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- Adjei, Nicholas Kofi, et al.
(author)
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Impact of poverty and adversity on perceived family support in adolescence: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study
- 2024
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In: EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Emotional support from family members may have an important effect on adolescent health outcomes, and has been identified as a target for policy to protect against the impacts of poverty and other early life adversities. However, few studies have assessed the extent to which poverty and adversity themselves influence the nature of emotional support that parents can provide to adolescents. We, therefore, aimed to investigate the impact of trajectories of income poverty and family adversities, including parental mental ill health, alcohol misuse and domestic violence across childhood developmental stages on young people's relationships with their families and perceived emotional support received. We analysed longitudinal data on 10,976 children from the nationally representative UK Millennium Cohort study. Exposure trajectories of poverty and family adversities were characterised using group-based multi-trajectory models (age 9 months-14 years). The outcomes were perceived emotional support and quality of family relationships, measured by the three-item Short Social Provisions Scale (SPS-3) and levels of parent-adolescent closeness and conflict, measured at age 14. ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for potential confounding factors. At age 14, the overall prevalence of low perceived emotional support was 13% (95% CI: 12, 14). Children of mothers with lower socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to report low emotional support, with a clear social gradient (education-degree plus: 10.3% vs. no qualifications: 15.4%). Compared with children exposed to low levels of poverty and adversity, children in the persistent adversity trajectory groups experienced higher odds of low emotional support and low-quality parent-adolescent relationship; those exposed to both persistent poverty and poor parental mental health were particularly at increased risk of experiencing poor family relationships and low perceived emotional support (adjusted odds ratio 2 center dot 2; 95% CI 1 center dot 7-2 center dot 9). Low perceived emotional support and poor family relationships in adolescence are more prevalent among socially disadvantaged children and adolescents and those experiencing social adversity. Policies to improve levels of family support for UK adolescents should focus on improving modifiable determinants such as child poverty and family mental health.
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| 3. |
- Afsharnejad, Bahareh, et al.
(author)
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KONTAKT (R) social skills group training for Australian adolescents with autism spectrum disorder : a randomized controlled trial
- 2022
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In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 31, s. 1695-1713
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While there is a large body of evidence drawn from randomised controlled trials supporting the efficacy of SSGT in autistic adolescents, the control arms of these studies are almost exclusively treated either as usual or waitlist. Addressing this limitation, 90 verbal autistic adolescents (70% male) aged 12-17 years (M = 13.77, SD = 1.6) with IQ > 70 participated in this pragmatic two-armed randomised controlled trial design study evaluating the efficacy of sixteen 90-min sessions of SSGT KONTAKT (R) (n = 46) in comparison to a manualised interactive group cooking programme (n = 44) of equal dosage controlling for the potentially confounding effects of exposure to a social group context. The primary outcome was the adolescents' progress towards achieving their personally meaningful social goals at follow-up. Secondary outcomes were changes in autistic traits, quality of life, facial emotion recognition skills, social anxiety, and loneliness. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post intervention and 12-week follow-up. The interaction between time point and group allocation was investigated through a random-effects regression model (linear mixed model) to examine changes in the dependent outcomes. While intention-to-treat analysis (N = 90) demonstrated that both SSGT (ES = 1.36, p < .001) and active control (ES = 1.10, p < .001) groups made progress towards their personally meaningful social goals at follow-up, KONTAKT (R) participants demonstrated greater progress in social goal attainment than their peers in the active control group (ES = 0.35, p = .04). Findings suggest that KONTAKT (R) is efficacious in supporting autistic adolescents to achieve their personally meaningful social goals compared to other prosocial group activities.
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| 4. |
- Afsharnejad, B, et al.
