KUCHING: 35 countries are taking part in the 13th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ICCAP) 2018 here.
The three-day conference, which is being held at a local hotel, is organised with the objective of enhancing the resilience of children, young people and families through innovative research, prevention and service development. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Welfare, C ommunity Well – Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said she was delighted and impressed that Kuching was selected to host the conference for the first time outside London.
She said some of the major issues confronting children and young people were depression, anxiety, behavioural problems, autism, specific learning disorders, bullying, gambling and drug problems.
“A high percentage of the young people suffer from mental health problems, and in some studies, up to one-third of the young people in the community have been reported to suffer from severe mental health problems. “Conferences such as this is an excellent way to increase awareness about mental health among young people and the available evidentbased intervent ion, ” added Fatimah. She pointed out that several preventive and intervention programmes had been developed for var ious types of mental disorders.
“Thus, I am delighted to see a large group of practitioners here today because I believe in the importance of practitioners and scientists working together to improve the health and psychological well-being of our young people,” she said. Fatimah pointed that several risk factors for mental disorder among children had been identified and the most consistent were related to family factors. “It is therefore not surprising that this year’s conference theme is “Enhancing resilience in children, young people and families through innovative research, prevention and service development,” she said.
The 13th ICCAP is joint l y organised by the Department of Psychology of University of Roehampton in London, UK, the Sarawak state government and Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB). The three-day conference will feature 12 speakers. Also present was the organising chairperson of ICCAP 2018. Prof Cecilia Essau.
