Lisa Bunting

BackgroundAttenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) represent subclinical experiences that may precede psychotic disorders and reflect broader psychopathology. Guided by the affective pathway hypothesis, this study examined potential indirect effects of depression and anxiety on associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), bullying, and APS in adolescents. Secondary aims were to assess the role of benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) and the influence of parental mental health. MethodsData were drawn from the Northern Ireland Youth Wellbeing Survey (N = 1,299; aged 11–19 years). Using structural equation modelling (SEM) with bootstrapped standard errors, bullying, ACEs, BCEs, and parental psychological distress (GHQ-12) were entered as predictors of APS (PQ-16) through depression and anxiety latent variables (RCADS subscales). BCEs were modelled using linear and quadratic terms to test potential curvilinear protective effects. ResultsThe SEM demonstrated good fit (CFI = .921, TLI = .901, RMSEA = .054, SRMR = .042). Bullying and ACEs significantly predicted higher depression and anxiety, while BCEs exerted linear and quadratic protective effects. Depression and anxiety significantly predicted APS and served as indirect pathways linking bullying and ACEs to APS. BCEs and parental distress demonstrated smaller protective and negative effects, respectively. ConclusionsFindings are consistent with the affective pathway to psychosis, suggesting early adversity may contribute to APS via internalising symptoms. Depression showed the largest indirect association, underscoring the need for early detection and intervention targeting comorbid affective symptoms. Fostering benevolent experiences and adopting trauma-informed, intergenerational approaches may mitigate risk and strengthen resilience.

Background: This paper reports on the development and validation of the 15‐item Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a brief, psychometrically validated measure assessing parents' beliefs confidence, and concerns about their very young children's use of digital technologies. Method: Developed as part of the UK‐wide Toddlers, Tech and Talk (TTT) study, PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to 3 years, a stage often overlooked in digital parenting literature. Co‐developed with parents and early years experts, the scale was tested with a nationally balanced UK sample ( N = 934). Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four‐factor structure: perceived risks, perceived learning benefits, parental confidence and technology‐related anxiety. The PADTS showed strong model fit and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and region, with some variation by child age. Correlational analyses indicated that benefits, perceptions and confidence were associated with supportive digital parenting, while anxiety was more weakly linked. Conclusion: PADTS shows potential as a practical tool for researchers, practitioners and policy‐makers and may support a more nuanced understanding of how parental attitudes shape early digital experiences.

Introduction: Universal screening using measures of mental health symptoms is discounted by UK schools due to stakeholder concerns. This is a preliminary study of the psychometric properties of a new Brief Positive School Experiences (B-PSEs) scale, devised to assess associations between cumulative positive school experiences (PSEs) and adolescent mental health as part of a PhD project that explored PSEs count as a potential proxy measure of adolescent mental health risk. Methods: Five teachers developed a brief 19-item PSEs measure. 460 adolescents (aged 14–16) completed a survey based on these items and items measuring mental health ( N = 460). Exploratory factor analysis and measures of internal consistency assessed the scale’s preliminary psychometric properties. Results: The B-PSEs scale demonstrated a three-factor structure; (1) Coping with school demands; (2) School belonging, safety and support; and (3) Equity and low social adversity. Composite reliability was measured at 0.91. Conclusion: The B-PSEs scale is a reliable measure with a robust factor structure and PSEs scores measured using the scale have demonstrated associations with adolescent mental health outcomes.

As digital technologies have become increasingly embedded in daily family life, there has been a growing international concern about children's protection, provision and participation rights in a digital environment. Recognising this, the Committee on the Rights of the Child published General Comment No. 25 Children's Rights in Relation to the Digital Environment (CRC, 2021), giving detailed advice on implementation issues in this area and calling for up‐to‐date research about children's digital lives. This paper makes a significant contribution to that much‐needed knowledge base by reporting the findings of an online survey conducted with parents and legal guardians (n = 1444) (hereafter parents) of children aged 0–36 months across socially and ethnically diverse families in the four UK nations. The survey represented phase one of a larger three‐phase project, ‘Toddlers, Tech and Talk’, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which aimed to build an empirically robust body of knowledge about how 0‐3‐year‐olds' lives intersect with digital technologies at home in socially and ethnically diverse families in inner‐city, urban and rural communities. The survey found that nearly all family homes have Wi‐Fi connection, that many homes have a wide range of digital devices and that very young children engage in a wide range of digital activities both with their parents and on their own. Parents' mediation practices are shaped by parental digital practices and attitudes, with concomitant implications for children's digital rights. Implications are highlighted.

