor for disordered eating and self-harm in young people, but few prospective studies have assessed these associations long-term, or considered potential mediators. We examined prospective relationships between childhood emotional dysregulation and disordered eating and self-harm in adolescence; and social cognition, emotional recognition, and being bullied as mediators.

Methods: We analysed Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data on 3,453 males and 3,481 females.

Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England.

The COVID-19 'lockdown' and multiple school closures disrupted the daily lives and routines of the entire UK population. However, adolescents were likely particularly impacted by such measures due to this time being key for social and educational development. This qualitative study explored young people's experiences of lockdowns and school closures.

Impact of School and Peer Connectedness on Adolescent Mental Health and Well-Being Outcomes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Panel Survey.

School closures and social distancing measures during the pandemic have disrupted young people's daily routines and social relationships. We explored patterns of change in adolescent mental health and tested the relationship between pre-pandemic levels of school and peer connectedness and changes in mental health and well-being between the first lockdown and the return to school. This is a secondary analysis of a longitudinal 3-wave panel survey.

Rise in prescribing for anxiety in UK primary care between 2003 and 2018: a population-based cohort study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Background: Little is known about trends in prescribing of anxiolytics (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, anticonvulsants, and antipsychotics) for treatment of anxiety. Several changes may have affected prescribing in recent years, including changes in clinical guidance.

Aim: To examine trends in prescribing for anxiety in UK primary care between 2003 and 2018.

Adolescent social media user types and their mental health and well-being: Results from a longitudinal survey of 13-14-year-olds in the United Kingdom.

Background: There is mixed evidence as to the effects of different types of social media use on mental health, but previous research has been platform-specific and has focused on an oversimplified distinction between active and passive use. This study aimed to identify different underlying subgroups of adolescent social media user based on their pattern of social media activities and test associations between user type and future mental health.

Methods: Students from 19 schools ( = 2456) in south-west England completed an online survey measuring 13 social media activities and four psychosocial outcomes (past year self-harm, depression, anxiety and poor well-being) at age 13 years (October 2019) and repeated a year later (October 2020; aged 14 years).

Disordered eating and self-harm as risk factors for poorer mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a UK-based birth cohort study.

Background: Young adults and especially those with pre-existing mental health conditions, such as disordered eating and self-harm, appear to be at greater risk of developing metal health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether this increased risk is affected by any changes in lockdown restrictions, and whether any lifestyle changes could moderate this increased risk.

Methods: In a longitudinal UK-based birth cohort (The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC) we assessed the relationship between pre-pandemic measures of disordered eating and self-harm and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2657 young adults.

Social media use and social connectedness among adolescents in the United Kingdom: a qualitative exploration of displacement and stimulation.

Background: Connectedness to family and peers is a key determinant of adolescent mental health. Existing research examining associations between social media use and social connectedness has been largely quantitative and has focused primarily on loneliness, or on specific aspects of peer relationships. In this qualitative study we use the displacement hypothesis and the stimulation hypothesis as competing theoretical lenses through which we examine the complex relationship between social media use and feelings of connectedness to family and peers.

Trends in the recording of anxiety in UK primary care: a multi-method approach.

Purpose: Anxiety disorders are common. Between 1998 and 2008, in the UK, GP recording of anxiety symptoms increased, but the recording of anxiety disorders decreased. We do not know whether such trends have continued.

Disordered eating and self-harm as risk factors for poorer mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A UK-based birth cohort study.

Background: Young adults and especially those with pre-existing mental health conditions, such as disordered eating and self-harm, appear to be at greater risk of developing metal health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether this increased risk is affected by any changes in lockdown restrictions, and whether any lifestyle changes could moderate this increased risk.

Methods: In a longitudinal UK-based birth cohort (The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC) we assessed the relationship between pre-pandemic measures of disordered eating and self-harm and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2,657 young adults.

Childhood adversity, pubertal timing and self-harm: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: The occurrence of early childhood adversity is strongly linked to later self-harm, but there is poor understanding of how this distal risk factor might influence later behaviours. One possible mechanism is through an earlier onset of puberty in children exposed to adversity, since early puberty is associated with an increased risk of adolescent self-harm. We investigated whether early pubertal timing mediates the association between childhood adversity and later self-harm.

Comorbidity of self-harm and disordered eating in young people: Evidence from a UK population-based cohort.

Background: Self-harm and eating disorders are often comorbid in clinical samples but their co-occurrence in the general population is unclear. Given that only a small proportion of individuals who self-harm or have disordered eating present to clinical services, and that both self-harm and eating disorders are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, it is important to study these behaviours at a population level.

Methods: We assessed the co-occurrence of self-harm and disordered eating behaviours in 3384 females and 2326 males from a UK population-based cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).