Centre for Child, Adolescent & Family Research Conference

Keynote 1: The puzzle of self-regulation: developmental contexts to nurture it.

Kathy Sylva, University of Oxford

Abstract

This talk will explore self-regulation in early childhood, especially ways that families and nurseries support its development.

Self-regulation is a messy construct, broader than executive function and consisting of both ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ aspects. It enables children to exert control over attention, thinking, behaviour, social interactions and emotional reactions despite contrary impulses or distractions. 

The talk will centre on three film clips: a father and daughter building a tower together at home, a preschool teacher helping children solve a conflict over a toy, and finally a child learning about physics and their own capabilities while playing alone on a balance beam. 

The central question will be the contribution of guided play to children’s development, and the price society may pay for over-structuring the play of young children.

Interventions at home and preschool to support self-regulation will be critically discussed. 

Speaker Bio:

Kathy Sylva is Professor of Educational Psychology at Oxford’s Department of Education and a fellow of Jesus College. She studies the effects of early education and care on children's development. 

She has conducted longitudinal studies as well as trials of interventions, working in the UK and LMIC contexts. She was Principal Investigator on the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education study (EPPSE), a study of 3000 children from pre-school entry to the end of compulsory schooling, which is the largest such study in Europe. She was co-director of the National Evaluation of Children’s Centres in England, (ECCE) a large scale study of the effects of early childhood services on family functioning and the development of  2,500 children.

Her intervention research has centred on improving child’s learning, especially language, literacy and behaviour. She led three randomised controlled trials evaluating interventions, including apps for parents. Together, the findings of these studies have directly informed policy and practice. 

Kathy has been Specialist Adviser to Parliamentary Select Committees and has also advised The Treasury and Ofsted. She was awarded an OBE for services to children and families and the British Education Research Association’s Nisbett Award for outstanding lifetime contribution to educational research. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Social Sciences and the British Psychological Society. 

Keynote 2: Co-creating father-inclusive policy and practice: research, innovation and commercialisation.

Anna Tarrant, University of Lincoln

Abstract  

Research on fatherhood has reshaped understanding of men’s roles in families, highlighting the importance of fathers’ involvement in children’s lives and family wellbeing. Yet translating this evidence into sustainable changes in policy and multi-sector professional practice remains a persistent challenge.

This paper reflects on how a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship has helped bridge this gap by integrating research, innovation and commercialisation to embed father-inclusive policy and practice. 

Drawing on work developed through the Fellowship, Anna explores how partnerships with fathers, policymakers, practitioners, and third-sector organisations have supported the co-creation of place-based models of father-inclusive support while generating new research. These insights have been translated into tools, training and organisational resources designed to support services to engage fathers more effectively and scale father-inclusive approaches nationally. 

By reflecting on the opportunities and tensions involved in combining academic research with innovation and commercialisation processes, the paper considers how fellowships can act as catalysts for generating meaningful and lasting impact. In doing so, it demonstrates how co-produced research and innovation can productively reshape policy and practice landscapes to better recognise and support fathers’ roles in family life. 

Speaker Bio: 

Anna Tarrant is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Lincoln and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

She is the founder of the Centre for Innovation in Fatherhood and Family Research (CIFFR) and is in the seventh year of a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship.

She has expertise in fatherhood, family lives and social inequalities, with particular interest in the ways that policies and welfare systems shape the experiences of low-income families and marginalised fathers.

Through the Centre, she is leading research and commercialisation activities that promote father-inclusion as a transformation agenda, driven by innovations in participatory and longitudinal methods that effectively bridge the research, practice and policy interface. 

Keynote 3: Innovations from research to practice for child anxiety disorders.

Cathy Creswell, University of Oxford

Abstract

The demand for effective interventions for mental health problems in children and young people far exceeds supply. In this talk I will use the example of child anxiety problems to illustrate how we have built on developmental clinical psychology research to innovate in ways that has increased access to effective psychological treatment. 

This journey has taken us from underpinning work that highlighted the huge potential that comes from empowering parents and carers to support their children, to coproduction of digitally augmented approaches, and then to systematic evaluation of clinical outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and implementation.

I hope to highlight how child and family research can help us deliver effective treatments for families when they first need them.

Speaker Bio

Cathy is The Paul Professor of Developmental Child Psychology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research. She is also an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, an NIHR Senior Investigator, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a Senior Kurti Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford.

She leads the NIHR Oxford and Thames Valley Applied Research Collaboration Mental Health theme and co-leads the Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Mental Health in Development theme.

