Better together? A randomized controlled microtrial comparing different levels of therapist and parental involvement in exposure-based treatment of childhood specific phobia.

Introduction: Exposure is often limited to homework assignments in routine clinical care. The current study compares minimally-guided (MGE) and parent-guided (PGE) out-session homework formats to the 'golden standard' of therapist-guided in-session exposure with minimally-guided exposure at home (TGE).

Methods: Children with specific phobia (N = 55, age 8-12, 56% girls) participated in a single-blind, randomized controlled microtrial with a four-week baseline-treatment period design.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Parent Form: Dutch norms and validity.

Objective: This study provides Dutch national norms for the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for children aged 3-14 years, and assesses the test performance of the SDQ Total Difficulties Scale (TDS) and impairment Scale. We further compared Dutch SDQ norms with those of the United Kingdom (UK), to determine potential variation in country-specific norms.

Study Design: We analyzed data of 3384 children aged 3 to 14 years.

Effectiveness of CBT for children and adolescents with depression: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Background: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is first choice of treatment for depressive symptoms and disorders in adolescents, however improvements are necessary because overall efficacy is low. Insights on CBT components and contextual and structural characteristics might increase the efficacy. The aim of our approach is to evaluate the efficacy of CBT for youth with depression and investigate the influence of specific components, contextual and structural factors that could improve effects.

Unmet Need for Specialty Mental Health Services Among Children Across Europe.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of use of mental health services for children across Europe, with a specific focus on differences in the availability of mental health resources.

Methods: Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health in Europe Project. Parent- and teacher-reported child mental health status was based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

Video Gaming and Children's Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study.

The effects of video games on children's psychosocial development remain the focus of debate. At two timepoints, 1 year apart, 194 children (7.27-11.

The Co-Development of Parenting Stress and Childhood Internalizing and Externalizing Problems.

Although the detrimental influence of parenting stress on child problem behavior is well established, it remains unknown how these constructs affect each other over time. In accordance with a transactional model, this study investigates how the development of internalizing and externalizing problems is related to the development of parenting stress in children aged 4-9. Mothers of 1582 children participated in three one-year interval data waves.

Relations Between Parental and Child Separation Anxiety: The Role of Dependency-Oriented Psychological Control.

Although separation anxiety is prevalent in young children, it remains unclear whether and how maternal separation anxiety is related to separation anxiety in children. This study examined associations between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children, and the potential effect psychologically controlling parenting. Mothers (N = 269) and children (N = 287) recruited for a community sample participated in two 1-year interval data-waves.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: psychometric properties of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4-7.

Background: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is one of the most employed screening instruments. Although there is a large research body investigating its psychometric properties, reliability and validity are not yet fully tested using modern techniques. Therefore, we investigate reliability, construct validity, measurement invariance, and predictive validity of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4-7.

Alcohol expectancies in young children and how this relates to parental alcohol use.

According to the cognitive model of intergenerational transference, modeling of alcohol use is an indirect process in which parental drinking shapes alcohol expectancies of children, which in turn are associated with later alcohol use in adolescents. The present study examined whether parental alcohol use was related to alcohol expectancies and experimentation with alcohol use in young children. A community sample of 240 children aged 8.

Associations between children’s video game playing and psychosocial health: information from both parent and child reports.

Video games are a highly heterogeneous form of entertainment. As recent reviews highlight, this heterogeneity makes likely that video games have both positive and negative consequences for child development. This study investigated the associations between gaming frequency and psychosocial health among children younger than 12 years of age, an understudied cohort in this field.

Psychometric properties of the parent and teacher versions of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire for 4- to 12-year-olds: a review.

Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds.