There has been renewed interest in elucidating the role of the endocannabinoid system on both brain development and psychological phenomena across the lifespan. In parallel to these efforts, the use of cannabis-related drugs for the treatment of psychiatric disorders in the community has increased considerably over the past several years. In an excellent research review article in JCPP, Tansey et al. provide a comprehensive overview of what the field of developmental psychopathology has learned about the endocannabinoid system. The purpose of this Editorial is to build upon the discussion around the current state of evidence for medicinal cannabis for psychiatric disorders, using Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorders as an illustrative example.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe eating disorder associated with drastic reductions in gray and white matter (WM) volume and structural connectivity alterations. However, the hypotheses regarding underlying mechanisms are inconclusive. The current study investigated the relationships of WM volume as well as WM network architecture with neurofilament light (NF-L), a marker of axonal damage.

We assessed the risk of anxiety disorders in children of clinically anxious parents, focusing on the influence of parent and child sex, parental care level, depressive comorbidity, and anxiety subtype, while controlling for socioeconomic factors and other parental psychiatric conditions.

Challenges in adaptive or daily functioning are inherent to diagnostic criteria for neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs). However, less is known regarding the influence of factors that may confound the association between NDCs and adaptive functioning. Therefore, we examined the associations between different NDCs and adaptive functioning while adjusting for co-occurring conditions, genetics, and shared environment.

This study elucidates the intricate relationship between stressful life events and the development of ADHD symptoms in children, acknowledging the considerable variability in individual responses. By examining these differences, we aim to uncover the unique combinations of factors contributing to varying levels of vulnerability and resilience among children.

Mounting evidence links increased adiposity during pregnancy and offspring risk for mental health disorders. Yet the mechanisms underlying this association remain poorly understood, limiting our ability to design effective interventions. We hypothesize that alterations in the kynurenine system of the pregnant woman help to explain this association.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) often emerge during childhood and adolescence, and two aetiological models have been proposed. According to the first model, maladaptive cognitive beliefs facilitate the transformation of transient intrusive thoughts into OCS. The second model suggests that dysfunctional cognitive beliefs develop in response to increased levels of OCS. Few studies have contrasted these models, and no study has used a prospective design.

Autistic children are typically late to develop their expressive vocabulary, but little is known about their early word learning process. This study compared three network growth models on their ability to account for the trajectories of expressive vocabulary acquisition in autistic and non-autistic children.

This study evaluated the efficacy of three interconnected parenting seminars delivered online and through schools in promoting positive parenting practices and improving children's social, emotional and behavioural wellbeing.

This study investigated the stability of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) classifications in a cohort of 304 siblings at elevated likelihood for autism (EL-siblings).

Social motor synchrony is critical for successful social interaction. It remains unclear whether autistic children exhibit distinct differences in intentional versus spontaneous social motor synchrony, as well as what underlying interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) mechanisms drive these potential differences.

Unblocking the translational path between science and practice is a major priority for the field of child psychology and psychiatry. I have recently argued that key to this, going forward, will be our ability to come up with new framings of old challenges that allow us to develop new theories, hypotheses, methods and interpretations. I called this creative seeking-out of different perspectives, paradigm flipping. In this editorial, I argue that incorporating young people with neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions into the heart of our science, as co-investigators and not just advisors, can promote effective paradigm flipping in a way that can invigorate our science. I illustrate this by highlighting a recent programme of research, Regulating Emotion and Strengthening Adolescent Resilience (RE-STAR), which demonstrated not only that such a radical participatory approach is possible but that it can change the way we do science in demonstrably positive ways.

Discrepancies between retrospective self-reports and official record data of child maltreatment (CM) are well-documented, yet few studies have examined how newer self-report instruments compare with record data or what factors influence inconsistencies across methods. This study addresses two primary aims: (1) to provide the first concordance estimates between prospective child protective services (CPS) records and the maltreatment and abuse chronology of exposure (MACE), a widely used retrospective CM assessment tool; and (2) to examine the influence of positive childhood experiences on discrepancies in CM assessment.

Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with familial risk for bipolar I disorder (BD) may represent a more severe illness conferring greater risk for developing BD, associated neurostructural substrates remain poorly understood. This study examined cerebellum structural alterations, which prior studies suggested may be associated with BD risk.