(author)
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The efficacy of the "Talk-to-Me" suicide prevention and mental health education program for tertiary students: a crossover randomised control trial
- 2023
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In: European child & adolescent psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1435-165X .- 1018-8827. ; 32:12, s. 2477-2489
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite suicide ideation being one of the most frequently reported health issues impacting tertiary students, there is a paucity of research evaluating the efficacy of preventive interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes for students studying at two tertiary institutes. The current study evaluated the efficacy of the “Talk-to-Me” Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) in improving tertiary students’ abilities to support the mental health of themselves and their peers via a randomised controlled trial design, comparing them to a waitlist control group. Overall, 129 tertiary students (M = 25.22 years, SD = 7.43; 80% female) undertaking a health science or education course at two Western Australian universities were randomly allocated to either “Talk-to-Me” (n = 66) or waitlist control (n = 63) groups. The participants’ responses to suicidal statements (primary outcome), knowledge of mental health, generalised self-efficacy, coping skills, and overall utility of the program (secondary outcomes) were collected at three timepoints (baseline 10-weeks and 24-weeks from baseline). Assessment time and group interaction were explored using a random-effects regression model, examining changes in the primary and secondary outcomes. Intention-to-treat analysis (N = 129) at 10-weeks demonstrated a significant improvement in generalised self-efficacy for “Talk-to-Me” compared to the control group (ES = 0.36, p = .04), with only the “Talk-to-Me” participants reporting increased knowledge in responding to suicidal ideation (primary outcome). This change was sustained for 24 weeks. Findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that the “Talk-to-Me” MOOC can effectively improve tertiary students’ mental health and knowledge of how to support themselves and others in distress. ACTRN12619000630112, registered 18-03-2019, anzctr.org.au.
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| 6. |
- Agnafors, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Somatic comorbidity in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders
- 2019
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In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 28:11, s. 1517-1525
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the adult population, psychiatric disorders are associated with somatic illness. Explanatory life style factors have been found, but also a failure to recognize somatic illness in this group. Another factor is side effects from long-term use of antipsychotic drugs. Given the psychiatric-somatic comorbidity in the adult population, it is of interest to investigate whether an association exists already during childhood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency of somatic illness in children and adolescents with a psychiatric diagnose. Data were obtained from the regional health care database Vega, Sweden. Psychiatric and somatic diagnoses obtained during 2011–2013 for individuals aged 3–18 years were extracted. Descriptive statistics were used to examine difference in somatic morbidity between children with and without psychiatric diagnoses. Logistic regression was used in age-stratified models to test the association between psychiatric and somatic diagnoses. Anxiety and behavioral disorders were associated with all somatic conditions investigated at nearly all ages. The same applied to substance use, investigated at age 9–18 years. Affective disorders were associated with all somatic conditions at age 12–18 years. Psychotic conditions were associated with asthma, bowel disorders and myalgia in adolescents. Children with psychiatric disorders are at remarkably high risk for concurrent somatic illness. The associations span across many types of conditions and across all ages. The results support the need for awareness of somatic morbidity in child and adolescent psychiatric clinical settings, and the need for coordinated health care for children with comorbid states. © 2019, The Author(s).
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| 8. |
- Ahmad, Abdulbaghi, et al.
(author)
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Applying EMDR on children with PTSD
- 2008
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In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 17:3, s. 127-132
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective To find out child-adjusted protocol for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Method Child-adjusted modification were made in the original adult-based protocol, and within- session measurements, when EMDR was used in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on thirty-three 6-16-year-old children with post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD). Results EMDR was applicable after certain modifications adjusted to the age and developmental level of the child. The average treatment effect size was largest on re-experiencing, and smallest on hyperarousal scale. The age of the child yielded no significant effects on the dependent variables in the study. Conclusions A child-adjusted protocol for EMDR is suggested after being applied in a RCT for PTSD among traumatized and psychosocially exposed children.
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| 9. |
- Ahmad, Abdulbaghi, et al.
(author)
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Posttraumatic stress disorder in children after the military operation "Anfal" in Iraqi Kurdistan
- 2000
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In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 9:4, s. 235-243
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Five years after the military operation “Anfal” in Iraqi Kurdistan, 45 families were randomly selected among the survivors in two displacement camps. The Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms for Children (PTSS-C) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) were administered to the oldest child and the caregiver in each family, respectively. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was reported in 87% of children and 60% of their caregivers. While childhood PTSD was only significantly predicted by child trauma score and the duration of captivity, it was neither predicted by maternal PTSD nor did it disappear after the reunion with the PTSD-free father. However, the small sample size makes the results hypotheses rather than conclusive.
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| 10. |
- Ahmad, Abdulbaghi, et al.
(author)
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Reliability and validity of a child-specific cross-cultural instrument for assessing posttraumatic stress disorder
- 2000
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In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 9:4, s. 285-294
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Children (PTSS-C) was developed as a cross-cultural semi-structured interview to diagnose posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to identify PTSD-non-related posttraumatic stress symptoms in children after various traumatic experiences. The psychometric properties were studied in two different child populations in Iraqi Kurdistan (the survivors of the military operation “Anfal”, and the orphans), in a sample of Kurdistanian refugee children in Sweden, and in a comparison sample of Swedish children. The instrument yielded satisfactory internal consistency, high interrater agreement, and excellent validity on cross-validation with the Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
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