There is limited research that explores the association between exclusion from school and mental health, but it seems intuitively plausible that the recognition of mental difficulties by key teachers and parents would influence the likelihood of exclusion from school.

A secondary analysis of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health survey 2004, (n = 7997) and the 2007 follow-up (n = 5326) was conducted. Recognition of difficulty was assessed via a derived variable that combined the first item of the Impact supplement of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire which asked parents and teachers if they thought that the child has difficulties with emotions, behaviour and concentration, and the presence/absence of psychiatric disorder measured by the Development and Well-being Assessment.

Adjusted logistic regression models demonstrated that children with recognised difficulties were more likely to be excluded [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 5.78, confidence interval 3.45–9.64, p < 0.001], but children with unrecognised difficulties [adjusted OR 3.58 (1.46–8.81) p < 0.005] or recognised subclinical difficulties [adjusted OR 3.42 (2.04–5.73) p < 0.001] were also more likely to be excluded than children with no difficulties. Children with conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were most likely to be excluded compared with other types of disorder.

Exclusion from school may result from a failure to provide timely and effective support rather than a failure to recognise psychopathology.

In recent years, researchers have been working towards creating a standard conceptual framework of food parenting. To understand how parents’ reports correspond with the proposed model, the current study examined parents’ reports of their feeding behaviours in the context of a newly established framework of food parenting.

Cross-sectional, with a two-week follow-up for a subset of the sample. Participants completed a quantitative and qualitative survey to assess food parenting. The survey included items from common food parenting instruments to measure the constructs posited in the framework. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to ascertain which items related most closely to one another and factors were mapped on to existing constructs.

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Parents of children aged 2·5–7 years (n 496). Of these, 122 completed a two-week follow-up.

Analyses revealed eleven aspects of Structure (monitoring; distraction; family presence; meal/snack schedule; unstructured practices; healthy/unhealthy food availability; food preparation; healthy/unhealthy modelling; rules), ten aspects of Coercive Control (pressure to eat; using food to control emotions; food incentives to eat; food incentives to behave; non-food incentives to eat; restriction for health/weight; covert restriction; clean plate; harsh coercion) and seven aspects of Autonomy Promotion (praise; encouragement; nutrition education; child involvement; negotiation; responsive feeding; repeated offering). Content validity, assessed via parents’ open-ended explanations of their responses, was high, and test–retest reliability was moderate to high. Structure and Autonomy Promoting food parenting were highly positively correlated.

In general, parents’ responses provided support for the model, but suggested some amendments and refinements.

Low income is a widely studied risk factor for child and adolescent behavioural difficulties. Previous research on this relationship has produced mixed findings.

To investigate the level, shape and homogeneity of income gradients in different types of antisocial behaviour.

A representative sample of 7977 British children and adolescents, aged 5–16 years, was analysed. Hypotheses concerning the shapes and homogeneity of the relationships between family socioeconomic status and multiple antisocial behaviour outcomes, including clinical diagnoses of oppositional-defiant disorder, conduct disorder and symptom subscales, such as irritability and hurtfulness, were tested by structural equation models.

Consistent income gradients were demonstrated across all antisocial behaviours studied. Disorder prevalence and mean symptom counts decreased across income quintiles in a non-linear fashion.

Our findings emphasise that income gradients are similar across different forms of antisocial behaviour and indicate that income may lead to greater behavioural differences in the mid-income range and less variation at low- and high-income extremes.

There is little research on children's positive attributes and their association with psychiatric outcomes.

To examine the hypothesis that children's positive attributes are associated with a reduced risk of developing psychopathology in future.

Positive attributes, measured with the Youth Strengths Inventory (YSI) and psychiatric outcomes were assessed on two occasions over 3 years in a large epidemiological sample of British children and adolescents (n = 5325).

The YSI showed high to moderate cross-informant correlations and longitudinal stability. Children scoring high on positive attributes at baseline had fewer psychiatric symptoms and disorders at follow-up, adjusting for symptoms at baseline, disorder at baseline and child and family factors. Analyses with propensity score matching also suggested that positive attributes decrease the likelihood of psychiatric morbidity.

Children's positive attributes are associated with significantly less psychopathology across time and may be a target for intervention.

Teacher-pupil relationships have been found to mediate behavioural, social and psychological outcomes for children at different ages according to teacher and child report but most studies have been small.

To explore later psychiatric disorder among children with problematic teacher-pupil relationships.

Secondary analysis of a population-based cross-sectional survey of children aged 5-16 with a 3-year follow-up.