With high twin concordance and sibling recurrence risk, the influence of genetic factors in the etiology of autism is not disputed. The contribution of environmental risk to the etiology of autism is less well established. While the prevalence increase observed worldwide has fueled beliefs of an epidemic driven by environmental changes, the evidence for such interpretations of the secular change in prevalence is lacking (Fombonne, 2025). In epidemiological surveys, no clustering in time or space has been reported that could point to candidate exposures. Thus, observational (cohort and case-control) studies have been wide-ranging and exploratory rather than hypothesis-driven. In light of growing evidence of atypical development occurring in the first months of life (Dawson et al., 2023, Lancet Neurology, 22, 244), environmental risk research in autism has focused on prenatal or periconceptional exposures. In the last 20 years, a myriad of associations have been reported between autism risk and prenatal exposure to: pesticides, phthalates, air pollutants, maternal fever or infection during pregnancy, inter-pregnancy interval, lack of folic acid supplementation, vitamin D deficiency, maternal diet, advancing parental age, exposure to heavy metals, prenatal exposure to antidepressants, valproic acid, benzodiazepines, acetaminophen, maternal smoking, cannabis or alcohol use during pregnancy, maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain, prematurity, low birth weight, maternal immune activation, C-section, use of oxytocin, assisted reproductive technologies, and countless others. With few exceptions (advanced parental age, prenatal exposure to valproic acid), associations have not been replicated, or when they have, their causal nature has not been established.

There is limited evidence from systematic nationwide studies evaluating the impact of cannabis legalization on cannabis-related exposures among the pediatric population. Using the National Poison Data System (NPDS), we calculated the effects of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries on reported pediatric cannabis exposures.

Schools are important settings for intervention to improve mental health. Much school mental health research has focused on schools as an avenue to reach large numbers of young people with new interventions, added on top of what schools currently do. However, research is increasingly focused on changing the school system itself to improve mental health, with a growing emphasis on improving school climate. This article begins by exploring wider debates on the benefits and harms of school-based interventions, before focusing on school climate as a target for intervention. It reviews evidence from intervention studies and systematic reviews to understand effectiveness, how interventions reduce or amplify inequalities, and real-world impacts. School climate research has grown rapidly since the turn of the century. It remains difficult to define. Definitions vary in whether they include focus on physical environments and educational instruction. However, they converge on focus on positive relationships among a school community and safety. Several large trials of interventions to improve mental health, by improving school climate, have been conducted in a range of international contexts. While many have not been effective, recent trials provide evidence that interventions can improve school climate and mental health, as well as a range of risk behaviours. Few studies examine effects on inequalities in mental health, with tentative evidence that school climate interventions have been more effective for some groups than others (e.g., bigger effects for boys than for girls). Evidence on scalability and sustainability indicates that typically small effects from trials may not fully translate into real-world change. There is growing evidence that improving school climate interventions can improve child and adolescent mental health. More research is needed on how such interventions can contribute to reducing inequalities. Further work is needed to understand how effects translate into real-world public health impact.

Children with conduct problems are at elevated risk for negative psychosocial, educational, and behavioral outcomes. Identifying at-risk children can aid in providing timely intervention and prevention, ultimately improving their long-term outcomes. There is a need to develop screening tools to better identify at-risk children who may benefit from early intervention.

Increasing awareness of mental health problems, including that of young people, is generally seen as positive, and many interventions to increase awareness are underway internationally. Yet, a principled evaluation of the benefits and harms of increasing awareness is still lacking. Here, we present a conceptual framework for the evaluation of information interventions that are aimed at increasing public awareness of mental health problems. We borrow concepts from dynamic systems, such as infection spread and related population growth, to ask how benefits, but also harms of information on mental health, may accrue over time. We argue that as information spreads, several cascades of events are set off that involve members of the general public but also clinicians and healthcare services. These cascades entailinvolve positive and negative feedback loops. We discuss not only how increased diagnoses can lead to positive outcomes (e.g. increasing diagnostic rates and appropriate treatments in those who would otherwise have remained undiagnosed) but also how increased awareness can lead to decreases in diagnostic accuracy, to service overload, and how they may expose people to unnecessary or harmful treatments. We argue that the need for a framework founded on modelling societal dynamics is needed to ensure that both the benefits and the downsides of mental health information are accurately gauged and to help the planning of better public health campaigns.

Depressive symptoms and cardio-metabolic risk factors often co-occur. However, our understanding of the potential mechanisms and temporal dynamics underlying their co-development remains elusive.

Our aim was to update an existing model of communication ability for children with rare neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) by centring caregiver and family perspectives. This project is part of a larger initiative to improve the measurement of communication ability for these children in the context of clinical trials.

Material and emotional hardship during pregnancy can shape early brain development and behavior in infants. This study used the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural context in which such hardships were widespread, particularly in low-resource settings.

