NIMH Web Information on Child, Adolescent Mental Health Honored

The NIMH web site (www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/children-and-adolescents) has been awarded a five-star rating by the Tufts University Child & Family WebGuide for its child and adolescent mental health information. The award letter cited NIMH for "providing a substantial amount of applied research information on mental health issues, covering learning disabilities, brain functioning, ADHD, medication, diagnosis, causes," and "for making a significant amount of material accessible to child development experts, parents and others who work with children." The information honored is a special section of the NIMH web site, which received over seven million "hits" from consumers last month.

Created by the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, the WebGuide identifies, describes and evaluates web sites that contain the most credible child development information available. Only a small percentage of sites pass the WebGuide's rigorous screening process and of these, less than 10 percent receive a five star award.

The WebGuide is a not-for-profit resource that was developed in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, with input from parents, childcare professionals, and noted child development experts. It is the first online resource for parents, child-care professionals, and students that systematically evaluates the web sites it lists.

The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. For more information, visit the NIMH website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit the NIH website.