Pub Date : 2025-09-02eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1657395
Ferdinando Salamino, Elisa Gusmini
Is it possible to maintain some of the precious wisdom of our ancestors, while embracing the post-modern revolution of family therapy and systemic thinking? This paper tries to offer an exploratory answer to this question. Milan Approach designed its interventions relying on the therapist's expert position, their moral neutrality and their ability to identify, as an external observer, the "family games" that were responsible for the identified patient's symptoms. Despite its success in offering a fresh perspective and some innovative therapeutic strategies to deal with a range of issues, including, but not limited to, eating disorders, the Milan Approach has undergone criticism, mainly due to its lack of reflexivity about social justice and elements of inequality that might have been at the foundation of problematic family dynamics. In the commendable attempt of purifying family therapy from elements of oppressive practice, post-Milan approaches have distanced themselves from their "ancestors" and showed increasing reluctance to use their tools. Particularly, counter-paradoxical interventions such as the invariable prescriptions have been progressively abandoned in favor of more collaborative tools. This paper, through the means of a clinical example, explores the usefulness of a counter-paradoxical intervention in a second-order family therapy, embracing a social-constructionist perspective while maintaining the importance of counter-paradox in allowing change. The paper discusses the underpinning principle, the delivery and the outcome of such intervention, and addresses potential criticism, indications for practice and scope for further research.
{"title":"Case Report: Keeping the Milan approach legacy alive? Paradox and counterparadox working therapeutically with non-suicidal self-injury.","authors":"Ferdinando Salamino, Elisa Gusmini","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1657395","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1657395","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Is it possible to maintain some of the precious wisdom of our ancestors, while embracing the post-modern revolution of family therapy and systemic thinking? This paper tries to offer an exploratory answer to this question. Milan Approach designed its interventions relying on the therapist's expert position, their moral neutrality and their ability to identify, as an external observer, the \"family games\" that were responsible for the identified patient's symptoms. Despite its success in offering a fresh perspective and some innovative therapeutic strategies to deal with a range of issues, including, but not limited to, eating disorders, the Milan Approach has undergone criticism, mainly due to its lack of reflexivity about social justice and elements of inequality that might have been at the foundation of problematic family dynamics. In the commendable attempt of purifying family therapy from elements of oppressive practice, post-Milan approaches have distanced themselves from their \"ancestors\" and showed increasing reluctance to use their tools. Particularly, counter-paradoxical interventions such as the invariable prescriptions have been progressively abandoned in favor of more collaborative tools. This paper, through the means of a clinical example, explores the usefulness of a counter-paradoxical intervention in a second-order family therapy, embracing a social-constructionist perspective while maintaining the importance of counter-paradox in allowing change. The paper discusses the underpinning principle, the delivery and the outcome of such intervention, and addresses potential criticism, indications for practice and scope for further research.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1657395"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12436346/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145082565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-02eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1675911
Tracy Vaillancourt, Gary Slutkin
{"title":"Editorial: Exposure to violence in children and youth during COVID-19 and mental health outcomes.","authors":"Tracy Vaillancourt, Gary Slutkin","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1675911","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1675911","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1675911"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12436354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145082623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1637011
Olga Osokina, Sanju Silwal, Minja Westerlund, Emmi Heinonen, Susanna Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Gennadiy Putyatin, Yuliia Yaschchyshyna, Norbert Skokauskas, Matthew Hodes, Andre Sourander
Background: In February 2022, Russia launched a full scale-invasion of Ukraine, which is the largest European ground offensive since the Second World War. However, the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed the Crimea peninsula and occupied part of the eastern regions of Ukraine. This prolonged exposure to war, with its many casualties and massive displacement, has negatively affected the mental health of adolescents, although a comparison of the impacts on adolescents exposed to the various stages of war has not been documented. Our aim is to explore the effects of differential wartime traumatic stressor exposure and displacement on the mental health of adolescents exposed to the Russian invasion in Ukraine since 2014.
