Cross-sectional studies report high levels of depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in youth and females. However, longitudinal research comparing depressive symptoms before and during the pandemic is lacking. Little is known about how the pandemic affected individuals with familial history of mental illness. The present study examines the impact of the pandemic on youth depressive symptoms, including offspring of parents with major mood and psychotic disorders.

Between March 2018 and February 2020, we measured depressive symptoms in 412 youth aged 5–25 years. We measured depressive symptoms again in 371 (90%) of these youth between April 2020 and May 2022. Two thirds (249) participants had a biological parent with a major mood or psychotic disorder. We tested the effect of the pandemic by comparing depression symptoms before and after March 2020. We examined age, sex, and family history as potential moderators.

We found an overall small increase in youth depressive symptoms (b = 0.07, 95% CI −0.01 to 0.15, p = 0.062). This was driven by an increase in female youth without familial history of mental illness (b = 0.35, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.56, p = 0.001). There was no change in depressive symptoms among offspring of parents with mental illness or males.

Our results provide reassurance about the wellbeing of children of parents with mental illness during a period of restricted access to resources outside the family. Rather than increasing symptoms in established risk groups, the pandemic led to a redistribution of depression burden towards segments of the youth population that were previously considered to be low-risk.

Parents of medically complex children juggle unique demands associated with caring for chronically ill children, many of which negatively impact their mental wellbeing. Despite this, parents of medically complex children often forgo mental health support due to concerns with costs, time, stigma, and accessibility. There is limited research on evidence-based interventions addressing such barriers for these caregivers. We piloted an adapted version of Mood Lifters, a peer-led wellness program, to equip parents of medically complex children with evidence-based strategies to manage their mental health while also reducing barriers to support. We hypothesized parents would find Mood Lifters to be feasible and acceptable. Further, parents would experience improvements in mental wellbeing upon program completion.

We conducted a single-arm prospective pilot study to assess Mood Lifters for parents of medically complex children. Participants included 51 parents in the U.S. recruited from a local pediatric hospital providing care for their children. Caregiver mental wellbeing was assessed through validated questionnaires pre-intervention (T1) and post-intervention (T2). Repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate change between T1 and T2.

Analyses from T1 and T2 (n = 18) revealed improvements in parents’ depression (F(1,17) = 7.691, p = 0.013) and anxiety (F(1,17) = 6.431, p = 0.021) after program completion. Improvements in perceived stress and positive and negative emotion were significant at p < 0.0083.

Parents of medically complex children experienced improved mental health upon participating in Mood Lifters. Results offer preliminary support for the feasibility and acceptability of Mood Lifters as an evidence-based care option that may also alleviate common barriers to care.

Two longitudinal studies have shown that depressive symptoms in women with eating disorders might improve in the antenatal and early postnatal periods. No study has followed up women beyond 8 months postnatal.

To investigate long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms in mothers with lifetime self-reported eating disorders.

Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and multilevel growth curves we modelled trajectories of depressive symptoms from the 18th week of pregnancy to 18 years postnatal in women with lifetime self-reported anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or both anorexia and bulimia nervosa. As sensitivity analyses we also investigated these trajectories using quintiles of a continuous measure of body image in pregnancy.

Of the 9276 women in our main sample, 126 (1.4%) reported a lifetime diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, 153 (1.6%) of bulimia nervosa and 60 (0.6%) of both anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Women with lifetime eating disorders had greater depressive symptoms scores than women with no eating disorders, before and after adjustment for confounders (anorexia nervosa: 2.10, 95% CI 1.36–2.83; bulimia nervosa: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.61–2.94, both anorexia and bulimia nervosa: 2.86, 95% CI 1.81–3.90). We also observed a dose–response association between greater body image and eating concerns in pregnancy and more severe trajectories of depressive symptoms, even after adjusting for lifetime eating disorders which also remained independently associated with greater depressive symptoms.

Women with eating disorders experience persistently greater depressive symptoms across the life-course. More training for practitioners and midwives on how to recognise eating disorders in pregnancy could help to identify depressive symptoms and reduce the long-term burden of disease resulting from this comorbidity.

To develop evidence-based materials which provide information and support for parents who are concerned about their baby’s excessive crying. As well as meeting these parents’ needs, the aim was to develop a package of materials suitable for use by the UK National Health Service (NHS).

Parents report that around 20% of infants in Western countries cry excessively without an apparent reason during the first four months of age. Traditionally, research has focused on the crying and its causes. However, evidence is growing that how parents evaluate and respond to the crying needs to receive equal attention. This focus encompasses parental resources, vulnerabilities, well-being and mental health. At present, the UK NHS lacks a set of routine provisions to support parents who are concerned about their baby’s excessive crying. The rationales, methods and findings from a study developing materials for this purpose are reported.

Following a literature review, 20 parents whose babies previously cried excessively took part in focus groups or interviews. They provided reports on their experiences and the supports they would have liked when their baby was crying excessively. In addition, they identified their preferred delivery methods and devices for accessing information and rated four example support packages identified by the literature review.

During the period their baby cried excessively, most parents visited a health service professional and most considered these direct contacts to have provided helpful information and support. Websites were similarly popular. Telephones and tablets were the preferred means of accessing online information. Groups to meet other parents were considered an important additional resource by all the parents. Three package elements – a Surviving Crying website, a printed version of the website and a programme of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy-based support sessions delivered to parents by a qualified practitioner, were developed for further evaluation.