Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
January 1, 2013
Georg Northoff
82 citations
The self or subject of experience has been a philosophical concept, later adopted by psychoanalysis as the ego, and is now investigated through brain imaging. This article discusses philosophical concepts of self, complements them with neuroscientific data on self and self-reference, and directly compares both accounts while highlighting their relevance for psychoanalysis of self and ego.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
June 4, 2025
Sarah Forsberg, Amanda E. Downey, Lindsey D Bruett et al.
5 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is gaining interest for treating mental health conditions in adolescents, but safe and effective delivery requires careful consideration of caregiver involvement. Caregivers are essential in adolescent mental health treatment, supporting recovery and disrupting illness-maintaining patterns, while also needing resources to manage caregiving challenges. This review synthesizes evidence from adolescent mental health treatments, PAT best practices, and family systems theory to propose a framework for integrating caregivers into adolescent PAT. The family system is a critical setting that may shape PAT efficacy, analogous to the therapeutic setting (set and setting). Recommendations are provided for incorporating caregivers into PAT protocols to maximize safety and efficacy.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
September 16, 2023
Florian Vock, Lydia Johnson-Ferguson, Laura Bechtiger et al.
3 citations
Sexual minority youth (SMY) and heterosexual youth differ in substance use rates, with SMY-females showing higher use of cannabis, ecstasy/MDMA, and hallucinogens at age 17, and also tobacco and stimulants by age 20. SMY-males reported lower tobacco and cannabis use at age 17 but higher ecstasy/MDMA and hallucinogen use at age 20. Psychosocial factors such as internalizing symptoms, self-control, and peer influences partly explain these differences. The findings highlight the need for targeted prevention, especially for SMY-females early in life.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
March 10, 2026
Christine K. Moore, Henry Riordan, Rolana Avrumson et al.
1 citation
Psychedelic therapies show promise for adult mental health conditions, and there is growing interest in testing them in adolescents, who often experience these disorders earlier in life. Regulatory agencies are expected to require trials in younger populations after adult approvals. This paper outlines key considerations for designing and conducting such trials, including safeguards and best practices tailored to adolescents. It builds on adult trial methods and emphasizes increased psychological support and rigorous oversight. The goal is to ensure future adolescent trials are safe, ethical, and meet high scientific and regulatory standards, fostering patient-focused dialogue.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
March 8, 2026
Maite Armanino-Irigaray, Ana Catalán, Claudia Aymerich et al.
1 citation
Among adolescents with early-onset psychosis, about 14% have used hallucinogens, and such use is linked to more complex clinical trajectories including higher rates of suicidality, conduct disorder, reduced educational attainment, and need for depot antipsychotic treatment. In the general adolescent population, hallucinogen use shows only weak and inconsistent associations with psychotic or manic symptoms, which largely disappear after accounting for other drug use and genetic vulnerability. The findings suggest hallucinogens are not an isolated causal trigger for psychosis but may worsen symptoms in youth with neurodevelopmental or genetic predispositions.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
March 13, 2026
Marc-Antoine Crocq, Philippe Auby
The recent approval of esketamine for adults has renewed interest in psychedelic compounds for psychiatric use, but their relevance for children and adolescents is unclear. This review examines the rationale for investigating classic serotonergic psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin, LSD), the entactogen MDMA, and dissociative compounds like ketamine and esketamine in young populations. Ongoing and planned trials primarily involve adolescents aged 16 years and older, driven by unmet needs in child and adolescent psychiatry, where few medications are approved and therapeutic response is often unsatisfactory. Potential targets include anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorder symptoms, obsessive-compulsive disorder, resistant depression, and severe PTSD. Translation to pediatric populations requires caution due to developmental vulnerabilities and limited long-term safety data.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
February 24, 2026
David Sjöström, Emma Claesdotter-Knutsson, Petri Kajonius
Adolescents aged 18–24 who use classical psychedelics report more adverse outcomes—including confusion, fear, and negative personality change—than adults aged 25 and older, even after accounting for personality traits. Positive effects such as meaningfulness, mystical-type experiences, and relationship improvements do not differ between age groups. Neuroticism explains more of the variation in adverse outcomes than age does. The findings suggest that while adolescents may gain similar positive benefits from psychedelics as adults, they may be more vulnerable to negative effects, highlighting the need for further longitudinal research on developmental stage and individual differences.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
July 5, 2026
Hongbo Zhao, Hongxin Huang
Anxiety commonly emerges during adolescence, often coinciding with secondary school years. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) provide short-term anxiety reduction in young people, but whether benefits persist after treatment ends has been unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials involving 9,856 adolescents aged 10–19 years found that MBIs produced a modest reduction in anxiety symptoms at follow-up assessments conducted at least 3 months after the intervention. The effect was moderate at 3–6 months but very small at 6 months or longer. Evidence for effects lasting 6 months or more was limited and of low certainty, making it insufficient to draw firm conclusions about long-term maintenance.