Methods: The Ukraine Adolescent Mental Health Study (UAMS) is a time-trend study comprising two cross-sectional school surveys. The first survey was carried out in 2016-2017, two years after eastern Ukraine was invaded by Russia. The second survey was conducted after the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion. Both surveys used the same method and included participants aged 11-17 years from two areas in Ukraine, the Donetsk region and the Kirovograd region. In 2016-2017, we focused on adolescents living in the eastern Donetsk region who had been exposed to war since 2014 and those living in the central Kirovograd region, which was not directly affected by the invasion. The new survey will enable us to compare exposure to traumatic wartime stressors and mental health problems among adolescents over time and between the two regions. Several standardized tools will be used to assess post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-harm behavior.
Discussion: This study will provide a unique opportunity to examine the escalating psychological consequences of the ongoing war on adolescents in Ukraine. Such information is crucial for understanding adolescents' mental health needs, and thus for providing psychosocial support and developing mental health interventions.
{"title":"Mental health consequences for adolescents during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: protocol for the Ukraine Adolescent Mental Health Study.","authors":"Olga Osokina, Sanju Silwal, Minja Westerlund, Emmi Heinonen, Susanna Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Gennadiy Putyatin, Yuliia Yaschchyshyna, Norbert Skokauskas, Matthew Hodes, Andre Sourander","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1637011","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1637011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In February 2022, Russia launched a full scale-invasion of Ukraine, which is the largest European ground offensive since the Second World War. However, the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed the Crimea peninsula and occupied part of the eastern regions of Ukraine. This prolonged exposure to war, with its many casualties and massive displacement, has negatively affected the mental health of adolescents, although a comparison of the impacts on adolescents exposed to the various stages of war has not been documented. Our aim is to explore the effects of differential wartime traumatic stressor exposure and displacement on the mental health of adolescents exposed to the Russian invasion in Ukraine since 2014.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The Ukraine Adolescent Mental Health Study (UAMS) is a time-trend study comprising two cross-sectional school surveys. The first survey was carried out in 2016-2017, two years after eastern Ukraine was invaded by Russia. The second survey was conducted after the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion. Both surveys used the same method and included participants aged 11-17 years from two areas in Ukraine, the Donetsk region and the Kirovograd region. In 2016-2017, we focused on adolescents living in the eastern Donetsk region who had been exposed to war since 2014 and those living in the central Kirovograd region, which was not directly affected by the invasion. The new survey will enable us to compare exposure to traumatic wartime stressors and mental health problems among adolescents over time and between the two regions. Several standardized tools will be used to assess post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-harm behavior.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This study will provide a unique opportunity to examine the escalating psychological consequences of the ongoing war on adolescents in Ukraine. Such information is crucial for understanding adolescents' mental health needs, and thus for providing psychosocial support and developing mental health interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1637011"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12434108/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145076637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-22eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1619993
Lessa A Méndez-Lara, Rodrigo Ramirez-Rodriguez, Edgar Santos, Angel Puig-Lagunes
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face unique challenges that may significantly increase stress levels, potentially impacting the emotional well-being of the entire family. In Mexico, limited research has examined the association between parental stress and coping strategies among families with children with developmental disabilities. This study aimed to compare stress levels and coping strategies among parents of children with ASD, ADHD, and neurotypical developing (NTD) children, as well as to analyze differences in coping styles across these groups. A cross-sectional, descriptive-comparative design was employed with 212 parents of children aged 3 to 5 years, with a formal clinical diagnosis made by a pediatric neurologist. Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing parental stress and coping styles. Results revealed that parents of children with ASD and ADHD reported significantly higher stress levels (M = 116.7 and M = 88.1, respectively) compared to parents of NTD children (M = 67.2). Significant differences in coping strategies were observed (p < .001); 100% of ASD/ADHD parents used emotion-focused coping, whereas 94.93% of NTD parents used problem-focused coping. These findings emphasize the importance of designing interventions to support coping and stress regulation in parents of children with developmental disorders.