Within the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, she is the Associate Head of Department for Research.

Her own research particularly focuses on the development, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety disorders in children. She has developed effective psychological interventions that are widely implemented within routine health settings, and has written a number of books for parents and clinicians to help families get effective support when they first need it. 

Flash talks

Members of the Centre for Child, Adolescent and Family Research will present their research-in-progress, in just 4 minutes each!

We'll also watch 3 videos recorded with participants in the SHAPE study, currently underway in the Hughes lab, here at the Centre.

Speakers (titles tbc)

(A-Z by first name)

Akezhuoli Hailati

Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer

Charity Somo

George Gillett

Xiwen Fu

Harvey Tilley

Laura Carnevali

Sara De Felice

Keynote 4: Fragile minds in a scary world: understanding and treating post-traumatic stress in young people.

Tim Dalgleish, University of Cambridge

Abstract  

The majority of young people will experience psychological trauma at some point in their childhood or adolescence. 

Historically, the accepted view for many years was that young people were generally resilient to the impact of such experiences. We now know that this is not the case. 

Indeed, psychological trauma often has extremely debilitating consequences for young people with those most affected developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and related conditions.

In this talk, Tim Dalgleish presents an overview of his and his colleagues’ work across the last three decades seeking first to understand the core nature of traumatic stress in children and adolescents and then using those insights to develop interventions to ameliorate their distress. 

Speaker Bio

Tim Dalgleish is the Dawson Professor of Young People’s Mental Health at the Dept of Psychology in Cambridge (entre for Chid, Adolescent and Family Research). He also works as a practitioner in the NHS.

His research focuses on understanding and developing psychological preventions and treatments for common mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, in young people.

He adopts a translational approach, seeking to utilise insights from basic cognitive neuroscience to enhance clinical interventions for these conditions.

His work employs a range of scientific methods from brain imaging through to the use of large-scale clinical trials. 

Introducing the Mental Health Catalyst

Peter Templeton, The William Templeton Foundation For Young People's Mental Health and IfM Engage

Speaker Bio

Peter Templeton is Executive Director, Strategic Development at IfM Engage. Peter has 25 years’ experience in manufacturing and manufacturing-related services.  

Early in his career, Peter worked in chemical process design and operations; subsequently he developed a broad range of client-facing experiences with companies providing computer systems, software and services to the process manufacturing sector, encompassing systems for MRP II / ERP, Manufacturing Execution, Engineering Design and Supply Chain Planning and Execution. 

He also leads the charity The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health.  

Abstract

Depressed mood remains a major global challenge. While scientific understanding has advanced, translating research into real-world impact has been too slow.

The Mental Health Catalyst, supported by Wellcome and led by IfM Engage, exists to close this gap.

Our goal is to make depressed mood a short-lasting condition that does not affect lives in the longer term.

Peter will introduce work currently underway that uses a structured approach to accelerate the identification, development and adoption of more effective, scalable interventions.

Keynote 5: Childhood adversity and mentalizing: Evidence on addressing severe enduring mental ill health. 

Peter Fonagy, UCL.

Speaker Bio

Peter Fonagy, CBE, is Professor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Developmental Science, and Head of Division for Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL. He is also Senior National Clinical Adviser for NHS England on Children and Young Peoples’ Mental Health. Peter is Honorary President of the Anna Freud Centre, after serving as CEO for over 20 years. 

His clinical and research interests lie in early attachment relationships, social cognition, borderline personality disorder and violence.

A central focus has been an innovative research-based psychodynamic therapeutic approach, mentalization-based treatment, which was developed in collaboration with a number of clinical sites in the UK and USA. Peter has published over 800 scientific papers and 23 books. 

Abstract

The lecture will summarize work over the past three decades focusing on the limitations of mentalizing in individuals with severe and enduring mental health problems often labelled complex.

Understanding the nuanced nature of challenges to mentalizing for people in this group has helped develop a therapeutic approach which now has a respectable evidence base.

The lecture will focus on the way a clinical approach can benefit from a theoretical understanding of the complexities of development for children, families and larger social systems. 

Drinks reception

To round off the day, we'll have a drinks reception in the lovely Newnham marquee and gardens, from 5:30-6:30pm.

We'll have a selection of posters on display, highlighting some of the current work underway at the Centre. 

Register here: bit.ly/CAFR_2026_registrations 

On 21st May, 2025 the Centre for Child, Adolescent & Family Research (CAFR) held its first-ever conference, Building Blocks of Development: Innovations in Science from Research to Practice, at Newnham College, Cambridge. The event brought together leading researchers to explore key stages of development—from the prenatal period through adolescence.

