ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6181-433X
Current Organisation
University of Southampton
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-12-2022
DOI: 10.1186/S13063-022-06899-1
Abstract: The Minimising Young Children’s Anxiety through Schools (MY-CATS) trial is being conducted to determine whether an online evidence-based parent-guided cognitive behavioural therapy intervention in addition to usual school practice is effective and cost-effective compared with usual school practice in reducing anxiety disorders in children aged 4–7 deemed ‘at risk’ of anxiety disorders. This update article describes the detailed statistical analysis plan for the MY-CATS trial and reports a review of the underpinning s le size assumptions. The MY-CATS study is a two-arm, definitive superiority pragmatic parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial in which schools will be randomised 1:1 to receive either the intervention (in addition to usual school practice) or the usual school practice only. This update to the (published) protocol provides a detailed description of the study methods, the statistical principles, the trial population and the planned statistical analyses, including additional analyses comprising instrumental variable regression and mediation analysis. ISRCTN82398107 . Prospectively registered on 14 January 2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-03-2023
DOI: 10.1002/JCV2.12139
Abstract: The threats to health, associated restrictions and economic consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic have been linked to increases in mental health difficulties for many. Parents, in particular, have experienced many challenges such as having to combine work with home‐schooling their children and other caring responsibilities. Yet, it remains unclear how parental mental health has changed throughout the pandemic or what factors may have mitigated or compounded the impact of the pandemic on parents' mental health. We examined monthly survey data from two linked UK‐based longitudinal studies: COVID‐19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics' (Co‐SPACE) and COVID‐19: Supporting Parents and Young Children during Epidemics' (Co‐SPYCE). Data from 5576 parents/carers of 2–17‐year‐old children collected between April 2020 and January 2021 was analysed using mixed‐effect modelling and latent class growth (mixture) modelling. Parental stress and depression, but not anxiety, were higher during the periods of restrictions. This pattern was most pronounced for parents with primary‐school‐aged children, those that worked at home or had other adults in the household. Being younger, reporting secondary or below education, working out of home, having secondary‐school‐aged children or children with special education needs (SEN)/neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) further moderated whether, how and when parental mental health symptoms changed. Although around three quarters of parents reported consistently low mental health symptoms, a substantial minority reported consistently high or increasing symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. The latter were more likely to be parents who were younger than average, were a single adult in the household, had a pre‐existing mental health diagnosis or had a child with special educational needs or a ND. These findings emphasise how different personal circumstances and pre‐existing inequalities shaped how parents were affected by this unprecedented global pandemic and highlight the need for support and consideration to meet the needs of families in the future.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-04-2023
DOI: 10.1002/JCV2.12163
Abstract: The COVID‐19 pandemic caused significant disruption to the lives of children and their families. Pre‐school children may have been particularly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, with the closure of childcare facilities, playgrounds, playcentres and parent and toddler groups limiting their opportunities for social interaction at a crucial stage of development. Additionally, for parents working from home, caring for pre‐school aged children who require high levels of support and care, was likely challenging. We conducted an intensive longitudinal, but not nationally representative, study to examine trajectories of pre‐schoolers’ mental symptoms in the United Kingdom during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic. UK‐based parents and carers ( n = 1520) of pre‐school‐aged children (2–4 years) completed monthly online surveys about their pre‐schoolers’ mental health between April 2020 and March 2021. The survey examined changes in children's emotional symptoms, conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention. In our final mixed‐effects models, our predictors (fixed effects) accounted for 5% of the variance in each of conduct problems, emotional symptoms and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms scores, and the combined random and fixed effects accounted for between 64% and 73% of the variance. Pre‐schoolers’ emotional problems and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms declined from April through summer 2020 and then increased again during the autumn and winter 2020/2021 as lockdowns were re‐introduced. Pre‐schoolers who attended childcare showed greater decline in symptom severity than those who did not. Older children, compared to younger, showed greater lability of emotion symptom severity. Attending childcare predicted lower symptom severity across all three domains of conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and hyperactivity/inattention, while the opposite pattern was observed for children whose parent had a mental health problem. Our findings reinforce the importance of examining pre‐schoolers’ mental health in the context of micro and macro‐level factors. Interventions focussing on family factors such as parent mental health, as well as continued provision of childcare, may have most potential to mitigate the impact of COVID‐19 on young children's mental health.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-01-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S00787-019-01469-4
