This article discusses the need for authentic social research with children given the fact that increasingly such research is being relied on to inform social policy which profoundly affects the lives of children. Authentic research is operationalized in this article as that research which gives power and voice to child research participants and which provides insights into their subjective world. Such research allows the children to a degree to be ‘subject’ or ‘collaborator’ in the research process rather than simply study ‘object’. Giving power and voice to children in the research context involves issues of research methodology and opportunities to contribute to research agendas and ethics guidelines such that the need and right to be heard is better met. Empathetic understanding in research with children as a byproduct of combining quantitative approaches with the phenomenological perspective is also discussed.

This introduction provides the rationale for the special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights on the topic of the children's right to participation and protection in international development and humanitarian efforts. It summarises selected contributions relating to an international conference entitled 'Facilitating Child Participation in International Child Protection' that took place 5-6 October 2015 at Ryerson University in Toronto (Canada). The concepts of child participation and child protection are explored. Then, the challenges and opportunities are highlighted regarding the actual and potential participatory role of children and young people in effective child protection. Finally, an overview of the articles included in this collection is provided.

Cognitive models of depression have not been adequately tested in different cultural settings involving personally relevant events that affect the lives of the elderly. A cross‐sectional comparison was made of cognitions obtained from Asian and Caucasian subjects, residing in Canada and the United States. The objective was to determine whether cognitive appraisals of stressful events would differentiate the elderly in the two cultural groups. Results supported the hypotheses that cognitive appraisals of locus of control, uncertainty, self‐responsibility, self‐confidence in future coping and fear about future recurrence of negative events are strongly associated with the depressive responses of the elderly in general. A comparison of the cognitive appraisals of the elderly in the two cultural groups showed depressed Asians more significantly than depressed Caucasians, reporting more external locus of control and self‐blaming attributions. The results have implications for community workers, psychotherapists and social welfare agents concerned with the mental well‐being of the elderly and the care of the elderly from different cultures.

This theoretical article suggests that advocacy by children promotes their resilience and positive selfconception. The psychological benefits of such advocacy by the child are distinguished from mental health interventions where the child is generally viewed as a passive participant and 'deficient' in critical ways. Evidence is presented concerning children who have faced great adversity to illustrate the link between advocacy by children and resilience. Children's right to contribute to the preservation of their human dignity and welfare through their own advocacy is highlighted. The role of professionals in supporting children's advocacy efforts is also addressed.

No abstract