{"title":"Comparative analysis of stress levels and coping strategies in parents of neurodivergent and neurotypical children.","authors":"Lessa A Méndez-Lara, Rodrigo Ramirez-Rodriguez, Edgar Santos, Angel Puig-Lagunes","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1619993","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1619993","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face unique challenges that may significantly increase stress levels, potentially impacting the emotional well-being of the entire family. In Mexico, limited research has examined the association between parental stress and coping strategies among families with children with developmental disabilities. This study aimed to compare stress levels and coping strategies among parents of children with ASD, ADHD, and neurotypical developing (NTD) children, as well as to analyze differences in coping styles across these groups. A cross-sectional, descriptive-comparative design was employed with 212 parents of children aged 3 to 5 years, with a formal clinical diagnosis made by a pediatric neurologist. Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing parental stress and coping styles. Results revealed that parents of children with ASD and ADHD reported significantly higher stress levels (<i>M</i> = 116.7 and <i>M</i> = 88.1, respectively) compared to parents of NTD children (<i>M</i> = 67.2). Significant differences in coping strategies were observed (<i>p</i> < .001); 100% of ASD/ADHD parents used emotion-focused coping, whereas 94.93% of NTD parents used problem-focused coping. These findings emphasize the importance of designing interventions to support coping and stress regulation in parents of children with developmental disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1619993"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12411201/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145016710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-21eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1662093
Christopher A Kearney
Chronic school absenteeism (CSA) and emotionally-based school absenteeism or avoidance (EBSA) are highly prevalent conditions linked to multiple short- and long-term problems across academic, social-emotional, physical and mental health, family, and occupational and economic domains of functioning. In addition, CSA and EBSA occur disproportionately across vulnerable student groups and have been the focus of extensive preventative and intervention efforts. As such, CSA and EBSA may meet criteria as formal public health problems. This perspective article illustrates various ways of framing CSA and EBSA in this fashion utilizing contemporary public health models. Categories of public health models are emphasized in this regard and include ecological, systems and policy, epidemiologic and statistical, environmental and occupational, and behavioral and social science approaches. Each approach closely parallels research and other work regarding school absenteeism. The article is designed as a step toward advocacy for recognizing CSA and EBSA as formal public health problems contingent upon consensus among key constituencies in this area.
{"title":"Framing chronic absenteeism and emotionally-based school absenteeism as public health problems.","authors":"Christopher A Kearney","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1662093","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1662093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chronic school absenteeism (CSA) and emotionally-based school absenteeism or avoidance (EBSA) are highly prevalent conditions linked to multiple short- and long-term problems across academic, social-emotional, physical and mental health, family, and occupational and economic domains of functioning. In addition, CSA and EBSA occur disproportionately across vulnerable student groups and have been the focus of extensive preventative and intervention efforts. As such, CSA and EBSA may meet criteria as formal public health problems. This perspective article illustrates various ways of framing CSA and EBSA in this fashion utilizing contemporary public health models. Categories of public health models are emphasized in this regard and include ecological, systems and policy, epidemiologic and statistical, environmental and occupational, and behavioral and social science approaches. Each approach closely parallels research and other work regarding school absenteeism. The article is designed as a step toward advocacy for recognizing CSA and EBSA as formal public health problems contingent upon consensus among key constituencies in this area.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1662093"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12408276/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145016806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-20eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1540147
Faatima Ebrahim, Pamela Gretschel, Iesrafeel Abbas
Introduction: There has been a growing presence of screentime, in the lives of children, with an escalation in use during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Children with autism spectrum disorder show a particular preference for engagement in screentime. Gaining parental understandings of the steps they take to mediate excessive screentime can assist in developing interventions which mitigate the well documented negative impacts of screentime for children with autism spectrum disorder. This paper presents the findings of a study which explored parental perceptions of the screentime use and the strategies parents used to manage the screentime engagement of their children with autism spectrum disorder.
Methods: A qualitative descriptive design, using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with seven purposively selected parents, was used to achieve the above objectives. Data was thematically analysed using an inductive approach.
Results: One of the four themes generated during the study; Striving to provide conditional access to screentime details the varied mediation strategies parents used to manage their child's screentime under the two categories of Content monitoring and Setting limits.
Discussion: The findings of this study, describing the various restrictive strategies parents use to manage the screentime use of their children, were comparable to prior studies. Findings that built on existing evidence, describe the strategies parents used i.e., distraction and preparing for the cessation of screentime, to manage screentime in a way that avoided negative behaviour in their child and parental stress linked to this behaviour. It is certain, that screentime will remain a predominant occupation for children with autism spectrum disorder therefore, early childhood interventionists need to consider how to optimize the nature of engagement of screentime.
