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Children and young people (CYP) within the Child Welfare System (CWS) often experience a range of trauma‐related difficulties. However, systematic use of evidence‐based measures to support mental health assessment and care planning appeared to be lacking within CWS in Singapore. This study evaluated the use of evidence‐based measures to inform care planning in out‐of‐home residential care in Singapore. Participants were 65 CYP in care. Measures consisted of the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM‐5 (CPSS‐5), Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and Adolescents (ACA), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self‐Report (YSR). Care plans were identified based on the measures' clinical criteria and validated against the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) questionnaire. More intensive measurement‐based care plans were associated with higher service needs and lower strengths on the CANS, and higher ACE exposure. However, there was limited support for the validity of care plans when evaluated against the CANS and ACE questionnaire. Methodological implications for mental health assessment are discussed. Compared to service‐allocation‐as‐usual, measurement‐based care plans identified more cases that may require intensive psychological intervention. Overall, study findings provided some support for the use of assessment measures to supplement care planning in residential care. 'This study evaluated the use of evidence‐based measures to inform care planning in out‐of‐home residential care in Singapore' Key Practitioner Messages: A comprehensive approach to care planning for CYP in out‐of‐home residential care should include the use of multi‐informant evidence‐based mental health assessment measures.The use of mental health assessment measures may reduce information gaps and complement the use of service needs assessment tools.Measurement‐based care planning may provide added value to supplement existing standard psychological care planning practices in out‐of‐home residential care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for illicit drug use. The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among adolescents in a national addiction treatment sample, and investigate the role of ACEs in adolescent drug use. Methods: The study examined data from 260 adolescents, information on ACE exposure and drug use were obtained from retrospective chart review. Results: About 46.5% of the sample experienced at least one ACE and 25.0% experienced two or more ACEs. Results showed that exposure to household dysfunction was associated with drug-related substance use disorders (SUDs). Additionally, exposure to multiple ACEs was associated with SUDs, earlier drug initiation, and more severe drug use. Conclusions: Given that a significant proportion of adolescents presenting for addiction treatment had a history of ACEs, the associations between ACEs and deleterious patterns of illicit drug use highlight the potential adverse impact of ACEs on proximal outcomes in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A proportion of newly diagnosed cancer patients may experience anxiety and depression. Emotion suppression has been associated with poorer psychoemotional outcomes, whereas reappraisal may be an adaptive emotion regulation strategy. Few studies have examined potential mechanisms linking reappraisal to psychoemotional outcomes in cancer patients. This study aims to replicate findings on reappraisal and suppression and further examines if hope mediates the association between reappraisal and anxiety/depression in patients newly diagnosed with cancer.Methods: Participants were 144 adult cancer patients (65.3% female, mean age = 48.96 years, SD = 9.23). Patients completed a set of study questionnaires, including the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Adult Hope Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Path analysis was used to examine if hope mediated the association between reappraisal and anxiety/depression.Results: Prevalence of anxiety was 39.6% and depression was 25.0%. Reappraisal and hope were correlated with lower anxiety and depression, whereas suppression was correlated with higher anxiety and depression. The hypothesized mediation model provided fit to the data, comparative fit index = 0.95, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.94, root-mean-square-error of approximation = 0.05. There was a significant indirect effect of reappraisal on anxiety and depression via hope, b = -0.95, SE = 0.42, 95% confidence interval = -1.77 to -0.12, whereas the direct effect of reappraisal was nonsignificant.Conclusion: The study findings suggest that hope mediated the association between reappraisal and anxiety/depression outcomes. Moreover, the high prevalence of anxiety and depression implies a need for healthcare providers to attend to the psychoemotional needs of newly diagnosed cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The latent variable δ has been proposed as a proxy for dementia. Previous validation studies have been conducted using convenience samples. It is currently unknown how δ performs in population-wide data.Objective: To validate δ in Singapore using population-wide epidemiological study data on persons aged 60 and above.Methods: δ was constructed using items from the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia (CSI'D) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine δ model fit. Convergent validity was examined with the Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR) and GMS-AGECAT dementia. Divergent validity was examined with GMS-AGECAT depression.Results: The δ model demonstrated fit to the data, χ2(df) = 249.71(55), p < 0.001, CFI = 0.990, TLI = 0.997, RMSEA = 0.037. Latent variable δ was significantly associated with CDR and GMS-AGECAT dementia (range: β= 0.32 to 0.63), and was not associated with GMS-AGECAT depression. Compared to unadjusted models, δ model fit was poor when adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, and education.Conclusion: The study found some support for δ as a proxy for dementia in Singapore based on population data. Both convergent and divergent validity were established. In addition, the δ model structure appeared to be influenced by age, gender, ethnicity, and education covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]