Search

Abstract Introduction Psychotic experiences (PEs) are associated with increased risk of later mental disorders and so could be valuable in prevention studies. However, to date few intervention studies have examined PEs. Given this lack of evidence, in the current study a secondary data analysis was conducted on a clustered-randomized control trial (RCT) of 3 school based interventions to reduce suicidal behaviour, to investigate if these may reduce rates of PEs, and prevent PE, at 3-month and 1-year follow-up. Methods The Irish site of the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe study, trial registration (DRKS00000214), a cluster-RCT designed to examine the effect of school-based interventions on suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Seventeen schools (n = 1096) were randomly assigned to one of three intervention arms or a control arm. The interventions included a teacher training (gate-keeper) intervention, an interactive educational (universal-education) intervention, and a screening and integrated referral (selective-indicative) intervention. The primary outcome of this secondary data-analysis was reduction in point-prevalence of PEs at 12 months. A second analysis excluding those with PEs at baseline was conducted to examine prevention of PEs. Additional analysis was conducted of change in depression and anxiety scores (comparing those with/without PEs) in each arm of the intervention. Statistical analyses were conducted using mixed-effects modelling. Results At 12-months, the screening and referral intervention was associated with a significant reduction in PEs (OR:0.12,95%CI[0.02–0.62]) compared to the control arm. The teacher training and education intervention did not show this effect. Prevention was also observed only in the screening and referral arm (OR:0.30,95%CI[0.09–0.97]). Participants with PEs showed higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, compared to those without, and different responses to the screening and referral intervention & universal-education intervention. Conclusions This study provides the first evidence for a school based intervention that reduce & prevent PEs in adolescence. This intervention is a combination of a school-based screening for psychopathology and subsequent referral intervention significantly reduced PEs in adolescents. Although further research is needed, our findings point to the effectiveness of school-based programmes for prevention of future mental health problems.

Background Self-harm in youth is associated with adverse outcomes for many. The age of first self-harm is not often reported in the literature and there is considerable heterogeneity in how it is reported and in the methods used to estimate it. The objective of this study will be to examine the age of first self-harm act in childhood and adolescence and to identify the research methods used to assess this. Methods This scoping review will follow JBI guidance. Five electronic databases, Medline, PsycInfo, CINAHL Plus, Embase, and Web of Science will be searched from inception. Grey literature will be searched via Google Scholar. Studies reporting the age of first act of self-harm in young people aged 17 years and younger are of interest. Any study design and methodology will be eligible for inclusion. Included studies may use any self-harm definition, any measures used to assess self-harm and the age of the first act. The focus can be in any context, including health services presenting or community samples. Title and abstract screening and full text screening will be carried out by two reviewers independently. The data extraction tool will be piloted by two reviewers independently, included studies will undergo data extraction by one reviewer and this will be checked by a second, independent reviewer. Results The resulting data will be presented using descriptive statistics, in tabular format, and accompanied with a narrative presentation of results. The results of this study will be distributed by publication in an academic journal.

Background Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people worldwide and remains a major public health concern. Research indicates that negative social contexts involving familial and peer relationships, have far-reaching influences on levels of suicidal behaviours in later life. Previous systematic reviews have focused on evaluating associations between negative life events such as abuse and bullying in childhood and subsequent self-harm or suicidality. However, the association between adolescent experiences of humiliation and shame, and subsequent self-harm or suicidal behaviour among children and young adults has not been well examined. As such, this systematic review is conducted to examine the prevalence and association between humiliation and shame and self-harm, suicidal ideation, and death by suicide among adolescents and young adults. Methods A systematic literature search in extant electronic databases including; MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Embase will be conducted to identify potential studies. Google Scholar, and the reference list of the retrieved articles and/or previous systematic reviews in this area, will also be scanned to identify further potential studies. ProQuest will be searched to identify relevant studies available within grey literature. There are no restrictions on the date of publications. Based on our initial review, the following terms were identified: Population: Adolescent (MESH), young adult (MESH), teen, teenage. Exposure: Humiliation, degradation, shame (MESH) or embarrassment (MESH), harassment victimisation, abasement. Outcome: Self-injurious behaviour (MESH), suicide (MESH), suicide attempted (MESH), suicide completed (MESH), self-harm, intentional self-injury, deliberate self-harm, overdose, deliberate self-poisoning, non-suicidal self-injury, self-mutilation, suicidal thought, suicidal ideation, suicidal intent, suicide. At least one term from each category will be used for conducting the literature search. All original quantitative studies published in the English language which examined the prevalence or association between humiliation or shame and self-harm and/or suicidal ideation and/or completed suicide will be included. The studies will be assessed for methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Narrative synthesis will be performed for all of the studies. If the studies are sufficiently homogenous, the results will be pooled for a meta-analysis. This systematic review protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) guidelines. The protocol has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) [CRD42022289843]. Discussion This is the first review to synthesise evidence on the prevalence of, and associations between the experiences of humiliation and shame and subsequent self-harm and/or suicidal behaviours among adolescents and young adults. As there is growing evidence on increased self-harm among this age group, it is important to identify population-specific risk factors for self-harm and suicidality which will have significance in formulating tailored and effective treatment and therapeutic services for adolescents and young adults.