The day opened with keynote talks by Professors Gaia Scerif and Paul Ramchandani, highlighting new approaches to supporting attention and early intervention in infancy. In the early childhood sessions, Patty Leijten and Susan Walker spoke on global parenting programmes and systems-level integration. The afternoon focused on adolescence, with Eveline Crone discussing neural development and youth engagement, followed by Essi Viding’s insights into developmental resilience and mental health.

The event closed with a lively roundtable and opportunities for networking over posters and refreshments. The conference highlighted the Centre’s dedication to advancing research-driven approaches that support children and families.

Talk 1: Supporting babies, toddlers, and young children at high risk: Partnerships and co-creation are key 

Gaia Scerif, University of Oxford

Abstract

Attention and executive functions are key thinking skills that influence how we interact with our environment, and thereby learn from it. Many babies, toddlers, and young children inherit predispositions or challenging environments that put them at high risk for attention and executive function differences and difficulties. These difficulties can impact everyday life along many meaningful dimensions. Nonetheless, while some children experience persistent challenges, others thrive, at least in part due to supportive adults and environments around them. Today I will detail examples of the variable interplay between executive functions and outcomes for young children who grow up in conditions of high genetic or environmental risk, to begin to answer the question:  How can we best support adults (parents, educators) support young children at high risk? Through these examples, I hope to also illustrate what I have learnt about the importance of partnerships and co-creation, as a cognitive scientist working with parents, educators, and community organisations. 

Biography

Gaia Scerif is Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the development of attentional control and the neural correlates of attentional differences, exploring how these impact cognitive abilities. 

Attention plays a crucial role in learning and behaviour, especially in the classroom, and is particularly relevant for neurodivergent groups. Gaia aims to understand how attentional differences vary across groups, including those with genetic conditions (e.g., fragile X, Down syndrome) and complex behavioural conditions (e.g., ADHD). Her work also considers socio-economic diversity, both in the UK and the Global South, with implications for neuroscience and for families affected by attentional differences.

Talk 2: Making life better for babies, children and families. We can do it, but can we do enough of it?

Paul Ramchandani, University of Cambridge

Abstract

The case for early intervention is often thought to be self-evident, and there is good evidence that positive change can be made for young children’s mental health and other areas of development. Yet, progress in the widespread implementation of effective early intervention is slow and challenging. There are multiple reasons for this, and in this talk I want to use examples of specific interventions to discuss some of the hard truths and challenges we face if we are to make effective early intervention a widespread reality.

Biography

Paul Ramchandani is LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this he was Professor of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Imperial College London. He trained initially as a medical doctor, subsequently training in Psychiatry. He continues to work as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the NHS. 

Paul works with a team studying early child development and developing and testing interventions to promote children’s mental health and children’s wider positive development. Paul is a trustee of Foundations, the What Works centre for children and families (previously the Early Intervention Foundation) and is the practitioner review editor for the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Talk 3: Supporting parents to enhance child well-being across the globe

Patty Leijten, University of Amsterdam

Abstract

Parenting programs are disseminated across the globe to reduce violence against children and to support children’s socioemotional development and well-being. What do we know about the effectiveness of these programs? In this talk, I will discuss the promise and boundary conditions of parenting programs, when parenting programs are most likely to be successful, and what we can learn from parenting program research about parenting and child development. I will answer both applied questions about parenting programs (e.g., can paraprofessionals and technology replace professional delivery? Are parenting programs inequity generating?) and strive to inspire research that is more precise in contributing to our understanding of how parents can successfully enhance the well-being of children across the globe.

Biography

Patty Leijten is an Associate Professor at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education of the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). She studies how we can effectively support parents to enhance children's mental health and well-being. 

She uses rigorous basic research designs to discern the active ingredients of effective parenting support and creative intervention designs (e.g., microtrials and factorial experiments) to refine theory on how parents shape children’s development. In doing so, she breaks with the tradition to evaluate ‘package-deal’ parenting programs and creates blueprints for processes that contribute to effective parenting support programs.

Talk 4: Integrating the Reach Up early childhood parenting program into government systems 

Susan Walker (Online), University of the West Indies

Abstract

The Reach Up early childhood parenting program was developed to increase capacity for implementation of early childhood parenting programs in low- and middle- income countries and provides curricula and comprehensive training materials.  Reach Up’s goal is to strengthen caregivers’ skills to promote children’s development. The program has been implemented in several countries and meta-analysis of evaluations across 8 countries showed consistent benefits for child development and the quality of the home environment.  