Of the 3799 primary-school pupils assessed, 2.5% of parents reported problematic teacher-pupil relationships; for secondary-school pupils (n=3817) this rose to 6.6%. Among secondary-school pupils, even when children with psychiatric disorder at baseline were excluded and we adjusted for baseline psychopathology score, problematic teacher-pupil relationships were statistically significantly related to higher levels of psychiatric disorder at 3-year follow-up (odds ratio (OR) = 1.93, 95% CI 1.07-3.51 for any psychiatric disorder, OR=3.00, 95% CI 1.37-6.58 for conduct disorder). Results for primary-school pupils were similar but non-significant at this level of adjustment.

This study underlines the need to support teachers and schools to develop positive relationships with their pupils.

Participant drop-out occurs in all longitudinal studies, and if systematic, may lead to selection biases and erroneous conclusions being drawn from a study.

We investigated whether drop out in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (ALSPAC) was systematic or random, and if systematic, whether it had an impact on the prediction of disruptive behaviour disorders.

Teacher reports of disruptive behaviour among currently participating, previously participating and never participating children aged 8 years in the ALSPAC longitudinal study were collected. Data on family factors were obtained in pregnancy. Simulations were conducted to explain the impact of selective drop-out on the strength of prediction.

Drop out from the ALSPAC cohort was systematic and children who dropped out were more likely to suffer from disruptive behaviour disorder. Systematic participant drop-out according to the family variables, however, did not alter the association between family factors obtained in pregnancy and disruptive behaviour disorder at 8 years of age.

Cohort studies are prone to selective drop-out and are likely to underestimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorder. This empirical study and the simulations confirm that the validity of regression models is only marginally affected despite range restrictions after selective drop-out.

Routine outcome monitoring may improve clinical services but remains controversial, partly because the absence of a control group makes interpretation difficult.

To test a computer algorithm designed to allow practitioners to compare their outcomes with epidemiological data from a population sample against data from a randomised controlled trial, to see if it accurately predicted the trial's outcome.

We developed an ‘added value’ score using epidemiological data on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We tested whether it correctly predicted the effect size for the control and intervention groups in a randomised controlled trial.

As compared with the a priori expectation of zero, the Added Value Score applied to the control group predicted an effect size of 70.03 (95% CI 70.30 to 0.24, t = 0.2, P = 0.8). As compared with the trial estimate of 0.37, the Added Value Score applied to the intervention group predicted an effect size of 0.36 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.60, t = 0.1, P = 0.9).

Our findings provide preliminary support for the validity of this approach as one tool in the evaluation of interventions with groups of children who have, or are at high risk of developing, significant psychopathology.

Adolescents comprise a fifth of the population of India, but there is little research on their mental health. We conducted an epidemiological study in the state of Goa to describe the current prevalence of mental disorders and its correlates among adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years.

To estimate the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in adolescents.

Population-based survey of all eligible adolescents from six urban wards and four rural communities which were randomly selected. We used a Konkani translation of the Development and Well-Being Assessment to diagnose current DSM-IV emotional and behavioural disorders. All adolescents were also interviewed on socio-economic factors, education, neighbourhood, parental relations, peer and sexual relationships, violence and substance use.

Out of 2684 eligible adolescents, 2048 completed the study. The current prevalence of any DSM-IV diagnosis was 1.81%; 95% CI 1.27–2.48. The most common diagnoses were anxiety disorders (1.0%), depressive disorder (0.5%), behavioural disorder (0.4%) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (0.2%). Adolescents from urban areas and girls who faced gender discrimination had higher prevalence. The final multivariate model found an independent association of mental disorders with an outgoing ‘non-traditional’ lifestyle (frequent partying, going to the cinema, shopping for fun and having a boyfriend or girlfriend), difficulties with studies, lack of safety in the neighbourhood, a history of physical or verbal abuse and tobacco use. Having one's family as the primary source of social support was associated with lower prevalence of mental disorders.

The current prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents in our study was very low compared with studies in other countries. Strong family support was a critical factor associated with low prevalence of mental disorders, while factors indicative of adoption of a non-traditional lifestyle were associated with an increased prevalence.

Children looked after by local authorities are at higher risk of poor psychosocial outcomes than children living in private households, but nationally representative and random samples of the two groups of children have not previously been compared.

To find explanations for the increased prevalence of psychiatric disorder in children looked after by local authorities.

We examined socio-demographic characteristics and psychopathology by type of placement among children looked after in Britain by local authorities (n = 1453), and compared these children with deprived and non-deprived children living in private households (n = 10 428).

Children looked after by local authorities had higher levels of psychopathology, educational difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders, and ‘looked after’ status was independently associated with nearly all types of psychiatric disorder after adjusting for these educational and physical factors. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder was particularly high among those living in residential care and with many recent changes of placement.

Our findings indicate a need for greater support of this vulnerable group of children.