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While suicide can occur throughout the lifespan, worldwide suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29 years. The aim of this multicentre study, conducted in Austria, Germany and Turkey, is to investigate the transcultural differences of suicide attempts among children and adolescents with and without migration background. The present study is a retrospective analyses of the records of 247 young people, who were admitted after a suicide attempt to Emergency Outpatient Clinics of Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the collaborating Universities including Medical University of Vienna, Charité University Medicine Berlin and Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine and Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Mental Health in Istanbul over a 3-year period. The results of the present study show significant transcultural differences between minors with and without migration background in regard to triggering reasons, method of suicide attempts and psychiatric diagnosis. The trigger event "intra-familial conflicts" and the use of "low-risk methods" for their suicide attempt were more frequent among patients with migration background. Moreover among native parents living in Vienna and Berlin divorce of parents were more frequent compared to parents living in Istanbul and migrants in Vienna. These results can be partly explained by cultural differences between migrants and host society. Also disadvantages in socio-economic situations of migrants and their poorer access to the healthcare system can mostly lead to acute and delayed treatments. Larger longitudinal studies are needed to understand better the impact of migration on the suicidal behaviour of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may have a lasting effect on the quality of life (QoL) of children and their parents. Children with ADHD as well as their parents report a lower QoL compared with healthy children and children with chronic diseases such as bronchial asthma. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the changes of QoL of children with ADHD and their parents' subjective well-being before and after starting pharmacotherapy. We used the appropriate KINDL questionnaire for assessing the children's QoL and the World Health Organization (WHO) Big Five Questionnaire for assessing parental well-being. Methods: We assessed the QoL and the parental well-being in 60 children and adolescents with ADHD between the ages of 6 and 12 years [mean age 8.7 years, (standard deviation = 1.8)], treated at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Medical University of Vienna. QoL was rated using the KINDL questionnaires, and parental well-being was assessed using the WHO Big Five Questionnaire (WHO-5) before and after starting pharmacotherapy. We used t-tests and three-way GLM-ANOVA (SPSS, version 22; IBM Corp.) for evaluating the statistical significance of pre-post differences. Results: The QoL of the children with ADHD and the subjective well-being of the parents improved significantly after introducing pharmacotherapy. Conclusions: Pharmacotherapy is recommended in children with clinically significant ADHD not only because it helps to improve the symptoms of ADHD, but also their QoL and the well-being of their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different psychosocial factors might have an impact on suicidal behaviour and evidence shows that there may be an association between monthly, diurnal and circadian changes and suicidal behaviours. Methods: In the present study we analysed retrospectively records of 2232 youth, who were treated in emergency units of state hospitals in Istanbul/Turkey after attempting suicide. Results: The majority of the suicide attempters were females (81.6%). In both sexes, suicide attempts most frequently occurred at the beginning of the calendar week and between evening and midnight. Conclusions: This study shows that suicide attempts in youth follow diurnal and circadian changes. As suicide attempts of youth most frequently occurred at the beginning of the calendar week and between evening and midnight, health services such as specialized counselling for youth should especially be available during this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:Despite the growing number of young second-generation immigrant (SGI) children and adolescents, studies about their mental health are rare. The objective of this study was to investigate the mental health problems of SGI children and adolescents in Istanbul, Turkey. Methods:In a clinical sample the mental health of 54 SGIs and 50 native children and adolescents were examined using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and Children’s Global Assessment Scale. The assessments were carried out by a blinded rater. Results:SGI children had higher rates of psychiatric disorders such as depression (p = 0.001), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (p = 0.011) and anxiety disorders (p = 0.013), more comorbid disorders and lower functionality scores compared to their native counterparts (p = 0.001). Conclusions:SGI children seem to have higher rates of psychiatric disorders most probably due to migration-induced burdens. The professionals treating SGI children should have more awareness for these problems to be able to approach them in a culture and language sensitive way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents may be associated with the use of maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. The present study examined the use of maladaptive and adaptive ER strategies in adolescents with SAD. Methods: 30 adolescents with SAD (CLIN) and 36 healthy adolescents for the control group (CON) aged between 11 and 16 years were assessed with the standardized questionnaires PHOKI (Phobiefragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche) for self-reported fears as well as FEEL-KJ (Fragebogen zur Erhebung der Emotionsregulation