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Despite suicide in younger population having become a severe public health issue, information on the prevalence of suicidality among Chinese children and adolescents is still limited. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts in Chinese children and adolescents aged under 18 years. A meta-analysis was conducted based on English and Chinese publications from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2020 using random-effects models. Based on 132 eligible studies with a combined total of 1,103,309 Chinese children and adolescents below 18 years old, the pooled prevalence of the overall suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts were 15.4% (95% CI [14.3, 16.6]), 6.4% (95% CI [5.5, 7.4]) and 3.5% (95% CI [3.1, 4.1]), respectively. The subgroup analyses showed that there were significant variations of prevalence of suicidal risks across genders, school stages, and geographical areas in mainland China. It was the first systematic review and meta-analysis to show suicidality among younger population aged below 18 years is prevalent in mainland China. This study suggests that gender-age-region-specific prevention and intervention programs should be urgently needed to reduce suicidal risks among Chinese children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overeating for non-homeostatic needs contributes to childhood obesity. However, validated measures or eating motives and cross-cultural comparisons are limited. This study aimed to validate the Kids-Palatable Eating Motives Scale (K-PEMS) and its association with body mass index z score (BMIz) in China, and further assess its generalization across Chinese and American youth. Data were from participants aged 8–18 years from Hangzhou, China (n = 426) and Birmingham, AL, U.S (n = 73). The K-PEMS had sound reliability and validation (Cronbach's α = 0.920 and all factor loadings >0.50) in the Chinese sample. Multi-group nested models CFAs showed that the ∆CFI of model comparisons of measurement weights and structural covariance, variance, and means were ⩽0.01, and ∆TLI of measurement intercepts ⩽0.05. Linear regressions revealed that frequency of consuming palatable foods and drinks for Coping, Reward Enhancement, and Conformity, but not Social motives, were positively associated with BMIz. The K-PEMS had good cross-cultural generalization and could be useful in treating obesity by identifying specific motives for consuming excessive calories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish the factor structure of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA) in Chinese and American adolescent samples; to assess measurement invariance of the ERQ-CA in Chinese and American adolescent samples and latent means across early adolescents from two diverse cultural settings. The ERQ-CA was administered to 1221 Chinese adolescents (49.3% males) and 1148 American adolescents (50.1% males), and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate measurement invariance.(1) Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis of the ERQ-CA demonstrated full configural invariance, full metric invariance, partial scalar invariance, and partial strict invariance. (2) The latent variable mean comparisons revealed significant differences between the two samples; specifically, Chinese adolescents' mean scores on the latent variables of cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES) were significantly higher than American adolescents' scores. The findings demonstrated that the ERQ-CA displays appropriate measurement invariance across Chinese and America adolescents and that Chinese adolescents reported higher scores on CR and ES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the relationship between relative deprivation and social anxiety, which affects mental health, and investigate the mediating role of perceived control and the moderating role of belief in a just world (BJW) in an understudied population in Asia, we surveyed 1573 rural-to-urban migrant children (48% female; 푀age = 12.3, SD = 1.7) in southeast China. Relative deprivation was positively correlated with social anxiety; perceived control partially mediated this connection. Moreover, BJW moderated the indirect effect, which was stronger for male migrant children with lower levels of BJW. The limitations and practical implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The pathologic features and potential predictive biomarkers for recurrence of antrochoanal polyps (ACPs) in children are not fully understood. Objectives: To identify the pathologic differences between recurrent and nonrecurrent group and to explore potential clinical markers which predict recurrence of ACPs in children. Material and Methods: A total of 11 recurrent and 21 nonrecurrent ACPs children were enrolled into this retrospect study. Clinical basic information was collected before the first surgery. The counts of vessels were evaluated by hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining, and CD34 was detected by immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, the percentage of each tissue inflammatory cells (eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and plasma cells) was assessed by HE staining. Results: No statistical significance was observed between the 2 groups in the basic clinical features. Moreover, both the counts of blood vessels and the tissue neutrophils percentage were enhanced significantly in group with ACPs recurrence (P <.05). According to the receiver operating characteristic curves, the area under the curve for the counts of blood vessels and tissue neutrophils percentage in the prediction of ACPs' recurrence was 0.779 (P =.0105) and 0.989 (P <.0001) respectively. Conclusions and Significance: It was concluded that the counts of blood vessels and the