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Unlike organized activities such as sports and arts, civic activities in adolescence (e.g., volunteering, student government) have been less studied in relation to school success and almost all existing evidence consists of cross-sectional findings. In a longitudinal study, 1035 pupils (64% females, 20% nonwhite, M[subscript age] = 14.21 years) from high schools reported their engagement in organized non-civic and civic activities during the school year, dimensions of activity participation (e.g., intensity, duration, motives), and covariables (age, gender, ethnicity, SES, self-esteem, parental relationship, school motivation). Previous and end-of-year grade point average (GPA) were collected from school administrations. Results revealed that both civic and non-civic organized activities independently predicted increases in GPA over the school year, even after adjusting for all covariables.

This study aimed to identify joint trajectories of peer cyber and traditional victimization from ages 13 to 17 and individual, family, peer, and school risk factors associated with group membership. The sample was composed of 1,194 adolescents (54.2% girls). Cyber and traditional victimization were assessed at ages 13, 15, and 17. The results first revealed a low/increasing and a high/decreasing trajectories for cybervictimization and a low/decreasing and a moderate/chronic for traditional victimization. Conditional probabilities suggested that cybervictims had a high probability of being victims on school grounds, whereas traditional victims were not necessarily the target of cybervictimization. Four joint trajectory groups were also identified. With the low victimization group as the reference category, the results revealed that different sets of predictors were associated with membership in the three other joint trajectory groups. The results are discussed in relation to intervention and prevention strategies.

Background A higher risk of suicidal ideation associated with self-report of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-like symptoms or COVID-19 infection has been observed in cross-sectional studies, but evidence from longitudinal studies remains limited. The aims of this study were 2-fold: (1) to explore if self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020 were associated with suicidal ideation in 2021; (2) to explore if the association also existed when using a biological marker of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in 2020. Methods and findings A total of 52,050 participants from the French EpiCov cohort were included (median follow-up time = 13.7 months). In terms of demographics, 53.84% were women, 60.92% were over 45 years old, 82.01% were born in mainland France from parents born in mainland France, and 59.38% completed high school. COVID-19-like symptoms were defined as participant report of a sudden loss of taste/smell or fever alongside cough, shortness of breath, or chest oppression, between February and November 2020. Symptoms were self-reported at baseline in May 2020 and at the first follow-up in Autumn 2020. Serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 was derived from Spike protein ELISA test screening in dried-blood-spot samples. Samples were collected from October 2020 to March 2021, with 94.4% collected in 2020. Suicidal ideation since December 2020 was self-reported at the second follow-up in Summer 2021. Associations of self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms and serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 with suicidal ideation in 2021 were ascertained using modified Poisson regression models, weighted by inverse probability weights computed from propensity scores. Among the 52,050 participants, 1.68% [1.54% to 1.82%] reported suicidal ideation in 2021, 9.57% [9.24% to 9.90%] had a serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020, and 13.23% [12.86% to 13.61%] reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020. Self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020 were associated with higher risks of later suicidal ideation in 2021 (Relative Risk.sub.ipw [95% CI] = 1.43 [1.20 to 1.69]), while serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 was not (RR.sub.ipw = 0.89 [0.70 to 1.13]). Limitations of this study include the use of a single question to assess suicidal ideation, the use of self-reported history of mental health disorders, and limited generalizability due to attrition bias. Conclusions Self-reported COVID-19-like symptoms in 2020, but not serology-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020, were associated with a higher risk of subsequent suicidal ideation in 2021. The exact role of SARS-CoV-2 infection with respect to suicide risk has yet to be clarified. Including mental health resources in COVID-19-related settings could encourage symptomatic individuals to care for their mental health and limit suicidal ideation to emerge or worsen., Author(s): Camille Davisse-Paturet 1,*, Massimiliano Orri 2, Stéphane Legleye 1,3, Aline-Marie Florence 4, Jean-Baptiste Hazo 5, Josiane Warszawski 6, Bruno Falissard 1, Marie-Claude Geoffroy 2,7, Maria Melchior 4, Alexandra Rouquette [...]

Background: Suicidal behaviours are a major source of mortality and morbidity among adolescents. Given the maturational changes that occur in cortical and subcortical structures during adolescence, we tested whether atypical brain structural measurements were associated with a history of suicide attempt. Methods: We assessed 3 groups of adolescents (n = 92; 79% female, mean age 15.9 years, range 11.6-18.1 years): patients with a depressive disorder and a history of suicide attempt (n = 28); patient controls, who had a depressive disorder but no history of suicide attempt (n = 34); and healthy controls (n = 30). We derived regional cortical thickness and surface area, and subcortical volumes, from [T.sub.1]-weighted anatomic MRI scans acquired at 3 T. Results: We found significant group differences in surface area in the prefrontal, temporal and parietal regions, as well as in the volume of several subcortical nuclei ([p.sub.FDR] [less than or equal to] 0.05), but not in cortical thickness. Post hoc analyses indicated that morphological alterations primarily differentiated patients with a history of suicide attempt from healthy controls, but not from patient controls. However, patients with a history of suicide attempt exhibited positive correlations between age and cortical thickness in the temporal cortices and right insula, and between age and right putamen volume (i.e., thicker regional cortex and larger subcortical volumes with age). These correlations were negative in both patient controls and healthy controls (i.e., thinner regional cortex and smaller subcortical volumes). Limitations: Sample sizes, cross-sectional findings and psychiatric heterogeneity were limitations of this study. Conclusion: Macroscopic structural differences in several brain regions differentiated adolescents with a history of suicide attempt from healthy controls, but not from patient controls. However, adolescents with a history of suicide attempt may present with atypical maturation of specific cortical and subcortical regions that might contribute to the risk of suicidal behaviour., Introduction Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents. (1) A recent survey of college students showed that lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plans and attempts were 32.7%, [...]