Articles

Enhancing mental health pre-service training with the WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide: experiences learned and the way forward

There is currently a high global demand for mental health professionals, including child and adolescent mental health professionals. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) published “Enhancing mental hea...

Authors: Silje Akselberg Iversen, Brian Ogallo, Myron Belfer, Daniel Fung, Christina W. Hoven, Kenneth Carswell and Norbert Skokauskas

Video gaming addiction and its association with memory, attention and learning skills in Lebanese children

Examining whether any association exists between addiction to video games and cognitive abilities in children could inform ongoing prevention and management of any possible harm. The objective of this study wa...

Authors: Youssef Farchakh, Chadia Haddad, Hala Sacre, Sahar Obeid, Pascale Salameh and Souheil Hallit

Socio-emotional and adaptive behaviour in children treated for severe anaemia at Lira Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda: a prospective cohort study

Severe anaemia is a global public health challenge commonly associated with morbidity and mortality among children < 5 years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, less is known about the behavioural performan...

Authors: Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata, Robert Opika Opoka, John Mbaziira Ssenkusu, Noeline Nakasujja, Chandy C. John and Paul Bangirana

Prevalence of mental health problems in Chinese schoolchildren: The influence of measuring impact score and combining information from multiple informants

To measure the effects of using different combinations of multiple informants and the impact score on the estimated prevalence of mental health problems in Chinese schoolchildren.

Authors: Li Liu, Shuang Li, Wen Pan, Lijuan Wang, Yang Zheng, Xiaoxia An, Yan Zhou, Yanxia Li, Jun Na, Rui Zhang, Huijuan Mu, Wen Dong, Yuan Gao, Wei Sun, Guowei Pan and Lingjun Yan

Violence against children and adolescents by nursing staff: prevalence rates and implications for practice

International studies show that child maltreatment is a widespread but often underestimated problem that causes high individual, social and economic costs. Child maltreatment is an important topic for the medi...

Authors: Ulrike Hoffmann, Vera Clemens, Elisa König, Elmar Brähler and Jörg M. Fegert

“I feel good when I drink”—detecting childhood-onset alcohol abuse and dependence in a Ugandan community trial cohort

Alcohol, substance use, and mental health disorders constitute major public health issues worldwide, including in low income and lower middle-income countries, and early initiation of use is an important predi...

Authors: Ingunn Marie Stadskleiv Engebretsen, Joyce S. Nalugya, Vilde Skylstad, Grace Ndeezi, Angela Akol, Juliet N. Babirye, Victoria Nankabirwa and James K. Tumwine

Prevalence and risk factors for youth suicidality among perinatally infected youths living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda: the CHAKA study

Research from high income countries indicates that suicide is a major mental health care concern and a leading cause of preventable deaths among children and adolescents. Proper assessment and management of yo...

Authors: Godfrey Zari Rukundo, Richard Stephen Mpango, Wilber Ssembajjwe, Kenneth D. Gadow, Vikram Patel and Eugene Kinyanda

Family violence against children in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: a review of current perspectives and risk factors

The situation of crisis produced by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses major challenges to societies all over the world. While efforts to contain the virus are vital to protect global health, these same...

Authors: Noemí Pereda and Diego A. Díaz-Faes

Study of the effect of family communication and function, and satisfaction with body image, on psychological well-being of obese girls: the mediating role of self-esteem and depression

Obesity has become a global problem in childhood and adolescence. The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of family communication and function, and body image satisfaction, on psycholo...

Authors: Zabihollah KavehFarsani, Roya Kelishadi and Kioumars Beshlideh

Psychosocial distress among in-school adolescents in Mozambique: a cross-sectional study using the Global School-Based Health Survey data

Poor mental health remains the leading cause of disability, with considerable negative impacts in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we examined the prevalence and correlates of psychosocial dist...

