Editorial

Abstract

Welcome to this extended edition of Child Care in Practice presenting international studies which demonstrate the inter-linked and multi-faceted range of the subject of child care. It brings a broad selection of significant studies effective for informing practitioners, policy makers and researchers regarding a range of programmes—Kirby et al. (2021) provide a generally positive view regarding the outcomes of the “Hopeful Minds” programme delivered in schools in the north-west of Ireland. It provides an initial review of the impact of supporting the development of the concept of hope in adolescents which, although significant, deserves further research. Help-seeking behaviour is an indicator of wellbeing/social skills and resilience and is reflected in the article by Breslin et al (2021) exploring such behaviour, the variants arising between males and females, and how the parental role influences such positive social approaches. Caution is advised as the study highlights concerns where “help seeking” does not always result in “help receiving” indicating systemic issues of concern. Akerman et al (2020) explored a further programme in Sweden with foster carers of young people addressing mentalisation—the ability to reflect on their own and the child’s mental states through their interactions. The programme involved intensive sessions for fosters carers, the child, and support workers. The authors highlight interesting findings in that the foster carers’ view of the young person’s mental health was that there was no change, however, the young people’s perceptions were that there had been improvement in their mental health —the authors comment that this may emanate from the young people feeling they were “held in mind”, and observing the carers trying to mentalise what they were feeling was significant enough for the young person to feel some relief in their suffering. The authors comment that this highlights the need for significant input from young people in future studies. McKay et al. (2020) extends this territory further through domain-specific research into the way in which individuals think and feel about the past, present, and in particular the future, which presents a challenge to parents, public health, Local and National Governments, to name but a few groups. He and colleagues suggest, such messages concerning health, environment, academic and financial investment need to be argued and presented individually. McMenemy and Nicolas (2022) provide a fascinating exploration of resilience in families where a young adolescent (11–14 years) has a diagnosis of ADHD. This Canadian study of an under-researched area, identifies interesting sub themes: social misunderstanding of ADHD; supporting family addressing challenges which are both biological and social; families’ adjustment to life with a young person with ADHD; resisting getting labelled and putting together the “puzzle of their child”. This study highlights the narrowness of some definitions of resilience, that it is much more than individual characteristics and is a complex interplay of both physical, relational and environmental resources. It draws attention to parental views for professionals to view ADHD “as a complex, pervasive disability” and linked to the social model of