Physical Activity Interventions and Adolescent Mental Health

In this new Papers Podcast, Gabrielle Hale (above) discusses her CAMH journal review paper ‘Physical activity interventions for the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents: a systematic review’. Discussion points include: The link between physical activity and mental well-being in young people, and the impact of a lack of physical activity on mental health. Barriers that prevent young people from participating in physical activity. To what extent is the relationship between poorer mental health due to a lack of physical activity and poor mental health resulting in young people not exercising bi-directional or correlational. Gender differences in outcomes and uptake of physical activity interventions. Implications for CAMH, and education, professionals, and policy makers.

Subscribe now

The ACAMH weekly podcast has over 200 FREE episodes for you to listen to via the website . An even better option is to search ‘ACAMH’ from where you get your podcasts from and subscribe so your get your podcast direct every week.

Mood Disorders in Children and Young People: What is new? Emanuel Miller International Conference 2024

20% off with Early Bird. ENDS MONDAY 15 JAN - don’t miss out!

The 2024 Emanuel Miller International Conference, hosted as a webinar, will address the recognition and diagnosis of mood disorders in children and young people. It will revisit postulated mechanisms and risk factors, refer to major treatment trials and treatment guidelines, address the complexity of treating co-morbid conditions, offer treatment algorithms and provide an update on our understanding of the early onset, and the often resistant to treatment, of the chronic and recurring nature of mood disorders. Already confirmed are Professor Boris Birmaher, Professor Bernadka Dubicka, Professor Argyris Stringaris, Professor Valeria Mondelli, Dr. Matthew Hodes, Professor Andrea Cipriani, and Dr. Rasim Somer Diler.

Don’t worry if you can’t make it on the day, as all delegates have access to recordings after the event.

Helping You, Help Others – FREE ACAMH Posters

As part of our commitment to sharing information and best practice globally, we are delighted to offer you the chance to get FREE A3 posters, including FREE delivery! Order now and be part of the advancement of child and adolescent mental health.

Photovoice within Mental Health Research Involving Adolescents

New blog from, Madison Stephens (below), Ph.D. student affiliated with the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University London, exploring the use of Photovoice.

Photovoice, a research method developed by Wang and Burris (1997), combines photography and narrative, and has emerged as a powerful tool for researching adolescent mental health for participants to express themselves visually, providing unique emotional and metaphorical insights less accessible to other traditional research methods.

￡10 Webinars

Named in honour of Professor Judy Dunn, the emminent developmental psychologist with a stellar career spanning over 50 years, this webinar series is aimed at disseminating the evidence-based research on different topics to help parents, and those working with children and young people, improve young people’s mental health.

The role of sleep in adolescent mental health

Dr. Faith Orchard, Research Psychologist, and Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sussex, explains how sleep changes during adolescence, and how treatments for insomnia can be used to inform some simple healthy habits for improving sleep. 31 Jan 10am UK

Childhood anxiety problems: Helping parents to help their children

Professor Cathy Cresswell and Dr. Chloe Chessell, both University of Oxford, explain what anxiety is, when it becomes a problem, and the tools and techniques to help children to overcome anxiety problems. 2 Feb 1pm UK

How should we best improve the behaviour and relationships of children aged 2 to 10 who display disruptive and challenging behaviour?

Professor Stephen Scott, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Professor of Child Health and Behaviour at IoPPN, KCL, and ACAMH President, talks about the harmful long-term effects of disruptive behaviour if left untreated, tips and techniques that are effective, and how the evidence can deliver positive results. 6 Feb 1pm UK

Why do children end up being bullied or bullying others; what we can we all do about it?

Professor Lucy Bowes, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, University of Oxford, details the current research and practical strategies about how we can collectively tackle bullying. 18 March 1pm UK

FREE Webinars

Bullying and Victimisation and the link with Adverse Childhood Experiences

Nora Trompeter, UCL, presents an overview on this subject and how this impacts adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. FREE to all. 16 January, 5pm UK, 6pm CET, 12 noon EST

Trauma Treatment by Beethoven and Beyoncé: Incorporating Music as a Tool for Engagement in Evidence-Based Treatments for Child Trauma

Assistant Professor Dr. Jessica Wozniak and Associate Professor Dr. Jessica L. Griffin, both University of Massachusetts Medical School, present research on music and neurobiology and health outcomes, including mental health. FREE to all. 30 January, 5pm UK, 6pm CET, 12 noon EST

Words Matter: Childhood Verbal Abuse

Professor Shanta R. Dube, Jessica Bondy, and Fiona Pienaar discuss this topic. FREE to all. 13 February, 5pm UK, 6pm CET, 12 noon EST

Fostering Healthy Futures – An Evidence-Based Mentoring Programme to Promote Healthy Outcomes for Care-Experienced Youth

Led by Professor Heather Taussig, University of Colorado’s Kempe Center, and University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. FREE to all. 12 March, 5pm UK, 6pm CET, 12 noon EST

Free Featured Papers

Research Reviews: Advances in methods for evaluating child and adolescent mental health interventions

Open Access Paper from JCPP

The evidence base for interventions for child mental health and neurodevelopment is weak and the current capacity for rigorous evaluation limited. We describe some of the challenges that make this field particularly difficult and expensive for evaluation studies.

Authors: Andrew Pickles, Danielle Edwards, Levente Horvath, Richard Emsley

The relationship between dissociation and panic symptoms in adolescence and the exploration of potential mediators

Open Access Paper from JCPP Advances

Dissociative experiences have been linked to panic symptoms in adolescents, yet the nature of the association remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the longitudinal relationship between dissociative experiences (focusing on the felt sense of anomaly subtype) and panic, as well as the potential mediating roles of emotion regulation strategies (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), alexithymia, and cognitive appraisals of dissociation. Four thousand five hundred one adolescents aged 13–18?years were recruited via social media advertising to take part in an online survey at two timepoints, 1?month apart.

Authors: Lottie Shipp, Alisa Musatova, Emma ?ernis, Polly Waite

The interaction between polygenic risk and environmental influences: A direct test of the 3P model of insomnia in adolescents

Open Access paper from the JCPP

Stress is a universal phenomenon and one of the most common precipitants of insomnia. However, not everyone develops insomnia after experiencing a stressful life event. This study aims to test aspects of Spielman’s ‘3P model of insomnia’ (during adolescence) by exploring the extent to which: (a) insomnia symptoms are predicted by polygenic scores (PGS); (b) life events predict insomnia symptoms; (c) the interaction between PGS and life events contribute to the prediction of insomnia symptoms; (d) gene–environment interaction effects remain after controlling for sex.

Authors: Juan J. Madrid-Valero, Nicola L. Barclay, Alice M. Gregory