Dimensionality of Early Adversity and Associated Behavioral and Emotional Symptoms: Data from a Sample of Japanese Institutionalized Children and Adolescents

To examine indices of behavioural and emotional problems and temperamental traits in clinically referred children and adolescents suffering from tension headache or migraine. Headache in childhood and adolescence (<18 years) has been associated with the presence of behavioural and emotional difficulties, but limited data are available on the relationship between these problems and different types of headache. Clinically referred children and adolescents ( N = 114), 6–16 years of age, suffering from primary headache according to the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society, 47 with tension-type headache (TH) and 67 with migraine (M), and 36 normal controls without headache (NC) were assessed using the Parent Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), Conner's Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), and Emotionality–Activity–Sociability–Shyness Scale (EAS). Psychological and personality self-rating assessments were obtained also on the children's parents and siblings. Although most headache patients had scores within the normative non-pathological range, both TH and M patients had higher CBCL total, internalizing, and externalizing scores than NC ( P < 0.001), and TH patients had higher scores than M patients. TH and M had higher CDI and MASC scores than NC ( P < 0.05), with no difference between the headache groups. TH patients had higher Emotionality and Shyness scores, and lower Sociability scores than M patients. Clinically referred children and adolescents with TH and M had higher scores of behavioural and emotional symptoms, both of internalizing and externalizing type, than normal peers. The TH group had greater psychological and temperamental difficulties than the M group.

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Examining changes in parent-reported child and adolescent mental health throughout the UK’s first COVID-19 national lockdown.

10.31234/osf.io/exktj ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jasmine Raw ◽

Polly Waite ◽

Samantha Pearcey ◽

Cathy Creswell ◽

Adrienne Shum ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Conduct Problems ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Mixture Modelling ◽

Growth Mixture ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Growth Mixture Modelling ◽

Over Time

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the lives of children and adolescents, forcing them into periods of prolonged social isolation and time away from school. Understanding the psychological consequences of the UK’s lockdown for children and adolescents, the associated risk factors, and how trajectories may vary for children and adolescents in different circumstances is essential so that the most vulnerable children and adolescents can be identified and appropriate support can be implemented. Methods Parents and carers (n = 2988) in the U.K. with children and adolescents aged between 4 and 16 years completed an online survey about their child’s mental health. Growth curve analysis was used to examine the changes in conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention and emotional symptoms between the end of March/beginning of April and July using data from four monthly assessments. Additionally, growth mixture modelling identified mental health trajectories for conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention and emotional symptoms separately and subsequent regression models were used to estimate predictors of mental health trajectory membership. Results Overall levels of hyperactivity and conduct problems increased over time whereas emotional symptoms remained relatively stable, though declined somewhat between June and July. Change over time varied according to child age, the presence of siblings, and with Special Educational Needs (SEN)/ Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ND). Subsequent growth mixture modelling identified three, four and five trajectories for hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms, respectively. Though many children maintained “stable3low” symptoms, others experienced elevated symptoms by July. These children were more likely to have a parent/carer with higher levels of psychological distress, to have SEN/ND, or to be younger in age. Conclusions The findings support previous literature and highlight that certain risk factors were associated with poorer mental health trajectories for children and adolescents during the pandemic.

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Association of Overall Screen Time and Outdoor Activity with Emotional and Behavioural Health Problems Among 30188 Adolescents in China：a cross-sectional study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.26116 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fangbiao Tao ◽

Yi Zhang ◽

Xiaoyan Wu ◽

Qianling Wang ◽

Qiao Zong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Screen Time ◽

Health Problems ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

School Type ◽

Outdoor Activity ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

High Exposure ◽

Behavioural Health ◽

Low Exposure

BACKGROUND Psychological problems among children and adolescents have become a public health issue. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate associations between screen time (ST), outdoor activity (OA), and emotional and behavioural health problems (EBHPs) among South Chinese children and adolescents METHODS Purposive sampling has been adopted from April to May 2019 to conduct a questionnaire survey among 30,188 children and adolescents in grade 1 to 12 from 14 schools in 6 streets in Baoan District of Shenzhen according to the three stages of street - school type - school. EBHPs were measured with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire; OA and ST data were obtained through self-reporting. Descriptive analyses, chi-squared tests, and logistic regressions were performed using SPSS 23.0 RESULTS In our study, 42.4% students had insufficient OA, 24.2% students had excessive ST, the abnormal of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, hyperactivity problems, prosocial behaviour, and total difficulties scales were 18.5%, 6.9%, 6.4%, 13.1%, 10.7% and 8.8%. There were significant associations between ST/PA, independently and through interaction, and EBHPs among children and adolescents. Participants with high exposure to ST were more likely to have EBHPs than those with low exposure; participants with low exposure to PA were also more likely to have EBHPs than those with high exposure. The interactive associations of ST and PA on EBHPs were stronger than those of ST or PA individually. CONCLUSIONS Our results show positive associations between ST, OA, and EBHPs. They indicate that interventions should be considered for decreasing ST and increasing OA in children and adolescents.