Institutional abuse, brought to our attention through high-profile abuse scandals, is recognized as a prevalent feature of institutional living. Risk assessment frameworks tend to focus on organizational-level features of institutional care such as staff training and support. This article draws attention to the significance of socio-economic factors in understanding institutional abuse of older people in Northern Ireland. By conducting a secondary analysis on routinely collected Adult Safeguarding referrals for institutional abuse in Northern Ireland, we explored the impact of socio-economic conditions on rates and outcomes of adult institutional abuse. Our findings indicate that if you live within a residential facility in an area with higher levels of deprivation, you are considerably more likely to be subject to an Adult Safeguarding referral, and the progress of that referral in terms of investigation and levels of support, may differ from those individuals living in facilities within areas of low deprivation. Further research is needed to identify how institutional abuse may be impacted by welfare inequalities. To our knowledge, this is the first time institutional abuse cases have been explored in relation to deprivation. Our findings can potentially inform social work practice and policy development in this area.

An understanding of the prevalence and risk factors of parental mental health problems is important for early intervention and prevention measures and shaping services for parents and their children. However, large representative surveys of parental mental health problems and associated risk factors are lacking. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence rates of parental mental health problems using a standardised measure of psychiatric morbidity (General Health Questionnaire; GHQ‐12), in a representative sample of parents and caregivers of children and young people (2–19 years) in Northern Ireland. Further, this study explored associated risk factors of parental mental health problems. A random household survey of parents and children was conducted between June 2019 and March 2020. Parental responses on demographic, economic, familial and psychological measures were collected (N = 2815) and 22% of parents and caregivers screened positive for mental health problems. The STROBE checklist for observational research was adhered to. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that being in receipt of benefits, having poor family support, a history of adverse childhood experiences, a history of exposure to politically motivated violence (the Troubles), and a child with conduct problems and poor health were all independent risk factors of increased parental mental health problems. Findings will help to inform future commissioning and development of services and broaden understanding of the correlates of parental mental health problems.

Whilst studies of child welfare inequalities have identified the impact of socio-economic deprivation on child protection rates, little is known about how this relates to intervention with adults who have care and support needs. This article examines the impact of area-level deprivation on adult safeguarding (AS) rates in Northern Ireland (NI). Routinely gathered statistics for community AS referrals (2015–2017) were linked to area-level deprivation across NI using service users’ postcode. The relationship between deprivation and the screening, investigation and safeguarding planning stages of intervention was examined. Our analysis identified a clear social gradient in relation to AS referrals; the higher the level of deprivation, the higher the rates of AS screening and protection plans. Findings for investigations showed more variability. Further research is needed to explore the factors associated with areas of high deprivation that shape AS social work responses. To our knowledge, this is the first time AS rates have been explored in relation to deprivation. The study findings, that structural factors play a significant role in AS interventions, will help to determine how and where social work interventions are best focused, helping to shape policy and AS theory.

Longitudinal research in England and Wales has identified increasing inequality in child welfare interventions, particularly with respect to children in the poorest areas coming into care. Although previous cross-sectional research has shown associations between area level deprivation and child welfare interventions to be weakest in Northern Ireland (NI), it remains unknown if this reflects wider trends over time. This study uses longitudinal administrative data to investigate the relationship between area level deprivation and the (1) referral, (2) investigation, (3) registration and (4) looked after stages of children’s contact with child and family social work from 2010 to 2017 (stages 1–3) and 2020 (stage 4). Both relative and absolute measures of inequality (Ratio of Inequality, Slope Index of Inequality and Relative Index of Inequality) were calculated to examine trends. The results highlight a clear and increasing social gradient in child welfare interventions in NI over time, particularly at the higher levels of intervention and those involving children aged 0–4 years. Routine analysis of children’s social care caseloads by deprivation is highlighted as a means of focusing attention on poverty and material inequality, prompting practitioners, managers and policy makers to consider the drivers of such inequality and how this might be addressed.

This case study drawn from our collective experience in Northern Ireland presents a relatively unique approach that considers the role of wider contextual and organisational factors in supporting or inhibiting research into social work and social care practice. It has been written by members of the Building A Research Community Group (hereafter referred to as Research Community) established in 2019. The Research Community was built on the premise that partnership and co-production working between service delivery organisations, researchers and academia, and service users and carers is an essential underpinning to effective ‘practitioner research’, just as it is to the development of robust practitioner-relevant education and training. Using our experience over the last decade, we argue that bridging the gap between scientific evidence and practice requires leadership and the development of a supportive organisational culture that is receptive to learning and change. Highlighting both successes and challenges, along a journey spanning from 2014, we focus on the importance of developing a research strategy and realistic implementation plan accompanied by resource allocation. By sharing our journey in this case study, we hope that others across other geographical contexts can learn from our experience and are encouraged to share their own experiences.