Parents are frequently positioned in policy as blameworthy and lacking responsibility for their children's well-being. However, little research has considered how the socio-emotional needs of children are being addressed whilst attempts are being made to improve parenting. Based on interviews with 15 educational practitioners employed in…

Background: While research indicates elevated behavioural and emotional problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and decreased well-being in their parents, studies do not typically separate out the contribution of ASD from that of associated intellectual disabilities (ID). We investigated child behavioural and emotional problems,…

Traumatic childhood experiences have been found to predict later internalizing problems. This prospective longitudinal study investigated whether repeated and intentional harm doing by peers (peer victimization) in childhood predicts internalizing symptoms in early adolescence. 3,692 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and…

Although increasing numbers of students with disabilities are accessing higher education, there is relatively little information about the needs of students with Asperger syndrome (AS). Crucially, students themselves have rarely been included in research examining their needs or the supports they might find helpful. Three focus groups, one with…

This action research project considered whether significant improvements in child and young person behavioural and emotional mental health could be achieved using school-based play workers as opposed to qualified therapists. This was seen as being an important practice question as access to qualified play therapists was severely restricted with…

Help-seeking among young people is complicated, often determined vicariously by the ability of adults, family or professionals, to recognize, and respond to, their difficulties. We know very little about the complex concerns of teenage young people and how they impact on help-seeking preferences. We aimed to ascertain the help-seeking preferences…

Background: Psychiatric problems are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but the reasons are poorly understood. We use a longitudinal population-representative cohort to examine for the first time the persistence of psychiatric problems and to identify risk factors for their occurrence and stability. Methods: Eighty-one 16-year olds (75…

Objective: Bullying is the act of intentionally and repeatedly causing harm to someone who has difficulty defending him- or herself, and is a relatively widespread school-age phenomenon. Being the victim of bullying is associated with a broad spectrum of emotional problems; however, not all children who are bullied go on to develop such problems.…

An initial evaluation of the utility of designing an intervention to address neuroscience-based subtyping of children who have conduct problems was undertaken in this pilot study. Drawing on the literature on callous-unemotional traits, a novel intervention programme, "Let's Get Smart", was implemented in a school for children with…

The nurture approach is a form of educational intervention for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). Utilising a unique example of a state-run, special "nurturing" primary school, Corinne Syrnyk, of St Mary's University College, Calgary, presents a case study of the experience of being a "nurture…

Individuals with dyslexia are at an increased risk for anxiety disorders (e.g. generalized anxiety disorder, stress disorders, panic disorder). The extent to which this association is mediated by genetic and/or environmental influences is unclear. The current study explored the relationship between these two phenotypes using a large…

The development of conduct and emotional problems involves a complex interplay between environmental and genetic factors. The child-rearing environment contributes to this process. Gross deviations, such as those seen in abusive or neglectful homes, or where the parent has serious mental health problems, have been shown to contribute to the…

This study investigates the use made of humour by teachers during classroom interventions with adolescent students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). Literature mentions the use of humour as a key tool in successful classroom interventions with students with SEBD and yet there is little quantified research on this topic.…

This paper describes the therapeutic journey of Leigh (not his real name), a nine-year-old boy who was referred for play therapy due to the death of his 15-year-old brother. The play therapy was offered through a joint project called "Playing through Loss" and run jointly between a UK university and the local branch of a national…

The majority of music therapy work with children takes place in schools. This book documents the wealth and diversity of work that music therapists are doing in educational settings across the UK. It shows how, in recent years, music therapy has changed and grown as a profession, and it provides an insight into the trends that are emerging in this…