Georgie Fleming

Children with secondary callous-unemotional (CU) traits may need early intervention tailored to their specific risk factors & clinical features! Here, we tested if kids with CU +/- anxiety responded differently to parent training adapted for CU traits. rdcu.be/djtO0

But ultimately, a focus on 'gentle parenting' to the exclusion of parenting that also values the use of fair, calm, & predictable consequences does a profound disservice to kids, parents, & teachers sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

'Less physical discipline' & 'increased tangible rewards' were also significant mediators, but 'increased praise' was not. I agree with the authors that 'increased parental warmth & responsivity' is an important mediator to examine in future studies doi.org/10.1037/pas000…

'No consequences' parenting is also deeply unfair to kids, who thrive with structure & predictability. A recent meta-analysis found 'increased follow-through on discipline & 'reduced harsh verbal discipline' were the strongest mediators (explainers) of parenting program effects

Systematic narrative review supports links between early temperament factors at ages 0-3 years and callous-unemotional traits at ages 3-13 years, but calls for more research in this space @VivianChau rdcu.be/dXGca

@DrFranDoyle @arc_gov_au Yesss! Amazing news, sending you so many congratulations hugs!

I'm thrilled to share that my application for a @arc_gov_au Discovery Early Career Researcher Award #DECRA25 has been successful! This funding will allow us to discover how emotional reactivity develops in early childhood

Such a joy doing this @SSSpsychopathy pre-conference workshop in glorious Paphos, Cyprus with @EKimonis. I could think of much worse locations that’s for sure

All of this to say, I think our adapted treatments do offer hope to families of kids with CU traits. But we need to do more work to refine & evaluate putative mechanisms of change, which include parental warmth. I talk about this in more detail here: doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.1…

Two other things 1) Operationalising parental warmth is a tricky beast, so targeting it effectively in a treatment context is an evolving effort. 2) We don’t yet have good evidence that our treatments produce clinically meaningful improvement in CU traits among high CU kids!

One of the colleagues here—I should clarify that we target parental warmth bc good quality research indicates it protects against developing/worsening CU traits. BUT we have yet to show a) these treatments improve warmth, & b) improved warmth explains improved conduct problems

Why does the @NIMHgov website still omit information about two of the most common mental disorders of childhood: Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder? Parents of children with these disorders need help and information, too, @NIMHDirector. nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/…

Longitudinal evidence that children with primary and secondary callous-unemotional traits differ on adolescent outcomes. Secondary CU traits are associated with a more complex clinical profile and need to be considered within treatment contexts rdcu.be/dyZ7x

Twitter removing the titles of articles has broken this camel's back. Made the move... drgfleming.bsky.social

@MadelyneBisby @AmeliaJScott Y’all are putting out such top-notch research, Maddy! You absolutely love to see it

Proud to finally share this meta analysis of #CBT for depression & anx in chronic disease! CBT works, but important to run good research trials. Incredible work led by @AmeliaJScott sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

It is frustrating when a major publication like @TheAtlantic publishes an article about *psychopathy* and other 'dark' traits and then titles it: "The Sociopaths Among Us." Media: please stop doing this! Here is a primer on why the correct term is "psychopathy". @arthurbrooks

This could be our way out of MH crisis in adolescence (which then turns into adulthood)…yet stigma remains and the concept of parenting something that is innate rather than learned pervades. More support needed at earlier stages of development! 0,25% is shameful!

More funding is needed to learn about which parenting programs work. Parents can be essential change-agents in their children’s lives & when they have better support, chn do better. See paper published by members of the @PAFRA_Official alliance: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/17…

This is so important - children suffer when parents with mental illness are not supported. We must provide all parents with access to evidence-based parenting support, tailored to their needs and circumstances.

It is both possible and useful to assess prosocial emotions (callous-unemotional traits) in children as young as 2 using the Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions (CAPE). @_bneo @DrGFleming @EKimonis psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi…

The Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions (CAPE) is a structured professional judgement tool used to assess presence of callous-unemotional traits. This study supports its reliability, validity, & prognostic utility in N=232 2-8-year-olds. @_bneo psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pa…

SSSP is my favourite conference of the year. And in Cyprus?! Yes, thanks.