{"title":"Striving to provide conditional access: strategies parents use to mediate the screentime of their children with autism spectrum disorder.","authors":"Faatima Ebrahim, Pamela Gretschel, Iesrafeel Abbas","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1540147","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1540147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>There has been a growing presence of screentime, in the lives of children, with an escalation in use during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Children with autism spectrum disorder show a particular preference for engagement in screentime. Gaining parental understandings of the steps they take to mediate excessive screentime can assist in developing interventions which mitigate the well documented negative impacts of screentime for children with autism spectrum disorder. This paper presents the findings of a study which explored parental perceptions of the screentime use and the strategies parents used to manage the screentime engagement of their children with autism spectrum disorder.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A qualitative descriptive design, using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with seven purposively selected parents, was used to achieve the above objectives. Data was thematically analysed using an inductive approach.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>One of the four themes generated during the study; Striving to provide conditional access to screentime details the varied mediation strategies parents used to manage their child's screentime under the two categories of Content monitoring and Setting limits.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The findings of this study, describing the various restrictive strategies parents use to manage the screentime use of their children, were comparable to prior studies. Findings that built on existing evidence, describe the strategies parents used i.e., distraction and preparing for the cessation of screentime, to manage screentime in a way that avoided negative behaviour in their child and parental stress linked to this behaviour. It is certain, that screentime will remain a predominant occupation for children with autism spectrum disorder therefore, early childhood interventionists need to consider how to optimize the nature of engagement of screentime.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1540147"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12405287/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145002031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-18eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1602523
Elizabeth C Braithwaite, Esther Hargreaves, Jonathan Hill, Andrew Pickles, Helen Sharp, Nicky Wright
Introduction: Evolutionary hypotheses propose that fetuses show "predictive adaptive" responses to the prenatal environment based on likely continuity with the postnatal environment, and males and females have different adaptive priorities. Female adaptations appear to implicate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis mechanisms moderated by early tactile stimulation. Based on these hypotheses we predict that lack of prenatal-postnatal environmental continuity (mismatch), will be associated with poorer outcomes in females, an effect that will be ameliorated by tactile stimulation. We previously reported that this prediction was supported by evidence from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) of a three-way interaction between maternal prenatal anxiety, postnatal anxiety, and infant stroking in the prediction of irritability at age 7 years, seen only in girls. Here, we ask whether this effect persists over another 6 years into early adolescence.
Methods: Mothers in a general population cohort (WCHADS) provided self-reported anxiety scores at 20 weeks of pregnancy, and at 9 weeks, 14 months and 3.5 years postpartum, and frequency of infant stroking at 9 weeks. Their children self-reported symptoms of depression in early adolescence at age 13 years. Structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum-likelihood estimation was conducted using data from N = 695 mother-child dyads.
Results: There was a three-way interaction between prenatal and postnatal anxiety and maternal stroking in the prediction of early adolescent depression, seen only in girls, consistent with our previous reports. When examining self-reported depression at age 13 years, increased stroking was associated with decreased symptoms of depression in girls in the mis-match group characterised by low prenatal and high postal anxiety, but not the high prenatal and low postnatal mis-match group.
Discussion: We provide preliminary novel evidence that mechanisms likely to have evolved well before the emergence of humans, contribute to the risk of adolescent depression in girls. These findings have implications for understanding developmental origins of sex differences in adolescent depression.
