The Anna Freud Centre’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 the Anna Freud Centre’s responsibility.
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Trial protocol for the Supporting Parents Project: a randomised controlled trial of the Lighthouse Parenting Programme
A randomised controlled trial and implementation evaluation of the Lighthouse Parenting Programme for parents with children on recent child protection plans.
Authors: Sleed, M., Midgley, N., Fearon, P., Martin, P., & Byrne, G. (2021).
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The Reflective Fostering Programme: evaluating the intervention co-delivered by social work professionals and foster carers
This paper aims to present the evaluation of an adaptation of the reflective fostering programme, a group-based programme to support foster carers.
Authors: Midgley, N., Sprecher, E.A., Cirasola, A., Redfern, S., Pursch, B., Smith, C., Douglas, S., Martin, P. (2021).
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The Assessment of Representational Risk (ARR): development and psychometric properties of a new tool for assessing risk in the parent–infant relationship
This study describes the development and initial validation of the assessment of representational risk (ARR) coding system to be applied to the parent development interview (Slade, A., Aber, J. L., Bresgi, I., Berger, B., & Kaplan, M. (2004).
Authors: Sleed, M., Isosavi, S., & Fonagy, P. (2021).
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Mentalization based interventions for children aged 6–12 and their carers: a narrative systematic review
Mentalization based treatment (MBT), which aims to improve mentalizing capacity, is widely used in adults and in parent-infant therapy, but adaptations of MBT for middle childhood are less well documented. A systematic search of key databases was carried out using a PICO model.
Authors: Midgley, N., Sprecher, E., & Sleed, M. (2021).
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The evidence base for psychodynamic psychotherapy with children and adolescents: a narrative synthesis
This systematic review aims to provide a narrative synthesis of the evidence base for psychodynamic therapy with children and adolescents.
Authors: Midgley, N., Mortimer, R., Cirasola, A., Batra, P., & Kennedy, E. (2021).
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A qualitative analysis of goals set by foster carers seeking support for their child’s emotional wellbeing
The present study seeks to examine the goals that carers who are looking after children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties set at the start of an intervention, the Reflective Fostering Programme, designed to support them.
Authors: Ranzato, E., Austerberry, C., Besser, S.J., Cirasola, A., Midgley, N. (2021).
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The alliance–outcome association in the treatment of adolescent depression
The current study explored the directions of effect between alliance and outcome by examining the associations between early alliance and subsequent outcome while controlling for patients’ baseline severity and prior symptom change.
Authors: Cirsola, A., Midgley, N., Fonagy, P., IMPACT Consortium, Martin, P. (2021).
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The therapeutic relationship in child psychotherapy: integrating the perspectives of children, parents and therapists
This study addresses the therapeutic relationship in child psychotherapy, through an exploration of the experience of the main actors engaged in child psychotherapy.
Authors: Núñez, L., Midgley, N., Capella, C., Alamo, N., Mortimer, R., Krause, M. (2021).
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When adolescents stop psychological therapy: rupture-repair in the therapeutic alliance and association with therapy ending
This study investigated whether markers of rupture–repair in the alliance were indicative of different types of treatment ending in adolescents receiving psychological treatment for depression.
Authors: O'Keefe, S., Martin, P., & Midgley, N. (2020).
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Enhancing parental reflective functioning through early dyadic interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of dyadic interventions targeting parents of infant and toddlers, in improving parental reflective functioning and a number of secondary outcomes.
Authors: Barlow, J., Midgley, N., & Sleed, M. (2020).