Anna Freud’s online research library contains a collection of evidence-based material on children and young people’s mental health, written and co-written by our team. The research explores factors relating to:
anxiety | behavioural difficulties | depression | digital mental health | empowering young people and families | early years | evaluation | fostering and adoption | intervention | maltreatment and abuse | measures | mentalization | methodology | neurodiversity | parents and carers| prevalence and trends | prevention | psychological therapies | resources | risk and resilience | social care | trauma | wellbeing
The library is managed by our team of evidence experts. It is updated on a regular basis and currently consists of research published between 2018 and 2023.
Please be aware that links to our open-access papers lead to external sites and that the management, data handling and administration of these external sites is not Anna Freud’s responsibility.
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Readability of commonly used quality of life outcome measures for youth self-report
Self-report measures are central in capturing young people’s perspectives on mental health concerns and treatment outcomes. Our study suggests a frequent mismatch between the reading difficulty of quality of life self-report measures for preadolescent children and this group’s expected reading ability.
Authors: Krause K.R., Jacob J., Szatmari P. & Hayes D. (2022).
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Predictors of amounts of child and adolescent mental health service use
The aim of this study was to build evidence about how to tailor services to meet the individual needs of young people by identifying predictors of amounts of child and adolescent mental health service use. We conducted a secondary analysis of a large administrative dataset from services in England was conducted using the Mental Health Services Data Set. The final sample included episodes of care from 39 services.
Authors: Edbrooke-Childs, J., Rashid, A., Ritchie, B. & Deighton, J. (2022).
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A preliminary evaluation of Kids Matter: a community-based parenting intervention
This study evaluated the acceptability of Kids Matter, a parenting intervention targeting parents who are struggling with financial adversity. Secondarily, the relationship between parental wellbeing and and self-efficacy was examined. The intervention led to significant improvements in parental wellbeing and self-efficacy. Improvements in parental wellbeing were significantly associated with improvements in self-efficacy.
Authors: Esteban-Serna, C., Eisenstadt, M., Gardner, E. & Liverpool, S. (2022).
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Factors affecting the sustainability of community mental health assets: a systematic review
In this review, we explored the factors affecting the sustainability of community mental health assets. We conducted a systematic review of the literature using keywords based on three key terms: ‘sustainability’, ‘mental health issues’ and ‘service provision’.
Authors: Moore, A., Bertotti, M., Hanafiah, A. & Hayes, D. (2022).
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Therapist-guided internet-based psychodynamic therapy vs CBT for adolescent depression in Sweden
Adolescent major depressive disorder is highly prevalent and associated with lifelong adversity. Evidence-based treatments exist, but accessible treatment alternatives are needed. We aimed to compare internet-based psychodynamic therapy with an established evidence-based treatment (internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy) for the treatment of adolescents with depression.
Authors: Mechler, J., Lindqvist, K., Carlbring, P., Topooco, N., Falkenstrom, F., Lilliengren, P., Andersson, G., Johansson, R., Midgley, N., Edbrooke-Childs, J., Dahl, SH J., Sandell, R., Thoren, A., Ulberg, R., Lindert Bergsten, K. & Philips, B. (2022).
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Predictors of mental health difficulties and subjective wellbeing in adolescents: a longitudinal study
There has been considerable debate regarding whether mental health difficulties and subjective wellbeing are two distinct domains or different ends of a single mental health spectrum. This study investigates if predictors of mental health difficulties and subjective wellbeing are the same or different in a large-scale community-based sample in the United Kingdom.
Authors: Lereya, S.T., Patalay, P. & Deighton, J. (2022).
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Developing typologies in qualitative research: the use of ideal-type analysis
Ideal-type analysis is a relatively new addition to the family of qualitative research methods, which offers a systematic, rigorous method for constructing typologies from qualitative data. This article is a summary of our approach to conducting ideal-type analysis. We hope that this article will help researchers to consider whether using ideal-type analysis may be a suitable approach for their own studies.
Authors: Stapley, E., O'Keefe, S. & Midgley, N. (2022).
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Youth and professional perspectives of mental health resources across eight countries
Youth mental health support and services vary across sociocultural contexts. It is important to capture the perspectives of youth with lived experiences for planning needs-led interventions and services, especially in Global South countries, with limited specialist resources and representative literature. The aim was to establish how youth with lived experiences of anxiety and depression viewed external support in different countries, and how these views were juxtaposed with those of professionals
Authors: Vostanis, P., Ruby, F., Jacob, J., Eruyar, Ş., Mironga Getanda, E., Haffejee, S., Krishna. M. & Edbrooke-Childs, J. (2022).
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Empowering and supporting parents/carers of high-risk young people assisted by Community Forensic CAMHS
Thirteen Community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (F:CAMHS) across England were developed to provide specialist support to young people at high risk of harm to self and in particular others, and their families. The aim of this study is to explore parent/carer experiences of Community F:CAMHS. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted. Superordinate themes generated focused on 1) facilitators; and 2) barriers to support.
Authors: Jacobs, J., Lane, R., D’Souza, S., Cracknell, L., White, O., & Edbrooke-Childs, J. (2022).
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Monitoring and measurement in child and adolescent mental health: it’s about more than just symptoms
Evidence suggests that clinicians are less accurately able to predict patient outcomes using clinical judgement alone, particularly when a patient is veering off a projected track of progress. It is also important to consider the differences between the use of measures and the use of measures with feedback: of incorporating discussion about the measurement questions, and areas of tracking focus, into the work with young people, and families/carers, as relevant.
Authors: Jacobs, J. & Edbrooke-Childs, J. (2022).