percentage of tissue neutrophils appeared to be potential excellent predictors of ACPs recurrence in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common knowledge that bullying victimization and coping strategies significantly affect the psychological well-being of children. However, which coping strategies are more effective at a particular level of bullying victimization is underexplored. Using survey data from 1,634 children from 10 schools in Wuhan, China, this study aims to investigate the abovementioned research gap. The results of factor analysis suggest that coping strategies of children in China can be divided into three types: help-seeking, avoidance, and self-defense. The results of multilevel modeling suggest that children adopting different coping strategies have distinct levels of depression. Help seekers show a significantly lower level of depression than self-defenders and avoiders. However, with increased bullying victimization, the effectiveness of the help-seeking strategy gradually decreases to offset the negative effect of bullying victimization on psychological well-being. Instead, those who adopt the self-defense strategy display a lower level of depression. The findings of this study suggest that there is no single coping strategy that is best for children, and the more effective strategy largely relies on the level of bullying victimization. The findings also imply that without external support, it is almost impossible for children to completely overcome the negative consequences of bullying on their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hong Kong Chinese version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Child and Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent were examined for their psychometric properties and specificity on screening autism spectrum disorder against attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This study recruited three groups of participants: typically developing children; children with autism spectrum disorder and children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Both the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaires demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, test–retest reliability and area under receiver operating characteristics curve in discriminating the autism spectrum disorder group from the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and typically developing groups, separately and jointly. The optimal cutoff scores for both the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaires were identified to be 76, with satisfactory sensitivity and specificity, for differentiating the autism spectrum disorder group from the typically developing group and from the typically developing and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder groups combined. On the contrary, both Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaires could not effectively differentiate the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder group from the typically developing group, or in other words, they did not misclassify attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as autism spectrum disorder because of their phenotypic overlap in social difficulties. These findings supported that both the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaires were not general measures of child and adolescent psychopathology, but could claim to be more specific measures of autism spectrum disorder, given their success in identifying the autism spectrum disorder group from the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder/typically developing groups, while failing to differentiate the latter two groups. The Autism-Spectrum Quotient is a 50-item questionnaire developed to assess autistic symptoms in adults, adolescents and children. Its original version and others in different countries are known to be effective tools in identifying individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This study examined whether the Hong Kong Chinese versions of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Child and Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent were effective in identifying autism spectrum disorder children and adolescents. On top of comparing them with their typically developing peers, this study also included a group of children/adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a disorder with similar social difficulties as autism spectrum disorder. Results showed that both the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaires were effective in differentiating the autism spectrum disorder group from the typically developing and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder groups, separately and jointly. On the contrary, they could not identify the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder group from the typically developing group so that they were not misclassifying attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as autism spectrum disorder. These findings supported that both the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Child and Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent were not general measures of child and adolescent psychopathology, but could claim to be specific measures of autism spectrum disorder. Such capability would enormously enhance their utility in clinical practice for identifying autism spectrum disorder children/adolescents from their typically developing peers and from those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This is because, the latter is a common neurodevelopmental disorder frequently presented to child psychiatric clinics alongside with autism spectrum disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the dual-coding hypothesis to examine how melodramatic animation in crime news reports affects news learning among older