Authors: Hubert Amu, Abdul-Aziz Seidu, Wonder Agbemavi, Bernard Owusu Afriyie, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, Edward Kwabena Ameyaw and Kwaku Kissah-Korsah

The attitudes and feelings of mental health nurses towards adolescents and young adults with nonsuicidal self-injuring behaviors

Attitudes towards patients with self-harm behaviors are decisive for the quality of the relationship of healthcare professionals towards them, which is further linked to successful treatment. In mental health ...

Authors: Matejka Pintar Babič, Branko Bregar and Maja Drobnič Radobuljac

Effects of a mental health promotion intervention on mental health of Iranian female adolescents: a school-based study

Poor mental health is common among adolescents. Given the increasing burden of poor mental health among adolescents in developing countries, it seems necessary to identify the effective interventions. The main...

Authors: Haleh Heizomi, Hamid Allahverdipour, Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi, Devender Bhalla and Haidar Nadrian

Children and young people’s experiences of completing mental health and wellbeing measures for research: learning from two school-based pilot projects

In recent years there has been growing interest in child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing, alongside increasing emphasis on schools as a crucial site for research and intervention. This has coincided...

Authors: Ola Demkowicz, Emma Ashworth, Rosie Mansfield, Emily Stapley, Helena Miles, Daniel Hayes, Kim Burrell, Anna Moore and Jessica Deighton

Bottom-up and top-down approaches to understanding oppositional defiant disorder symptoms during early childhood: a mixed method study

Children with clinical levels of conduct problems are at high risk of developing mental health problems such as persistent antisocial behavior or emotional problems in adolescence. Serious conduct problems in ...

Authors: Britt-Marie Ljungström, Elisabeth Kenne Sarenmalm and Ulf Axberg

Hidden scars: the impact of violence and the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health

More than 1 billion children are exposed to violence every year. The devastating immediate and long-term impact of violence on the mental health of children is well established. Despite commitments made by the...

Authors: Najat Maalla M’jid

Alexithymia, aggressive behavior and depression among Lebanese adolescents: A cross-sectional study

For a long time, Lebanon has been considered an unstable country. This can have a negative impact on Lebanese adolescents that consequently face secondary emotional stress, leading to more mental health proble...

Authors: Elsa Sfeir, Claudine Geara, Souheil Hallit and Sahar Obeid

Depression and suicidality among adolescents living with human immunodeficiency virus in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigeria is considered to have the second highest number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide with a national HIV infection prevalence of 5.2% in children and adolescents. Adolesce...

Authors: Suraju Adeyemo, Increase I. Adeosun, Oluwayemi Cecilia Ogun, Abiodun Adewuya, Agatha Nkiru David, Abosede Adekeji Adegbohun, Olurotimi Adejumo, Oyewale Alfred Ogunlowo and Oluwatosin Oluwaseun Adeyemo

Symptoms and level of functioning related to comorbidity in children and adolescents with ADHD: a cross-sectional registry study

It is well known that a wide range of psychiatric disorders co-occur with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this study we aimed to examine the associations of psychiatric comorbidity in ADHD with sy...

Authors: Marie Elwin, Tove Elvin and Jan-Olov Larsson

The relationship between acculturation and mental health of 1st generation immigrant youth in a representative school survey: does gender matter?

Although gender plays a pivotal role in the psychological adaptation of immigrant youth, its association with acculturation strategy and mental health among 1st generation immigrant adolescents are still scarc...

Authors: Eva M. Klein, Kai W. Müller, Klaus Wölfling, Michael Dreier, Mareike Ernst and Manfred E. Beutel

The importance of social factors in the association between physical activity and depression in children

Physical activity is associated with reduced depression in youth and adults. However, our understanding of how different aspects of youth activities—specifically, the degree to which they are social, team-orie...