Behavioural parent training (BPT) has been recommended as part of multi-modal intervention strategies for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The evaluation of its effectiveness, however, is challenging, as meta-analyses have indicated a discrepancy between effects on most proximal (MPROX) and probably blinded (PBLIND) outcome measures. In this editorial perspective, we provide five hypotheses that may explain this discrepancy. The first three hypotheses assume that the MPROX-PBLIND discrepancy demonstrates that BPT does not reduce actual ADHD characteristics and that MPROX is picking up a false positive. The final two focus on the limitations of the PBLIND assessments reported in the meta-analyses and the assumption that they are giving false negatives. We conclude that a hybrid approach, integrating parent ratings and observational measures within a multimethod assessment approach, may provide a path forward. In conclusion, we argue that for parents and clinicians, parent ratings of ADHD characteristics and other parent- or child-rated outcomes, such as mental health, quality of life and general well-being, are more important than 'objective' symptom change, which encourages us to shift the focus from the control of symptoms to the promotion of general functioning and well-being.

The study by Hegemann et al. advances understanding of the genetic architecture underlying early neurodevelopmental traits by distinguishing direct and indirect genetic effects using Trio-GCTA and polygenic score models. Findings reveal that indirect genetic effects are particularly pronounced for hyperactivity and restricted and repetitive behaviors, while direct effects dominate in language and motor development. Notably, associations between parental cognitive and educational attainment polygenic scores and child outcomes suggest potential protective genetic influences. However, several methodological considerations may affect interpretation. Excluding closely related individuals could limit the detection of extended familial effects, and reliance on polygenic scores derived from predominantly European GWAS may constrain generalizability. Furthermore, current PGS explain only a portion of trait heritability, possibly underrepresenting true genetic contributions. Future studies incorporating extended family structures, diverse populations, and alternative methods to model gene-environment interplay are essential for refining insights into early neurodevelopmental processes.

Childhood adversity is associated with increased risks of long-term social welfare dependence in young adulthood. Mental health problems may mediate this relation, but evidence remains lacking.

Examining resilience to adversity across multiple behavioral domains (e.g., psychological well-being, social functioning) can better characterize positive development and inform novel prevention and intervention efforts. However, few studies have employed person-centered methods to examine individual profiles of resilience across multiple domains in youth. Further, research exploring contextual predictors of resilience has rarely used genetically informed designs, which are critical for eliminating potential confounds.

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet, it is a hidden disorder: it can go undetected for years and may not be uncovered until academic, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges begin to surface. In this review, we survey what is currently known about DLD across the lifespan, with a particular focus on its collateral effects in childhood and adulthood. We begin with a brief discussion of terminological issues that have contributed to the confusion about and lack of awareness of DLD. We then describe the development of DLD from infancy through adulthood, the ways in which its presentation shifts over time and with transitions to new developmental tasks and contexts, and some of the significant associated challenges outside of the language domain that are often faced by people with DLD. Next, we review current scientific knowledge about the neurobiological and genetic bases of DLD. In the final section, we provide an overview of some of the current best practices for screening and assessment and approaches to intervention for children, adolescents, and adults. We conclude by reflecting on challenges and opportunities for future research and offering some recommendations for clinical practice, particularly for mental health practitioners.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) poses a significant mental health challenge among adolescents, necessitating accessible and effective interventions. While the development of technology offers new opportunities, higher costs remain a concern. In this context, digital psychological interventions such as text message intervention (SMS) present a convenient and low-cost delivery method that requires no face-to-face contact. However, the extent to which this method could function as a viable strategy remains underexplored.

Given the long-term negative impact of exposure to military conflict, identifying its immediate psychological effects is crucial to develop prevention and intervention approaches, especially in adolescents, a group particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges.

This editorial perspective focuses on the complex relationship of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use ('vaping') with mental health problems. It is challenging to reliably determine the causal nature of these associations because both (e-)smoking and mental health problems generally arise during adolescence, and both are highly multifactorial in their aetiology. While there is now scientific consensus that cigarette smoking is a causal risk factor for mental health problems, there is still a scarcity of causal research and conclusions with respect to e-cigarette use. In order to more reliably determine whether and how (e-)smoking affects mental health, it is important to better understand the potential causal pathways. Here, we discuss the main biological mechanisms that might explain causal effects of smoking and e-cigarettes on mental health, including (neuro-)inflammation, oxidative stress and nicotine binding. We showcase informative studies that have been conducted using sophisticated causally informative study designs and identify in which areas robust causal knowledge is especially lacking. In future work, evidence 'triangulation', where different types of research methods are integrated to look for converging results, seems to be the most promising approach to obtain reliable causal evidence.