Volume 23, Issue 1

No abstract available

Background : Most research regarding sport participation and suicide risk found protective relationships. However, all studies in this area were based on cross-sectional designs. Objective : To fill a gap in research by exploring associations between sport involvement and suicide ideation and attempts (suicidality) based on a 5-year longitudinal, population-based study. Study group : Participants (n=739) completed surveys in middle school and high school. Methods : Logistic regression analysis compared suicidality during high school across four groups: youth who participated in sport in both middle and high school, youth who participated only in middle school or only in high school, and youth who did not participate in sport during adolescence. Results : Compared to non-participants, youth involved in sport in both middle and high school had lower odds of suicidal ideation during high school. Youth who discontinued sport after middle school had higher odds of attempting suicide during high school than non-participants. Conclusions : Remaining involved in sport throughout adolescence can offer mental health benefits. Future research should identify mechanisms that account for protective relationships between involvement in sport throughout adolescence and suicidality, and identify factors that explain deleterious relationships for youth who discontinue sport early in adolescence.

A survey conducted in 2008 among 346 American middle school students in several cities determined that 82.7% of respondents found bullying to be a problem of some degree, with 46.0% rating it a “medium”, “bad”, or “very bad” problem. It was found that 89% had witnessed an act of bullying and 49.1% said they had been the victim of a bully. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to say that a victim deserved to be bullied (11.1% vs. 1.3%, p=0.01), whereas girls were significantly more likely than boys to fail to intervene because they did not know what to do (30.3% for girls vs. 11.1%, p<0.01). There was no significant difference in this study between boys and girls in terms of being a bully: 43.6% admitted they had bullied another (46.2% boys, 41.1% girls, p=0.34); however, girls were significantly more likely than boys to bully by excluding others and gossiping about them than by hitting, teasing, or threatening. Cyberbullying, surveyed as a distinct entity, had affected 31.1% of respondents directly, with similar results from 2006 to 2007 surveys. Of those who found conventional bullying a “bad” or “very bad” problem at their schools, numbers fell from 17.3% in 2006–2007 vs. 11.3% in 2008.

The purpose of this cross-sectional questionnaire study was to explore neighbourhood-level differences in health behaviour, maternal stress and sense of coherence, birth weight, child health and behaviour, and children's television watching habits. In total, 2006 pairs of Swedish mothers and children, aged approximately 20 months, from the general population participated in the study. A total of 1923 lived in neighbourhoods of average socioeconomic status in six counties, and 83 in a high-status neighbourhood in one of the counties. Data were collected in 2002–2003 and 2004–2005 through the Child Health Services. Socio-demographic confounders were adjusted for in multiple logistic regressions (maternal age, country of birth, education, marital status and parity). Compared with their counterparts in average neighbourhoods, mothers in the high-status neighbourhood were less frequently smokers and had been breastfeeding their children more. They felt less stress from social isolation and had a higher sense of coherence. All these differences except lower social isolation were non-significant after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics. Privileged mothers felt more restricted by their parenting tasks (unadjusted comparison), and more privileged children were frequent television watchers. Child birth weight, health and behaviour were no better in the privileged than in average neighbourhoods. This paper adds to previous knowledge by showing that status-based geographic differences in important parenting and health parameters can be non-significant in an equitable society such as Sweden, where all families with young children have access to free high-quality health services. Individual characteristics could provide better explanations than neighbourhood status.

Background: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is widely used in early child health care. This study examined the appropriateness of the recommended EPDS cut-off score 11/12. Methods : Two main analyses were performed: 1. Associations between EPDS scores and maternal health behaviour, stress, life events, perceived mother-child interaction quality and child behaviour. 2. Screening parameters of the EPDS, i.e., sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value. EPDS scores were available for 438 mothers and maternal questionnaires for 361 mothers. Results : Already in the EPDS score intervals 6–8 and 9–11, there were notable adversities, according to maternal questionnaires, in stress, perceived quality of mother-child interaction, perceived child difficultness and child problem behaviours. Using maternal questionnaire reports about sadness/distress postpartum as standard, the recommended EPDS cut-off score 11/12 resulted in a very low sensitivity (24%). The cut-off score 6/7 yielded a sensitivity of 61%, a specificity of 82% and a positive predictive value of 61%. Conclusions : In terms of both clinical relevance and screening qualities, an EPDS cut-off score lower than 11/12 seems recommendable.

