Transforming research on morphology into teacher practice

Research suggests that the explicit teaching of morphological principles will improve children’s spelling. Despite the fact that reference is made to morphology in English policy documents, teachers make limited use of morphology when teaching spelling, relying more heavily on phonic and visual strategies. After attending a course on role of morphemes in spelling, teachers’ own awareness of morphology increased and this was reflected in their practice. This in turn caused their pupils to make significant gains in spelling, compared to a control group. This reinforces the proposition that explicit instruction about morphemes is helpful to children’s learning. It demonstrates the fact that research can be transformed into teacher practice, but it also illustrates the difficulties. Policy documentation alone is insufficient. Professional development can effect change but this may be hard to sustain. Children’s gains are contingent on teacher’s continuing to dedicate class time to focussed intervention

‘Just like talking to someone about like shit in your life and stuff, and they help you’: hopes and expectations for therapy among depressed adolescents

Objective: To explore hopes and expectations for therapy among a clinical population of depressed adolescents. Method: As part of a randomised clinical trial, 77 adolescents aged 11 to 17, with moderate to severe depression, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. The interviews were analysed qualitatively, using Framework Analysis. Results: The findings are reported around five themes: “The difficulty of imagining what will happen in therapy”, "the 'talking cure'"; “the therapist as doctor”, “therapy as a relationship” and “regaining the old self or developing new capacities”. Conclusions: Differing expectations are likely to have implications for the way young people engage with treatment, and failure to identify these expectations may lead to a risk of treatment breakdown

Agricultural perspectives on the 2015-2018 Western Cape drought, South Africa : characteristics and spatial variability in the core wheat growing regions

Between 2015 and 2018, the Western Cape Province of South Africa experienced a multi-year severe drought, which negatively impacted major economic sectors. The province serves as an important producer of wheat in South Africa among other agricultural commodities. This study aims to analyze the 2015-2018 drought and its impacts on wheat production in the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape, South Africa. The central focus is to place the drought in both a historical and future context while emphasising the differences between the two core wheat growing regions. We present an analysis of the drought, as well as climate trends computed from weather data sets (1988–2018) from six weather stations across the two core wheat-growing. We first present a meteorological drought analysis of mean annual and seasonal rainfall and temperatures, subsequently providing an agricultural lens by computing Standardised Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) accumulated over 12- and 36-month timescales, self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (sc-PDSI), changes to the start and end of the rainfall season, and their effects on wheat yields. Trend analysis was conducted to determine if drought observations form part of the longer-term trends in the region. Finally, we show how the drought varied spatially across the two regions. Results show that between 1988 and 2018, the wheat growing areas of the Western Cape experienced persistent drought with high spatial-temporal variability. The 2015-2018 drought, however, was the most severe experienced in the 30-year study period at five of the six stations. These results are consistent with conditions that can be expected under future climate change. Moreover, results can be useful for the development of early warning systems since they place the drought in the context of past drought conditions.The Agriculture Research Council's Professional Development Programhttps://www.elsevier.com/locate/agrformethj2022Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Using SPI and SPEI for baseline probabilities and seasonal drought prediction in two agricultural regions of the Western Cape, South Africa

Drought is one of the most hazardous natural disasters in terms of the number of people directly affected. An important characteristic of drought is the prolonged absence of rainfall relative to the long-term average. The intrinsic persistence of drought conditions continuing from one month to the next can be utilized for drought monitoring and early warning systems. This study sought to better understand drought probabilities and baselines for two agriculturally important rainfall regions in the Western Cape, South Africa – one with a distinct rainfall season and one which receives year-round rainfall. The drought indices, Standardised Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI), were assessed to obtain predictive information and establish a set of baseline probabilities for drought. Two sets of synthetic time-series data were used (one where seasonality was retained and one where seasonality was removed), along with observed data of monthly rainfall and minimum and maximum temperature. Based on the inherent persistence characteristics, autocorrelation was used to obtain a probability density function of the future state of the various SPI start and lead times. Optimal persistence was also established. The validity of the methodology was then examined by application to the recent Cape Town drought (2015–2018). Results showed potential for this methodology to be applied in drought early warning systems and decision support tools for the province.https://www.watersa.netGeography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

“Did I bring it on myself?” An exploratory study of the beliefs that adolescents referred to mental health services have about the causes of their depression

Background: The causal beliefs which adults have regarding their mental health difficulties have been linked to help-seeking behaviour, treatment preferences and the outcome of therapy; yet the topic remains a relatively unexplored one in the adolescent literature. Aims: This exploratory study aims to explore the causal beliefs regarding depression among a sample of clinically referred adolescents. Design: 77 adolescents, aged between 11 and 17, all diagnosed with moderate to severe depression, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule, at the beginning of their participation in a randomised controlled trial. Data were analysed qualitatively using Framework Analysis. Findings: The study identified three themes related to causal beliefs: 1) Bewilderment about why they were depressed; 2) Depression as a result of rejection, victimisation and stress; and 3) Something inside is to blame. Conclusion: Although some adolescents struggled to identify the causes of their depression, many identified stressful life experiences as the cause of their current depression. They also tended to emphasise their own negative ways of interpreting those events, and some believed that their depression was caused by something inside them. Adolescents’ causal beliefs are likely to have implications for the way they seek help and engage in treatment, making it important to understand how adolescents understand their difficulties

