Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Research on trauma-informed practices is common in Western countries, but non-Western countries have made minimal contributions in this regard. This study aimed to develop an instrument which could be used to measure perceived competence of teachers in the implementation of trauma-informed practices for students with disabilities in Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Teacher Trauma Management Scale (TTMS), developed using the trauma framework by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was used to collect data from 514 teachers in Ghana ( n 270) and the UAE ( n = 244)...

Objective: To qualitatively explore the multifaceted impacts of the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of American university students. Method: Undergraduate students in general education courses at a mid-sized public Western U.S. university were recruited to complete a Qualtrics survey that evaluated their perceptions, beliefs, and behaviours towards COVID-19. Thematic analysis identified prevailing themes regarding the positive and negative changes to students' lives during the pandemic. Results: Participants included undergraduate students ( N = 241) between the ages of 18 and 24 (74...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Background: Adolescence is a vulnerable developmental stage for the onset of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and borderline features, which are related psychological phenomena. Self-compassion reflects a sensitivity to own suffering and a motivation to relieve it, consisting of a more positive and beneficial self-to-self relationship. The aim of the present study was to test the effect of self-compassion between borderline features at baseline and six months with a sample of adolescents with a history of NSSI...

Objective : This study aimed to examine the association between social withdrawal motivations (peer isolation, shyness, unsociability, low mood, and avoidance) and symptoms of hikikomori using both variable- and person-oriented analyses. Method : Adolescents ( N = 212) participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using the Social Withdrawal Motivations Scale and the Avoidance subscale of the Child Social Preference Scale-Revised, the 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire, the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 Brief Form, and the Interpersonal sensitivity subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory...

Background : Social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the mental health of children. Yet, analyses on the mental health of younger children in the later course of the pandemic are scarce. The present study assessed 8- to 11-year-olds' internalising disorder symptoms during the last three weeks, from the third week of February through to the first week of March, of the 2021 national lockdown. Method : One hundred and forty-five pupils, including a subset of keyworkers' children who had face-toface schooling, completed the validated Revised Child Anxiety and Depression scales, items on COVID-related stress at home, and evaluations of home-learning and school's measures for reopening...

Objective: The current cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association between childhood trauma, impulsivity, binge eating symptoms, and body mass index (BMI) in a sample of males and females. We also aimed to investigate the indirect association of childhood trauma with binge eating through impulsivity while controlling for BMI. Method: Participants were 410 young adults (mean age = 20.9 years, range 18-24; female = 73.9%) who completed online measures of childhood trauma, impulsivity, binge eating symptoms, and self-reported height and weight...

Background: Psychotic symptoms are present in a wide range of both clinical and non-clinical populations. Psychotic symptoms in adolescents often take the form of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), which are considered a risk factor for numerous serious mental illnesses. Socioeconomic disadvantages are across rural areas, and poverty is known as the third most important risk factor of PLEs. However, there have been limited studies on PLEs which focus on populations in rural areas. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of PLEs and investigate their predictors among early adolescents living in rural areas...

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...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.