Gendered risks to children and adolescents assessed by Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS): Perspectives from network analysis

Yang, Fan, Duschinsky, Robbie, Mucha, Laura, Dos Santos Sousa, Fabienee, Woolgar, Matt, Morgan, Tessa, Marshall, Nicole, Mannes, Julia, Pilimatalawwe, Dihini, Moore, Anna and Coughlan, Barry (2026) Gendered risks to children and adolescents assessed by Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS): Perspectives from network analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 173. ISSN 1873-7757

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Abstract

Background: Early exposure to risk and adversity is a potent predictor of mental health difficulties. Though risks vary by gender, little attention was paid towards the associations both within risks and of risks across genders.

Objectives: We sought to identify networks of a wider range of risks (experiences and behaviors that might threaten the person's wellbeing and safety before the age of 18 years). And we aimed to have a better understanding of the specific risk configurations across genders and to develop potential clinical interventions.

Participants and setting: This study explores network structures of early risks among 45,210 children and adolescents (aged 5 to 18) from longitudinal data in the UK.

Methods: Network analysis was applied to investigate the associations among risks and to identify the central risks across genders.

Results: Stable connections across genders in different assessments of risks (e.g., risks of self-harm and suicide). Risks related to violence could be core risks in all networks. Some gender differences in the context of early risks are also identified. For example, substance misuse and exhibiting violent or offending behavior are more closely associated among the male children that took the Brief Risk Assessment.

Conclusions: Gendered associations between risks could be of value for both intervention and prevention. More attention should be paid to risks related to violence in clinical practice and policy making. Future study could record risks more precisely, utilize data from multiple time points and take more social-demographic factors into consideration to obtain integrated and comprehensive results.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You are not required to obtain permission to reuse this article.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Children; Adolescents; Early risks; Mental health; Network analysis; Gender differences
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman > Children > Child Development H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman > Gender R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA790 Mental Health
Divisions:	School of Business and Social Sciences > Staff Research and Publications
Depositing User:	Tamara Malone
Date Deposited:	11 Feb 2026 14:56
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2026 12:27
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9122

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