'Mind the Kids': an ACAMH podcast

Why do mentally healthy teenagers tend to remember the good times more vividly than the bad — and what happens to that "positive memory bias" in young people at risk of depression, anxiety or PTSD?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, host Clara Faria, academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry, University of Cambridge, talks with Alice Roe, a PhD candidate at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (MRC CBU), University of Cambridge.

They discuss Alice's new paper, 'Remembering the bad times: Autobiographical memory fluency, specificity, and fading affect bias in adolescents at cl...

What happens when young people diagnose their own mental health conditions? How are clinicians responding to a growing trend shaped by social media, online communities, and increasing mental health awareness?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, host Dr Clara Faria, Academic Clinical Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, speaks with Katie Cunningham-Rowe from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, about her qualitative study exploring clinicians' perspectives on adolescent self-diagnosis of mental health disorders.

Together they discuss the complex realities behind self-diagnosis in young people, including the...

Why are so many teenagers worried about their weight — and why do so few know where to turn for support?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, host Clara Faria, academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry, University of Cambridge,  talks with Dr. Melissa Little, who recently completed her doctorate at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, and works clinically as a paediatric dietitian.

They discuss Dr. Little's new paper, 'Weight concern and desire for weight loss support in adolescents: Results from a large cross-sectional school survey', published in JCPP Advances, whi...

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Is developmental language disorder linked to law breaking?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour (Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL) and Professor Umar Toseeb (Professor of Psychology at the University of York) flip the format — Umar takes the guest seat to discuss his own new paper on developmental language disorder (DLD) and youth offending.

They dig into 'Developmental Language Disorder and Offending: A...

📅 Professor Sam Cartwright-Hatton is hosting an ACAMH webinar, 'Helping Anxious Parents Raise Confident Children: Preventing the Intergenerational Transmission of Anxiety', on 17 November 2026 at 2pm UK time.

📷 Follow Fearless Labs on Instagram for practical, evidence-based tips for parents and professionals: @fearless.labs

In this episode of Mind the Kids, hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour (Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL) and Professor Umar Toseeb (Professor of Psychology at the University of York) sift through the data, dilemmas and debates around childhood anxiety disorders — before bringing in special guest Professor Sam Cartwright-Hatton, Professor of Clini...

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast is called "Parenting Intervention: Finding the Goldilocks Zone." Hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour, honorary consultant clinical psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL, and Professor Umar Toseeb, Professor of Psychology at the University of York specialising in children and young people's mental health and special educational needs, are joined by a trio of experts: Julia Ruggiero, advanced PhD student in clinical psychology at the University of Oregon, Dr. Xiaolan Liao from the University of Oklahoma, and Professor Elizabeth Skowron from Penn State University.

The guests are co-authors of "Effects...

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast is called "Problem Eating in a Community Sample: The Thin End of a Wedge." Hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour, honorary consultant clinical psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL, and Professor Umar Toseeb, Professor of Psychology at the University of York specialising in children and young people's mental health and special educational needs, are joined by Dr. Clara Faria from the University of Cambridge to discuss eating difficulties and eating disorders in young people.

Dr. Faria is the lead author of "The Prevalence of Eating Difficulties in Children and...

Watch the interview on ACAMH Learn at https://bit.ly/Diagnosed-Experience and get a free CPD/CME certificate by registering for a FREE ACAMH Learn account at https://bit.ly/4fF4BBW

In this episode of Inside the Teen Brain, Dr. Jane Gilmour speaks with Rayne Huggins about the experience of being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. Drawing on personal lived experience, Rayne reflects on what a diagnosis can mean for a young person and explores the pros and cons of receiving one. Together, they consider how a diagnosis can shape not only how a person understands themselves...

How does research actually change government policy? In this episode of Mind the Kids, hosts Dr Jane Gilmour (UCL) and Professor Umar Toseeb (University of York) sit down with Baroness Ruth Lister — Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough University, Fellow of the British Academy, and a Labour peer in the House of Lords — to unpack how evidence, political will and public appetite combine (or collide) to shape social policy for children living in poverty.

This conversation goes behind the headlines of the UK's child poverty strategy, including the abolition of the two-child benefit limit from April 2026 — a chang...

Watch the interview on ACAMH Learn at https://bit.ly/ADHD-Teen-Brain and get a free CPD/CME certificate by registering for a FREE ACAMH Learn account at https://bit.ly/4fF4BBW

In this conversation, Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Susan Young explore what it means to understand ADHD through the lens of the teenage brain. Adolescence is a period of rapid change, marked by increased risk-taking, emotional intensity, and a drive for novelty—characteristics that are also central to ADHD. She considers what happens when these developmental processes intersect, and how to distinguish between what is ty...

