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AimsTo examine the quality of life (QOL) of parents of children with a specific mental disorder (any age).MethodsRelevant articles were searched using different databases. Articles were included that compared the QOL of parents with mentally-ill children to parents of healthy controls or norm values or provided the required data for this comparison. A meta-analysis was conducted to obtain an overall mean effect size estimate. Additional analyses were performed to assess publication bias and moderation.ResultsTwenty-six out of 10 548 articles met the pre-defined inclusion criteria. Most of these studies focused on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder, used clinical samples that mainly included males and young children and studied the QOL of mothers. The meta-analysis revealed that parents of mentally-ill children are experiencing a clinically relevant reduction in their QOL relative to parents of healthy children and norm values (g= −0.66).ConclusionsThe compromised QOL of parents of mentally-ill children needs to be considered and addressed by health professionals who are in contact with them. The paper provides insights into existing research gaps and suggests improvements for subsequent work.

Purpose: To examine parent-child agreement regarding a child's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among three health status groups. Methods: Parent-child agreement was evaluated for three health status groups of a population-based sample: (1) children with mental health problems (N=461), (2) children with physical health problems (N=281), and (3) healthy controls (N=699). The KIDSCREEN-27 was used to assess HRQOL. The children were 9-14years of age. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients were mostly good across all HRQOL scores and health status groups. This relatively high level of agreement was also reflected by the following findings: first, the AGREE group was the largest in three out of five HRQOL subscales in all health status groups; second, when disagreement occurred, it was often minor in magnitude. Despite this relatively high level of agreement, the means of self-ratings were significantly higher for all HRQOL scores and health status groups than the means of proxy ratings. These higher self-ratings were especially pronounced among children with mental health problems in certain HRQOL domains. Conclusions: Even though the level of parent-child agreement regarding a child's HRQOL is relatively high, it should be considered that children (especially those with mental health problems) often report better HRQOL than their parents. It is, therefore, highly recommended that both proxy- and self-ratings are used to evaluate a child's HRQOL comprehensively

To test the efficacy of a combined web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in young people compared to assessment only. Two-arm, parallel-group, cluster-randomized controlled trial with assessments at baseline and 6-month follow up. The automated intervention included online feedback, based on the social norms approach, and individually tailored text messages addressing social norms, outcome expectations, motivation, self-efficacy, and planning processes, provided over 3 months. The main outcome criterion was the prevalence of risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD, defined as drinking at least 5 standard drinks on a single occasion in men and 4 in women) in the past 30 days. Irrespective of alcohol consumption, 1,355 students from 80 Swiss vocational and upper secondary school classes, all of whom owned a mobile phone, were invited to participate in the study. Of these, 1,041 (76.8%) students participated in the study. Based on intention-to-treat analyses, RSOD prevalence decreased by 5.9% in the intervention group and increased by 2.6% in the control group, relative to that of baseline assessment (odds ratio [OR] = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.44-0.87). No significant group differences were observed for the following secondary outcomes: RSOD frequency, quantity of alcohol consumed, estimated peak blood alcohol concentration, and overestimation of peer drinking norms. The intervention program reduced RSOD, which is a major indicator of problem drinking in young people, effectively. (PsycINFO Database Record(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether mental health services utilization in Switzerland is equitably distributed (i.e. predicted only by the need of a person). METHODS: Data on 17789 participants of the Swiss Health Survey 2012 (=15 years) was analysed. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict: having been in treatment for a psychological problem; having used psychotropic medication; having had medical treatment for depression; and having visited a psychologist or psychotherapist. Need (depression severity and risky alcohol consumption) and socio demographic variables were used as independent variables. RESULTS: Depression severity was the strongest predictor for using mental health services. In contrast risky alcohol consumption was not associated with an increased likelihood of using mental health services. After adjusting for need the following groups were less likely to use (some of) the mental health services: males young people participants who (almost) work full time single/unmarried non Swiss people and those living in rural areas. Education and income were not significantly associated with the outcomes in the adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Some socio demographic subgroups are less likely to use mental health services despite having the same need.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether help negation (not accepting or accessing available helping resources) among suicidal people can also be found in a Swiss sample. METHODS: Data on 16640 participants (aged 15 and older) from the Swiss Health Survey 2012 was analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the association between suicidality (categorized into "not at all"; "several days"; and "more than half of the days") and currently being in treatment for depression (covariates: depression and socio demographic variables). RESULTS: Less than 1/3 of the participants with the highest level of suicidality were currently in treatment (males: 27.0 ; females: 29.6 ). Participants who were experiencing suicidality for several days were more likely to be in treatment relative to non suicidal people. However people with the highest level of suicidality did not differ from the other two groups in regard to treatment frequency. Help negation was particularly pronounced among males and young people (15 24 year olds). CONCLUSIONS: The reluctance to seek professional help is problematic because treatment might reduce the risk of suicide.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations between substance use and other health-risk behaviors and quality of life (QOL) among young men. METHODS: The analytical sample consisted of 5,306 young Swiss men who participated in the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors. Associations between seven distinct self-reported health-risk behaviors (risky single-occasion drinking; volume drinking; cigarette smoking; cannabis use; use of any other illicit drugs; sexual intercourse without a condom; low physical activity) were assessed via chi-square analysis. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the associations between each particular health-risk behavior and either physical or mental QOL (assessed with the SF-12v2) while adjusting for socio-demographic variables and the presence of all other health-risk behaviors. RESULTS: Most health-risk behaviors co-occurred. However, low physical activity was not or negatively related to other health-risk behaviors. Almost all health-risk behaviors were associated with a greater likelihood of compromised QOL. However, sexual intercourse without a condom (not associated with both physical and mental QOL) and frequent risky single-occasion drinking (not related to mental QOL after adjusting for the presence of other health-risk behaviors; positively associated with physical QOL) differed from this pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Health-risk behaviors are mostly associated with compromised QOL. However, sexual intercourse without a condom and frequent risky single-occasion drinking differ from this pattern and are therefore possibly particularly difficult to change relative to other health-risk behaviors.

The article aimed to analyse time trends regarding young people's willingness to talk about mental health problems. Data on 16,774 participants (16–20-year olds) of the ‘Swiss Multicentre Adolescent Survey on Health’ (SMASH) were analysed. The survey was conducted in 1992/93 and in 2002. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors associated with the self-reported willingness of youth to talk about mental health problems with adults (other than parents), friends or no one. Socio-demographic characteristics were used as covariates. These analyses were first carried out for the total sample and, in a second step, stratified by suicidality of the participants. The percentage of participants who would talk about mental health problems with adults or friends increased between 1992/93 and 2002, while the percentage of those who would not talk about such problems decreased. This pattern was confirmed in the stratified analyses (i.e., for suicidal and non-suicidal individuals). Hence, Swiss youth seem to have less difficulty in talking with others about mental health problems than previous cohorts. This trend towards increased disclosure may have implications for claims that the prevalence of mental health problems has increased in recent decades.