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The current randomized control trial evaluated the effectiveness of a new social-emotional learning (SEL) program, I Can Succeed for Preschools (ICS-PS). ICS-PS aims to improve preschoolers' social/interpersonal, emotional, and academic skills in an integrative way, focusing on children's core executive functions (EFs). The various components of the program are delivered sequentially throughout the school year via stories, physical activity, games, and role-playing. Six preschools were randomly assigned to either intervention (N = 49, mean age 66.37 months, 39% boys and 61% girls) or treatment as usual (TAU; N = 43, mean age 64.28 months, 56% boys and 44% girls). ICS-PS was delivered from November 2016 until May 2017. EF, emotional competence, social skills, behavior problems, and academic functioning were measured before and after the intervention. "Research Findings": Only children in the intervention group significantly improved in their EFs, receptive emotion knowledge, and emergent literacy, as well as in reducing internalizing problems. No change was found in social skills, indicating the need for more direct and explicit social skills training throughout the year. "Practice or Policy": These results, along with high treatment fidelity and program satisfaction, suggest that ICS-PS is a feasible and effective program for preschoolers. The research highlights the importance of prevention in early childhood.

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.

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.

This study describes a manual-based psychological intervention for adolescents diagnosed with Learning Disorders (LD), "I Can Succeed" (ICS), and reports on the feasibility of the treatment as an intervention to promote adaptive academic and emotional functioning. The intervention consisted of acute and follow-up phases, over 18 months. ICS focuses on developing skills in three major areas: intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills and school/community skills. The intervention was administered to 40 adolescents with various types of LD and other co-morbid psychiatric disorders (aged 11-15 years) who were consecutively enrolled in an outpatient child and adolescent psychiatric department. Pre-post changes in outcomes showed significant decrease in adolescents' psychopathology (both externalizing and internalizing problems scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)). In addition, significant improvement was shown in hope and effort levels. Fairly high satisfaction was demonstrated, with 97% of the participants reporting that ICS was helpful and that they would recommend it to a friend. The modules most often used were the interpersonal ones. The discussion is focused on understanding the feasibility of this manualized psychological intervention in terms of acceptability, adherence and preliminary changes.

This is the first study to examine whether high school students experiencing frequent bullying behaviors are at risk for "later" depression and suicidality. A total of 236 students who reported frequent bullying behavior without depression or suicidality during a suicide screening were interviewed 4 years later to reassess depression, suicidal ideation, attempts, substance problems, and functional impairment and were compared to at-risk youth identified during the screen, including 96 youth who also experienced bullying behavior. Youth who only reported frequent bullying behaviors (as bullies, victims, or both) did not develop later depression or suicidality and continued to have fewer psychiatric problems than students identified as at-risk for suicide. Students who experienced bullying behaviors and depression or suicidality were more impaired 4 years later than those who had only reported depression or suicidality. Thus, assessment of bullying behaviors in screening protocols is recommended.

The examination of the data from a sample of 5,302 Finnish children who were born in 1981 finds that bullying at age eight years and later is associated with later suicide attempts and completed suicide for boys but not after controlling for conduct and depression symptoms. For girls, the association is still seen even after controlling for conduct and depression symptoms.

The association between specific types of peer victimization with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents was examined. A self-report survey was completed by 2,342 high-school students. Regression analyses indicated that frequent exposure to all types of peer victimization was related to high risk of depression, ideation, and attempts compared to students not victimized. Infrequent victimization was also related to increased risk, particularly among females. The more types of victimization the higher the risk for depression and suicidality among both genders. Specific types of peer victimization are a potential risk factor for adolescent depression and suicidality. It is important to assess depression and suicidality among victimized students in order to develop appropriate intervention methods.

Objective: To assess the association between bullying behavior and depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents. Method: A self-report survey was completed by 9th-through 12th-grade students (n = 2342) in six New York State high schools from 2002 through 2004. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between being victimized and bullying others with depression, ideation, and attempts. Results: Approximately 9% of the sample reported being victimized frequently, and 13% reported bullying others frequently. Frequent exposure to victimization or bullying others was related to high risks of depression, ideation, and suicide attempts compared with adolescents not involved in bullying behavior. Infrequent involvement in bullying behavior also was related to increased risk of depression and suicidality, particularly among girls. The findings indicate that both victims and bullies are at high risk and that the most troubled adolescents are those who are both victims and bullies. Psychopathology was associated with bullying behavior both in and away from school. Conclusions: Victimization and bullying are potential risk factors for adolescent depression and suicidality. In evaluations of students involved in bullying behavior, it is important to assess depression and suicidality. (Contains 4 tables.)

Bullying is recognized as a major public health problem in the Western world, and it appears to have devastating consequences. Cyberbullying has become an increasing public concern in light of [...]

The authors discuss the ratios of child and adolescent psychiatrists per population size of 100,000 children aged 14 years or younger. Topics include child and adolescent mental health (CAMH), child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP), and the Eurasian Child Mental Health Study group. Also mentioned are the child and adolescent psychiatrists ratio among European countries by Human Development Index (HDI) rank and the child and adolescent psychiatrists ratio among Asian countries by HDI rank .