New research shows a quarter of girls (24%) and one in 10 boys (9%) are depressed at age 14. Researchers from the UCL Institute of Education and the University of Liverpool analysed information on more than 10,000 children born in 2000-01 who are taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study . At ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14, parents reported on their children’s mental health. Then, when they reached 14, the children were themselves asked questions about their depressive symptoms. Based on the...

The imprisonment of a family member can have significant and long-lasting emotional and practical consequences for those who remain on the outside. Stigma and isolation often ensures these families remain hidden from statutory services, and withdrawn from community support, increasing their vulnerability. Increasing awareness is vital to ensuring these families receive the support they need to overcome the potential impact on their mental health, financial stability and social wellbeing.

All children and young people in the UK should be kept safe and have equal access to justice, regardless of where they were born. However, sweeping changes made to legal aid provision for immigration cases have put some of the most vulnerable children in this country at serious risk and unable to get the help they need. This report, written in partnership with Dr Helen Connolly, University of Bedfordshire, highlights the needs of unaccompanied and separated children in a system that often...

The charities statistics showed there were almost 9,000 times when a girl or woman was assessed at a doctor’s surgery or hospital. Worldwide. It is estimated that 200 million women and girls are affected by FGM. These figures were released to raise awareness and mark the international day of zero tolerance to FGM (which took place on February 7th). The FGM process, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), includes the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or...

As part of an effort to address CSE and abuse, the UK Home Office is backing the centre until 2020 following previous criticism for a lack of progress on delivering their action plan. The centre hopes to gather and share high-quality evidence of successful schemes that have previously prevented child sexual exploitation and abuse. The scheme was launched at an event in Westminster in January, and there will be other events in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Wales, taking place throughout...

The Childrens Society Report attached...

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...

According to the BBC, Facebook has begun to develop algorithms that locate warning signs in users’ posts and the comments other users post in response to this. Once highlighted, the company’s human review team will assess the situation and, if necessary, contact those thought to be at risk of self-harm. They will subsequently suggest ways in which the user can seek help. Facebook has stated that this new technology is not only helpful but also critical to the well-being of users. So far, the...

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...

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...

Told to us through the voices of children, this unique animation teaches us that by putting together the seven-piece jigsaw puzzle of 'Developmental Trauma', we can understand how a child’s adverse childhood experiences have shaped their emotional world and outward behaviour. Once we understand this, we can then work with a child to help them with their developmental trauma using an innovative therapeutic approach called the ‘Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics’. This model recovers and...

This report attempts to calculate the overall costs of child sexual abuse in the UK. It estimates that child sexual abuse cost £3.2bn in 2012. It uses research literature to calculate the number of victims who are affected by the different issues, and uses published current costs for the service provision. It sets out the assumptions that have been made, the costs that have been excluded from the calculations, and the limitations of the available data. ...