Feeling safe in school is a “fundamental human right.” Yet bullying remains a persistent problem for pupils and staff. Why? Because staff are not trained to tackle it, says a New York-based researcher.

Parent training classes are key to addressing children’s behavior problems, but only a fraction of those invited to attend programs enroll, while even among those who do there is a high drop out rate. New research indicates that encouraging parents to sign up and then keep them coming may require different approaches.

The full costs of child welfare programs are notoriously difficult to calculate – making it difficult to balance the demands of short-term cost-cutting with the need for long-term effectiveness. Could a UK “Cost Calculator” be the tool US child welfare systems need to make more informed decisions?

Evidence-based programs that attempt to reduce achievement gaps between disadvantaged children and their better-off counterparts in the early years are effective, but their impact is, at best, modest. The director of Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child argues that new interventions should shift their focus – from just stimulating the minds of these children to also protecting their brains.

Effective interventions can reduce violence against women and improve the health of survivors, research shows. But when it comes to persuading policymakers to invest, is evidence on the effectiveness of interventions enough – or do we need evidence of cost effectiveness, too?

Measuring parenting is made difficult by the multiplicity of standards but a new paper shows how a better understanding of the theory of parenting can help.

The lack of fit between evidence-based programs and service organisations (or ‘systems’) is increasingly acknowledged. How can the somewhat neglected concept of “implementation climate” help ensure implementation with quality and fidelity?

Why have crime rates dropped in Washington state – maybe more cops on the street, or a get-tough policy? Or could it be that the painstaking cost-benefit analysis by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) is helping legislators make decisions that reduce crime and save taxpayers money? In a new report, WSIPP’s researchers extend their approach to include crime, education, child welfare, mental health, and substance abuse.

As researchers rush to make exciting cross-cultural comparisons of child and adolescent mental health using the popular Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a Norwegian team sounds a note of caution.

The recent riots in England—the acts of vandalism, looting, violence and muggings—raise the question: what is our understanding of youth violence and aggression? A new study examines one aspect of this complex phenomenon: the relationship between maternal depression and aggression in adolescence.

Children who are repeat-offenders tend to be considered among the most vulnerable people in the UK. Should these children be treated as criminals who deserve “justice”, or as children who need help and safeguarding?

In England and Wales, a child can be considered a criminal at age 10 – the youngest in Europe. That’s too young, says an NSPCC psychologist. Developmental science supports raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 12.

A study of the effects of foster care on the language development of children moved from Romanian orphanages to foster families shows good outcomes, but exceptionally so if the move was made at the right time in the child’s life.

A new study reveals that the relationship between intelligence, academic performance and early sexual activity “runs in families” - for both cultural and genetic reasons.

A special issue of Child Development shows how the new and growing domain of translational research builds bridges between science and policy.