This paper explores schools' new role in promoting children's mental health, as a key focus for policy makers across the global north. An education policy analysis is conducted for England and Australia, two nations advocating a 'bottom-up' approach to mental health promotion, granting flexibility to schools and municipal authorities. Here it is…

Prior research provides mixed findings on the prevalence of sleep problems and mental health difficulties experienced by gifted children, with findings largely based on studies of small clinical samples. In a large, prospective, longitudinal, community cohort, the current study aimed to examine parent report of child sleep problems at ages 1, 2, 3…

Objectives: This study explored a new telehealth educational and development psychologist (EDP) service 10 provided as part of a multidisciplinary team to rural families. We aimed: (1) to examine the role and process changes made in telehealth consults compared to in-person consults, and (2) to evaluate the satisfaction of key stakeholders with…

UNICEF Innocenti's Report Card 17 explores how the 43 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and/or the European Union (EU) countries are faring in providing healthy environments for children. Do children have clean water to drink? Do they have good-quality air to breathe? Are their homes free of lead and mould? How many…

Developmental research during COVID-19 suggests that pandemic-related disruptions in family relationships are associated with children's mental health. Most of this research has focused on 1 child per family, thereby obfuscating patterns that are differentially operative at the family-wide (i.e., between-family) versus child-specific (i.e.,…

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised huge concerns for the mental health of an entire generation of children. But the pandemic may represent only the tip of a mental health iceberg -- an iceberg we have ignored for far too long. For the first time, "The State of the World's Children" examines the mental health of children and adolescents.…

A new look at children from the world's richest countries offers a mixed picture of their health, skills and happiness. For far too many, issues such as poverty, exclusion and pollution threaten their mental well-being, physical health and opportunities to develop skills. Even countries with good social, economic and environmental conditions are a…

Physical activity may benefit mental health, yet the potentially protective role of elementary school physical education (PE) on childhood mental health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specialist-taught PE program on indicators of childhood mental health. In this cluster-randomized controlled trial,…

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety among (12) Iraqi refugee children, 6 males and 6 females (aged 7-14) who had fled ISIS and are residing in Jordan awaiting resettlement. The authors used four scales to measure depression, field observation, and structured interviews with the mothers to examine exile-related…

New policy initiatives, such as those concerned with promoting young children's positive mental health, highlight the need for good quality professional education in the early childhood education and care sector. However, although a wealth of literature exists from the school sector, little is known about professional education in early childhood…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between students' self-reported mental health and their perspectives about life at school in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Design/methodology/approach: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a purpose designed Living and Learning at School Questionnaire (LLSQ)…

Introduction: Anxiety and depression in adolescence is prevalent but often unrecognised and untreated. This can lead to serious disorders in later life. This study explored how teachers recognise anxiety and depression in secondary school students and act on their concerns. Method: Twenty teachers from four secondary colleges in regional Victoria,…

At least 20% of young people aged between 14 and 25 years who live in inland Australia experience a mental health or substance use problem at any given point in time. Many of these young people experience significant geographic, economic and sociocultural barriers to obtaining youth-friendly health advice and care, particularly in relation to key…

Background: Methodological challenges such as confounding have made the study of the early determinants of mental health morbidity problematic. This study aims to address these challenges in investigating antenatal, perinatal and postnatal risk factors for the development of mental health problems in pre-school children in a cohort of Western…

Objectives: To describe the incidence and clinical features of children presenting to Australian child health specialists with conversion disorder. Method: Active, national surveillance of conversion disorder in children younger than 16 years of age during 2002 and 2003. Results: A total of 194 children were reported on. The average age was 11.8…