Nobody knows it better than social care experts: it is a very difficult time for children in this country – and by extension for their parents, and the services which exist to support them.
For social care to remain as effective as possible in this challenging environment of ever-tightening budgets and ever-rising demand, we argue that a focus on best evidence and best practice should be at the heart of social care practice.
But we know that translating research into practical application isn’t always as easy as we might like. This is why we’re delighted to be co-hosts of Mind the Kids, a new podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).
During its first series, we spoke to a range of expert guests about the latest research and advances in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Here are five key takeaways from that first series.
The manosphere – don’t panic
In our first episode, we spoke to the author of an excellent and very accessible editorial on the manosphere, published recently in CAMH, an ACAMH journal. If you’ve not heard of the manosphere (or not seen Adolescence on Netflix), it refers to online influencers and communities promoting misogyny and antifeminist ideologies.
As we discuss in the podcast, this indeed should be a pressing concern for researchers, policymakers and all those supporting young people. The editorial highlights that there is a need for more research on the topic, for new interventions to be developed, including helping girls understand the signs of abusive and discriminatory behaviour. We explored ‘inoculation’ techniques, giving young people watered-down versions of the discriminatory views they will inevitably find online, as a promising way of nurturing the necessary critical thinking. We agree that there is reason to be concerned, but we also note Ofcom research published since this episode went live suggested that many young men remain open-minded and non-prejudiced, despite exposure to such content.
Thinking about individual cases, a big takeaway for us was that if a practitioner or parent discovers a child accessing this content, they shouldn’t rush to punish them or ban them from their device or the internet. It is better instead to start a conversation, be curious about why they are accessing it, and what they are taking from it. Manosphere content often includes fitness tips and luxury cars. Are they actually interested in this sort of content and not misogyny?
Don’t be surprised by loneliness
In our episode on loneliness, we spoke to a UCL professor about her insightful recent paper in the JCPP, another ACAMH journal.
We talked about the challenge in assessing loneliness is that young people are not routinely screen for it. There is an argument that perhaps they should, in the same way that when registering for a new GP, you’re asked questions about alcohol, drugs and smoking. Another challenge raised is a lack of timely, evidence-based interventions.
As we discussed in the episode, loneliness among teens may be more prevalent than other age groups, given the evidence that the desire for relationships can be stronger because of the unique state of the teenage brain. We also agreed that while loneliness must be taken seriously, it is important to distinguish between social isolation and feelings of loneliness (as the two may not always co-exist), and for that matter between episodic and chronic loneliness, to avoid pathologising normal human experiences.
And, given the lack of evidence and indeed screening, it may be a good time for practitioners of all sorts to start asking ‘are you lonely?’ to young people, and examining what that might mean. Asking this one question can unlock insight into a young person’s experiences. Also, we heard that UCL has developed several modules and resources which can be used in supporting people affected by loneliness and is suitable for young people who are neurodiverse.
Give parents confidence if literacy is a worry
Another episode focused on literacy and the home reading environment, with the starting point being a study published in JCPP, which provides new evidence on the relationship of a parent’s reading ability to that of their child. This study’s methods improve on previous work on this topic, and show that the availability of literary resources at home and the frequency with which mothers (in this case, not fathers) engage with reading activities were good predictors of literacy skills.
From this discussion, we reflected on the fact that even though excessive screentime might be a concern, the internet provides essentially limitless opportunities and free for parents and children to engage in written content. We also know that turning subtitles on when watching TV can help literacy development. We are very aware that many parents will not be confident readers, but we can increase their confidence to engage in non-traditional ways of enjoying literacy. Parents joining together with their child in any reading based activity may prove a vital boost to their children’s educational experience.
Social anxiety and paranoia
Another episode, focussing on social anxiety and paranoia, included a discussion with the author of an important JCPP Advances paper which highlights the need for better identification, understanding and treatment for adolescents with social anxiety plus paranoia.
A standout insight is that those features don’t arise in a vacuum, but are often rooted in real-life events. Young people with paranoid thoughts may have experienced harm, for example. This may seem intuitive, especially to social care professionals, but this challenges traditional views of paranoia as delusional or somehow disproportionate. What it means is
that recognising the root causes of the symptoms can in turn avoid pathologising the issue, and guide towards more empathetic and relevant interventions.
Autism: a lens, not a label
In our episode on autism, we looked at our guest’s latest paper in JCPP, which outlines that girls are particularly likely to receive diagnoses for conditions like anxiety, depression and eating disorders prior to receiving an autism diagnosis – although it may also happen for boys.
This may remind social care professionals of the importance of maintaining curiosity and a holistic view, in particular when it seems hard to get through to a young person, or they don’t respond as expected to interventions. It also confirms to us the importance of an autism diagnosis being treated not just as a rigid label which overrides other considerations, but as a lens through which to view the person and their behaviour. Once an accurate diagnosis of autism is established, it offers a deeper understanding of the young person’s needs and will indicate more effective ways to communicate, connect and offer support.
And in conclusion…
All of those episodes and others are available on YouTube and other platforms, with more to come from us in autumn. During the summer, look out for new episodes going live, as we pass the podcast to another excellent host.
Our main takeaway was the value in stepping outside of our disciplines and learning from other adjacent professions’ work. We believe that there are huge rewards to be had for professionals and commissioners who can take an interdisciplinary approach, and by extension, to the young people, families and communities which they support.
Dr Jane Gilmour is a consultant clinical psychologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and course director for postgraduate child development programmes at University College London. Umar Toseeb is a professor of psychology in education at the department of education of the University of York.
Photos by Izzy Park via UnSplash, Jane Gilmour and Umar Toseeb.
Other features:
Introducing sickness to prevention measures: What’s stopped us so far?
Introducing sickness to prevention measures: What’s stopped us so far?
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