Authors: May I. Conley, Isabella Hindley, Arielle Baskin-Sommers, Dylan G. Gee, B. J. Casey and Monica D. Rosenberg

Subjective well-being of left-behind children: a cross-sectional study in a rural area of eastern China

Psychological well-beings of left-behind children (LBC) in rural areas of China remain under-studied. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to explore the subjective well-being (SWB) in LBC and its associate...

Authors: Lihong Ye, Yu Qian, Shuyang Meng, Ding Ye, Chao Rong, Eric E. Vandenhouten, Fangyuan Jing and Yingying Mao

Health care professionals’ perspectives on barriers to treatment seeking for formal health services among orphan children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS and mental distress in a rural district in central, Uganda

Little/no research has been conducted in Uganda in particular and sub-Saharan Africa in general on the health professional’s perspectives on barriers to treatment seeking for formal health services among orpha...

Authors: James Mugisha, Eugene Kinyanda, Joseph Osafo, Winfred Nalukenge and Birthe Loa Knizek

Positive intervention for depression and teacher–student relationship in Iranian high school girl students with moderate/mild depression: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Positive intervention (PI) is a modern and therapeutic approach broadly based on the principles of positive psychology (Rashid in J Posit Psychol 1:25–40, 2014). PI effects at schools have received little atte...

Authors: Ali Taghvaienia and Arash Zonobitabar

Comorbidity of disruptive behavior disorders and intermittent explosive disorder

Aggressive behavior in children and adolescents may be accounted for by several disruptive behavioral disorders (DBD) including attention-deficit/hyperactive (ADHD), conduct (CD), and oppositional defiant (ODD...

Authors: Karam Radwan and Emil F. Coccaro

Mental health in adolescents displaced by the armed conflict: findings from the Colombian national mental health survey

Colombia has one of the largest populations of internally displaced individuals by an armed conflict. However, there is no data demonstrating its effect on health, particularly in adolescents.

Authors: Arturo Marroquín Rivera, Carlos Javier Rincón Rodríguez, Andrea Padilla-Muñoz and Carlos Gómez-Restrepo

Impact of child emotional and behavioural difficulties on educational outcomes of primary school children in Ethiopia: a population-based cohort study

The relationship between child emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) and educational outcomes has not been investigated in prospective, community studies from low-income countries.

Authors: Habtamu Mekonnen, Girmay Medhin, Mark Tomlinson, Atalay Alem, Martin Prince and Charlotte Hanlon

Integrating clinical and research training in child psychiatry: fifteen-year outcomes of a federally supported program

The Albert J. Solnit Integrated Training Program (AJSP) is an educational initiative designed to prepare physician-scientists for independent careers in the investigation and treatment of childhood psychiatric...

Authors: Amanda Calhoun, Michael H. Bloch, Dorothy Stubbe, James F. Leckman and Andrés Martin

Challenges and burden of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for child and adolescent mental health: a narrative review to highlight clinical and research needs in the acute phase and the long return to normality

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is profoundly affecting life around the globe. Isolation, contact restrictions and economic shutdown impose a complete change to the psychosocial environment in affected...

Authors: Jörg M. Fegert, Benedetto Vitiello, Paul L. Plener and Vera Clemens

Child and adolescent mental health service provision and research during the Covid-19 pandemic: challenges, opportunities, and a call for submissions

Authors: Andreas Witt, Anna Ordóñez, Andrés Martin, Benedetto Vitiello and Jörg M. Fegert

An integrated approach to meet the needs of high-vulnerable families: a qualitative study on integrated care from a professional perspective

To meet the needs of high-vulnerable families with severe and enduring problems across several life domains, professionals must improve their ability to provide integrated care timely and adequately. The aim o...

Authors: L. A. Nooteboom, S. I. van den Driesschen, C. H. Z. Kuiper, R. R. J. M. Vermeiren and E. A. Mulder

School refusal and bullying in children with autism spectrum disorder

Few studies have explored school refusal in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), despite being considered a serious problem. One of the leading causes of school refusal is bullying, which is defined b...

