Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression, but a significant minority of clients are difficult to treat, including those with histories of relational trauma. The model of Beck et al. (1979) proposes that adverse childhood experiences lead to negative core beliefs, and these create a susceptibility to depression. However, Beck’s model does not identify trauma as a subset of adverse experiences. An alternative view is that traumatised clients internalise conflicting representations of self and it is conflict, interacting with trauma memories, that creates a vulnerability for depression. In this formulation, methods from the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be incorporated into the treatment of depression, to emotionally process trauma memories and resolve self-identity conflicts. The aims of this study were to: (1) report the treatment of a 67-year-old man with recurrent depression and a history of prolonged relational trauma, and (2) to explore how memory processing from the treatment of PTSD can be incorporated into the treatment of recurrent depression. A single case observational design was used in the long-term treatment of a depressed traumatised client. The client received 47 individual sessions over 19 months in routine clinical practice in a tertiary CBT service. He completed repeated measures of mood, memory intrusions and sleep disruption. The client responded well to treatment with clinically significant improvements across measures of mood, memory and sleep. The effects were sustained over an 18-month follow-up. Memory processing was successfully integrated into a high-intensity treatment for recurrent depression. This is a promising approach for depressed clients with histories of relational trauma.

Observational studies suggest that 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration is inversely associated with pain. However, findings from intervention trials are inconsistent. We assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation on pain using data from a large, double-blind, population-based, placebo-controlled trial (the D-Health Trial). 21 315 participants (aged 60–84 years) were randomly assigned to a monthly dose of 60 000 IU vitamin D3 or matching placebo. Pain was measured using the six-item Pain Impact Questionnaire (PIQ-6), administered 1, 2 and 5 years after enrolment. We used regression models (linear for continuous PIQ-6 score and log-binomial for binary categorisations of the score, namely ‘some or more pain impact’ and ‘presence of any bodily pain’) to estimate the effect of vitamin D on pain. We included 20 423 participants who completed ≥1 PIQ-6. In blood samples collected from 3943 randomly selected participants (∼800 per year), the mean (sd) 25(OH)D concentrations were 77 (sd 25) and 115 (sd 30) nmol/l in the placebo and vitamin D groups, respectively. Most (76 %) participants were predicted to have 25(OH)D concentration >50 nmol/l at baseline. The mean PIQ-6 was similar in all surveys (∼50·4). The adjusted mean difference in PIQ-6 score (vitamin D cf placebo) was 0·02 (95 % CI (−0·20, 0·25)). The proportion of participants with some or more pain impact and with the presence of bodily pain was also similar between groups (both prevalence ratios 1·01, 95 % CI (0·99, 1·03)). In conclusion, supplementation with 60 000 IU of vitamin D3/month had negligible effect on bodily pain.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression but a significant minority of clients are difficult to treat: they are more likely to have adverse childhood experiences, early-onset depression, co-morbidities, interpersonal problems and heightened risk, and are prone to drop out, non-response or relapse. CBT based on a self-regulation model (SR-CBT) has been developed for this client group which incorporates aspects of first, second and third wave therapies. The model and treatment components are described in a concurrent article (Barton et al., 2022). The aims of this study were: (1) to illustrate the application of high dose SR-CBT in a difficult-to-treat case, including treatment decisions, therapy process and outcomes, and (2) to highlight the similarities and differences between SR-CBT and standard CBT models. A single case quasi-experimental design was used with a depressed client who was an active participant in treatment decisions, data collection and interpretation. The client had highly recurrent depression with atypical features and had received several psychological therapies prior to receiving SR-CBT, including standard CBT. The client responded well to SR-CBT over a 10-month acute phase: compared with baseline, her moods were less severe and less reactive to setbacks and challenges. Over a 15-month maintenance phase, with approximately monthly booster sessions, the client maintained these gains and further stabilized her mood. High dose SR-CBT was effective in treating depression in a client who had not received lasting benefit from standard CBT and other therapies. An extended maintenance phase had a stabilizing effect and the client did not relapse. Further empirical studies are underway to replicate these results.

