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Based on research undertaken as part of the EU funded EPPIC project, this paper aims to update and elaborate on the relationship between drug use and offending behaviours by exploring variations within a cross-national sample of drug-experienced young people in touch with criminal justice systems. Adopting a trajectory-based approach, interviews were undertaken with 198 young people aged 15–25 in six European countries (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, and UK). Data were analysed by applying the Bennett and Holloway categorization of the drugs-crime link, with a focus on the concept of social exclusion as developed by Seddon. Three main types of mechanisms (economic, pharmaceutical, and lifestyles) are used to interpret the data, showing how the relationship between drugs and offending can vary according to type of substances and over time. Furthermore, it can be associated with very different degrees of social exclusion and needs. The results suggest that while economic inequalities still play key roles in explaining drug use and offending, both behaviours can originate from a state of relative deprivation, resulting from the contradictions inherent in 'bulimic societies' that raise aspirations and desires while providing young people scarce opportunities for self-realisation and social recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescent depression has been recognized as a complex problem that presents a global public health challenge. Left undetected and untreated, depression can significantly reduce quality of life. Objective: The main purpose of this paper is to re-visit risk and protective factors for depression in adolescents with a specific focus on exploring the individual, familial, and social contexts of depression (especially high and very high depression levels) in a multi-country sample of youth in order to see if these factors are mitigated by cultural location. Methods: Questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study of a randomly selected sample of 5149 middle-school students from four EU-countries (Austria, Germany, Slovenia, and Spain) was used. Applying variance analysis, we examined the prediction strength for the observed risk and protective factors. Results: In all participating countries we show that in for both male and female adolescents, depression is linked to a broad range of interactive individual, and social protective and risk factors, such that even if the contribution of a single factor is low but still significant and this factor's prediction strength is low or moderate, taken together, the cumulative prediction strength of these factors yields a remarkably similar coefficient of determination of 42-49% in all samples. Conclusions: We have established a significant and relevant combination of the individual and social multifactorial risk and protective factors that characterize depression in adolescents of both genders, no matter their country of location and with that, we call for a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to mental health assessment, prevention and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of childhood mobility on a range of life outcomes has been examined, but its influence on the likelihood to move in adulthood remains largely unknown. This paper examines the impact of changing residence in childhood on mobility levels in early and mid‐adulthood in 11 European countries. Drawing on nationally representative retrospective residential histories from the Study of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the paper uses negative binomial regression to assess how the number and timing of moves from birth to age 17 affect the likelihood to move between the ages of 18 to 50 for individuals born between 1918 and 1957. While the level and timing of childhood moves vary between countries, childhood moves significantly increase the likelihood to move in adulthood in all our sample countries but Austria. The effect is particularly pronounced in low mobility countries in the south, east and centre of Europe where moving as a child is less common. While changing residence in adolescence is particularly influential, in some countries pre‐school relocations also have a long‐lasting effect on subsequent mobility. Conceptually, these results demonstrate the importance of viewing mobility as a cumulative process that takes place over the entire life‐course of individuals. Drawing on key migration and mobility concepts, we formulate a schematic decision‐making framework that traces the relationship between past and future moves. We conclude that the impact of changing residence in childhood on mobility behaviour later in life could contribute to reinforcing diverging trends in mobility levels across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the federal government of the United States expanded a set of income transfers that led to strong reductions in child poverty. This research note uses microdata from more than 50 countries and U.S. data spanning more than 50 years to place the 2021 child poverty rate in historical and international perspective. We demonstrate that whether using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), relative poverty measures, or an absolute poverty measure, the U.S. child poverty rate in 2021 was at its lowest level since at least 1967. The U.S. tax and transfer system reduced the 2021 SPM child poverty rate by more than 75% relative to the pre-tax/transfer child poverty rate; this reduction was three times the mean reduction effect between 1967 and 2019. These policy changes improved the country's standing