Authors: Marina Ochi, Kentaro Kawabe, Shinichiro Ochi, Tomoe Miyama, Fumie Horiuchi and Shu-ichi Ueno

Adolescents with full or subthreshold anorexia nervosa in a naturalistic sample: treatment interventions and patient satisfaction

Despite major research efforts, current recommendations of treatment interventions for adolescents with anorexia nervosa are scarce, and the importance of patient satisfaction for treatment outcome is yet to b...

Authors: Katarina Lindstedt, Emma Forss, Marie Elwin, Lars Kjellin and Sanna Aila Gustafsson

A 12-month follow-up of a transdiagnostic indicated prevention of internalizing symptoms in school-aged children: the results from the EMOTION study

Anxious and depressive symptoms in youth are highly prevalent, are often comorbid and have a high rate of relapse. Preventive interventions are promising, but follow-up results are lacking. The transdiagnostic...

Authors: M. E. S. Loevaas, S. Lydersen, A. M. Sund, S-P. Neumer, K. D. Martinsen, S. Holen, J. Patras, F. Adolfsen, L-M. P. Rasmussen and T. Reinfjell

Challenges in recruiting and retaining adolescents with abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder: lessons learned from a randomized controlled trial

Research on effective recruitment and retention strategies for adolescents and young adults suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder is scarce. The aim of the current study was to provide data on recruitme...

Authors: Anna Vogel, Hannah Comtesse and Rita Rosner

Child and adolescent psychiatry training in Nepal: early career psychiatrists’ perspective

Nepal is a developing low-income country in Southeast Asia. There is a huge burden of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) in Nepal which has a population of around 29 million and 40–50% of the population...

Authors: Utkarsh Karki, Yugesh Rai, Gunjan Dhonju, Eesha Sharma, Preeti Jacob, John Vijay Sagar Kommu and Shekhar P. Seshadri

Mental health problems and associated school interpersonal relationships among adolescents in China: a cross-sectional study

During adolescence, middle school students facing psychophysical changes are vulnerable to psychological problems. The present study aimed to investigate mental health status and associated school interpersona...

Authors: Jiayu Li, Jing Li, Ruixia Jia, Yingquan Wang, Sheng Qian and Yong Xu

Outcomes of reducing stigma towards alcohol misuse during adolescence: results of a randomized controlled trial of the MAKINGtheLINK intervention

While it is well-recognized that the stigma associated with alcohol use problems can prevent or delay help-seeking, there is limited research examining stigmatising attitudes towards alcohol misuse, or their c...

Authors: Ali Cheetham, Emma Sandral and Dan I. Lubman

Medications for sleep disturbance in children and adolescents with depression: a survey of Canadian child and adolescent psychiatrists

Primary care physicians and child and adolescent psychiatrists often treat sleep disturbances in children and adolescents with mood disorders using medications off-label, in the absence of clear evidence for e...

Authors: Addo Boafo, Stephanie Greenham, Marla Sullivan, Khalid Bazaid, Sinthuja Suntharalingam, Lana Silbernagel, Katherine Magner and Rébecca Robillard

Attributional and attentional bias in children with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits: a case–control study

Children who are frequently aggressive or lack empathy show various deficits in their social information processing. Several findings suggest that children with conduct problems (CP) show a tendency to interpr...

Authors: Daniela Hartmann, Kathrin Ueno and Christina Schwenck

Adapting a family intervention to reduce risk factors for sexual exploitation

Sexually exploited youth are disconnected from societal tethers and need support systems, which makes them some of the most vulnerable of youth. This heightened level of vulnerability increases their risk for ...

Authors: Dawn T. Bounds, Caitlin H. Otwell, Adrian Melendez, Niranjan S. Karnik and Wrenetha A. Julion

Psychosocial stressors and protective factors for major depression in youth: evidence from a case–control study

Severe adverse life events, such as traumatic experiences, are well-known stressors implicated in (youth) major depression (MD). However, to date, far less is known about the role of more common psychosocial s...