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How smart is a phone ban, really? With the UK's under-16s social media ban confirmed for spring 2027 and mobile phones now expected to be banned from every English school day by default, this episode of Mind the Kids tackles one of the biggest parenting and policy debates of our time: what does the evidence actually say about smartphones, social media and children's mental health?

Hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour (Honorary consultant clinical psychologist...

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In this interview, Dr. Jane Gilmour talks to Mairéad Foody, Assistant Lecturer in Psychology at University of Galway, Ireland.

Bullying is a harmful experience for many children and young people, affecting their mental health, relationships, and wellbeing into adulthood.

This talk will help listeners understand what bullying and cyberbullying are, and why they happens. It will discuss the impact of v...

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Why do so many young people with ADHD find it harder to bounce back from difficult emotions — and what can actually help?

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast features Professor Aja Murray, Professor of Developmental Psychology of Mental Health at the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. Aja's research examines mental health across the lifespan, with a particular focus on the links between ADHD symptoms and co-occurring mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, es...

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In this interview, Dr. Jane Gilmour talks to Professor Michael Kaess and Professor Dennis Ougrin, who describe self-harm as self-injury or self-poisoning, irrespective of suicidal intent, encompassing both non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts. 

They highlight that the lifetime prevalence of self-harm is approximately 20% among young people. They outline that initial assessment should include evaluation of risk, development of a safety plan, and a therapeutic component focused on understanding the nature o...

Can behaviour be understood without understanding the violence that surrounds it?

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast features Susan Swingler, a researcher at the University of Oxford's Department of Social Policy and Intervention, who recently completed a PhD in social intervention and policy evaluation. Her research focuses on how young people respond to chronic stress and violence exposure in low- and middle-income country contexts, and how this shapes mental health and behavioural development through adolescence.

Hosted by Mark Tebbs, the conversation explores a landmark near two-decade longitudinal study built on data from the...

In this episode of Inside the Teen Brain, Takako Yeung explores how neuroscience can inform everyday teaching practice. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience driving systemic change in education, Takako discusses how the adolescent brain's heightened sensitivity to social and emotional cues makes the student–teacher relationship a powerful lever for both wellbeing and academic attainment.

In conversation with Dr Jane Gilmour, Takako reflects on what it means to truly value and believe in each young person, and how that belief shapes the way teachers respond, set expectations, and support students through the ups and do...

Can the cycle of violence that passes from one generation to the next be broken?

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast features Dr. Laura Gorla, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. Originally from Italy and now based in the United States, Dr. Gorla's research focuses on parenting, parent-child relationships, and child and adolescent mental health from early childhood through late adolescence.

Hosted by Mark Tebbs, the conversation explores a landmark three-generation study built on data from the Fast Track intervention, conducted with colleagues Dr. Rotenberg...

Dr. Jane Gilmour returns with Inside the Teen Brain. In this episode Jane talks to Dr. Victoria Pile about depression.

This talk explores the presentation, recognition, and psychological intervention for depression in adolescence, a developmental period marked by heightened vulnerability and significant opportunity for intervention. Depression commonly emerges during adolescence and is associated with substantial long-term consequences, including social and academic impairment. 

Despite its prevalence and impact, the majority of young people with depression do not receive timely or effective support. The talk highlights how adolescent depression is often under-recognised, perhaps due to its overlap w...

Have you ever wondered how a child's ability to manage their emotions and impulses might shape their later mental health? And, what if one of the most important predictors isn't about how clever they are, but how well regulated they are on the inside?

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast features Lilja Jónsdóttir, a PhD student at the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden, who will shortly take up a postdoctoral research position in child and adolescent psychiatry at Uppsala's Department of Medical Sciences.

Hosted by Mark Tebbs, the conversation ex...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, the podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), host Mark Tebbs is joined by Dr. Elaine Clark, postdoctoral researcher at the Lifespan Autism Lab, Rutgers University.

Dr. Clark shares findings from her recently published paper in JCPP Advances, ACAMH's open-access research journal, co-authored with Dr. Vanessa Ball and Dr. Katherine Lord. Drawing on the Longitudinal Study of Autism (LSA) — tracking autistic individuals from ages 2–3 through to their mid-twenties — the study examines how daily living skills develop across the lifespan in autistic individuals, both with and without a co-o...

In this episode of the Mind the Kids podcast, host Mark Tebbs sits down with Emma Butler — an occupational therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience in neonates and paediatrics — to explore one of the most pressing questions in child mental health research: can we predict poor mental health in childhood as early as birth?

Emma, a PhD researcher working across multiple institutions including Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and University College Cork, shares findings from her groundbreaking work using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) — one of the world...