{"title":"Investigating sex differences in developmental origins of adolescent depression.","authors":"Elizabeth C Braithwaite, Esther Hargreaves, Jonathan Hill, Andrew Pickles, Helen Sharp, Nicky Wright","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1602523","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1602523","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Evolutionary hypotheses propose that fetuses show \"predictive adaptive\" responses to the prenatal environment based on likely continuity with the postnatal environment, and males and females have different adaptive priorities. Female adaptations appear to implicate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis mechanisms moderated by early tactile stimulation. Based on these hypotheses we predict that lack of prenatal-postnatal environmental continuity (mismatch), will be associated with poorer outcomes in females, an effect that will be ameliorated by tactile stimulation. We previously reported that this prediction was supported by evidence from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) of a three-way interaction between maternal prenatal anxiety, postnatal anxiety, and infant stroking in the prediction of irritability at age 7 years, seen only in girls. Here, we ask whether this effect persists over another 6 years into early adolescence.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Mothers in a general population cohort (WCHADS) provided self-reported anxiety scores at 20 weeks of pregnancy, and at 9 weeks, 14 months and 3.5 years postpartum, and frequency of infant stroking at 9 weeks. Their children self-reported symptoms of depression in early adolescence at age 13 years. Structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum-likelihood estimation was conducted using data from <i>N</i> = 695 mother-child dyads.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There was a three-way interaction between prenatal and postnatal anxiety and maternal stroking in the prediction of early adolescent depression, seen only in girls, consistent with our previous reports. When examining self-reported depression at age 13 years, increased stroking was associated with decreased symptoms of depression in girls in the mis-match group characterised by low prenatal and high postal anxiety, but not the high prenatal and low postnatal mis-match group.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>We provide preliminary novel evidence that mechanisms likely to have evolved well before the emergence of humans, contribute to the risk of adolescent depression in girls. These findings have implications for understanding developmental origins of sex differences in adolescent depression.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1602523"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12399624/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144994620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-14eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1567387
Martina Preisig, Isabelle Häberling, Lukasz Smigielski, Sophie Emery, Noemi Baumgartner, Mona Albermann, Michael Strumberger, Klaus Schmeck, Lars Wöckel, Suzanne Erb, Bruno Rhiner, Brigitte Contin-Waldvogel, Susanne Walitza, Gregor Berger
Introduction: Adolescent suicidality is a significant public health issue. To develop effective interventions aimed at preventing suicide in this vulnerable population, it is essential to understand the complex interplay of health-related quality of life, depression and suicidal ideation.
Methods: For this purpose, we analyzed longitudinal data of 250 children and adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (M = 15.7, SD = 1.6, range 8-18 years, 74% females). The main goal of the study was to examine whether the effect of health-related quality of life on individual trajectories of suicidal ideation is mediated by depression severity. A series of t-tests, Chi-squared-tests, Fisher's exact tests and a mediation analysis including three robust linear mixed-effects models were conducted.
Results: Depressed adolescents with suicidal ideation reported lower health-related quality of life across physical, psychological, peer, and school domains compared to those without suicidal ideation, while no significant difference was observed in the family-related domain. Psychological well-being emerged as the sole domain of health-related quality of life with a direct influence on suicidal ideation. Notably, depression severity mediated the effect of physical, psychological, peer- and school-related quality of life on suicidal ideation.
Discussion: Our findings suggest that improving health-related quality of life reduces depressive symptoms, which in turn leads to lower suicidal ideation. This highlights the importance of including health-related quality of life in the clinical assessment of suicide risk as well as targeting health-related quality of life in therapeutic interventions. In the light of the results of this study, interventions should not only focus on classical clinical criteria of psychiatric diagnoses such as major depressive disorder, but also on broader, more resource-oriented constructs such as health-related quality of life to better mitigate the risk of suicide in this vulnerable population.
{"title":"The mediating role of depression in the association between health-related quality of life and suicidal ideation in adolescents: findings from a longitudinal study.","authors":"Martina Preisig, Isabelle Häberling, Lukasz Smigielski, Sophie Emery, Noemi Baumgartner, Mona Albermann, Michael Strumberger, Klaus Schmeck, Lars Wöckel, Suzanne Erb, Bruno Rhiner, Brigitte Contin-Waldvogel, Susanne Walitza, Gregor Berger","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1567387","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1567387","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Adolescent suicidality is a significant public health issue. To develop effective interventions aimed at preventing suicide in this vulnerable population, it is essential to understand the complex interplay of health-related quality of life, depression and suicidal ideation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>For this purpose, we analyzed longitudinal data of 250 children and adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (M = 15.7, SD = 1.6, range 8-18 years, 74% females). The main goal of the study was to examine whether the effect of health-related quality of life on individual trajectories of suicidal ideation is mediated by depression severity. A series of t-tests, Chi-squared-tests, Fisher's exact tests and a mediation analysis including three robust linear mixed-effects models were conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Depressed adolescents with suicidal ideation reported lower health-related quality of life across physical, psychological, peer, and school domains compared to those without suicidal ideation, while no significant difference was observed in the family-related domain. Psychological well-being emerged as the sole domain of health-related quality of life with a direct influence on suicidal ideation. Notably, depression severity mediated the effect of physical, psychological, peer- and school-related quality of life on suicidal ideation.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Our findings suggest that improving health-related quality of life reduces depressive symptoms, which in turn leads to lower suicidal ideation. This highlights the importance of including health-related quality of life in the clinical assessment of suicide risk as well as targeting health-related quality of life in therapeutic interventions. In the light of the results of this study, interventions should not only focus on classical clinical criteria of psychiatric diagnoses such as major depressive disorder, but also on broader, more resource-oriented constructs such as health-related quality of life to better mitigate the risk of suicide in this vulnerable population.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registration: </strong>www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier [NCT03167307].</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1567387"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12390987/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aim: Children and adolescents get fewer than the recommended hours of sleep. The Child and Adolescent Sleep Checklist for parents (CASC-P) was designed to identify sleep habits and screen for sleep problems in junior high school students in Japan. This study aimed to validate the Japanese version of the CASC-P for junior high school students and determine its internal consistency.