Authors: Charlotte Elisabeth Piechaczek, Verena Pehl, Lisa Feldmann, Stefan Haberstroh, Antje-Kathrin Allgaier, Franz Joseph Freisleder, Gerd Schulte-Körne and Ellen Greimel

Serial measurement of mood via text messaging in young people

To support longitudinal research into mood in adolescents we sought to assess the feasibility of collecting mood data via Short Message Service (SMS) over 3 years, and to investigate the relationship between S...

Authors: Philip Hazell, Ben Balzer, Patrick Kelly, Karen Paxton, Catherine Hawke, Rebecca Ivers, Rachel Skinner, Georgina Luscombe and Katharine S. Steinbeck

Retraction Note to: Mental health status, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors of migrant children in eastern coastal China in comparison to urban children: a cross-sectional survey

The authors have retracted this article [1] because they do not have documentation of approval of their study by the ethics committee.

Authors: Jingjing Lu, Feng Wang, Pengfei Chai, Dongshuo Wang, Lu Li and Xudong Zhou

Smartphone use disorder and future time perspective of college students: the mediating role of depression and moderating role of mindfulness

Smartphone use disorder (SUD) of college students has drawn increasing attention. Although future time perspective (FTP) may be an important protective factor for individual SUD, the moderating and mediating m...

Authors: Yangchang Zhang, Shuai Lv, Cunya Li, Yang Xiong, Chenxi Zhou, Xuerui Li and Mengliang Ye

User participation and shared decision-making in adolescent mental healthcare: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ perspectives

Most mental health problems occur in adolescence. There is increasing recognition of user participation and shared decision-making in adolescents’ mental healthcare. However, research in this field of clinical...

Authors: Stig Bjønness, Petter Viksveen, Jan Olav Johannessen and Marianne Storm

Are school difficulties an early sign for mental disorder diagnosis and suicide prevention? A comparative study of individuals who died by suicide and control group

Suicide is the third leading cause of death worldwide among youth aged 10- to 19, and mental disorders are often associated in the etiology of suicidal behavior. Mental disorders are often under-diagnosed and ...

Authors: Fabienne Ligier, Charles-Edouard Giguère, Charles-Edouard Notredame, Alain Lesage, Johanne Renaud and Monique Séguin

Virtual reality exposure therapy for adolescents with fear of public speaking: a non-randomized feasibility and pilot study

Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) is a common anxiety with onset in adolescence and early adulthood. With the advent of consumer virtual reality (VR) technology, VR-delivered exposure therapy is now a scalable and...

Authors: Smiti Kahlon, Philip Lindner and Tine Nordgreen

Measuring children’s emotional and behavioural problems: are SDQ parent reports from native and immigrant parents comparable?

The number of immigrants worldwide is growing and migration might be a risk factor for the mental health of children. A reliable instrument is needed to measure immigrants' childrens mental health. The aim of ...

Authors: Ronja A. Runge and Renate Soellner

Looking into the crystal ball: quality of life, delinquency, and problems experienced by young male adults after discharge from a secure residential care setting in the Netherlands

Adolescents in residential care are a vulnerable population with many problems in several life areas. For most of these adolescents, these problems persist after discharge and into adulthood. Since an accumula...

Authors: E. A. W. Janssen-de Ruijter, E. A. Mulder, I. L. Bongers, L. Omlo and Ch. van Nieuwenhuizen

Developing the universal unified prevention program for diverse disorders for school-aged children

Psychological problems during childhood and adolescence are highly prevalent, frequently comorbid, and incur severe social burden. A school-based universal prevention approach is one avenue to address these is...

Authors: Shin-ichi Ishikawa, Kohei Kishida, Takuya Oka, Aya Saito, Sakie Shimotsu, Norio Watanabe, Hiroki Sasamori and Yoko Kamio