Understanding differences in social-emotional behavior can help identify atypical development. This study examined the differences in social-emotional development in children at increased risk of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis (infant siblings of children diagnosed with the disorder). Parents completed the Brief Infant-Toddler Social-Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) to determine its ability to flag children with later-diagnosed ASD in a high-risk (HR) sibling population. Parents of HR (n = 311) and low-risk (LR; no family history of ASD; n = 127) children completed the BITSEA when their children were 18 months old and all children underwent a diagnostic assessment for ASD at age 3 years. All six subscales of the BITSEA (Problems, Competence, ASD Problems, ASD Competence, Total ASD Score, and Red Flags) distinguished between those in the HR group who were diagnosed with ASD (n = 84) compared to non-ASD-diagnosed children (both HR-N and LR). One subscale (BITSEA Competence) differentiated between the HR children not diagnosed with ASD and the LR group. The results suggest that tracking early social-emotional development may have implications for all HR children, as they are at increased risk of ASD but also other developmental or mental health conditions.

Life course research embraces the complexity of health and disease development, tackling the extensive interactions between genetics and environment. This interdisciplinary blueprint, or theoretical framework, offers a structure for research ideas and specifies relationships between related factors. Traditionally, methodological approaches attempt to reduce the complexity of these dynamic interactions and decompose health into component parts, ignoring the complex reciprocal interaction of factors that shape health over time. New methods that match the epistemological foundation of the life course framework are needed to fully explore adaptive, multilevel, and reciprocal interactions between individuals and their environment. The focus of this article is to (1) delineate the differences between lifespan and life course research, (2) articulate the importance of complex systems science as a methodological framework in the life course research toolbox to guide our research questions, (3) raise key questions that can be asked within the clinical and translational science domain utilizing this framework, and (4) provide recommendations for life course research implementation, charting the way forward. Recent advances in computational analytics, computer science, and data collection could be used to approximate, measure, and analyze the intertwining and dynamic nature of genetic and environmental factors involved in health development.

Despite aspirations to be a world-class national curriculum, the Australian Curriculum (AC) has been criticised as ‘manifestly deficient’ (Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2014 p. 5) as an inclusive curriculum, failing to meet the needs of all students with disabilities (SWD) and their teachers. There is a need for research into the daily attempts of educators to navigate the tension between a ‘top-down’ system-wide curriculum and a ‘bottom-up’ regard for individual student needs, with a view to informing both policy and practice. This article is the first of two research papers in which we report the findings from a national online Research in Special Education (RISE) Australian Curriculum Survey of special educators in special schools, classes, and units regarding their experience using the AC to plan for and teach SWD. Survey results indicated (a) inconsistent use of the AC as the primary basis for developing learning objectives and designing learning experiences, (b) infrequent use of the achievement standards to support assessment and reporting, and (c) considerable supplementation of the AC from other resources when educating SWD. Overall, participants expressed a lack of confidence in translating the AC framework into a meaningful curriculum for SWD. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.

Ceramic fiber–matrix composites (CFMCs) are exciting materials for engineering applications in extreme environments. By integrating ceramic fibers within a ceramic matrix, CFMCs allow an intrinsically brittle material to exhibit sufficient structural toughness for use in gas turbines and nuclear reactors. Chemical stability under high temperature and irradiation coupled with high specific strength make these materials unique and increasingly popular in extreme settings. This paper first offers a review of the importance and growing body of research on fiber–matrix interfaces as they relate to composite toughening mechanisms. Second, micropillar compression is explored experimentally as a high-fidelity method for extracting interface properties compared with traditional fiber push-out testing. Three significant interface properties that govern composite toughening were extracted. For a 50-nm-pyrolytic carbon interface, the following were observed: a fracture energy release rate of ∼2.5 J/m2, an internal friction coefficient of 0.25 ± 0.04, and a debond shear strength of 266 ± 24 MPa. This research supports micromechanical evaluations as a unique bridge between theoretical physics models for microcrack propagation and empirically driven finite element models for bulk CFMCs.