Abstract: Mental health disorders in children and adolescents are highly prevalent yet undertreated. A detailed understanding of the reasons for not seeking or accessing help as perceived by young people is crucial to address this gap. We conducted a systematic review (PROSPERO 42018088591) of quantitative and qualitative studies reporting barriers and facilitators to children and adolescents seeking and accessing professional help for mental health problems. We identified 53 eligible studies 22 provided quantitative data, 30 provided qualitative data, and one provided both. Four main barrier/facilitator themes were identified. Almost all studies (96%) reported barriers related to young people’s in idual factors, such as limited mental health knowledge and broader perceptions of help-seeking. The second most commonly (92%) reported theme related to social factors, for ex le, perceived social stigma and embarrassment. The third theme captured young people’s perceptions of the therapeutic relationship with professionals (68%) including perceived confidentiality and the ability to trust an unknown person. The fourth theme related to systemic and structural barriers and facilitators (58%), such as financial costs associated with mental health services, logistical barriers, and the availability of professional help. The findings highlight the complex array of internal and external factors that determine whether young people seek and access help for mental health difficulties. In addition to making effective support more available, targeted evidence-based interventions are required to reduce perceived public stigma and improve young people’s knowledge of mental health problems and available support, including what to expect from professionals and services.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-02-2022
DOI: 10.1186/S13063-022-06010-8
Abstract: Identifying and supporting young children who are at risk of developing anxiety disorders would benefit children, families, and wider society. Elevated anxiety symptoms, inhibited temperament, and high parental anxiety are established risk factors for later anxiety disorders, but it remains unclear who is most likely to benefit from prevention and early intervention programmes. Delivering an online intervention through schools to parents of young children who have one or more of these risks could maximise reach. The primary aim of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of delivering an online parent-led intervention, compared with usual school provision only, for children (aged 4–7) identified as at risk for anxiety disorders on the basis of at least one risk factor. We also aim to identify the characteristics of children who do and do not benefit from intervention and mechanisms of change from the intervention. The design will be a parallel group, superiority cluster randomised controlled trial, with schools (clusters) randomised to intervention or usual school practice arms in a 1:1 ratio stratified according to level of deprivation within the school. The study will recruit and randomise at least 60 primary/infant schools in England, and on the basis of recruiting 60 schools, we will recruit 1080 trial participants (540 per arm). Parents of all children (aged 4–7) in s led Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 classes will be invited to complete screening questionnaires. Children who screen positive on the basis of anxiety symptoms, and/or behavioural inhibition, and/or parent anxiety symptoms will be eligible for the trial. Parents/carers of children in schools allocated to the intervention arm will be offered a brief online intervention schools in both arms will continue to provide any usual support for children and parents throughout the trial. Assessments will be completed at screening, baseline (before randomisation), 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 12 months post-randomisation. The primary outcome will be the absence resence of an anxiety disorder diagnosis at 12 months. The trial will determine if delivering an online intervention for parents of young children at risk of anxiety disorders identified through screening in schools is effective and cost-effective. ISRCTN 82398107 . Prospectively registered on Jan. 14, 2021.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 21-07-2022
Abstract: BackgroundThe threats to health, associated restrictions and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been linked to increases in mental health difficulties for many. Parents, in particular, have experienced many challenges such as having to combine work with home-schooling their children and other caring responsibilities. Yet, it remains unclear how parental mental health has changed throughout the pandemic or what factors may have mitigated or compounded the impact of the pandemic on parents' mental health.MethodsWe examined monthly survey data from two linked UK-based longitudinal studies: COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics' (Co-SPACE) and COVID-19: Supporting Parents and Young Children during Epidemics' (Co-SPYCE). Data from 5576 parents/carers of 2–17-year-old children collected between April 2020 and January 2021 was analysed using mixed-effect modelling and latent class growth (mixture) modelling.ResultsParental stress and depression, but not anxiety, were higher during the periods of restrictions. This pattern was most pronounced for parents with primary-school-aged children, those that worked at home or had other adults in the household. Being younger, reporting secondary or below education, working out of home, having secondary-school-aged children or children with special education needs (SEN)/neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) further moderated whether, how and when parental mental health symptoms changed. Although around three quarters of parents reported consistently low mental health symptoms, a substantial minority reported consistently high or increasing symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. The latter were more likely to be parents who were younger than average, were a single adult in the household, had a pre-existing mental health diagnosis or had a child with special educational needs or a ND.ConclusionsThese findings emphasise how different personal circumstances and pre-existing inequalities shaped how parents were affected by this unprecedented global pandemic and highlight the need for support and consideration to meet the needs of families in the future.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Peter Lawrence.