Methods: We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach's α to validate the scale and examine reliability. The analysis involved 218 parents of students aged 12-15 years.
Results: Cronbach's α for the overall scale was 0.771. The prevalence of sleep problems was 15.6%. Factorial construct validity was assessed using the four-factor model used in the original CASC-P. Almost all items loaded meaningfully on their designated factors, and standardized factor-loading values ranged from 0.278 to 0.878 (except for items 1, 2, 9, 16, and 21).
Conclusion: : The CASC-P is a suitable questionnaire for assessing parents' perspectives on adolescent sleep behavior.
{"title":"Development and field test of the child and adolescent sleep checklist for parents of community junior high school students.","authors":"Kentaro Kawabe, Saori Inoue, Yu Matsumoto, Maya Kusunoki, Shu-Ichi Ueno, Yasunori Oka, Fumie Horiuchi","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1644128","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1644128","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Children and adolescents get fewer than the recommended hours of sleep. The Child and Adolescent Sleep Checklist for parents (CASC-P) was designed to identify sleep habits and screen for sleep problems in junior high school students in Japan. This study aimed to validate the Japanese version of the CASC-P for junior high school students and determine its internal consistency.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach's α to validate the scale and examine reliability. The analysis involved 218 parents of students aged 12-15 years.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Cronbach's α for the overall scale was 0.771. The prevalence of sleep problems was 15.6%. Factorial construct validity was assessed using the four-factor model used in the original CASC-P. Almost all items loaded meaningfully on their designated factors, and standardized factor-loading values ranged from 0.278 to 0.878 (except for items 1, 2, 9, 16, and 21).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>: The CASC-P is a suitable questionnaire for assessing parents' perspectives on adolescent sleep behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1644128"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12378057/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-07eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1600599
Miao Li
Materialism, a value system that places the pursuit of possessions at the core of happiness and life meaning, is a dominant cultural force in modern societies. While its associations with individual well-being are well-documented, its intergenerational implications remain understudied. This study conceptualizes materialism as a potential family stressor contributing to the intergenerational transmission of stress. An intergenerational crossover model of materialism was tested using data from 1,996 parent-child pairs in Zhengzhou, China. Results indicate that higher parental materialism is associated with stronger materialistic values in children, weaker family relationships, and more frequent parental comparisons, each of which is linked to greater psychological distress in youth. These patterns suggest that materialism may contribute to intergenerational patterns of vulnerability. The study highlights the cultural dimensions of mental health and provides a theoretical tool for further research on how materialism, as modernity's "default value", relates to health inequalities.
{"title":"The price of possessiveness: how parental materialism undermines child psychological wellbeing.","authors":"Miao Li","doi":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1600599","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frcha.2025.1600599","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Materialism, a value system that places the pursuit of possessions at the core of happiness and life meaning, is a dominant cultural force in modern societies. While its associations with individual well-being are well-documented, its intergenerational implications remain understudied. This study conceptualizes materialism as a potential family stressor contributing to the intergenerational transmission of stress. An intergenerational crossover model of materialism was tested using data from 1,996 parent-child pairs in Zhengzhou, China. Results indicate that higher parental materialism is associated with stronger materialistic values in children, weaker family relationships, and more frequent parental comparisons, each of which is linked to greater psychological distress in youth. These patterns suggest that materialism may contribute to intergenerational patterns of vulnerability. The study highlights the cultural dimensions of mental health and provides a theoretical tool for further research on how materialism, as modernity's \"default value\", relates to health inequalities.</p>","PeriodicalId":73074,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry","volume":"4 ","pages":"1600599"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12367775/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}