Abstract in German Hintergrund Reproduktive und psychische Gesundheit sind Schlüsselbereiche des jugendlichen Wohlbefindens, aber mögliche Zusammenhänge sind kaum verstanden. Diese Querschnittsstudie untersuchte den Zusammenhang zwischen Psychopathologie und reproduktivem Gesundheitsrisiko bei europäischen Jugendlichen. Methoden: Im Rahmen des von der EU-Kommission geförderten Projektes "Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe" (SEYLE) wurden 12.395 Schüler von 179 zufällig ausgewählten Schulen in 11 europäischen Ländern mit einem strukturierten Fragebogen befragt. Der Fragebogen umfasste Fragen zur sexuellen Initiation und Risikofaktoren der reproduktiven Gesundheit, wie z. B. die Anzahl der Sexualpartner, Häufigkeit der Kondomnutzung und Schwangerschaften. Die psychopathologischen Auffälligkeiten wurden mit validierten Instrumenten und / oder Ad-hoc-Fragen evaluiert. Ergebnisse Von 11.406 Befragten (Median 15; Interquartilbereich [IQR] 14-15; 57% Mädchen) gaben 18,8% an sexuell aktiv geworden zu sein. Sechzig Prozent von ihnen berichteten auch mindestens einen reproduktiven Risikofaktor. Sexuelle Initiation war signifikant häufiger bei Schülern, die älter als 15 Jahre waren (38% versus 13,2% jüngeren Schülern) und bei Jungen (21,3% versus 16,9% Mädchen). Eine sexuelle Initiation lag auch häufiger bei Schülern mit Depressionen (Alter / Geschlechts-adjustiertes Odds Ratio [aOR] 1.871), Angstsymptomen (aOR 2.190), schweren Suizidgedanken (aOR 2.259), selbstverletzendem Verhalten (aOR 2.892) und Selbstmordversuchen (aOR 3.091) vor. Diese Assoziationen waren besonders ausgeprägt bei Schülern ≤15 Jahren und bei deutlich auffälliger Psychopathologie bei Schülern mit geringem nicht-sexuellem Risikoverhalten und beim weiblichen Geschlecht. Depressive Symptome (aOR 1.937), Angstsymptome (aOR 2.282), schwere Suizidgedanken (aOR 2.354), selbstverletzendes Verhalten (aOR 3.022) und Suizidversuche (aOR 3.284) waren mit einem erhöhten Risiko für die reproduktive Gesundheit verbunden - definiert durch eine steigende Anzahl von koexistierenden reproduktiven Risikofaktoren. Schlussfolgerungen Diese Ergebnisse deuten auf eine Beziehung zwischen Risiken für die psychische und reproduktive Gesundheit hin und unterstützen den Wert der domänenübergreifenden Zusammenarbeit bei der Gesundheit von Jugendlichen. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Psychopathologie und reproduktivem Gesundheitsrisiko sowie seine alters- und geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede und damit verbundenem Risikoverhalten sollten bei der Gestaltung gesundheitsfördernder oder krankheitsvorbeugender Maßnahmen für Jugendliche berücksichtigt werden.

Sexuality is a physiological component of adolescent development, though early initiation is associated with reproductive health risk. This study aimed at identifying correlates and predictors of sexual initiation in a large multinational cohort of European adolescents.A questionnaire addressing socio-demographics, behaviours, mental health and sexual activity, was delivered to 11,110 adolescents recruited from 168 randomly selected schools in 10 European countries between 2009 and 2011. A follow-up questionnaire was delivered after 12 months. The longitudinal association of baseline risk behaviors, psychological attributes and contextual vulnerabilities, with sexual initiation during follow-up was evaluated through simple and multivariable age/sex stratified logistic regression. Multinomial logistic regression measured the association between predictors and sexual initiation with or without coexisting reproductive risk factors, such as multiple partners or infrequent condom use.Baseline sexual experience was reported by 19.2% of 10,757 respondents (median age 15; IQR 14-15; females 59.6%). This was significantly more frequent among pupils older than 15 (41%) and males (20.8%). Of 7,111 pupils without previous experience who were available at follow-up (response rate 81.8%), 17% reported sexual initiation, without differences between females and males. Baseline smoking (age/sex adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.63), alcohol use (aOR 2.95), illegal drugs use (aOR 2.72), and poor sleep (aOR 1.71) predicted sexual initiation. Stratified analyses showed a particularly strong association in case of younger and female pupils, and, among girls, when initiation was reported together with multiple partners and/or infrequent condom use. Externalizing (i.e. conduct and hyperactivity) symptoms independently predicted sexual initiation. Internalizing difficulties (i.e. emotional and peer problems) were negatively associated with early and risky sexual initiation among boys. Significant predictors included also being bullied, fighting, truancy, and low parental involvement.Adolescent sexual behaviours are related to non-sexual risk behaviours, psychological difficulties and contextual vulnerabilities. While gateway effects explain some associations, a comprehensive model is needed to understand adolescent sexual behaviours, their physical, mental, and social health outcomes, and their potential positive effects on wellbeing. Tailored interventions may need to consider younger girls as a particularly vulnerable group in view of a strong association between non-sexual and sexual behaviors.