The Archival Legacy Investigation of Circumstellar Environments (ALICE) project (AR-12652) is currently conducting a comprehensive and consistent reprocessing of HST-NICMOS coronagraphic survey data to search for point sources and disks using advanced PSF subtraction. The KLIP algorithm (Karhunen-Loève Image Projection) was developed for this project, and has proven very effective at processing the hundreds of selected archival images. This project has already been very successful with numerous detections of previously unseen point sources and several resolved debris disks that we are currently following up by multiple avenues. We give an overview of the project including preliminary scientific results with companion candidates and improved images of known disks

Background. Previous reports of genetic influences on obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms have suggested moderate heritability. Family history studies of co-morbidity have found familial aggregation with tics, especially for early-onset OCD, and familial aggregation with anxiety disorders.

Method. Heritability of OCD and familial aggregation of OCD, tics and anxiety disorders were investigated in a community sample of 6-year-old twins using a two-phase design in which 4662 twin pairs were sampled and 854 pairs were assessed in the second phase by maternal-informant diagnostic interview using DSM-IV criteria.

Results. In the multivariate model combined additive genetic and common environmental effects were estimated as 47% for sub-threshold OCD, and the model was unable to distinguish these sources of familial aggregation. There were strong familial aggregations between sub-threshold OCD and tics and between sub-threshold OCD and other anxiety disorders (80% and 97% respectively), although again specific sources could not be distinguished.

Conclusions. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis of a tic-related early-onset OCD phenotype, but also with the hypothesis of an anxiety-related early-onset OCD phenotype.

Background. Prevalence of childhood anxiety disorders at specific ages and genetic etiological influences on anxiety disorders in young children have been little studied. The present study reports prevalence estimates in a community sample of 6-year-old twins, and patterns of genetic and environmental influences on these early-onset anxiety disorders.

Method. Using a two-phase design 4662 twin-pairs were sampled and 854 pairs were assessed in the second phase by maternal-informant diagnostic interview using DSM-IV criteria.

Results. The most common conditions were separation anxiety disorder (SAD) [2·8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2·1–3·8, for current disorder] and specific phobia (10·8%, 95% CI 8·4–13·6, for current disorder). Behavioral genetic modeling was feasible for these two conditions, applied to two phenotypes: symptom syndrome (regardless of impairment) and the narrower one of diagnostic status (symptom syndrome with associated impairment). The heritability estimate for SAD diagnostic status was high, 73%, with remaining variance attributed to non-shared environment. The heritability estimates for specific phobia were also high, 80% for the symptom syndrome and 60% for diagnostic status, with remaining variance attributed in both cases to non-shared environment.

Conclusions. Compared with previous epidemiological surveys of children and adolescents in wide age-bands, the current estimates suggest that rates of anxiety disorders assessed in young childhood are generally at least as high and perhaps higher compared with those found in older children. The heritability estimates suggest that the genetic effects on these early-onset anxiety disorders are substantial and more significant than environmental effects, whether shared or non-shared.

The Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) is a brief child-friendly measure designed to screen children at risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has good face and construct validity, a stable factor structure, correlates well with other indices of distress, and has been used to screen very large samples of at-risk-children following a wide range of traumatic events. However, few studies have examined the scale's validity against a structured diagnostic interview based on the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. In the present study, the CRIES and the PTSD section of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child and Parent Version (ADIS-CP) were administered to a sample of children and adolescents (n=63) recruited from hospital accident and emergency rooms and the validity of the CRIES as a screening tool evaluated. Cutoff scores were chosen from this sample with a low base-rate of PTSD (11.1%) to maximize sensitivity and minimize the likelihood that children with a diagnosis of PTSD would fail to be identified. Cutoff scores were then cross-validated in a sample of 52 clinically referred children who had a high base-rate of PTSD (67.3%). A cutoff score of 30 on the CRIES-13 and a cutoff score of 17 on the CRIES-8 maximized sensitivity and specificity, minimized the rate of false negatives, and correctly classified 75–83% of the children in the two samples. The CRIES-8 (which lacks any arousal items) worked as efficiently as the CRIES-13 (which includes arousal items) in correctly classifying children with and without PTSD. Results are discussed in light of the current literature and of the need for further development of effective screens for children at-risk of developing PTSD.

Welcome to this special issue of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, a Festschrift to mark the retirement of Professor William Yule. The collection of papers here, covering reading problems, parenting and conduct disorder, the effects of war on civilian children, cognitive factors associated with trauma in children, social-cognitive approaches to post traumatic stress, and the assessment of PTSD in children, can only begin to skim the surface of his contribution to clinical child psychology in over 40 years of research, teaching, and – above all – clinical work. It is fitting that such a collection appears in this journal. Bill joined the BABP (later BABCP) as a founder member in 1972. Three years later, he and Ray Hodgson began to co-edit the new quarterly BABP Bulletin, the forerunner to Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. Bill retired as Editor of the Journal in 1984, having helped to develop what started out as a single sheet newsletter into a successful, respected, international scientific publication. He is also a former Chair of the Association, and was made an Honorary Fellow in 1984.

As part of a UNICEF-sponsored Psychosocial Programme in Bosnia, data were collected from a representative sample of 339 children aged 9–14 years, their mothers, and their teachers in order to investigate risk and moderating factors in children's psychological reactions to war. Self-report data from children revealed high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms and grief reactions, but normal levels of depression and anxiety. Mothers' self-reports also indicated high levels of post-traumatic stress reactions, but normal levels of depression and anxiety. Child distress was related to both their level of exposure and to maternal reactions. Structural equation modeling was used to quantify the relationships between these risk factors and child distress, and to examine putative pathways to account for the association between child and maternal health. Children's adjustment was associated significantly with both exposure (ϕ = ·37) and maternal mental health (ϕ = ·37). Modeling also revealed a significant distorting effect of mother's own mental health on behavioural ratings of her child (ψ = ·59). Although evidence exists for an association between maternal mental health and mother rating errors, there is also a substantive association between maternal mental health and children's adjustment following war.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a syndrome defined by the intrusive re-experiencing of a trauma, avoidance of traumatic reminders, and persistent physiological arousal. PTSD is associated with high levels of comorbidity and may increase the risk for additional disorders over time. While controversies remain regarding the applicability of the PTSD criteria to very young children, it has proved to be a useful framework for guiding assessment and treatment research with older children and adolescents. This article presents an overview of the literature on the clinical characteristics, assessment, and treatment of PTSD in children and adolescents.

It is only relatively recently that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been recognised in children. Controlled treatment outcome studies of childhood PTSD are scarce, but those that exist indicate that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is an effective intervention. In this article, we briefly describe PTSD in children and outline some behavioural and cognitive models of the disorder. Derived from these models, prolonged therapeutic exposure and cognitive restructuring as part of a CBT package are then described. In practice, effective therapy will include more than exposure-based work, and additional procedures, including work with parents, are highlighted. While CBT is the treatment of choice of PTSD in childhood, there is an urgent need for further treatment outcome studies.