children in Hong Kong. In total, 74 older children (mean age = 15.3) were exposed to news videos that either did or did not include melodramatic animation. The results showed that melodramatic animation helped the participants learn the news. The social implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent-mediated intervention is a prominent approach to supplementing service insufficiency for the population with autism spectrum disorder, yet individuals from low-resource areas are largely under-represented among participants in the global parent-mediated intervention research. This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first to inspect the overall effects and research quality of parent-mediated interventions in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. A total of 21 parent-mediated interventions were included in systematic review, and among them, 12 randomized controlled trials representing 964 children were analyzed in meta-synthesis. Overall, results of meta-analysis showed favorable effects of parent-mediated interventions with standardized mean difference ranging from 0.63 (social competence) to 1.00 (symptom severity) and averaged 0.76 across domains. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to poor evidence quality as assessed in GRADE ratings. In terms of methodological quality, QualSyst evaluation showed that more than half (14/21) of the included studies were below satisfactory. Identified programs lack the capacity to be further disseminated in the Chinese societies due to the absence of solid theoretical foundations, the negligence of implementation outcomes, and the inadequacy of sophisticated cultural adaptations. This review reinforces the need for promotion and improvement of parent-mediated interventions in low-resource context (PROSPERO: CRD42019138723). The ideal dosage for early intensive interventions for autism spectrum disorder has been suggested to be at least 25-hour per week to reach optimal effects. However, insufficient service use and unmet needs among families with children with autism spectrum disorder are frequently reported worldwide. Helping parents to develop strategies for interaction and management of behavior through parent training has been demonstrated to be a prominent way to supplementing service insufficiency for autism spectrum disorder, which is particularly crucial in less-resourced areas. This review included 21 parent-mediated intervention programs conducted in China, the most populated developing country. Among them, we were able to combine outcome information from 12 randomized controlled trials to increase confidence in the results. We also rated the quality of methodology and evidence for all included studies, which was taken into account in making conclusions. The included programs varied in the content, length, and delivery method of trainings. Although targeting different training outcomes, the majority of the studies aimed to help parents be more competent and responsive during interactions with their child in order to decrease symptom severity. Overall, results showed sufficient evidence that parent training did improve child outcomes as intended. However, the quality of more than half (14/21) of the included studies were below satisfactory. Identified programs lack the capacity to be further transported in the Chinese societies due to the lack of solid theoretical foundations, implementation manuals, and appropriate cultural adaptations. This review reinforces the need for promotion and improvement of parent-mediated interventions in low-resource context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accurately admit children with COVID-19 to an isolation ward, our study retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics of children in isolation wards during the COVID-19 epidemic. It was found that 55 cases (83.3%) had fever and 48 cases (72.7%) coughed in the isolated area, 31 cases (47%) had a history of exposure, 26 cases (39.4%) had a decrease in lymphocytes (LYM), more than half had an increase in lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase isoenzyme, 14 cases (21.2%) had positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, 58 cases (87.9%) had abnormal chest computed tomography (CT), and 11 cases (16.7%) had sinus arrhythmia. Therefore, for some suspected children with COVID-19, we can make a comprehensive judgment through clinical symptoms, epidemiological history, LYM number, myocardial enzyme spectrum, chest CT, and electrocardiogram; put these children in an isolation ward for treatment; and then transfer them to a general ward for treatment after excluding COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to compare different methods of screening for hypertension in Han adolescents. We analyzed data on 3136 Han adolescents (1601 boys and 1535 girls) aged 13 to 17 years from the adolescents hypertension survey of Qinhuangdao in 2006. The blood pressure was classified as without hypertension and with hypertension, consistent with the 2004 Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents guidelines and the selected screening methods. Sensitivity and specificity were then calculated according to gender range. Somu’s formulas and the table proposed by Chiolero had low sensitivities (58.4% to 83.1%), despite good specificities (99.0% to 100.0%). The tables proposed by Mitchell and Kaelber had high sensitivities (100%), but their specificities were low (62.0% to 73.8%). Blood pressure–to-height ratio (BPHR) was a good compromise between sensitivities (boys 99.1% and girls 98.9%) and specificities (boys 91.0% and girls 94.9%). As screening tools, the table proposed by Mitchell and Kaelber and BPHR have high sensitivities. However, BPHR demonstrated specific advantages, and it does not require tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]