In this episode of the Mind the Kids podcast, we explore how adolescents learn from rewards and what this means for depression risk and mental health outcomes. Drawing on longitudinal research from the Temple Adolescent Development Study, our guest breaks down the complex science of reward processing, anhedonia, and reinforcement learning in young people.

Anhedonia—defined as a reduced ability to experience pleasure—is a key symptom across multiple mental health conditions, including depression, and is linked to poorer long-term outcomes. But what actually drives these changes in reward responsiveness during adolescence? And how do differences in lear...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, the podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), host Clara Faria — academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry — is joined by Dr. Karolin Krause, clinical epidemiologist and measurement scientist at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics (CRESS), Université Paris Cité.

Dr. Krause shares findings from her recently published paper in JCPP, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The paper — a scoping umbrella review — systematically maps 80 instruments used to measure life impact in youth mental health research across three interconnected domains: functioning, quality of life, and well-b...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, the podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), host Clara Faria, academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry, is joined by Dr. Tessa Reardon, research fellow in the departments of experimental psychology and psychiatry at the University of Oxford.

Dr. Reardon shares findings from her recently published paper in JCPP, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, co-authored with colleagues. Drawing on the My Cats cluster randomised controlled trial, the study recruited children aged four to seven identified as being at heightened risk for anxiety disorders through...

In this Mind the Kids podcast, we explore how early childhood vocabulary links to later educational outcomes—and why socioeconomic inequality continues to shape children’s life chances, even when ability appears similar.

Host Clara Faria is joined by Dr. Emma Thornton (University of Manchester) and Professor Danielle Matthews (University of Sheffield) to discuss their research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, they examines whether children with the same early language skills achieve similar GCSE outcomes, and how socioeconomic circumstances influence that trajectory.

The find...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, the podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), host Dr. Clara Faria — academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry — is joined by Alina Marinca, PhD student in Psychological Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and clinical psychologist, whose research is funded by the London Interdisciplinary School of Science Doctoral Training Partnership.

Alina shares findings from her JCPP Advances paper  ‘Sleep disturbance as a transdiagnostic marker of children's mental health difficulties: A network analysis of item-level associations between different types of sleep problems and different behavioural and emotion...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, the podcast from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), host Dr. Clara Faria — academic clinical fellow in child psychiatry — is joined by Professor Lauren Kenworthy, Division Chief, Neuropsychology Director, Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders Pediatric Neuropsychologist, at the Children's National Hospital, based in Washington DC.

Professor Kenworthy shares findings from her landmark study, 'Executive Function Challenges Persist into Young Adulthood and Predict Mental Health Outcomes in Autism', published in JCPP — ACAMH's flagship peer-reviewed journal. Drawing on over 300 autistic individuals and more than 900 observations spanning ages 2 to 25, this is one...

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast features Dr. Joanne Park, clinical psychologist and Principal Investigator of the Parenting Resilient Kids (Park) Lab at Mount Royal University, Canada. Hosted by Clara Faria, the conversation explores emerging research on “climate worry” in early adolescence, drawing on Dr. Park’s recent publication in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Dr. Park examines whether concerns about climate change represent a distinct psychological construct or are simply an extension of generalised anxiety. The discussion unpacks the difference between affective climate worry—emotional responses to climate change—and cognitive climate worry, which reflects m...

In this episode of the Mind the Kids, Clara Faria speaks with Professor Nathalie Auger and Professor Howard Steiger about new research exploring how maternal anorexia nervosa may influence children’s mental health and neurodevelopment.

Using a large population-based cohort, the study examines links between maternal eating disorders and outcomes such as anorexia nervosa, attentional difficulties, and other psychiatric risks in offspring. The discussion highlights the role of genetic vulnerability, environmental exposure, and epigenetic mechanisms, offering a nuanced understanding of how risk is transmitted across generations.

The episode also considers important clinical implications, including the be...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, Clara Faria is joined by Dr. Ariadna Albajara-Saenz and Dr. Amirah Wahdi to discuss adolescent mental health in low- and middle-income countries, drawing on findings from a major cross-country study published in JCPP Advances. 

The conversation explores mental health measurement across 12 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, the challenges of comparing data across cultures, and why issues such as food insecurity, gender, and service access matter for global child and adolescent mental health research.

Together, they examine the importance of culturally sensitive mental health measures, t...

Welcome to Mind the Kids, exploring cutting-edge child and adolescent mental health research. In this episode host Clara Faria, a child psychiatry fellow, welcomes Professor Tamsin Ford, University of Cambridge to discuss over diagnosis.