from having a relative poverty rate twice that of Germany's in 2019 to the same as Germany's in 2021. Moreover, the U.S. progressed from reducing child poverty at less than half the rate of Norway in 2019 to a rate comparable to Norway in 2021. However, the U.S. success was temporary: after the expiration of the 2021 income provisions, the child poverty rate doubled and returned to being higher than in most other high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Since there is no uniform global diabetes trend in childhood and adolescence, regional epidemiological surveys of diabetes incidences are important. In Austria, the incidences of type 1 diabetes (T1D), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and other forms of diabetes have been recorded for decades. Methods. To analyze recent developments of diabetes incidence within the decades long-standing Austrian nationwide prospective population-based incidence study for diabetes in children aged <15 years. We estimated time trends of age-standardized rates from 1989 to 2021 for T1D and T2D by joinpoint analysis. Annual percent changes (APCs) were calculated. Case ascertainment was 97%. Results. We observed an unusual increase of T1D incidence in the year 2021, reaching a peak of 28.7/100,000/PY (person years). From 2011 to 2020, there had been a constant plateau phase in the total cohort (APC 0.78, 95% CI [−0.99, 2.58], p = 0.379), which had followed a steep increase of T1D incidence (APC 4.6, 95% CI [3.94, 5.19], p < 0.001) from 1989 to 2011. Age-specific differences in T1D incidence development were observed. For the first time, we observed a statistically significant constant increase in T2D during the observation period (APC 3.47, 95% CI [0.76, 6.26], p = 0.014). Other forms of diabetes are two times more common than T2D in this age group. Conclusion. The incidence of T1D in Austrian children <15 years is still increasing and showed a peak in 2021. For the first time, a significant increase in pediatric T2D was observed in Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their separate research traditions, intelligence and executive functioning (EF) are both theoretically and empirically closely related to each other. Based on a subsample of 8- to 20-year-olds of the standardization and validation sample (N = 1540) of an internationally available instrument assessing both cognitive abilities, this study aimed at investigating a comprehensive structural model of intelligence and EF tasks and at gaining insight into whether this comprehensive model is applicable across sexes and age groups as well as to a subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities (IQ ≤ 85, n = 255). The results of our exploratory factor analysis indicated one common EF factor that could be sufficiently integrated into the intelligence model within our confirmatory factor analyses. The results suggest that the EF factor can be added into the model as a sixth broad ability. The comprehensive model largely showed measurement invariance across sexes and age groups but did not converge within the subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities. The results and implications are discussed in light of the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study diabetic cataract in type 1 diabetes in a large pediatric cohort. Methods: The 92,633 patients aged 0.5–21 years from German/Austrian multicenter diabetes registry (DPV) were analyzed. The 235 patients (0.25%) with diabetic cataract were found, 200 could be categorized: 67 with early cataract (3 months before diabetes onset ‐ 12 months afterwards), 133 with late cataract (>12 months after diabetes onset). Regression models adjusted for age and gender were used to compare clinical parameters at diabetes onset. Regression models for patients with late cataract were implemented for the total documentation period and additionally adjusted for diabetes duration. Results: Rate of cataract development shows a peak at diabetes onset and declines with longer diabetes duration. Patients with cataract showed strong female preponderance. Patients developing early cataract were older at diabetes onset (12.8 years [11.8/13.9] vs. 8.9 [8.9/9.0]; p < 0.001) and showed higher HbA1c than patients without cataract (9.0% [8.55/9.38] vs. 7.6% [7.60/7.61]; p < 0.001). They had lower height‐SDS, (−0.22 [−0.48/0.04] vs. 0.25 [0.24/0.26]; p < 0.001), lower weight‐SDS (−0.31 [−0.55/−0.08] vs. 0.21 [0.20/0.21]; p < 0.001) and lower BMI‐SDS (−0.25 [−0.49/−0.02] vs. 0.12 [0.12/0.13); p = 0.002). Patients with late cataract showed higher HbA1c at diabetes onset (8.35% [8.08/8.62] vs. 8.04% [8.03/8.05]; p = 0.023) and higher mean HbA1c during total documentation period (8.00% [7.62/8.34] vs. 7.62% [7.61/7.63]; p = 0.048). Conclusions: Our data confirm known demographic and clinical characteristics of patients developing early cataract. Hyperglycemia‐induced osmotic damage to lens fibers at diabetes onset might be the main pathomechanism. Long term glycemic control is associated with cataract development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early adolescents are frequent users of online communication tools (OCTs). Yet, we have limited knowledge about how OCTs influence this population and their friendships. We sought opinions of 938 Austrian early adolescents on the role of OCTs for their friendships via a questionnaire and 207 focus groups. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the focus groups. We found that despite the emergence of some online-specific aggression, OCTs are perceived as beneficial for friendships. Early adolescents use online spaces naturally and differentiate little between online and offline communication. Only when it comes to high levels of intimacy, early adolescents also need an offline setting to fulfill their communication need. Online communication tools, especially newer forms such as online gaming, can surpass a mere communicative function and provide a space for building and maintaining friendships. In the future, OCTs should be considered as a tool to facilitate positive development in early adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical regions possess distinct sporting cultures that can influence athletic development from a young age. The United States (US) and Austria both produce elite alpine ski racers, yet have distinct sport structures (i.e., funding, skiing prominence). In this exploratory study, we investigated sport outcomes and psychological profiles in adolescent alpine ski racers attending skill development academies in the US (N= 169) and Austria (N= 209). Sport participation and psychological questionnaires (mental toughness, perfectionism, grit, coping, burnout) were administered to athletes. In Austria, athletes participated in fewer extracurricular sports, began competing and training younger, and accumulated less practice hours than athletes in the US. Athletes in the US reported greater burnout than athletes in Austria. Finally, in the US, women accumulated more practice hours and experienced more parental pressure than men, while men accumulated more practice hours in Austria. Austria's skiing-centric sport culture may encourage athletes to fully immerse into the sport, contributing to positive psychological outcomes. Reduced sport opportunities in the US beyond educational institutions may pressure athletes to practice more to ensure continued competitive skiing. Stressors for sport participation will be unique to gender in each country though, given their implicit gender stigmas for sport participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively few studies have identified the means to improve the quality of sex education in schools. This study aimed to qualitatively investigate whether sex education in Austria facilitates the development of adolescent sexuality and awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and highlights practical ideas that could help achieve a comprehensive form of sex education in schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with amaximum variation sample of thirteen male and female participants (aged 15–57 years). Transcriptions were coded and thematically analysed. A qualitative interpretative approach was used to refine codes and build categories to generate themes that defined sex education from participants' perspectives. Sex education was described as teaching the facts without addressing the emotions involved. Stigma and embarrassment were viewed as hinderingeffective communication, and STI awareness among adolescents was felt to be inadequate. Suggestions for improvement included using visual and tangible material, organising insightful excursions, and facilitating student presentations and group discussions. There currently exists a lack of effective sex education conveyingmeaningful information to improve adolescent sexuality and awareness of STIs. This study describes practical tools on how sex education can be creatively implemented to help young people develop critical reflective skills and strengthen their personal learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: In Austria, one in four adolescents suffers from a mental health problem, yet there is a lack of adequate care structures. Therefore, the personal recovery of these adolescents is of particular interest. The aim of the study was to explore, from a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing (CAPMHN) perspective, how adolescent users of mental health services in Vienna, Austria experienced personal recovery after a stay in hospital, and to discover what had influenced the personal recovery of adolescent users of mental health services in Vienna. Methods: Ten episodic interviews with adolescents were conducted. Nine of them were analyzed following the content analysis of Mayring (2015). Findings: The findings of the survey indicate that the personal recovery of the participants was influenced by personal and external factors. Personal factors were the subjective experience of illness and recovery, optimism, resources, and ambivalence. External factors were family, peers, and treatment. The findings suggest that personal recovery of adolescents with a mental health problem is affected by youth‐specific aspects. Conclusions: CAPMHNs can support the personal recovery of adolescent users of mental health services, so providing recovery‐oriented care, adequate care structures, and specific nursing skills is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine and compare the clinical characteristics and treatment of youth with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in two registries: one in Europe and one in the United States. Methods: Youth with onset of T2D at 10 to 18 years of age with current age <20 years and an office visit after diabetes duration >1 year were identified in the European (Prospective Diabetes Follow‐up, DPV) and the United States (Pediatric Diabetes Consortium, PDC) databases. Demographic, physical and clinical characteristics and treatment at diagnosis as well as physical characteristics, treatment, laboratory data, and diabetes adverse events at most recent visit were analyzed from both registries. Results: At diagnosis, the majority were female and obese; 70% of DPV vs 34% of PDC youth were diagnosed by targeted diabetes testing. PDC youth were younger, 12 vs 13 years (P < 0.001), had a greater body mass index‐SDS, 3.07 vs 2.74 (P < 0.001), a higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), 9.9% vs 7.1% (P < 0.001), were more likely to present in DKA, 7.5% vs 1.3% (P < 0.001) and more likely to be treated with insulin, 62% vs 32% (P < 0.001); insulin treatment difference was not significant when adjusted for HbA1c. At follow‐up, DPV youth had shorter diabetes duration, 2.1 vs 3.2 years (P < 0.001), lower HbA1c, 6.5% vs 7.8% (P < 0.001), were less likely to be treated with insulin, 36% vs 56%, (P < 0.001), and were more likely to have dyslipidemia and hypertension than PDC youth. PDC youth had a higher rate of microalbuminuria. Conclusions: Both DPV and PDC youth have multiple risks for diabetes complications. Understanding reasons for persistently higher HbA1c in PDC youth requires further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To assess the change in rates of pediatric real‐time or intermittent scanning continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) use over the past 5 years, and how it impacts glycemic control, data from two registries were compared: the US‐based type 1 diabetes Exchange Registry (T1DX) and the German/Austrian DPV (Prospective Diabetes Follow‐Up Registry). Methods: Registry participants aged <18 years with T1D duration ≥1 year encompassed 29 007 individuals in 2011 and 29 150 participants in 2016. Demographic data, CGM use and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were obtained from medical records. Results: CGM use increased from 2011 to 2016 in both registries across all age groups, regardless of gender, ethnic minority status or insulin delivery method. The increase in CGM use was most pronounced in the youngest patients, and usage rates remain lowest for adolescent patients in 2016. For both registries in 2016, mean HbA1c was lower among CGM users regardless of insulin delivery method compared to pump only (P < 0.001) and injection only (P < 0.001), and CGM users were more likely to achieve glycemic target of HbA1c <7.5% (56% vs 43% for DPV and 30% vs 15% for T1DX, P < 0.001). T1DX participants had a higher mean HbA1c compared with DPV despite whether they were CGM users or non‐users; however, the difference was less pronounced in CGM users (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Pediatric CGM use increased in both registries and was associated with lower mean HbA1c regardless of insulin delivery modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a nationwide epidemiological study using DSM-5 criteria to assess the prevalence of mental disorders in a large sample of Austrian adolescents between 10 and 18 years including hard-to-reach samples. A sample of 3615 adolescents from four cohorts (school grades 5, 7, 9, 11; age range 10-18 years) was recruited from 261 schools, samples of unemployed adolescents ( n = 39) and adolescents from mental health institutions ( n = 137) were added. The Youth Self-Report and SCOFF were used to screen for mental health problems. In a second phase, the Childrens' Diagnostic Interview for Mental Disorders was used to make point and lifetime psychiatric diagnoses. Mental health service use was also assessed. Point prevalence and lifetime prevalence rates for at least one psychiatric disorder were 23.9% and 35.8%. The highest lifetime prevalence rates were found for anxiety disorders (15.6%), neurodevelopmental disorders (9.3%; ADHD 5.2%) and depressive disorders (6.2%). Forty-seven percent of adolescents with a lifetime psychiatric disorder had a second diagnosis. Internalising disorders were more prevalent in girls, while neurodevelopmental disorders and disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorders were more prevalent in boys. Of those with a lifetime psychiatric disorder, 47.5% had contacted mental health services. Of the residual 52.5% who had not contacted mental health services, 18.1% expressed an interest in treatment. DSM-5 mental health disorders are highly prevalent among Austrian adolescents. Over 50% had or were interested in accessing treatment. Early access to effective interventions for these problems is needed to reduce burden due to mental health disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning in the late Nineteenth century, an intense debate evolved around perceptions concerning an adequate age of consent. The Austrian criminal code determined that children older than fourteen years were no longer put under a general umbrella of sexual protection (StGB 1852) and attempted to draw clear boundaries between childhood and adulthood. However, in the courtrooms, these lines became blurry. Even though the Austrian criminal code had set a comparatively low age of consent, in the years between 1950 and 1970 the courts were nevertheless occupied with a large number of female victims whose "worthiness of protection" was called into question. The minor, but adolescent girls did not "look like children" and were often times sexually active. Focusing on case records of a criminal court in Lower Austria, I examine how judges understood female vulnerability and female sexual agency in relation to childhood and adolescence. The article aims to historicize the complicated relation between consent and agency on the one hand and the need for protection from sexual exploitation on the other--a vexing duality that came to be seen as almost characteristic for girls in their adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on working class adolescence in Austria, from 1890-1930. Questions concerning the adolescence hypothesis; Crime among teenagers; Compulsory schooling; Establishment of juvenile courts; Legal classification of youth.