bei Kindern und Jugendlichen) for different emotion regulation strategies. Results: Compared to controls, adolescents with SAD used adaptive ER strategies significantly less often, but made use of maladaptive ER strategies significantly more often. There was a significant positive correlation between maladaptive ER and social anxiety in adolescents. Examining group differences of single ER strategy use, the CLIN and CON differed significantly in the use of the adaptive ER strategy reappraisal with CLIN reporting less use of reappraisal than CON. Group differences regarding the maladaptive ER strategies withdrawal and rumination, as well as the adaptive ER strategy problem-solving were found present, with CLIN reporting more use of withdrawal and rumination and less use of problem-solving than CON. Conclusions: Promoting adaptive emotion regulation should be a central component of psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy-CBT) for social anxiety in adolescents from the beginning of the therapy process. These findings provide rationale for special therapy programs concentrating on the establishment of different adaptive ER strategies (including reappraisal). As an increased use of maladaptive ER may be associated with SAD in adolescents, it may be paramount to focus on reduction of maladaptive ER (for example withdrawal and rumination) from the beginning of the psychotherapy process. Incorporating more ER components into psychotherapy (CBT) could increase the treatment efficacy. Further investigations of the patterns of emotion regulation in specific anxiety groups like SAD in adolescents is needed to continue to optimize the psychotherapy (CBT) concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Compared to their indigenous peers, migrant children and adolescents are at increased risk for mental health problems. The aim of our study was to compare psychological disorders of children and adolescents with Turkish migration background and their native Austrian peers. Methods: We analysed 302 children and adolescents aged between 7 and 18 years. The sample consisted of 100 Austrian and 100 Turkish outpatients with mental health problems, and 102 healthy controls, 52 with Austrian and 50 with Turkish background, recruited from various Viennese local child and youth centres. Results: Native patients had more frequently externalizing problems (42.1%) compared to the Turkish-speaking sample (28%). However, in the control group, Turkish-speaking children and adolescents had higher levels of internalizing, depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to their native peers. Conclusions: We found noticeable differences in psychological problems among children and adolescents with and without migration background. We assume that migration-related stress factors are responsible for these differences. Also, children and adolescents with migration background seek for psychological help less frequently than their indigenous peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:Suicidal behavior of young people is a topic of utmost importance because suicide is irreversible, and should be prevented. Knowing about the psychosocial background and the triggering events could help in preventing suicidal behavior. We therefore aimed at identifying psychosocial factors that may trigger suicidal behavior in youth. Methods:We analyzed retrospectively the standardized records of 2232 youths aged ≤25 years, who were treated after a suicide attempt at emergency units of public hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey during a period of 1 year. We describe this population according to sex and socio-economic conditions, like educational, occupational, relationship status and link them with their reported reasons for suicide attempts. Results:The majority of patients were female (81.6%,N = 1822 females, 18.4%,N = 410 males). Independent of their educational and occupational background, patients indicated most frequently intra-familial problems (females 45.8%, males 30.5%), intrapersonal problems (females 19.9%, males 18.5%), and relationship problems (females 11.3%, males 23.9%) as triggering reasons. Conclusions:Because intra-familial problems were the most frequently reported triggers of suicide attempts, preventive measures should focus on handling intra-familial conflicts. As sex differences were observed for the second-most common trigger-reasons, prevention should also focus on differentially handling intrapersonal and relationship conflicts better. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Seasonal changes and climatic factors like ambient temperature, sunlight duration and rainfall can influence suicidal behavior. Methods: This study analyses the relationship between seasonal changes and climatic variations and suicide attempts in 2131 young patients in Istanbul, Turkey. Results: In our study sample, there was an association between suicide attempts in youths and seasonal changes, as suicide attempts occurred most frequently during summer in females as well as in males. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the mean temperature over the past 10 days and temperature at the index day and suicide attempts in females. After seasonality effects were mathematically removed, the mean temperature 10 days before a suicide attempt remained significant in males only, indicating a possible short-term influence of temperature on suicide attempts. Conclusions: This study shows an association between suicide attempts of young people and climatic changes, in particular temperature changes as well as seasonal changes. Therefore, the influence of seasonal changes and climatic factors on young suicide attempters should get more attention in research to understand the biopsychosocial mechanisms playing a role in suicide attempts of young people. As suicide attempts most frequently occur in young people, further research is of considerable clinical importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]