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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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  • Lighthouse Parenting Programme: description and pilot evaluation of mentalization based treatment (MBT) to address child maltreatment

    This article introduces an innovative mentalization based treatment (MBT) parenting intervention for families where children are at risk of maltreatment. The Lighthouse MBT Parenting Programme aims to prevent child maltreatment by promoting sensitive caregiving in parents.

    Authors: Byrne, G., Sleed, M., Fearon, P., Midgley, N., Mein, C., Bateman, A., & Fonagy, P. (2018).

    Read the abstract

  • “I didn’t have to look her in the eyes” – participants’ experiences of the therapeutic relationship in internet-based psychodynamic therapy for adolescent depression

    This study aims to explore young people's perceptions of the relationship with the therapist in internet-based psychodynamic treatment for adolescent depression.

    Authors: Lindqvist, K., Mechler, J., Midgley, N., Carlbring, P., Carstorp, K., Neikter, H. K., Strid, F., Below. C. V., & Philips, B. (2022).

    Download the open access paper

  • The manifestations and correlates of dissociation amongst looked-after children in middle childhood

    This study aimed to explore the manifestations and correlates of dissociation amongst a sample of primary school-aged children looked-after children in the care of their local authority.

    Authors: Martin, H., Hillman, S., Cross, R., & Anderson, K. (2022).

    Download the open access paper

  • The internal worlds of sexually abused looked-after children

    This study seeks to further elucidate the internal worlds of sexually abused 'looked-after' children using quantitative and psychodynamic qualitative methods.

    Authors: Mackin, J., Hillman, S., Cross, R., & Anderson, K. (2021).

    Read the abstract

  • Exploring foster carers’ experiences of the assessment and feedback processes of children in their care

    This study explores perspectives of foster carers working at one UK-based independent fostering agency, Five Rivers Child Care (FRCC). 

    Authors: Hillman, S., Anderson, K., Demetri, C., & Cross, R. (2022).

    Read the abstract

  • Internal representations of attachment in Story Stems: changes in the narratives of foster care children

    Children in care, whose early experiences have often involved significant discontinuity and adversity, are at risk of developing insecure attachments with negative internal representations. This study aimed to explore changes in their internal representations over a one-year period, as well as potential factors that could influence them.

    Authors: Hillman, S., Villegas, C., Anderson, K., Kerr-Davis, A., & Cross, R. (2022).

    Read the abstract

  • A qualitative study of parents’ understanding and motivation to take part in a randomised controlled trial in the field of adolescent mental health

    This study aimed to investigate parents’ perspectives on participating in a trial for psychological treatment of depression. The study explored parents’ motivations, understanding of the trial and perspectives on the acceptability of the trial.

    Authors: O'Keeffe, S., Weitkamp, K., Isaacs. D., Target, M., Eatough, V., & Midgley, N. (2020).

    Download the open access paper

  • How do therapists assess suitability? A qualitative study exploring therapists' judgements of treatment suitability for depressed adolescents

    The study aimed to explore how therapists working with depressed teenagers make judgements about treatment suitability across three treatment modalities: (a) Short-term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, (b) Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and (c) Brief Psychosocial Intervention.

    Authors: Nakajima, M., Dykiert, D., Wilkinson, P. & Midgley, N. (2021). 

    Read the abstract

  • A systematic review of shared decision making interventions in child and youth mental health: synthesising the use of theory, intervention functions and behaviour change techniques

    Reviews around interventions to improve shared decision making (SDM) for child and youth mental health have produced inconclusive findings on what approaches increase participation. The aim of this review was to explore these factors and ascertain how, if at all, these contribute to SDM. 

    Authors: Hayes, D., Edbrooke-Childs, J., Town, R., Wolpert, M., & Midgley, N. (2021).

    Download the open access paper

  • Internet-based psychodynamic therapy versus cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents with depression: study protocol for a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (the ERiCA study)

    In order to broaden the range of evidence-based treatments for young people, we evaluated a newly developed affect-focused internet-based psychodynamic treatment (IPDT) in a previous study with promising results. The purpose of the planned study is to evaluate the efficacy of IPDT for adolescent depression in a non-inferiority trial, comparing it to internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy.

    Authors: Mechler, J., Lindqvist, K., Carlbring, P., Lilliengren, P., Falkenström, F., Andersson, G., Topooco, N., Johansson, R., Midgley, N., Edbrooke-Childs, J., Dahl, H-S., Sandell, R., Thorén, A., Ulberg, R., Bergsten, K. & Philips, B. (2020).

    Download the open access paper

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