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the development of remote delivery methods for ECD programs. Experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean, indicated that remote delivery facilitated continued delivery of services, and was widely accepted by the ECD workforce and families. However, more evidence is needed on the effectiveness of remote delivery methods and whether these methods may facilitate scaling.  In Jamaica remote delivery of Reach Up by the primary-care health system benefited parenting practices. Interviews with health staff and families suggested the remote methods were feasible and acceptable although staff felt that some in-person contact was necessary (Smith, 2023; Chang-Lopez, 2020).

Combining remote and in-person delivery could facilitate scaling. We therefore examined whether the Reach Up program, delivered by government primary health care services using a blended approach, had benefits for children’s development and for parenting behaviors. Findings suggest that combining in-person and remote methods may be a useful and cost-effective strategy for scaling. 

Biography

Susan Walker is a global leader in enhancing children's cognitive and socio-emotional development in low and middle-income countries. She conducted follow-up research on the Jamaica supplementation and stimulation trial, demonstrating long-term benefits in adult income, education, and mental health from early interventions. Her work has informed international agencies on the importance of scaling early childhood development (ECD) services.

Susan contributed to the Lancet 2013 series on Maternal and Child Nutrition and authored key papers on child development risk factors and inequalities. She is involved with the WHO and the National Academy of Sciences on early childhood investment.

As the leader of the Reach Up parenting program, she has overseen its adaptation and evaluation in 18 countries, including Brazil and India, collaborating with local and international organizations for its expansion.

Talk 5: Neural development facilitates adolescents’ needs for societal change 

Eveline Crone, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Leiden University 

Abstract

The current generation of adolescents is confronted with complex societal challenges such as a climate crisis, growing social inequalities, and increasing societal expectations (i.e., performance pressure). Adolescents may have the unique skills to become ‘agents of change’. The developmental period of adolescence is characterized by maturation of neural connections which facilitate three developmental needs: the need to take risks, the need to form deep and intimate connections and the need to be seen, heard and respected. A unique aspect about neural pruning and protracted brain development is that adolescence is a window of opportunity: given the large-scale changes in the developing brain, it is a period of creativity and rapid social adaptation. In this talk, I will discuss the added value of youth participation in developmental neuroscience for evidence-informed policy. I will present successful examples of projects where youth organizations, scientists, and policy makers collaborated to work towards optimizing conditions for growing up successfully.

Biography

Eveline Crone is Developmental Neuroscience and Neurocognitive Psychology professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University. She leads the SYNC lab, researching self-regulation and social development from birth through adolescence, utilizing neuroscience and engaging societal partners. 

She has published over 200 articles and heads the GUTS program on adolescent development (2023-2033). She is a member of prestigious academies, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received several awards, including the Spinoza award. Crone actively shares her research with the public, authoring the bestselling book “The Adolescent Brain” and her upcoming “Generation Self-Confidence,” set for release in fall 2024.

Talk 6: Developmental risk and resilience: Current challenges and future directions for children and young people’s mental health research 

Essi Viding, University College London

Abstract

Approximately half of mental health problems begin before the age of 14 and the rates of mental health problems among children and young people are increasing. Interventions have remained stagnant for decades, despite the fact that individuals with mental health problems are at risk of dying early and experiencing poor quality of life. The lack of progress in developing more effective interventions is likely due to our limited understanding of the causes of mental health problems, and the mechanisms by which interventions work. Mental health disorders emerge as a result of the interplay, over time, of multiple biological, familial and societal factors. This means that chasing ‘the first causes’ is unlikely to generate the transformations in interventions that are desperately needed to address the growing mental health crisis. Instead, we need to harness multiple methodological approaches in order to make progress. I will use research to conduct problems as an illustrative example of employing different methodological approaches to try and understand a particular presentation. I will also use this research to highlight the challenges we face, when we try to bring together different methodological approaches to understand development of mental health problems in children and young people. Finally, I will briefly present a roadmap for accelerating research discovery in children and young people’s mental health. 

Biography

Essi Viding is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Pro Vice Provost for Mental Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge at UCL. 

Her work utilises different methodological approaches to study disruptive behaviour disorders, as well as children and young people’s mental health more broadly. 

Her research has been recognised by a number of prizes, including the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Roundtable

We wrapped up the day with a chance for delegates to put their questions to our panel, in this session with our Directors, Prof. Pasco Fearon and Prof. Claire Hughes and today's speakers, Gaia Scerif, Paul Ramchandani, Patty Leijten, Eveline Crone and Essi Viding.