The episode covers key surveys from Tamsin's group looking at data including ADHD and autism trends. Plus Clara and Tamsin talk about emotional disorder increases, rigorous multi-informant assessments, NHS waiting lists, school-based supports, private sector challenges, and AI's potential for equitable care. Don't miss this evidence-based discussion for parents, teachers, and professionals!

Get a free CPD/CME certificate for listening to...

Welcome to Mind the Kids, the ACAMH podcast where research meets real-world practice in child and adolescent mental health. In this episode, 'Anxiety, does the apple fall far from the tree?', Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Umar Toseeb explore whether anxiety runs in families, what the latest research says about clinically anxious parents and children’s anxiety disorders, and how genetic, environmental, and family factors may shape risk.

Joining them is Dr Sigrid Elfström, lead author of a population-based study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The conversation also looks at why dia...

What does it take to support children’s mental health and learning when their classrooms are in the middle of a conflict zone?

In this Mind the Kids episode ‘Delivering School Intervention: Culture, Context and Conflict’ we explore how research can really work for children and young people in the real world, not just on paper.

Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Umar Toseeb sit down with Professor Jean Francois Trani to delve into a classroom based psychosocial intervention delivered in rural Afghan primary schools during a period of political upheaval.

Together, they unpack how an...

Why do so many studies – and headlines – focus on what goes wrong in childhood, when some young people go through adversity and still find ways to thrive?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, 'Protecting Mental Health, the Power of Positive', Dr. Jamie Hanson talks to hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour and Prof Umar Toseeb, about how early life adversity, positive affect, and internalizing difficulties like anxiety and depression are connected over time, using data from the large ABCD cohort in the United States. They unpack what counts as “early life adversity” beyond classic ACEs, what psychologists really mean by...

Why do some teenagers seem permanently jet lagged, wide awake at midnight and exhausted at 8am? And what does that actually do to their mood, their learning, and their long term mental health?

In this episode of Mind the Kids, titled ‘Regular sleep, the balm of hurt minds’, Dr. Konstantin Drexl joins hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Umar Toseeb, to unpack the science of adolescent sleep: from what terms like chronotype, circadian rhythm and REM sleep really mean, to how sleep loss and anxiety feed into each other in everyday life.

Together, they explore why...

Children with mild intellectual difficulties are often overlooked, but the evidence suggests they may face real challenges in emotional wellbeing, behaviour and education, especially when support is patchy or late.

In this Mind the Kids episode, Dr. Foteini Tseliou joins hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour and Prof Umar Toseeb to discuss the paper 'Factors Associated with Better Emotional, Behavioural and Educational Outcomes in Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities'.

They highlight three big messages: many children with mild intellectual difficulties are in mainstream schools and may not be formally identified; peer relationships emerge as one of the...

AI chatbots can feel warm, human and tailored, but this brings real risks when the advice is wrong or incomplete, especially for vulnerable young people with eating or body-image concerns. 

In this Mind the Kids episode “Adolescence and Appearance. AI eat your words”, Dr. Florence Sheen talks to hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour and Prof Umar Toseeb.

They highlight three big issues: we rarely know what sources the chatbot is drawing on; there is no built‑in safeguarding link back to parents, schools or services; and its list‑style “here’s what to do” responses may particularly ap...

Trauma-informed and trauma-responsive care are at the heart of this thoughtful conversation about how we support children and young people who have experienced adversity.

In this Mind the Kids episode 'Trauma responsive care: It's all about me', hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Umar Toseeb, talk with Dr. Sarah Parry, University of Manchester, about what trauma actually is, how it overlaps with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and why simply “totting up” ACEs scores can miss the individual context and meaning of events for each young person.

They explore the principles that should underpin good practice with...

In this episode of Mind the Kids, hosts Dr Jane Gilmour, honorary consultant clinical psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL, and Professor Umar Toseeb, Professor of Psychology at the University of York, explore what happens when children and young people with severe or complex mental health difficulties are admitted to hospital.

Drawing on a powerful real-world case that sparked Umar’s interest, they ask: when is inpatient care really needed, what does a good ward environment look like, and how does admission affect young people and their families over time?

Jane and Umar ar...

For many families of autistic young people, leaving school feels less like a gentle transition and more like falling off a cliff into a fragmented, underfunded adult service system where no one is clearly in charge. In this Mind the Kids episode 'Navigating the service cliff - Supporting autistic youth transition into adulthood', Mark Tebbs speaks with Professor Julie Lowndes Taylor from Vanderbilt University Medical Center about ASSIST (Advocating for SupportS to Improve Service Transition), a 12‑week parent advocacy programme designed to equip families with the knowledge, skills and confidence to navigate that maze.​

Drawing on a larg...