Episode Details

When Helen Minnis was tiny, she was affectionately referred to as ‘a nightmare baby’. As an adult, she has a diagnosis of ADHD. She counts herself lucky, because her parents had each other, they had enough money, they had community support - and so they were well enough resourced to look after her. It could have been very different.

All of this is very relevant to what Helen researches now. ‘Double jeopardy’ refers to the interaction between neurodivergence (which Helen defines as those who are at the extreme ends of the normal distribution) and childhood adversity. The combination of temperament and environment, and the complex and bidirectional relationships between the two.

In this far-ranging interview, Helen tells us about her research and why she thinks this is such an important area to study. We talk about the children for whom parenting really makes a difference, and how it frequently goes unacknowledged that every child is different and each parent has a different task.

This interview goes from the research to the personal and practical. Helen’s empathy for parents and children shines through throughout. We hope you enjoy it.

One of Helen’s academic papers on double jeopardy with her colleague Ruchika Gajwani-

Gajwani, R., & Minnis, H. (2023). Double jeopardy: implications of neurodevelopmental conditions and adverse childhood experiences for child health. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 32(1), 1–4.

Robert Plomin is the behavioural geneticist mentioned in the podcast who uses the phrase ‘parents matter but they don’t make a difference’.