Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39914462›Full record

Observational studyThe British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science2025

Professorships in child and adolescent psychiatry relative to a similarly sized medical specialty in the UK and Ireland: cross-sectional study.

Ian Kelleher, Aleksandra Z Poziemska, Valentina Kieseppä, Anita Thapar, Bernadka Dubicka, Elaine Lockhart, Tamsin Ford, Helen Minnis, Louise Gallagher, Fiona McNicholas and 1 more

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Ian KelleherCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1484-651X
Aleksandra Z PoziemskaCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Valentina KieseppäCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Anita ThaparAcademic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry section and Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University School of Medicine, UK.
Bernadka DubickaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of York, UK.
Elaine LockhartFaculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatry, UK.
Tamsin FordDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5295-4904
Helen MinnisSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2377-8945
Louise GallagherDepartment of Psychiatry, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Fiona McNicholasSchool of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Kirstie O'HareCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-9792

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA youth mental health crisis is considered one of the great challenges of our time, and research and clinical services in child and adolescent psychiatry have become a priority for governments and funders. Academic leadership is needed to drive forward research. It is not clear how many senior academic leadership posts (professorships) there are in child and adolescent psychiatry, nor how this benchmarks against a similarly sized medical specialty.

aimsThis study aimed to determine the number of professorships in child and adolescent psychiatry in the UK and Ireland compared to a similarly sized specialty. A secondary aim was to identify the number of clinical trials registered for mental and behavioural disorders in children.

methodWe identified registered specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry and a similarly sized specialty who held full professorships in medical schools. We searched the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) and ClinicalTrials.gov for trials.

resultsAs of 23 March 2023, there were 1725 doctors on the General Medical Council's (GMC) specialist register in child and adolescent psychiatry. The closest specialty in terms of number of registered specialists was neurology (

conclusionsDespite equivalent numbers of medical specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry and neurology, there is a striking disparity in the number of professorship appointments. While young peoples' mental health has, ostensibly, become a priority for policy-makers and funders, this is not reflected in medical professorship appointments. The paucity of senior academic child and adolescent psychiatrists has real-world implications for training, research, innovation and service development in mental health services.

Indexed as

Adolescent PsychiatryChild PsychiatryFaculty, MedicalNeurologySpecializationAdolescentChildCross-Sectional StudiesHumansIrelandUnited KingdomAcademic psychiatrychild and adolescent psychiatry

Identifiers

PMID39914462
PMCPMC12038385

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.