"I need them for my autism, but I don't know why": Exploring the friendship experiences of autistic children in UK primary schools.

Background And Aims: Autistic children can experience challenges in making and maintaining friendships, and middle childhood (ages 6-12) may be particularly challenging as social networks become more complex. However, a large proportion of research into these experiences is based on adult reports or focuses on the experiences of adolescents, meaning that the voices of younger children are absent. Due to the exclusion of younger children from research, we have a limited understanding of their first-hand experiences of their friendships and the support they receive, which has implications for friendship support and wellbeing.

Exploring the genetic prediction of academic underachievement and overachievement.

Academic underachievement refers to school performance which falls below expectations. Focusing on the pivotal first stage of education, we explored a quantitative measure of underachievement using genomically predicted achievement delta (GPAΔ), which reflects the difference between observed and expected achievement predicted by genome-wide polygenic scores. We analyzed the relationship between GPAΔ at age 7 and achievement trajectories from ages 7 to 16, using longitudinal data from 4175 participants in the Twins Early Development Study to assess empirically the extent to which students regress to their genomically predicted levels by age 16.

What do parents of nonverbal and minimally verbal autistic children think about genomic autism research?

In Summer 2021, a genomic study of autism, Spectrum 10 K, was paused due to backlash from the autistic and autism communities. This raised important questions about how these communities perceive genomic research. The Personal Experiences of Autism and Perceptions of DNA-based research study was established to address this issue among a range of sub-groups within these communities.

Genetic influences on sibling bullying and mental health difficulties.

Background: Sibling bullying is associated with mental health difficulties; both in the short and long term. It is commonly assumed that sibling bullying leads to mental health difficulties but additional explanations for the relationship between the two are seldom investigated.

Methods: To address this gap in knowledge, we used a genetically sensitive design with data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (maximum N = 3,959, 53% female).

'It feels like I'm back to being a teacher': A longitudinal trajectory analysis of teachers' experiences during the first 8 months of COVID-19 in England.

Background: Understanding teachers' experiences throughout the school closures and reopenings that have characterized large periods of the COVID-19 pandemic provides us with unique insights into what it means to be a teacher during a global public health crisis.

Aim And Method: To investigate teachers' narratives of their experiences, we conducted 95 semi-structured interviews with 24 teachers in England across four time points between April and November 2020. We used a longitudinal qualitative trajectory analysis of participants' stories of their high-, low- and turning-points.

The Development of Mental Health Difficulties in Young People With and Without Developmental Language Disorder: A Gene-Environment Interplay Study Using Polygenic Scores.

Purpose: Young people with developmental language disorder (DLD) have poorer mental health than those without DLD. However, not all young people with DLD are equally affected; some have more mental health difficulties than others. What explains these differences remains unclear.

Do Children Think it is Important to Predict Learning and Behaviour Problems, and Do They Think Genetic Screening Has a Role to Play in This?

This study explores how capable young children are of thinking about a potential future that uses DNA screening to assess an individual's likelihood of experiencing learning or behaviour difficulties. Puppets and a scenario-based approach were used to ask children aged 4-10 (n = 165) whether they thought DNA screening might be helpful or harmful. A content analysis derived six categories: (1) 'Worried about being - and being seen as - different'; (2) 'Beliefs about the origins of learning and behaviour'; (3) 'Testing is harmful'; (4) 'Testing could help'; (5) 'How soon is too soon for testing?'; and (6) 'What's the point?'.

Measuring CHAOS? Evaluating the short-form Confusion, Hubbub And Order Scale.

The Confusion, Hubbub and Order Scale (CHAOS) - short form - is a survey tool intended to capture information about home environments. It is widely used in studies of child and adolescent development and psychopathology, particularly twin studies. The original long form of the scale comprised 15 items and was validated in a sample of infants in the 1980s.

Explaining the influence of non-shared environment (NSE) on symptoms of behaviour problems from preschool to adulthood: mind the missing NSE gap.

Background: Individual differences in symptoms of behaviour problems in childhood and adolescence are not primarily due to nature or nurture - another substantial source of variance is non-shared environment (NSE). However, few specific environmental factors have been found to account for these NSE estimates. This creates a 'missing NSE' gap analogous to the 'missing heritability' gap, which refers to the shortfall in identifying DNA differences responsible for heritability.

Can genomic research make a useful contribution to social policy?

As genetic research into outcomes beyond health gathers pace, largely through the use of genome-wide association studies, interest from policy-makers has grown. In the last year, two UK reports have explored the policy implications of genomic research, one from the UK Government Office for Science and one from the Early Intervention Foundation. In this article, we explore areas of consensus between these two reports and use them to propose priorities for policy-makers as we prepare for what some have termed a 'genetic revolution'.

Parents' perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 and school transition on autistic children's friendships.

Research shows that moving schools can be a challenging time for autistic children and young people. One factor that has been found to support successful transition is friendships. However, there is little research exploring how transition between schools affects autistic children's friendships, and even less on how children's relationships during transition have been impacted by COVID-19.

Alone in the COVID-19 lockdown: An exploratory study.

Feelings of isolation have been prevalent worldwide since March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. This has prompted increased concerns about loneliness and related mental health problems. During the first UK COVID-19 lockdown, 71 participants were asked to share their high and low point stories from lockdown.

A longitudinal study of the mental health of autistic children and adolescents and their parents during COVID-19: Part 1, quantitative findings.