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The experimentation of the affects from the storytelling meetings for institutionalized children: report

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE SPREADING ◽

10.20952/jrks2112429 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Romércia Batista dos Santos ◽

Dinamara Garcia Feldens

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Active Participant ◽

Institutionalized Children ◽

Different Dimensions ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

This study aims to understand the experimentation of affects provided by storytelling meetings for institutionalized children at the Center for Attention to Children and Adolescents-CCA of Cajazeiras - PB. It is in this perspective that we seek, as a researcher, to understand how they experience their childhoods. “Storytelling is an art because it brings meanings when proposing a dialogue between the different dimensions of being” (Busatto, 2003, p. 10). To guide this study, the following question was asked: What affections were experienced by institutionalized children with storytelling? Eminently spinosan concept, affections are the expression of the relationship of each man with others and with the environment. Affection is, therefore, an important mediation capable of revealing much about the constitution of the human. Thus, the study adopts qualitative research - descriptive analytics, with active participant observation by the researcher with the researched subjects.

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Epidemiologija problema mentalnog zdravlja u mladih s područja Osijeka, korištenjem upitnika snaga i teškoća (SDQ)

Archives of Psychiatry Research ◽

10.20471/may.2021.57.01.06 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 61-68

Author(s):

Dubravka Holik ◽

Marija Kribl ◽

Andrea Milostić-Srb ◽

Danijela Nujić

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Peer Relationships ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

First Year ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Prosocial Skills ◽

First Year Students

Introduction: Mental disorders begin at an early age. Screening is the first step in early intervention for the mental health problems of children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents from Osijek, to early detect the risks of possible mental disorders, and to analyse gender differences. Materials and methods: The main screening instrument was The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which assesses the emotional and behavioural difficulties of children and adolescents, as well as the prosocial skills. Over 5 school years (2012/13-2016/17), a total of 5787 students were examined. 5514 (95.3%) first-year students from 16 high schools and 273 (4.7%) seventh-grade students from 10 elementary schools were examined in the City of Osijek. Results: 10.4% of students had the borderline or abnormal score on the Total difficulties score. Girls had higher scores on the Total difficulties score (p<0.01), Emotional symptoms subscale (p<0.01), Prosocial behaviour subscale (p<0.01), and on the Hyperactivity/inattention subscale (p<0.01). On the Conduct problems subscale and the Peer relationships problem subscale, boys scored significantly higher than the girls (p<0.01). Conclusion: In the Osijek area, girls are more affected by mental problems than boys, scoring higher on the total scale, as well as on the emotional and hyperactivity scale. Whereas boys scored higher on the conduct and peer relationship scales. The data obtained through this screening allows for further planning of public health measures, preventive activities, treatment, and mental health promotion.

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Risk Factors for Revolving Door in Children and Adolescents with Psychiatric Disorders

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10215004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (21) ◽

pp. 5004

Author(s):

Barbara D’Aiello ◽

Deny Menghini ◽

Roberto Averna ◽

Milena Labonia ◽

Stefano Vicari

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Psychiatric Hospitalization ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Severity Of Illness ◽

Revolving Door ◽

Psychiatric Ward ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Post Discharge ◽

Clinical Conditions

Revolving Door (RD) is a frequent phenomenon afflicting children and adolescents with psychiatric diagnoses. Nevertheless, risk factors for RD are still a matter of debate. To better understand RD phenomenon, we conducted a retrospective study on 224 children and adolescents (165 females and 59 males, aged 6–16 years) with a psychiatric hospitalization, taking the multiple risk factors together. At this aim, 108 patients with multiple hospitalizations and 116 patients with only one hospitalization were compared on demographic characteristics, clinical conditions, psychiatric ward stay, and post-discharge management factors. More than half of psychiatric patients were readmitted within three months of discharge. RD patients presented greater severity of illness, needed longer stays, and were more frequently placed in residential facilities than non-RD patients. Non-suicidal self-injurious and adoption were the main predictors of RD. Clinical instruments that detected behavioural and emotional symptoms, suicidal ideation severity, and level of impairment of the person’s functioning were useful to identify patients at high risk for RD. In conclusion, our findings pointed out that several risk factors have to be considered to better understand and, in the future, prevent RD phenomenon.

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Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children and Adolescents

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000449 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 101-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marina Carvalho ◽

Miguel Faria ◽

Andreia Conceição ◽

Margarida Gaspar de Matos ◽

Cecilia A. Essau

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Conduct Problems ◽

Factor Structure ◽

Factor Model ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Psychosocial Impairment ◽

Cu Traits ◽

Callous Unemotional ◽

Unemotional Traits ◽

Valid Instrument

Abstract. The Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU) was developed to measure callous-unemotional (CU) psychopathic traits in children and adolescents. Studies that have examined the factor structure of ICU showed considerable controversy. The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric proprieties of the Portuguese translation of the ICU. A total of 1,011 children and adolescents (495 boys and 516 girls), mean age of 13.36 years, participated in this study. Exploratory factor analysis produced two factors: uncaring and callousness; Cronbach’s α for each of the factor was .83 and .79 for the total score. Significant main gender and interaction between gender and age effects were found; girls reported lower CU traits than boys; children reported higher CU traits compared to preadolescents and adolescents, particularly in boys. CU also correlated with emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and psychosocial impairment. Furthermore, CU traits related to conduct problems both in boys and in girls, although this relationship was higher for boys. To conclude, findings of the present study showed that the Portuguese version of the ICU seems to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess CU traits among children and adolescents in Portugal. However, the original 3-factor model was not supported.

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