Internet Use, Depression, and Anxiety in a Healthy Adolescent Population: Prospective Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Psychiatric disorders, including conduct disturbances, substance abuse, and affective disorders, emerge in approximately 20% of adolescents. In parallel with the rise in internet use, the prevalence of depression among adolescents has increased. It remains unclear whether and how internet use impacts mental health in adolescents.

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"Six Core Strengths for Healthy Child Development"

A video from Doctor Bruce Perry - what every child needs

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"Ethical Issues for Direct-to-Consumer Digital Psychotherapy Apps: Addressing Accountability, Data Protection, and Consent"

ABSTRACT

"This paper focuses on the ethical challenges presented by direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital psychotherapy services that do not involve oversight by a professional mental health provider. DTC digital psychotherapy services can potentially assist in improving access to mental health care for the many people who would otherwise not have the resources or ability to connect with a therapist. However, the lack of adequate regulation in this area exacerbates concerns over how safety, privacy, accountability, and other ethical obligations to protect an individual in therapy are addressed within these services. In the traditional therapeutic relationship, there are ethical obligations that serve to protect the interests of the client and provide warnings. In contrast, in a DTC therapy app, there are no clear lines of accountability or associated ethical obligations to protect the user seeking mental health services. The types of DTC services that present ethical challenges include apps that use a digital platform to connect users to minimally trained nonprofessional counselors, as well as services that provide counseling steered by artificial intelligence and conversational agents. There is a need for adequate oversight of DTC nonprofessional psychotherapy services and additional empirical research to inform policy that will provide protection to the consumer."

JMIR Ment Health 2018;5(2):e32

doi:10.2196/mental.9423

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Systematic review into cyberbullying and self-harm in children and young people

"The Population Psychiatry, Suicide and Informatics (PPSI) research group at Swansea University has published a systematic review of research on the relationship between cyberbullying in children and young people, and self-harm and suicidal behaviour. The review of 33 articles from 26 independent studies, covering 156,384 children and young people, concluded that children who have been cyberbullied were at a greater risk than those who had not of both suicidal behaviours and self-harm."

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Does Mentoring Work?

"The Children’s Commissioner for England has published a report assessing the impact of over 350 mentoring programmes across England on the lives of vulnerable youth. Overall, the report suggests there is good evidence that mentoring can have a modest positive outcome. Key findings include: the most effective mentoring programmes and relationships are those that last, are properly monitored, include support for mentors and allow young people a role in setting the agenda." Source CASPAR weekly update

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Children’s rights and justice: Minimum age requirements in the EU

"The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has published a report that examines EU Member States’ approaches to age requirements and limits, highlighting how age limits can impact children’s rights. Key findings include: age thresholds for children to be heard vary across the EU; thresholds also vary according to whether they relate to family, criminal or asylum law or whether children are witnesses, victims or need to be taken care of; and procedural safeguards may not apply to all children to the age of 18 across Member States. The report also includes recommendations on how Member States can remove inconsistencies to better deliver child protection. Correspondingly, the FRA has also published a report examining the age assessment and fingerprinting of children in asylum procedures." - Source CASPAR weekly update 30-04-18

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"CRUMBLING FUTURES" The Children’s Society Seriously Awkward 2018

Why vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds need more support as they move into adulthood ...

 “As local authorities struggle to meet demand with reducing funding, our research highlights compelling reasons to be alarmed. We can’t wait while children fall between the cracks of childhood and adulthood. Vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds need more support now and that support must continue as they transition into adult life. Our findings provide important evidence to those responsible for reviewing, resourcing and defining the future of children’s services.” Matthew Reed Chief Executive, The Children’s Society

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