We propose that discussions of benzodiazepines in the current psychiatric literature have become negatively biased and have strayed from the scientific evidence base. We advocate returning to the evidence in discussing benzodiazepines and adhering to clear definitions and conceptual rigour in commentary about them.

The prevalence rate of behaviour problems and maternal mental disturbance was estimated using a sample of 1047 families with a 3-year-old child from a mixed urban/rural area.

Parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist, EAS Temperament Questionnaire, Weiss–Werry–Peters Activity Scale and the GHQ–30.

The rate of behaviour problems (13.2%) was similar to that obtained in studies of urban children. The rate of maternal disturbance (27.6%) was lower than in other population samples. Few differences were found in the prevalence rates in the urban and rural areas.

Preschool children and their parents living in non-urban areas had the same rates of problems as those in conurbations. The service needs of such families are similar regardless of locality.

Direct comparisons of the prognosis for treated depression in adult and elderly cohorts are few, but suggest higher morbidity and mortality in the elderly.

To examine outcome in two such groups after 4.5 years and compare results with those reported elsewhere.

Fifty-six adults (aged under 65) and 54 elderly people (over 65) with primary depression were assessed 4.5 years after receiving hospital treatment, and factors influencing the outcome were explored.

Recovery rates were higher in the adults than in the elderly (42.8% v. 24%), largely due to higher rates of death (33%) and dementia (14.8%) in the latter group, who also suffered more serious health problems (62.9% v. 28.5%). Survival analysis showed no difference in the recovery time between cohorts, with over 90% recovered after 25 weeks. After deducting the natural deaths, melancholic illness proved a poor outcome predictor in the adults.

The outlook for elderly depressed patients is poorer than for younger patients because of concurrent physical disease, a higher death rate and the development of dementia.

Screening for depression in older adults is recommended.

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Two-Question Screen for older adults and compare it with other screening instruments for depression.

We undertook a literature search for studies assessing the diagnostic performance of depression screening instruments in older adults. Combined diagnostic accuracy including sensitivity and specificity were the primary outcomes. Potential risks of bias and the quality of studies were also assessed.

A total of 46506 participants from 132 studies were identified evaluating 16 screening instruments. The majority of studies (63/132) used various versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and 6 used the Two-Question Screen. The combined sensitivity and specificity for the Two-Question Screen were 91.8% (95% CI 85.2–95.6) and 67.7% (95% CI 58.1–76.0), respectively; the diagnostic performance area under the curve (AUC) was 90%. The Two-Question Screen showed comparable performance with other instruments, including clinician-rated scales. The One-Question Screen showed the lowest diagnostic performance with an AUC of 78%. In subgroup analysis, the Two-Question Screen also had good diagnostic performance in screening for major depressive disorder.

The Two-Question Screen is a simple and short instrument for depression screening. Its diagnostic performance is comparable with other instruments and, therefore, it would be favourable to use it for older adult screening programmes.

Around 60 000 people in England live in mental health supported accommodation. There are three main types: residential care, supported housing and floating outreach. Supported housing and floating outreach aim to support service users in moving on to more independent accommodation within 2 years, but there has been little research investigating their effectiveness.

A 30-month prospective cohort study investigating outcomes for users of mental health supported accommodation.

We used random sampling, accounting for relevant geographical variation factors, to recruit 87 services (22 residential care, 35 supported housing and 30 floating outreach) and 619 service users (residential care 159, supported housing 251, floating outreach 209) across England. We contacted services every 3 months to investigate the proportion of service users who successfully moved on to more independent accommodation. Multilevel modelling was used to estimate how much of the outcome and cost variations were due to service type and quality, after accounting for service-user characteristics.

Overall 243/586 participants successfully moved on (residential care 15/146, supported housing 96/244, floating outreach 132/196). This was most likely for floating outreach service users (versus residential care: odds ratio 7.96, 95% CI 2.92–21.69, P < 0.001; versus supported housing: odds ratio 2.74, 95% CI 1.01–7.41, P < 0.001) and was associated with reduced costs of care and two aspects of service quality: promotion of human rights and recovery-based practice.

Most people do not move on from supported accommodation within the expected time frame. Greater focus on human rights and recovery-based practice may increase service effectiveness.

People bereaved by suicide are often reported to be distressed by media reporting. Current media guidelines for reporting suicide focus especially on prevention of copycat behaviour.

To explore bereaved individuals' experiences of media reporting after suicide and to examine their priorities in relation to media guidelines.

In-depth interviews with 40 people bereaved by suicide, with qualitative analysis. Review of four guidelines.

There is a difference of emphasis between guidance for the press that aims to prevent copycat suicides (especially avoidance of details such as method used) and the perspectives of bereaved people (who prioritise sympathetic and accurate reporting, sometimes including details of the death and images of the person who died). We found that bereaved relatives were sometimes keen to talk to the press. Those who were upset by the press focused on careless reporting, misquoting and speculation that gave an inaccurate impression of the death.

The Leveson Inquiry has drawn attention to the damage that can be caused by irresponsible journalism. Guidelines written to prevent ‘copycat’ suicides are important, but so are the needs of bereaved relatives. Because accuracy matters greatly to the bereaved, families should be able to work with an intermediary such as a police press officer to prepare a statement for the press to minimise the risk of misrepresentation.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) are often used concomitantly to treat social anxiety disorder (SAD), but few studies have examined the effect of this combination.

To evaluate whether adding escitalopram to internet-delivered CBT (ICBT) improves clinical outcome and alters brain reactivity and connectivity in SAD.

Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled neuroimaging trial of ICBT combined either with escitalopram (n = 24) or placebo (n = 24), including a 15-month clinical follow-up (trial registration: ISRCTN24929928).

Escitalopram+ICBT, relative to placebo+ICBT, resulted in significantly more clinical responders, larger reductions in anticipatory speech state anxiety at post-treatment and larger reductions in social anxiety symptom severity at 15-month follow-up and at a trend-level (P = 0.09) at post-treatment. Right amygdala reactivity to emotional faces also decreased more in the escitalopram+ICBT combination relative to placebo+ICBT, and in treatment responders relative to non-responders.

Adding escitalopram improves the outcome of ICBT for SAD and decreased amygdala reactivity is important for anxiolytic treatment response.

Chunking is a powerful encoding strategy that significantly improves working memory performance in normal young people.

To investigate chunking in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and in a control group of elderly people without cognitive impairment.

People with mild Alzheimer's disease (n = 28) were recruited and divided according to Mini-Mental State Examination score into mild and very mild disease groups. A control group of 15 elderly individuals was also recruited. All participants performed digit and spatial working memory tasks requiring either unstructured sequences or structured sequences (which encourage chunking of information) to be recalled.

The control group and both disease groups performed significantly better on structured trials of the digit working memory tasks, indicating successful use of chunking strategies to improve verbal working memory performance. The control and very mild disease groups also performed significantly better on structured trials of the spatial task, whereas those with mild disease demonstrated no significant difference between the structured and unstructured spatial conditions.

The ability to use chunking as an encoding strategy to improve verbal working memory performance is preserved at the mild stage of Alzheimer's disease, whereas use of chunking to improve spatial working memory is impaired by this stage. Simple training in the use of chunking might be a beneficial therapeutic strategy to prolong working memory functioning in patients at the earliest stage of Alzheimer's disease.