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Abstract Background The Awareness program was designed as a part of the EU-funded Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) intervention study to promote mental health of adolescents in 11 European countries by helping them to develop problem-solving skills and encouraging them to self-recognize the need for help as well as how to help peers in need. Methods For this descriptive study all coordinators of the SEYLE Awareness program answered an open-ended evaluation questionnaire at the end of the project implementation. Their answers were synthesized and analyzed and are presented here. Results The results show that the program cultivated peer understanding and support. Adolescents not only learned about mental health by participating in the Awareness program, but the majority of them also greatly enjoyed the experience. Conclusions Recommendations for enhancing the successes of mental health awareness programs are presented. Help and cooperation from schools, teachers, local politicians and other stakeholders will lead to more efficacious future programs.

Abstract Background There have been only a few reports illustrating the moderate effectiveness of suicide-preventive interventions in reducing suicidal behavior, and, in most of those studies, the target populations were primarily adults, whereas few focused on adolescents. Essentially, there have been no randomized controlled studies comparing the efficacy, cost-effectiveness and cultural adaptability of suicide-prevention strategies in schools. There is also a lack of information on whether suicide-preventive interventions can, in addition to preventing suicide, reduce risk behaviors and promote healthier ones as well as improve young people's mental health. The aim of the SEYLE project, which is funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Health Program, is to address these issues by collecting baseline and follow-up data on health and well-being among European adolescents and compiling an epidemiological database; testing, in a randomized controlled trial, three different suicide-preventive interventions; evaluating the outcome of each intervention in comparison with a control group from a multidisciplinary perspective; as well as recommending culturally adjusted models for promoting mental health and preventing suicidal behaviors. Methods and design The study comprises 11,000 adolescents emitted from randomized schools in 11 European countries: Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, with Sweden serving as the scientific coordinating center. Each country performs three active interventions and one minimal intervention as a control group. The active interventions include gatekeeper training (QPR), awareness training on mental health promotion for adolescents, and screening for at-risk adolescents by health professionals. Structured questionnaires are utilized at baseline, 3- and 12-month follow-ups in order to assess changes. Discussion Although it has been reported that suicide-preventive interventions can be effective in decreasing suicidal behavior, well-documented and randomized studies are lacking. The effects of such interventions in terms of combating unhealthy lifestyles in young people, which often characterize suicidal individuals, have never been reported. We know that unhealthy and risk-taking behaviors are detrimental to individuals' current and future health. It is, therefore, crucial to test well-designed, longitudinal mental health-promoting and suicide-preventive interventions by evaluating the implications of such activities for reducing unhealthy and risk behaviors while concurrently promoting healthy ones. Trial registration The German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00000214.

The global prevalence of suicidal behaviors in children is rising, with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) proposed as a contributing factor. This study examines the association between ADHD facets (hyperactivity and inattention) and suicidal behavior and attempts in children. Additionally, it seeks to compare self-reported ADHD symptoms and suicide-related incidents with parental reports. A cohort of 71 children referred from emergency departments due to suicidal thoughts and behaviors completed self- and parental report questionnaires. The results revealed that elevated hyperactivity scores, surpassing the ADHD diagnosis threshold, were significantly associated with increased rates of suicidal behavior. Hyperactivity demonstrated a stronger association with lifetime suicide attempts compared to inattention. Moreover, children's self-reported ADHD symptoms exhibited a stronger correlation with suicide attempts than parental reports. This study highlights the critical role of hyperactivity in understanding suicidal behaviors among children with ADHD. It underscores the importance of considering hyperactivity-related symptoms in assessment and treatment approaches for suicidal behavior in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, suicidal thoughts and behaviors have become increasingly common among children and adolescents, leading to an elevation in the number of visits to emergency departments in pediatric hospitals. In Israel, the rising demand for mental health treatment due to suicidal distress is also salient, creating prolonged wait periods and low case acceptance rates. Addressing the urgent need for streamlined interventions, the present study outlines the design and results of a non-inferiority effectiveness trial of an ultra-brief suicide crisis intervention based on Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents (IPT-A-SCI). Methods: 309 children and adolescents presenting to the Depression and Suicide Clinic at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel with depressive and anxiety symptoms and/or suicidal ideation/behavior were assigned to either IPT-A-SCI, Treatment as Usual (TAU), or waitlist condition. Assessments were conducted pre- and post-intervention/after five sessions/five weeks (as secondary assessments) in accordance with group assignment. Results: At secondary assessment, post IPT-A-SCI, suicide ideation, and behavior as well as depression and anxiety symptoms significantly decreased, with no group differences observed between IPT-A-SCI, TAU, and control groups. Conclusion: IPT-A-SCI is feasible and as effective as the standard treatment in reducing suicidal, depressive, and anxiety symptoms among children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implicit identification with death (i.e., subconsciously self-associating oneself with death), measured by the Death-Suicide Implicit Association Test (D/S-IAT), is associated with Suicide Ideation (SI). Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this association is limited. The current study examined (1) the mediating role of depression between D/S-IAT and recent SI and (2) the association between SI, D/S-IAT, and clinician evaluation of SI among a clinical sample of adolescents. 148 adolescents aged 10–18 years (69.4% female) from two outpatient clinics were assessed at intake. Participants completed D/S-IAT and self-report measures for recent SI and depression during intake. Findings indicate that depression is a mediator between D/S-IAT and recent SI, controlling for gender, site differences, and past suicidal thoughts and behaviors. D/S-IAT and clinician evaluation were correlated with recent SI but not beyond depression. Our findings highlight the importance of examining the underlying psychological mechanisms regarding the association between D/S-IAT and suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer victimization is a major stressor adolescents often face in the school environment, and has been linked to depression and suicidal risk. This study analyzed the associations between three behavioral coping strategies (avoidance, seeking social support from adults/peers, and retaliation) and depression and suicidal ideation. Participants included 4,254 victimized students who were part of the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) study that compared three school-based prevention interventions and collected information on health risk behaviors in adolescents from 11 European countries. Results showed behavioral avoidance to be associated with an increase in levels of depression, as compared to the other coping strategies (adult social support, peer social support, retaliation). Seeking social support from adults was associated with lower depression and suicidal ideation rates. A more than 25% increase in suicidal ideation was associated with behavioral avoidance, compared to seeking social support from adults. By contrast, retaliation to peer victimization was not found to be associated with increased depression or suicidal ideation. The findings support the Coping Deficit model and may suggest that abstaining by doing nothing when victimized can be associated with certain adverse emotional outcomes.

