Giving up the ghost: Findings on fathers and social work from a study of pre-birth child protection

This article reports findings from an ethnographic study of pre-birth child protection, conducted in an urban Scottish setting. The study was designed to explore the interactions between practitioners and families in the context of child protection involvement during a pregnancy. This research aimed to understand the activities that constituted pre-birth child protection assessment, and the meaning attached to those activities by social workers and expectant parents. Very different perspectives on fathers and fatherhood emerged through the study. Fathers shared their feelings of familial tenderness in the context of research interviews. Yet social workers often focused on the risks that the fathers posed. This focus on risk led professionals to ignore or exclude fathers in significant ways. Fathers were denied opportunities to take an active role in their families and care planning for their infants, whilst mothers were over-responsibilised. Children meanwhile were potentially denied the relationship, care and identity benefits of involved fatherhood. This article shows how pre-birth child protection processes and practice can function so as to limit the contribution of expectant fathers. The way that fathers and fathering are understood continues to be a wider problem for social work, requiring development through research and practice. This study was not immune to the challenge of involving men in social work research in meaningful ways. Nevertheless, the findings highlight how participation in social work research can create a forum for fathers to share their concerns, and the importance of their perspective for practice

The effects of COVID-19 on child mental health:Biannual assessments up to April 2022 in a clinical and two general population samples

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an acute impact on child mental and social health, but long-term effects are still unclear. We examined how child mental health has developed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic up to 2 years into the pandemic (April 2022).METHODS: We included children (age 8-18) from two general population samples (N = 222-1333 per measurement and N = 2401-13,362 for pre-covid data) and one clinical sample receiving psychiatric care (N = 334-748). Behavioral questionnaire data were assessed five times from April 2020 till April 2022 and pre-pandemic data were available for both general population samples. We collected parent-reported data on internalizing and externalizing problems with the Brief Problem Monitor and self-reported data on Anxiety, Depressive symptoms, Sleep-related impairments, Anger, Global health, and Peer relations with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®).RESULTS: In all samples, parents reported overall increased internalizing problems, but no increases in externalizing problems, in their children. Children from the general population self-reported increased mental health problems from before to during the pandemic on all six PROMIS domains, with generally worst scores in April 2021, and scores improving toward April 2022 but not to pre-pandemic norms. Children from the clinical sample reported increased mental health problems throughout the pandemic, with generally worst scores in April 2021 or April 2022 and no improvement. We found evidence of minor age effects and no sex effects.CONCLUSIONS: Child mental health in the general population has deteriorated during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, has improved since April 2021, but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Children in psychiatric care show worsening of mental health problems during the pandemic, which has not improved since. Changes in child mental health should be monitored comprehensively to inform health care and policy.</p

Herbal and nutritional supplement use among college students in Qatar

There is increasing demand for herbal and nutritional supplements in the Middle East. This study aimed to examine the use of supplements by college students in Qatar and to elucidate users' views about them. A total of 419 college students completed a self-administered questionnaire. Almost half of the respondents (49.6%) had used supplements (ever users), with 32.7% reporting using them in the previous 6 months (current users). Of the latter, 27.7% had used herbal supplements, 56.2% vitamins and minerals and 56.9% non-vitamin, non-mineral, non-herbal supplements. Many participants considered supplements to be safer and more effective than conventional medicines. Supplements were preferred over conventional medicines for the treatment of digestive conditions and common respiratory ailments and for weight management. Educating health-care providers about the benefits and risks of supplements is imperative and will enable health-care practitioners to guide patients in making informed decisions about supplement use.Scopu

The effects of COVID-19 on child mental and social health: biannual assessments up to April 2022 in a clinical and two general population samples

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had an acute impact on child mental and social health, but long-term effects are still unclear. We examined how child mental health has developed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic up to two years into the pandemic (April 2022). Methods We included children (age 8-18) from two general population samples (N = 222-1,333 per measurement and N = 2,401-13,362 for pre-covid data) and one clinical sample receiving psychiatric care (N = 334-748). Behavioral questionnaire data were assessed five times from April 2020 till April 2022 and pre-pandemic data were available for both general population samples. We collected parent-reported data on internalizing and externalizing problems with the Brief Problem Monitor and self-reported data on Anxiety, Depressive symptoms, Sleep-related impairments, Anger, Global health, and Peer relations with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®). Results In all samples, parents reported overall increased internalizing problems, but no increases in externalizing problems, in their children. Children from the general population self-reported increased mental health problems from before to during the pandemic on all six PROMIS domains, with generally worst scores in April 2021, and scores improving towards April 2022 but not to pre-pandemic norms. Children from the clinical sample reported increased mental health problems throughout the pandemic, with generally worst scores in April 2021 or April 2022 and no improvement. We found evidence of minor age effects and no sex effects. Conclusions Child mental health in the general population has deteriorated during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, has improved since April 2021, but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Children in psychiatric care show worsening of mental health problems during the pandemic, which has not improved since. Changes in child mental health should be monitored comprehensively to inform health care and policy