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BackgroundThe lack of continuity between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments designed for children and adults hinders change analysis with a life course approach. To resolve this gap, EuroQol (EQ) developed the EQ-5D-Youth (EQ-5D-Y), derived from the EQ-5D for adults. Few studies have assessed the metric properties of EQ-5D-Y in children with specific chronic conditions, and none have done so for children with type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM). ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the acceptability, validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the EQ-5D-Y in children and adolescents with T1DM, when administered online. MethodsParticipants with T1DM were consecutively recruited from July to December 2014, from a list of potential candidates aged 8-19 years, who attended outpatient pediatric endocrinology units. Before every quarterly routine visit, participants received an email/telephone reminder to complete the online version of two generic HRQoL questionnaires: EQ-5D-Y and KIDSCREEN-27. The EQ-5D-Y measures five dimensions, from which an equally weighted summary score was constructed (range: 0-100). Completion rate and distribution statistics were calculated. Construct validity was evaluated through known group comparisons based on general health, acute diabetic decompensations, mental health, family function, and a multitrait, multimethod matrix between EQ-5D-Y and KIDSCREEN by using Spearman correlations. Construct validity hypotheses were stated a priori. Reliability was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient and responsiveness by testing changes over time and calculating the effect size. Reliability and responsiveness were tested among the stable and improved subsamples defined by a KIDSCREEN-10 index change of 16, respectively) were found in three EQ-5D-Y dimensions (“doing usual activities,” “having pain/discomfort,” and “feeling worried/sad/unhappy”), summary score (effect size for general health and mental health groups=0.7 and 1.5, respectively), and KIDSCREEN-10 index (effect size for general health and mental health groups=0.6 and 0.9, respectively). Significant differences in the EQ-5D-Y dimensions were also found according to acute diabetic decompensations in “looking after myself” (P=.005) and according to family function in “having pain/discomfort” (P=.03). Results of the multitrait, multimethod matrix confirmed three of the four relationships hypothesized as substantial (0.21, 0.58, 0.50, and 0.46). The EQ-5D-Y summary score presented an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.83. Statistically significant change between visits was observed in the improved subsample, with an effect size of 0.7 (P

Introduction: Socioeconomic inequalities have been associated with poorer mental health outcomes in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite numerous studies on individual risk factors, the impact of societal environment, such as neighborhood characteristics, on changes in mental health has rarely been investigated. This study investigates the effect of neighborhood deprivation on mental health problems and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hamburg, Germany. Methods: Data were derived from the prospective German COPSY Hamburg study. Children and adolescents aged between 11–20 years and their parents participated in the study, which took place in summer 2020 (T1) and summer 2022 (T2). Neighborhood deprivation was assessed by a neighborhood status index. Mental health problems and HRQoL were assessed using internationally validated and established instruments. The prevalence of mental health problems and impaired HRQoL was reported. Analysis of covariance was conducted to examine the effect of neighborhood deprivation of the districts in Hamburg on the (changes in) mental health problems and HRQoL while controlling for social individual-level indicators. Results: The total sample included in the statistical analysis consisted of N = 2,645 families. Children and adolescents living in more deprived areas had higher levels of general mental health problems and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, differences in neighborhood deprivation did not relate to the HRQoL and the averaged changes in children and adolescents' mental health problems and HRQoL from summer 2020 to summer 2022. Discussion: Neighborhood deprivation is associated with impaired mental health in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children and adolescents' mental health and overall well-being should be addressed by health promotion measures to create a health-promoting living environment, including diverse neighborhoods. Future research should focus on uniform assessment methods and addressing additional neighborhood factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19-pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of adolescents worldwide. This study examined the subjective perception of the COVID-19 pandemic measures and its association with mental health and well-being (i.e., loneliness, life satisfaction and multiple health complaints) among 13- and 15-years-old adolescents from 22 countries. Methods: Data from the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2021/22 study were used from representative samples of 22 countries (N = 67,544; 51.9% girls). The self-perceived impact of COVID-19 measure comprised 10 items asking about the impact on several dimensions of adolescent lives (e.g., relationships with family and friends, health, or eating behaviours). Measures of loneliness, multiple health complaints, and life satisfaction were included as indicators of mental health and well-being. A non-parametric multilevel latent class analysis considering individual and country-levels was conducted to identify classes of self-perceived impact of the COVID-19 measures. Multilevel logistic regression models adjusted by age and socioeconomic status were applied to assess the association between COVID-19 measure impact classes and mental health. Results: Three classes were identified on individual level encompassing a neutral (51%), positive (31%), or negative (18%) perception of COVID-19 measures. A third of the adolescents reported a positive impact of the pandemic measures. The distribution of classes was heterogeneous within and across countries. Within the positive COVID-19 measure impact class, social relationships were the most important dimension, whereas mental health problems were mostly represented within the negative COVID-19 measure impact class. Girls with a negative perception of pandemic measures showed higher levels of loneliness and multiple health complaints and lower life satisfaction. 15-year-old adolescents and those with a low socioeconomic status reported higher levels of loneliness and lower life satisfaction. Conclusions: The majority of adolescents perceived the pandemic measures as neutral or positive. Girls, 15-year-old adolescents, and those with low socioeconomic status were at higher risk of suffering from pandemic measures and associated problems of loneliness, multiple health complaints, and low life satisfaction. We conclude that adolescent's mental health and well-being should be considered in the decision-making process by ensuring that the unique challenges of adolescents are adequately addressed in policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this population-based longitudinal study was to explore whether distinct mental health trajectories in youths can be identified over the course of the pandemic. Methods: Mental health problems (MHP), psychosomatic symptoms and HRQoL were assessed at five time points between May 2020 and October 2022 in 744 children and adolescents aged 7 to 20 years using established instruments. We used generalized mixture modeling to identify distinct mental health trajectories and fixed-effects regressions to analyse covariates of the identified profiles of change. Results: We found five distinct linear latent trajectory classes each for externalising MHP and psychosomatic symptoms and four trajectory classes for internalising MHP. For HRQoL, a single-class solution that indicates a common development process proved to be optimal. The largest groups remained almost stable at a low internalising and externalising symptom level (64 to 74%) and consistently showed moderate psychosomatic symptoms (79%), while 2 to 18% showed improvements across the pandemic. About 10% of the youths had consistently high internalising problems, while externalising problems deteriorated in 18% of youths. Class membership was significantly associated with initial HRQoL, parental and child burden, personal resources, family climate and social support. Conclusions: The mental health of most children and adolescents remained resilient throughout the pandemic. However, a sizeable number of youths had consistently poor or deteriorating mental health. Those children and adolescents need special attention in schools and mental health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasingly important in fields of public health, medicine, sociology and psychology. The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of generic Kiddo-KINDL questionnaire for adolescents. The psychometric evaluation was performed using 96 questionnaires fulfilled by adolescents aged 12–16 years. Cronbach’s α coefficient for internal consistency and split-half reliability was estimated as well as ceiling, floor effect and correlations among the subscales and total score. The mean reliability for subscales was 0.65 and the Cronbach’s α coefficient for the total score was 0.85. The lowest α coefficient was for the School dimension (0.44) and the highest was achieved for the Self-esteem (0.80). The correlation between two parts of the questionnaire and split-half reliability was 0.66 and 0.80 respectively. The first psychometric evaluation of the Polish Kiddo-KINDL showed promising basic measurement properties, but it needs farther assessment, including convergent, construct and discriminant validity estimation.