Environmental factors such as Home Literacy Environment (HLE), screen time, and parental executive functions (EF) may influence the development of the child's EF. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of these factors on behavioral and neurobiological measures of EF in 4-year-old children. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected while children performed the Attention Network Task (ANT), showing a smaller difference between incongruent and congruent conditions is related to better EF abilities. Data were analyzed using an Event-Related Potential (ERP) technique focusing on the N200 and P300 components (reflecting executive control and orienting attention, respectively). N200 and P300 differences (delta) between amplitudes and latencies for the incongruent and congruent conditions were computed and correlated with child EF skills, HLE, screen exposure, and parental EF. Screen exposure was associated with lower EF in children and their parents. Additionally, smaller differences between N200 amplitudes and latencies for the incongruent vs. congruent conditions were associated with higher HLE scores. In contrast, greater differences between P300 amplitudes and latencies were related to longer screen time. HLE was positively associated with EF's neurobiological (EEG) and behavioral measures, and screen time was negatively associated with these measures. This study also highlights the important relationship between parental EF (i.e., family predisposition) and EF's neurobiological and behavioral measures in their children. Better executive functions (EF) in children are related to better EF in their parent. Higher screen time was related to lower EF in the parents and their preschool-age children. Poorer EF in a child (manifested by lower differences between N200 amplitudes and latencies for incongruent vs congruent conditions during the attention/inhibition task) was negatively correlated with home interactions involving reading and writing (assessed as Home Literacy Environment). Poorer EF in the child (manifested by lower differences between P300 amplitudes and latencies for incongruent vs congruent conditions) was positively associated with screen time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the contribution of executive functioning (EF) to improvements in psychiatric symptomatology following I Can Succeed (ICS; Kopelman-Rubin, 2012) psychotherapy, a skill-enhancement intervention designed to target EF and socio-emotional aspects of specific learning disabilities (SLD). Forty adolescents with SLD underwent ICS in an open clinical trial. Executive functions and psychiatric symptomatology were measured before and after treatment plus at a six-month followup. Findings indicated that greater improvement in EF (specifically inhibitory control and semantic fluency) during psychotherapy was linked with lower severity of internalizing symptoms at the end of treatment. In addition, only better baseline inhibitory control was linked to greater improvement in the severity of both internalizing and externalizing symptoms from the end of treatment to the six-month followup. The findings highlight the importance of addressing EF and psychopathology symptoms in psychotherapy with adolescents with SLD.

The aims of this study were to examine a non-English (Hebrew) version of a scale that measures the premonitory urge in children suffering from tic disorder, as well as examine the correlations of the urge with demographic and clinical aspects of Tourette Syndrome. Forty children and adolescents, suffering from tics participated in this study. They were assessed with the Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS); the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS); the Childhood Version of the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CYBOCS); the ADHD Rating Scale IV (Conners) Scale; the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED); and the Child Depression Inventory (CDI). The mean PUTS score was 20.15 (SD = 5.89). For the entire sample the PUTS was found to be internally consistent at a = 0.79. Youths older than 10 years had higher consistency (a = 0.83) than youths younger than 10 (a = 0.69). Premonitory urge was not correlated with tic severity in the entire sample. In youths older than 10, as opposed to youths younger than 10, premonitory urge did correlate with obsessions, compulsions and depression, but not with anxiety or with ADHD. The premonitory urge can be measured reliably and the PUTS is a useful instrument for measuring this important phenomena. Premonitory urges seems to be related to obsessions, compulsions, and depression in older children and this may have implications for the developmental psychopatholgy of these symptoms.