In Context: Lessons About Adolescent Unipolar Depression From the Improving Mood With Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Therapies Trial

This review paper summarizes the results of the Improving Mood with Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Therapies (IMPACT) study and its implications for psychological treatment of adolescents with moderate to severe unipolar major depression. IMPACT was a pragmatic, superiority, randomized controlled trial conducted in the United Kingdom, which compared the clinical and cost-effectiveness of short-term psychoanalytic therapy (STPP), cognitive−behavioral therapy (CBT), and a brief psychosocial intervention (BPI) in reducing depression symptoms in 465 adolescents with unipolar major depression, aged 11 to 17 years. Although this was a clinically heterogeneous group of adolescents, some symptoms (eg, sleep and concentration difficulties, irritability/anger) were common and disabling. The trial reported no significant difference among the 3 treatments in reducing depression symptoms. One year after treatment, 84% of participants showed improvement in depressive symptoms (<50% of baseline symptoms) and improved psychosocial functioning, achieving this through different symptom reduction trajectories. Although participants attended fewer treatment sessions than planned, the 3 treatments were delivered with fidelity to their respective models. Ending treatment without therapist agreement occurred in 37% of cases. This was not associated with outcomes by treatment group. Adolescents emphasized the importance of the therapeutic relationship in all 3 treatments. Results suggest that although most adolescents respond to time-limited, structured psychological therapy, subgroups of depressed adolescents are likely to need additional treatment or support. These include adolescents who live in complex circumstances and/or who believe that their needs are not met in therapy, some who stop treatment early, and the 16% to 18% of adolescents who do not respond to treatment

Cognitive behavioural therapy and short-term psychoanalytical psychotherapy versus a brief psychosocial intervention in adolescents with unipolar major depressive disorder (IMPACT): a multicentre, pragmatic, observer-blind, randomised controlled superiority trial.

$\textbf{BACKGROUND}$: Psychological treatments for adolescents with unipolar major depressive disorder are associated with diagnostic remission within 28 weeks in 65-70% of patients. We aimed to assess the medium-term effects and costs of psychological therapies on maintenance of reduced depression symptoms 12 months after treatment. $\textbf{METHODS}$: We did this multicentre, pragmatic, observer-blind, randomised controlled superiority trial (IMPACT) at 15 National Health Service child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) clinics in three regions in England. Adolescent patients (aged 11-17 years) with a diagnosis of DSM IV major depressive disorder were randomly assigned (1:1:1), via a web-based randomisation service, to receive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or short-term psychoanalytical therapy versus a reference brief psychological intervention. Randomisation was stochastically minimised by age, sex, self-reported depression sum score, and region. Patients and clinicians were aware of group allocation, but allocation was concealed from outcome assessors. Patients were followed up and reassessed at weeks 6, 12, 36, 52, and 86 post-randomisation. The primary outcome was self-reported depression symptoms at weeks 36, 52, and 86, as measured with the self-reported Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). Because our aim was to compare the two psychological therapies with the brief psychosocial intervention, we first established whether CBT was inferior to short-term psychoanalytical psychotherapy for the same outcome. Primary analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN83033550. $\textbf{FINDINGS}$: Between June 29, 2010, and Jan 17, 2013, we randomly assigned 470 patients to receive the brief psychosocial intervention (n=158), CBT (n=155), or short-term psychoanalytical therapy (n=157); 465 patients comprised the intention-to-treat population. 392 (84%) patients had available data for primary analysis by the end of follow-up. Treatment fidelity and differentiation were established between the three interventions. The median number of treatment sessions differed significantly between patients in the brief psychosocial intervention group (n=6 [IQR 4-11]), CBT group (n=9 [5-14]), and short-term psychoanalytical therapy group (n=11 [5-23]; p<0·0001), but there was no difference between groups in the average duration of treatment (27·5 [SD 21·5], 24·9 [17·7], 27·9 [16·8] weeks, respectively; Kruskal-Wallis p=0·238). Self-reported depression symptoms did not differ significantly between patients given CBT and those given short-term psychoanalytical therapy at weeks 36 (treatment effect 0·179, 95% CI -3·731 to 4·088; p=0·929), 52 (0·307, -3·161 to 3·774; p=0·862), or 86 (0·578, -2·948 to 4·104; p=0·748). These two psychological treatments had no superiority effect compared with brief psychosocial intervention at weeks 36 (treatment effect -3·234, 95% CI -6·611 to 0·143; p=0·061), 52 (-2·806, -5·790 to 0·177; p=0·065), or 86 (-1·898, -4·922 to 1·126; p=0·219). Physical adverse events (self-reported breathing problems, sleep disturbances, drowsiness or tiredness, nausea, sweating, and being restless or overactive) did not differ between the groups. Total costs of the trial interventions did not differ significantly between treatment groups. $\textbf{INTERPRETATION}$: We found no evidence for the superiority of CBT or short-term psychoanalytical therapy compared with a brief psychosocial intervention in maintenance of reduced depression symptoms 12 months after treatment. Short-term psychoanalytical therapy was as effective as CBT and, together with brief psychosocial intervention, offers additional patient choice for psychological therapy, alongside CBT, for adolescents with moderate to severe depression who are attending routine specialist CAMHS clinics.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, and the Department of Health