An exploration of reported cognitions during an earthquake and its aftershocks: differences across affected communities and associations with psychological distress.

Cognitive themes in two communities differentially affected by the September 2010 Christchurch earthquake and aftershocks were investigated. Participants (N = 124) completed questions about their thoughts during the earthquake and aftershocks as well as measures of acute stress, anxiety, and depression. Cognitions were qualitatively analyzed into themes for the earthquake and aftershocks.

Exposure to aggression and the impact on staff in a child and adolescent inpatient unit.

Aggression is common in mental health services, but little research has examined exposure to aggression and its impact on staff in children and adolescent settings. Staff members within a child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit were interviewed to examine exposure to aggression and perceptions about the impact of aggression. Involvement in episodes of physical aggression was common (84.

The Eating Disorders Outreach Service: enabling clinicians statewide to treat eating disorders.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the Eating Disorders Outreach Service (EDOS), which supports clinicians in the treatment and management of eating disorder patients across Queensland. EDOS's mandate is to facilitate intake to the specialist inpatient and outpatient services at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) and to provide eating disorders education and consultation liaison to clinicians statewide.

Method: EDOS provides services in four key areas: intake facilitation, service development, education and training, and consultation liaison.

The Resource Hub: an innovative e-information service delivery model addressing mental health knowledge management.

Objective: This paper outlines the development of the Resource Hub, an intranet-based electronic information service designed to improve knowledge management and staff satisfaction in the Inner North Brisbane Mental Health Service, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Metro North Health Service District.

Method: The Resource Hub was launched in April 2007. It encompasses a large range of electronically stored resources and clinically relevant information, including direct links to approved internet sites, psychoeducation resources, fact sheets, resource lists and details of current service research projects.

The Resource Team: an innovative service delivery support model for mental health services.

Objective: This paper outlines the development of the Resource Team, an innovative service delivery model supporting clinical services at the Inner North Brisbane Mental Health Service, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Health Service District. The team aims to provide a base for specialist mental health support staff, improve knowledge management and support the development of meaningful community partnerships.

Method: Development of the team included a literature review and consultation with internal and external stakeholders.

Non-eating disorders psychopathology in children and adolescents with eating disorders: implications for malnutrition and symptom severity.

Objectives: To compare the general psychopathology in an eating disorders (ED) and a child mental health outpatient sample and investigate the implications of comorbidity on psychological and physical measures of ED severity.

Methods: One hundred thirty-six children and adolescents with a DSM-IV ED diagnosis were compared with age- and gender-matched controls. Measures included the Eating Disorders Examination and the Child Behavior Checklist.

The use of email in a child and adolescent mental health service: are staff ready?

All staff members of a child and adolescent mental health service were invited to participate in a survey about the use of email. Sixty-two of the 105 staff members responded to the survey, a participation rate of 59%. Of the respondents, 32 were allied health staff, 10 were nurses, seven were administrative staff, six were medical staff, three were operational staff and four were acting in a combination of these roles.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and general psychopathology in children and adolescents following a wildfire disaster.

Objective: To report on the use of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (PTSD-RI) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in identifying children and adolescents who may require psychological interventions following exposure to a wildfire disaster.

Method: Six months after a wildfire disaster, we conducted a school-based program to screen for wildfire-related events, such as exposure to and perception of threat, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and general psychopathology.

Results: The screening battery was completed by 222 children (mean age 12.

Seclusion of children and adolescents: psychopathological and family factors.

This paper describes the use of seclusion in a child and adolescent inpatient unit, including precipitating events, management strategies, details of seclusion episodes and individual and family risk factors. Inpatient ward documentation of seclusion episodes, demographic data and measures of individual psychopathology and impairment, parent mental health, life events and family functioning were used to compare secluded, non-secluded and outpatient groups. Secluded individuals had elevated psychopathology compared with non-secluded inpatients and outpatients.

Parent and child report of family functioning in a clinical child and adolescent eating disorders sample.

Objective: To investigate parent and self-report of family dysfunction in children and adolescents with eating disorders. Further, to investigate family functioning differences across the eating disorders diagnostic groups; anorexia nervosa, eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and bulimia nervosa, and between the restricting and binge-purge eating disorders behavioural subtypes.

Methods: The Family Adjustment Device General Functioning Scale (FAD-GFS) was administered to 100 children and their parents who presented consecutively at an eating disorders assessment clinic.

Individual psychotherapy for children and adolescents with an eating disorder from historical precedent toward evidence-based practice.

This article reviews the place of individual therapy in the suite of treatment services required by children and adolescents with an eating disorder. Individual therapy is defined and traced from historical origins in psychoanalytic practice with later important modifications by Hilda Bruch and Arthur Crisp. More recent developments, based primarily on cognitive and learning theory are discussed, as is the timing of individual therapy with respect to illness stage and patient motivation.