Life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness, however, remained unchanged during this time. Research also found that Wales was the only country to have higher anxiety ratings than the UK average. The report, entitled ‘Personal wellbeing in the UK: Oct 2015 to Sept 2016’, included a survey of adults in the UK, to better understand how they feel about their lives. Despite a growth in the levels of anxiety, the average ratings remained lower compared with the years ending September 2012 and...

The ONS ‘Children’s Well-being 2015’ report reveals a number of findings that provide insight into mental health problems in children. A new measure of children’s mental ill-health is included in response to feedback from stakeholders who identified mental health as missing from the initial set of measures for children. It uses the total difficulties score from the child self-completion aspect of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey...

Young people are being encouraged to get comfortable talking about domestic abuse as Greater Manchester’s ground-breaking awareness campaign tours schools and youth centres across the city-region. The ‘Sitting Right With You’ campaign was first launched in October 2016 and features imagery of a yellow sofa accompanied by challenging messages to get people thinking differently about what domestic abuse is and encouraging victims to take that first step and ask for help. Now, the campaign –...

Abstract Suicide in children and young people is a major public health concern. However, it is unknown whether individuals who have been in the care of the child welfare system are at an elevated risk. Care is presently defined as statutory provision of in-home care (e.g. child living with birth family but in receipt of legal order involving supervision by social workers) or out-of-home care (e.g. foster care , residential care and kinship care). This paper presents a systematic review and...

Highlights •Global problem of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and suicide among young people •Unknown if young people in care are at an elevated risk. •Systematic review comparing prevalence between care and non-care populations •Suicide attempt is more than three times as likely among those in care. •Further comparative studies are required. Abstract Suicide in children and young people is a major public health concern. However, it is unknown whether individuals who have been in the care...

A new plan was launched at the Greater Manchester Health and Care Board which will help hundreds of thousands of children and young people in Greater Manchester to get better health and care to improve their development and fulfil their potential. The four-year plan maps out how agencies in the region will work closer together to make sure local services offered from before birth through to adulthood, will give every child across Greater Manchester the best possible start in life. The...

This article intrigued me, is this purely PTSD or did it included identifying CPTSD or developmental trauma?... MRC-funded research from King’s College London suggests one in 13 young people in the UK have had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before reaching age 18. The first UK-based study of its kind, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, found 31% of young people had a traumatic experience during childhood, and those who were exposed to trauma were twice as likely as their peers to...

Sadly, domestic abuse and violence are a part of many people’s lives. In a large number of these cases those affected are under 18. However, many people are not aware of this, and do not know how far-reaching the effects can be. SafeLives is a national charity with the goal of preventing – and eventually ending – domestic abuse. Since 2005, it has been providing many people with the help and support they need to escape abusive relationships. Recent research it conducted into this area, and...

While probably not in your diary, the second of October 2017 is the fifth anniversary of the Scottish Government’s National Parenting Strategy. Other initiatives and events took precedence during this extraordinary period in Scotland’s history. But, when launched, the Strategywas not a trivial, ‘off the cuff’ public policy. After an extensive consultation process, the Scottish Government proposed dozens of actions under the rubric ‘Our commitment to Scotland’s parents’. A year later, NHS...

This report by User Voice highlights the plight of young people inhabiting the Children and Young People Secure Estate – which is made up of secure children’s homes, secure training centres and youth offender institutions. Commissioned by NHS England, which has responsibility for health and wellbeing matters in the estate, User Voice employed its peer-led research approach to elicit the views of some of the hardest-to-reach people in the criminal justice system. The project was inspired by...

Thanks for sharing Dawn - adds more weight to the importance of focusing on promoting mental health and wellbeing of children who are in care settings

YMCA has published findings from research looking at the impact of the coronavirus crisis and lockdown on young people in the UK – “Back on Track – supporting young people out of lockdown”. A survey of 1009 young people aged 11 to 16 carried out between 24-27 July 2020 found that: 92% said that they missed being face-to-face with people; 73% said they were tired of being online all the time; and 56% were worried about falling behind at school. Click on the link .