A scoping review of randomized controlled trials of parenting and family-based interventions for 10 - 17 year-olds with severe and persistent conduct problems.

Purpose: A scoping review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of parenting and family-based interventions that aim to reduce severe and persistent conduct problems among 10-17 year-olds. The review also examined feasibility for conducting a network meta-analysis of common therapy elements measured by RCTs.

Materials And Methods: The review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA- ScR).

Helping Young People in Out-of-Home Care: Basic Elements.

Children and adolescents (young people) who experience maltreatment early in life and are subsequently placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) are specifically at risk for poor mental health outcomes. Although rates vary by survey and location, up to half of these young people have clinical-level mental health difficulties, and another 20% to 25% have difficulties approaching clinical significance. These difficulties are characterized by high symptom complexity and severity, and include maltreatment-related mental health symptoms.

Alignment of Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder With Complex Developmental Symptomatology.

Cluster analysis of maltreatment-related mental health symptoms manifested by adolescents in foster care suggest the absence of an underlying taxonomic structure. To test this further, we investigated alignment between mental health symptom profiles derived through cluster analysis and nominal diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), among a sample of 230 adolescents in long-term foster care. Nominal DSM-V BPD and ICD-11 C-PTSD caseness was estimated from Child Behaviour Checklist and Assessment Checklist for Adolescents score algorithms, and alignment of case assignment with previously-derived symptom profiles was examined.

Mental Health Symptom Profiles of Adolescents in Foster Care.

The article describes an investigation of the nature, patterns and complexity of carer-reported mental health symptoms for a population sample ( = 230) of adolescents (age 12-17) placed in long-term foster and kinship care following chronic and severe maltreatment. Two cluster analyses of Child Behaviour Checklist DSM-oriented (CBCL-DSM) and Assessment Checklist for Adolescents sub-scale scores of clinical cases were performed. The first yielded 8 profiles of attachment- and trauma-related symptoms as measured across eight ACA scales ( = 113 cases).

The Mental Health of Adolescents Residing in Court-Ordered Foster Care: Findings from a Population Survey.

The mental health of a representative sample of 230 adolescents residing in foster care in New South Wales, Australia, was estimated in a state-wide epidemiological survey from carer-report responses on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Assessment Checklist for Adolescents (ACA). Rates of CBCL total problems, externalizing and internalizing scores above the borderline range cut-points were 49, 44 and 29% respectively, representing a relative risk of 3.8, 3.

Rates of meaningful change in the mental health of children in long-term out-of-home care: A seven- to nine-year prospective study.

Children residing in long-term out-of-home care have high rates of clinical-level mental health difficulties. However, the stability of these children's difficulties throughout their time in care is uncertain. This paper reports estimates of the seven- to nine-year stability of carer-reported scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Assessment Checklists for Children (ACC) and Adolescents (ACA) for 85 children in long-term foster or kinship care.

Psychosocial screening and monitoring for children in foster care: Psychometric properties of the Brief Assessment Checklist in a Dutch population study.

Children in foster care experience higher levels and rates of psychosocial difficulties than children from the general population. Governments and child welfare services have a responsibility to identify those children in care who have need for therapeutic services. This can be achieved through systematic screening and monitoring of psychosocial difficulties among all children in foster care.

Behavior Problems and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Children Beginning School: A Comparison of Pre- and Post-Earthquake Groups.

Introduction: Literature reviews caution that estimating the effects of disasters on the behavior of children following a disaster is difficult without baseline information and few studies report the effects of earthquakes on young children. In addition the relationship between age at the time of disaster and consequential behavior problems have not been reported for young children who experience disaster-related stress during a developmentally sensitive period.

Methods: Behavior problems and symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) were reported for two groups of children from nearby neighborhoods during their first term at school, using the Behavior Problem Index by teacher report, following approved informed consent procedures.

Effects of maltreatment and parental schizophrenia spectrum disorders on early childhood social-emotional functioning: a population record linkage study.