This study examined the prevalence of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, anxiety and depression mood and the relationship between these variables in a sample of 534 college students in the USA. In college men, 91% were current alcohol users (those who use alcohol at least once a month) and in college women 80% were current alcohol users (p<0.01). Current users were further divided into two groups, moderate and heavy, considering the amount and frequency of alcohol use. Beer was more popular among moderate users than heavy users in both sexes. Over 90% of both moderate and heavy users in both men and women had used hard liquor in the 30-day period preceding the survey. College men had more alcohol-related problems than did college women. Blackouts, getting into fights and not being able to meet school responsibilities were the common alcohol-related adverse outcomes reported by the participants. No associations were found between alcohol use and distress and between alcohol use and depressive mood. Mean values of the anxiety scores, however, were higher in moderate users in the male sample compared to that of the female sample. The findings have implications for theories of alcohol-related psychological health in college students.

The Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB) is a 50-item multidimensional measure of difficulty and distress in assertiveness. The SIB assesses negative assertion, expression of and dealing with personal limitations, initiating assertiveness and positive assertion. The SIB was originally developed in the Netherlands. The present study attempted to replicate the original factors with an Italian student sample (n=995). The four distress and four performance factors were replicable across two methods of analysis (the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis and Tucker's coefficient of congruence ϕ). The corresponding scales were internally consistent and showed predicted patterns of correlations with a measure of self-efficacy. Sex and age differences in assertiveness were generally negligible. Italian students had higher positive assertion-performance scores than the Dutch and comparable scores on other performance scales; by contrast, the Italian subjects had significantly higher scores on all SIB distress scales than their Dutch equivalents. This was ascribed to the stronger pressure on people in Italian society to behave assertively (Hofstede's National Masculinity score=70) as opposed to the Dutch society (National Masculinity score=14).

This research examines the influence of the level of profes­sional training of the caretaking staff in psychiatric wards, the type of wards in which a patient is treated and the patient's age compared with the level of limitation put on patient autonomy. Detailed questionnaires were administered to 296 nurses from five mental health centers who met inclusion criteria for the study. The level of autonomy restriction was measured using six representative cases from fieldwork of the interviewees. These cases were analyzed by the authors based on Collopy's theory, by categorizing the data according to the six polarities of autonomy presented in his work. Our findings suggest a positive correlation between the level of professional training of the nursing staff, patient's age and the level of autonomy given. Our findings did not show a significant relationship between the type of ward and level of autonomy, although there could be a tendency for higher autonomy within closed wards.

This study investigates correlates of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents’ identity statuses with (i) parental and school contexts and (ii) major psychosocial developmental outcomes. Data were collected from 1260 Secondary 2–4 (equivalent to Grades 8–10 in the US school system) students through a questionnaire survey. Results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that parental attributes of acceptance, values and goals, and psychological control, and school contextual factor of task orientations predicted identity achievement, whereas parents’ acceptance, psychological and firm control, and teacher's support predicted identity foreclosure. Regarding the impact on psychosocial development, another series of regression analyses revealed that (i) identity achievement predicted low depression, high self-esteem, and high self-efficacy; (ii) moratorium predicted low self-esteem; and (iii) foreclosure predicted high self-efficacy. Overall, the findings shed light on adolescent identity development in Hong Kong, facilitating discussions on identity-related issues.

