Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Adolescent mental health is difficult to capture in categories such as depression or specific anxiety disorders. An alternative is to approach psychiatric symptoms as causal networks, potentially revealing feedback loops that maintain a pathological state. One approach to creating such networks, implemented in the PECAN methodology, is to ask adolescents about their perceptions of the causes to their symptoms. For this purpose, a transdiagnostic item list was created, and adolescents who screened positive for depression ( N = 55) completed twice in two weeks a survey quantifying perceptions of causality between their mental health problems...

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate associations between physical activity levels and emotional and behavioural problems in school-going adolescents aged 14 to 17 years in Uganda. Methods: Two-hundred and five adolescents [median (interquartile range) age = 16.0 (1.0) years; female = 61.9%] completed the interviewer-administered Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire (GAD-7), and the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) measure...

Objective: According to self-determination theory, satisfied basic psychological needs can be a protective factor for psychopathology, including eating disorders and anxiety symptomatology. However, most research has focused on adolescent and adult populations, with less work examining perceived basic psychological need satisfaction from parents in younger samples who report anxiety and disordered eating. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate whether basic psychological need satisfaction from parents was associated with disordered eating in preadolescents and whether anxiety mediated this relation...

Background: Globally many young people, especially from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, face significant barriers to achieving optimal life chances. Creative arts interventions are a way of reaching out to adolescents in low-income communities, to encourage positive functioning and enhanced well-being. We need information on the efficacy - or otherwise - of such interventions to optimise future efforts. Method: An integrative, descriptive literature review was conducted to explore and describe creative arts interventions for adolescents in low-income communities...

Background: The Finnish Gutsy Go programme is a positive youth development intervention designed to enhance adolescents' psychosocial well-being by enabling eighth-grade students to develop and execute good deeds within the community. Objective: This study aimed to explore the effect of the Gutsy Go programme on adolescents' positive mental health, experience of social inclusion, and social competence using a quasi-experimental study design. Methods: Data were collected with electronic questionnaires at baseline ( n = 236 programme participants and n = 303 controls) and follow-up two weeks after the programme ( n = 126, 54...

Background : Adolescents are at risk for mental health (MH) disorders but are unlikely to seek services and may be reluctant to talk about their MH. An anonymous, online MH-focused community could help reduce suffering. However, online forums can also promote negative behaviours such as cyberbullying. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of an online community - LovesCompany - to improve MH outcomes for adolescents. Methods : American adolescents (14-17 years) were recruited through social media...

Objective: This study estimates the frequency and predictors of caregiver strain (CGS) among parents of autistic children. Methods: Demographic details and CGS were collected through a validated tool from 403 parents of autistic children in Karachi, Pakistan. Regression modelling was performed to report associations between social, behavioural, and communication problems and socioeconomic predictors of CGS. Results were reported using adjusted beta-coefficients with 95% confidence intervals. Results: In total, 88...

Objectives: This study investigated the quality of life of youth sport participants over the COVID-19 pandemic as moderated by psychological resilience. Methods: Participants included 93 high school sport participants (53.76% female, mean age = 15.59 ± 0.74) in a three-year longitudinal cohort study (SHRed Concussions) who completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Pediatric Quality of Life Scale (PedsQL), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at Year 1 (pre-pandemic, 2019-2020) and Year 2 (pandemic, 2020-2021)...

Background: In schools, teachers are often tasked with implementing mental health and well-being programmes. However, little is known about teachers' views on and experiences with implementing these programmes. Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to explore teachers' views and experiences of mental health and well-being intervention programmes developed to promote and protect student mental health. Methods: A systematic review of the empirical literature was conducted using the following databases: Academic Search Complete, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, British Education Index, Education Full Text (H...

Objective: The study explored whether orphanhood status as well as coping strategies predicted mental health outcomes in orphans and vulnerable adolescents who participated in an NGO-supported programme in rural South Africa. Method: Participants comprised 175 adolescents (aged 11-18 years) from a low-resource community, and included non-orphans ( n = 57), orphans due to AIDS ( n = 62) and orphans due to other causes ( n = 56). All participants rated themselves on the age-appropriate Youth Self-Report scales and 95 completed the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC)...

While practitioners might engage caregivers on their understandings of the disruptive behavioural disorders of their children, their perspectives are yet to be examined in a qualitative study. This study explored perspectives of primary caregivers on the disruptive behaviour of children who attended the child unit of Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, in South Africa. Qualitative methods were used in a case study design. Nineteen participants were purposively sampled. The participants were interviewed using individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews...

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Background and aim : This review examined the prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: The review included studies indexed in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases, supplemented by a search on Google Scholar and tracking of references from articles identified. A total of 725 articles were found, of which 28 met the inclusion criteria. Finally, 22 eligible studies were reviewed. Findings: The pooled current prevalence of mental health problems was 23% (95% CI: 18; 28, I2 = 99...

Background: Research shows that the debilitating effects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) not only have an impact on the child, but on the parents and caregivers as well. This study aimed to explore the challenges and coping strategies of parents of children with ASD in Eswatini. Methodology: An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study that used purposive sampling to interview parents of children with ASD was utilised. Data were gathered using two focus groups, three dyads, and two semi-structured interviews...

Background: Resilience is a measure of the ability to cope with stress and the accurate measurement of it is critical. This study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in Iranian adolescents during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, after the scale translation, the content and construct validity were assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, internal consistency, composite reliability, and invariance measurement were evaluated...

Background: Researchers are increasingly interested in understanding potentially traumatic experiences in children's lives, such as witnessing community violence (WCV) and the recent death of a close family member or friend. These experiences can be distressing and have adverse effects on children's psychological and behavioural adjustment, including externalising behaviours and internalising symptoms. Methodology: This paper reports the results of an exploratory study aimed to address knowledge gaps, particularly among children aged 5-9 years ( n = 1 283), by examining the associations between WCV, recent death, and child behavioural outcomes...

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic posed unanticipated challenges that could impact how the family system operates across the world. Restrictions imposed to control the rapid spread of the virus substantially increased violence in families. The current study aims to review violence in the family and its impact on the mental health of children during the pandemic. Method: A systematic search was conducted using keywords in the electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, and a manual search was conducted on Google Scholar for articles from January 2020 to January 2021...

Background: Although numerous studies have reported an association between sleep quality and mental health, few have focused on this association exclusively in early adolescence. Targeting this age group is vital as many mental illnesses first emerge during adolescence and remain a significant burden throughout life. Method: In the current study n = 60 participants aged 12 years completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Results: Consistent with previous findings, bivariate correlations revealed significant positive linear relationships between K10 total score and (i) PSQI total score; (ii) sleep quality; (iii) daytime dysfunction; and (iv) sleep disturbance...

Objective: This study sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of loneliness among in-school adolescents in Ghana using data obtained from the 2012 Global School-based Health Survey conducted in Ghana. Results: A total of 1 266 in-school adolescents participated in the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to examine the prevalence and correlates of loneliness. The prevalence of loneliness was 18.4%. Adolescents who felt hungry in-school (AOR = 0.43), those who used tobacco (AOR = 2...

Background and aim: Adolescent suicide has become a central issue around the world, including in Malaysia, which needs attention. The current study investigated the mediating effect of coping strategy in the association between family functioning and suicidal ideation among adolescents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Method: A total of 852 school-attending adolescents aged 13-17 years were recruited by multistage cluster sampling. The relationships between all the study variables were analysed using Pearson's correlation...