A review of the psychological, psychiatric, and social science literature revealed that parentification and role-reversal are terms that are used extensively, often without precise definition, although the implication is almost invariably that the process is pathogenic. An organismic rather than mechanistic view of the situation might suggest that, as is so often the case, whether the effects are adverse or not depends on a multitude of other factors. The final outcome for any individual can only be judged at the end of his or her life-span and the judgement will be largely subjective.

Child and adolescent deliberate self-harm is a common problem faced by medical services. In 1982 the Royal College of Psychiatrists recommended that certain guidelines be followed in all cases of child and adolescent self-harm. This paper examines to what extent these guidelines are being incorporated into child and adolescent self-harm policies in the West Midlands region. The implications of the findings are discussed for young people and the NHS Trusts who treat them.

This study set out to evaluate the treatment of 52 consecutive referrals to a Child and Family Centre. Mothers of referred children were interviewed before treatment and again 3 to 4 months later. The interview investigated the children's behaviour problems, their mothers' mental health and life quality, their attitudes and expectations of treatment, and their satisfaction with the treatment. Significant improvements were observed in children's behaviour problems, mothers' mental health, and some areas of the mothers' life quality. A significant correlation between the children's behaviour problems and their mothers' mental health was observed.

Interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A) is a short-term treatment for adolescents with major depression. Unlike most supportive, expressive forms of psychotherapy that are often used to treat depressed adolescents and are not standardised, IPT-A has a treatment manual available (Mufson et al., 1993) and specific training is required for the therapist. Unfortunately, there is no training centre yet in the U.K., although several groups, including ours, are developing expertise in IPT-A. This paper discusses the role of IPT-A, outlines the structure of sessions, and offers an analysis of the differences between this and other therapies.

Peers have both positive and negative influences on children; therefore, considerable attention has focused on assessing peer relationships and friendships through childhood and adolescence. The present article provides an overview of the main methods of assessing peer relationships. The adaptive nature of children's peer relations has been assessed through four main methodologies: (1) asking the children themselves about elements of peer relations and friendships; (2) asking children about their perceptions of others within the peer group; (3) asking adults (i.e. parents and teachers) about the peer relations skills of children in their care; and (4) directly observing children during interactions with peers. Each of these approaches is described, with attention to relative strengths and weaknesses and their suitability for assessing peer relations in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.

If you got into a train at Euston, and started travelling northwards towards Liverpool, it would be a great surprise if you finished up in Tunbridge Wells. I had the same sense of an impossible change of direction when I learned about Virginia Bottomley's early life and subsequent career. Her mother was a Conservative Education councillor, elected after Virginia Bottomley became an MP, but her uncle was a Labour Cabinet minister and she herself was the Labour candidate in her school's mock election. Then, in the hippy, radical, mid to late Sixties, she went on to read sociology at the University of Essex, surely the most radical of all the university campuses. After graduation, she went to work for Frank Field at the Child Poverty Action Group. Then on to the London School of Economics to train as a social worker, before employment as a full-time social worker for 10 years, first at Brixton and then at the Camberwell Child Guidance Unit. How on earth could all that lead to a safe Conservative seat in Surrey and then to two Cabinet posts in a Tory government, first as Secretary of State for Health and then as Secretary of State for National Heritage?