Background : This study was designed to assess the presence of pain and impaired functioning in the maternal relatives of adolescent females in an inpatient adolescent psychiatric population. We compared the relatives of adolescents who met the criteria for juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome (JPFS) to relatives of adolescents who did not meet the criteria for JPFS. Methods : A total of 55 biological maternal relatives of adolescent females admitted to a psychiatric unit were recruited to participate in the study. Participants completed four self-administered questionnaires: Multidimensional Fatigue Inve­ntory, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Survey (SF36v2), and the EPIFUND Health Survey. Results : The maternal relatives of adolescents who met the criteria for JPFS did not score higher than the maternal relatives of adolescents who did not meet the criteria for JPFS. However, all maternal relatives consistently scored higher on self-reported measures of pain, impaired functioning, fatigue, and fibromyalgia symptoms than the average patient diagnosed with fibromyalgia or a chronic pain syndrome. Conclusion : Mood disorders and pain disorders share genetic risk factors and vulnerability. Future research is needed to further delineate other factors impacting the maternal caregivers' functioning. These could include stress associated with an adolescent child with psychiatric issues severe enough to warrant hospitalization.

The increasing popularity of text messaging has made this mode of communication the preferred interaction portal for teens. Virtually every teenager has a cell phone with an un­limited text messaging plan. Text messaging easily facilitates communication between individuals without much interruption into daily life. After administering a survey to ten early adolescents and ten late adolescents, the effects of this technology are manifested across many developmental characteristics. Communication, responsibility, and relationships all seem to be negatively influenced by the use of text messaging. This pattern is seen in both early and late adolescent groups. Developmentally, different characteristic features categorize early and late adolescence, yet it seems the use of text messaging is propelling early adolescence forward by removing the consequences of awkward face-to-face interactions. This early onset of late adolescence results in having very young teens, 12 and 13 year olds, showing increased interest in romantic relation­ships and sexual exploration. The anxiety and uneasiness felt by early teens about speaking with others has led to deficits in the ability to communicate in social settings, which could prove troublesome later. This study looks at only a few developmental issues associated with text messaging use among teens. It would be relevant and appropriate to study other ways that text messaging affects our youth in addition to exploring the more long-term effects of using this technology.

Iron deficiency anemia is commonly associated with thrombocytosis and normal leukocyte count. Thrombocytopenia has occasionally been reported in iron deficiency anemia, but pancytopenia is very rare. We present a case of a young female who presented with iron deficiency anemia associated with pancytopenia that improved with iron replenishment after initial deterioration, the mechanism of which is also discussed in this case report. This case illustrates two uncommon associations of a very common disease: severe iron deficiency can be associated with pancytopenia and can be initially worsened by iron replacement despite normal serum B 12 and folic acid levels.

Background: Etonogestrel (ENG) implant is an effective method of contraception. The implant is designed to provide contraceptive efficacy for 3 years with a relatively quick return of fertility upon its removal. Menstrual irregularities are not uncommon on long-acting progestins and can often be the factor for discontinuation or removal. A retrospective chart analysis was done on 58 patients who chose to be on the ENG implant. Age ranged from 12 to 24 years. The cycle ranged from 1 to 17 months. The mean length of use of the implant was 10.9 months. Over the 20-month period, 13 ENG implants were removed because of menstrual bleeding problems. Method: We conducted a chart review of the adolescent patients who received the ENG implant in our adolescent clinic. An analysis was done based on symptoms experienced by patients who were on the ENG implant and their management, which in some cases resulted in its removal. Setting : The data is presented on adolescent and young adult patients who receive their reproductive care in the Adolescent Medicine Clinic at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. Conclusions : ENG implant when used correctly and as indicated is extremely effective in providing contraception for up to 3 years. However, menstrual irregularities can be very troublesome and often a reason for its removal. In our experience, 22.4% (13 out of the 58 subjects) had menstrual problems post-insertion that led to its removal. It is crucial for a clinician to inform and be informed about such side effects.

In 1998, a questionnaire was developed by the Health Services, Office of the Medical Director at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services. This questionnaire was aimed to assess, on a yearly basis, the health of the residents with intellectual disability and the services provided to them by specific residential care centers within Israel. The present study was conducted to examine trends in the number of children with intellectual disability in residential care centers in Israel during 1999–2008. We demonstrated a clear downward trend with regard to the percent of children living in residential care facilities, from 18.1% of the total population in 1999 to 12.8% in 2008.