Aims: Childhood maltreatment and a family history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) are each associated with social-emotional dysfunction in childhood. Both are also strong risk factors for adult SSDs, and social-emotional dysfunction in childhood may be an antecedent of these disorders. We used data from a large Australian population cohort to determine the independent and moderating effects of maltreatment and parental SSDs on early childhood social-emotional functioning.

An investigation of complex attachment- and trauma-related symptomatology among children in foster and kinship care.

The paper reports an investigation into the nature, patterns and complexity of mental health symptomatology reported for a large (N = 347) population sample of children in foster and kinship care. Cluster analyses were performed on caregiver-reported Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) scores. The derived profile types are characterized more by symptom complexity than specificity, and are delineated more by elevation than shape.

It's time to re-think mental health services for children in care, and those adopted from care.

Much of what is written in this special issue points to the need for a clinical workforce that has much greater knowledge and skills for working with children with a history of alternate care, including those who are subsequently adopted. Standard child clinical conceptualization, assessment methods, and formulations miss the mark for these vulnerable populations in a number of critical ways. The present paper proposes 10 principles to guide the design of mental health services for children in care, and those adopted from care.

Concordance of mental health impairment and service utilization among children in care.

This paper describes caregiver-reported patterns of mental health service use for 347 pre-adolescent children in foster and kinship care in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Children's mean time in care and mean time with their present caregivers were 4.3 and 3.

Beginning school with asthma independently predicts low achievement in a prospective cohort of children.

Background: Concerns about the achievement of children with asthma and respiratory conditions are especially important in New Zealand, which has one of the world's highest rates of childhood asthma. The present study evaluated whether entering school with asthma was associated with low achievement after the first year.

Methods: A child cohort was recruited to a prospective study at time of first enrollment into randomly selected schools in Christchurch.

An exploratory investigation of abnormal pain response among preadolescent children in foster care.

The present article describes a pattern of abnormal responses to pain (APR) among children in care, suggestive of pain insensitivity or failure to communicate felt pain. Exploratory analyses of caregiver-reported APR were conducted within a larger epidemiological study of 347 preadolescent children in foster and kinship care. APR items were generated from clinical assessment reports and a clinician survey, during development of a psychiatric rating scale for children in care.

The mental health of children in out-of-home care.

Purpose Of Review: To review the scale, symptomatology and determinants of mental health problems of children in alternate care, and to consider the need for specialized knowledge and clinical competence for assessment and treatment of these problems.

Recent Findings: The scale of mental health problems among children in care is exceptional for a nonclinical population, approaching that of clinic-referred children. Children in residential care have more mental health problems than those in family-type foster care, while those in kinship care have fewer problems.

Predictors of problematic sexual behavior among children with complex maltreatment histories.

Exploratory analyses of sexual behavior problems (SBP) were conducted within a larger epidemiological study of 347 preadolescent children in foster and kinship care. SBP was estimated from carergiver-reported scores on the Assessment Checklist for Children. The study simultaneously examined a large number of discrete and cumulative influences on the development of children at high risk for SBP.

Patterns of aberrant eating among pre-adolescent children in foster care.

The paper reports epidemiological and phenomenological investigations of aberrant eating among 347 pre-adolescent children in court-ordered foster and kinship care, in New South Wales, Australia. A quarter of children displayed clinically significant aberrant eating problems, with no evidence of gender or age effects. Two distinct patterns were identified.

Mental health of children in foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia.

Objectives: To report baseline mental health measures from the Children in Care study, a prospective epidemiological study of children in court-ordered foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: Mental health, socialization and self-esteem were assessed in 347 children in a statewide mail survey, using two carer-report checklists, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC).

Results: Children in the study had exceptionally poor mental health and socialization, both in absolute terms, and relative to normative and in-care samples.

Principles for development of multi-disciplinary, mental health learning modules for undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education.

Background: People experiencing mental health problems have greater contact with health and welfare professionals in generalist settings than with specialist mental health services. Yet the capacity for generalist professionals to respond effectively to mental health problems is often compromised by inadequate mental health training. The Discipline of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle developed a series of CD-Rom mental health learning modules for professionals working in non-mental health settings.