Autistic children and adolescents, and their parents/carers, tend to experience more symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to those with other special educational needs and disabilities. The rapid change in society as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have disproportionately affected autistic young people and their parents/carers. We investigated how the mental health of autistic young people, and their parents/carers, developed during the first lockdown in the United Kingdom and how it changed once schools fully reopened for face-to-face teaching approximately 6 months later.

A longitudinal study of the mental health of autistic children and adolescents and their parents during COVID-19: Part 2, qualitative findings.

We know that autistic children and young people, and their caregivers, are at increased risk of mental ill health. We asked whether the first 6 months of COVID-19 exacerbated that risk, and whether the implications were different for autistic pupils and their caregivers, than for those with other special educational needs and difficulties. In a linked paper, we found that caregivers of autistic pupils reported higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms in their children than parents of children with other special educational needs and difficulties (Toseeb & Asbury, 2022).

"My brain feels like a browser with 100 tabs open": A longitudinal study of teachers' mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Teaching and caring for pupils during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for many teachers, and its impact on teachers' mental health and well-being (MHWB) should be of great national and international concern.

Aim And Participants: This study examines 24 primary and secondary school teachers' MHWB experiences across three time points (April, July, and November 2020) using longitudinal qualitative trajectory analysis.

Method: We used a mixture of inductive and deductive coding, based on the Job Demands-Resources Model, to identify the job demands (aspects of the job that can be physically or psychologically costly) and job resources (aspects of the job that can buffer the effects of job demands and promote achievement and growth) teachers reported experiencing across the three time points.

Evidence for specificity of polygenic contributions to attainment in English, maths and science during adolescence.

How well one does at school is predictive of a wide range of important cognitive, socioeconomic, and health outcomes. The last few years have shown marked advancement in our understanding of the genetic contributions to, and correlations with, academic attainment. However, there exists a gap in our understanding of the specificity of genetic associations with performance in academic subjects during adolescence, a critical developmental period.

'Like a rug had been pulled from under you': The impact of COVID-19 on teachers in England during the first six weeks of the UK lockdown.

Background: On 20 March 2020, in response to COVID-19, UK schools were closed to most pupils. Teachers were required to put remote teaching and learning in place with only two days' notice from the government.

Aims: The current study explores teachers' experiences of this abrupt change to their working practices, and during the 5-6 weeks that followed.

How is COVID-19 Affecting the Mental Health of Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Their Families?

Parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in the UK (n = 241) were asked to describe the impact of COVID-19 on their own mental health and that of their child. An inductive content analysis of the data was undertaken. Both parents and children appear to be experiencing loss, worry and changes in mood and behaviour as a result of the rapid social changes that have occurred.

School quality ratings are weak predictors of students' achievement and well-being.

Background: In England, all state-funded schools are inspected by an independent government agency, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). Inspections aim to hold schools accountable and to promote the improvement of education, with the results made available to the public. Ofsted reports intend to index school quality, but their influence on students' individual outcomes has not been previously studied.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Adolescent Emotional Inertia in Daily Life.

Emotional inertia represents the extent to which individuals' emotions tend to carry over from one time point to the next. High emotional inertia indicates low emotion regulation ability and has been associated with psychological maladjustment and mood disorders. However, the extent of genetic influence on emotional inertia, particularly in adolescents, is largely unknown.

Differences in exam performance between pupils attending selective and non-selective schools mirror the genetic differences between them.

On average, students attending selective schools outperform their non-selective counterparts in national exams. These differences are often attributed to value added by the school, as well as factors schools use to select pupils, including ability, achievement and, in cases where schools charge tuition fees or are located in affluent areas, socioeconomic status. However, the possible role of DNA differences between students of different schools types has not yet been considered.

Developing SENSES: Student experience of non-shared environment scales.

Twin and adoption studies find that non-shared environmental (NSE) factors account for variance in most behavioural traits and offer an explanation for why genetically identical individuals differ. Using data from a qualitative hypothesis-generating study we designed a quantitative measure of pupils' non-shared experiences at the end of formal compulsory education (SENSES: Student Experiences of Non-Shared Environment Scales). In Study 1 SENSES was administered to n = 117 16-19 year old twin pairs.

Teacher beliefs about the aetiology of individual differences in cognitive ability, and the relevance of behavioural genetics to education.

Background: Despite a large body of research that has explored the influence of genetic and environmental factors on educationally relevant traits, few studies have explored teachers' beliefs about, or knowledge of, developments in behavioural genetics related to education.

Aims: This study aimed to describe the beliefs and knowledge of UK teachers about behavioural genetics and its relevance to education, and to test for differences between groups of teachers based on factors including years of experience and age of children taught.

Sample: Data were gathered from n = 402 teachers from a representative sample of UK schools.

Correction: Do MZ twins have discordant experiences of friendship? A qualitative hypothesis-generating MZ twin differences study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Do MZ twins have discordant experiences of friendship? A qualitative hypothesis-generating MZ twin differences study.

Using a qualitative monozygotic (MZ) twin differences design we explored whether adolescent MZ twins report discordant peer relationships and, if so, whether they perceive them as causes, consequences or correlates of discordant behaviour. We gathered free-response questionnaire data from 497 families and conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 97 of them. Within this dataset n = 112 families (23% of the sample) described discordant peer relationships.