Tests in Australia on the effectiveness of the Family Risk Factor Checklist screening questionnaire have highlighted the difficulties parents and teachers alike face when they attempt to predict which children are most prone to mental health problems.

Knowing how good or bad things are for children in different parts of the world is not necessarily very illuminating unless it goes with an understanding of the underlying trends. Research from the Netherlands is helping to explain the changing European picture.

Montreal researcher Frank Vitaro has been investigating a paradox in the connection between antisocial behavior and having badly behaved adolescent friends.