A Reciprocal and Longitudinal Investigation of Peer and School Stressors and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Females

Reciprocal relationships between depressive symptoms and peer attachment in Chinese adolescents: The influence of early parental harsh discipline

BACKGROUND

Despite high social acceptance and prevalence of harsh discipline in China, its long-term cascading effects on adolescent emotional/interpersonal challenges remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined whether peer attachment and depressive symptoms would be reciprocally related over time and how early harsh discipline influences these dynamics.

PARTICIPANT AND SETTING

Data was drawn from a longitudinal study over a 9-year period. Parental harsh discipline was reported by both parents at Grade 1-3 (N = 403), and depressive symptoms and peer attachment were reported by adolescents at Grade 7-9 (N = 651).

METHODS

The random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to assess the reciprocal association between adolescents' depressive symptoms and peer attachment. Furthermore, the predictive effects of early parental harsh discipline were examined.

RESULTS

There was a significant association between adolescents' depressive symptoms and peer attachment at between-person level, and these two constructs were also predicted each other at within-person level expected for the path from peer attachment at Grade 7 to depressive symptoms at Grade 8. Paternal but not maternal early harsh discipline from Grade 1 to Grade 3 could drive the dynamic within-person relations between adolescents' depressive symptoms and peer attachment.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings reveal the antecedent or concurrent factors and their processes that account for early adolescents' depressive symptoms. Intervention targeted at reducing early parental harsh discipline and improving peer relationship quality may be beneficial for alleviating adolescents' depressive symptoms.

Multidimensional stressors and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: A network analysis through simulations

BACKGROUND

Existing research has established associations between various stressors and adolescent mental health, primarily from a variable-level perspective. However, a symptom-level understanding about which stressors and symptoms might play a important role is scarce.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 15,570 adolescents aged 10 to 19. Participants completed questionnaires which assessed multidimensional stressors, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and demographic information. Network analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between stressors and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, to identify effective targets for the treatment and prevention of adolescent mental health issues, symptom-specific intervention simulations were performed on the network to investigate changes in symptom values in response to the alleviation and aggravation of specific stressors and symptoms.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that academic stressors exhibited stronger associations with anxiety symptoms than other stressors, particularly nervousness. Family relationships were more closely linked to depressive symptoms than other stressors, particularly suicidal ideation. Academic stressors emerged as an effective intervention target, and uncontrollable worry as an important prevention target. With the exception of academic stressors, simulating aggravation interventions on symptoms resulted in more changes in overall symptom activation than alleviation interventions.

LIMITATIONS

A cross-sectional design did not uncover network changes over time and the sample was non-clinical.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the importance of addressing academic stressors to alleviate adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms and reveals that uncontrollable worry is a key prevention target. The findings are helpful for clinicians and educators to develop effective strategies to protect adolescents' mental health.

School educational models and child mental health among K-12 students: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

The promotion of mental health among children and adolescents is a public health imperative worldwide, and schools have been proposed as the primary and targeted settings for mental health promotion for students in grades K-12. This review sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of key factors involved in models of school education contributing to student mental health development, interrelationships among these factors and the cross-cultural differences across nations and societies.

METHODS

This scoping review followed the framework of Arksey and O'Malley and holistically reviewed the current evidence on the potential impacts of school-related factors or school-based interventions on student mental health in recent 5 years based on the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and PsycExtra databases.

RESULTS/FINDINGS

After screening 558 full-texts, this review contained a total of 197 original articles on school education and student mental health. Based on the five key factors (including curriculum, homework and tests, physical activities, interpersonal relationships and after-school activities) identified in student mental development according to thematic analyses, a multi-component school educational model integrating academic, social and physical factors was proposed so as to conceptualize the five school-based dimensions for K-12 students to promote student mental health development.

CONCLUSIONS

The lessons learned from previous studies indicate that developing multi-component school strategies to promote student mental health remains a major challenge. This review may help establish appropriate school educational models and call for a greater emphasis on advancement of student mental health in the K-12 school context among different nations or societies.

An investigation of the effect of smartphone-based pain management application on pain intensity and the quality-of-life dimensions in adolescents with chronic pain: a cluster randomized parallel-controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Chronic pain negatively affects adolescents' quality of life. Therefore, it is important to seek for ways to effectively manage pain, which may, in turn, promote quality-of-life dimensions in this population. However, there are many barriers including geographical distance which prevent most adolescents from receiving an effective treatment for chronic pain. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a smartphone-based pain management application compared with face-to-face pain management program and wait-list control on the pain intensity and quality-of-life dimensions in adolescents with chronic pain.

METHODS

This study used a cluster double-blinded randomized parallel-group design with school as the unit of randomization. Participants included were 192 adolescents with chronic pain. The questionnaires (pain intensity and quality of life measuring physical, emotional, social, and school dimensions) were completed at the baseline, immediately at the end of pain management program and three months after the end of the program.

RESULTS

Repeated measures ANOVAs with adjustment for clustering effect showed that there were significant main effects of time on ratings of pain intensity (p < 0.01), physical (p < 0.005), emotional (p < 0.008), social (p < 0.001), and school (p < 0.005) dimensions of quality of life. There was also a significant main effect of group on ratings of emotional (p < 0.001), social (p < 0.009), and school (p < 0.002) dimensions. The interaction of group × time for emotional (p < 0.004), social (p < 0.001), and school (p < 0.005) dimensions of quality of life was statistically significant.

DISCUSSION

The findings suggest that smartphone-based pain management program, which is a highly accessible and cost-effective intervention, may provide benefits similar to a face-to-face intervention and shows promise for being effective on emotional, social, and school dimensions of quality of life in adolescents with different types of chronic pain. The study was registered within the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20180808040744N2).

The effect of a smartphone-based pain management application on pain intensity and quality of life in adolescents with chronic pain

The development, implementation, and qualitative evaluation of smartphone-based pain management applications may provide an opportunity for more optimal management of pediatric pain in the homesetting. The present mixed-method study was conducted to assess a smartphone-based pain management application regarding the feasibility, adherence, participant satisfaction, and effectiveness on pain intensity and quality of life in adolescents with chronic pain. The study was carried out in the quantitative and qualitative stages using a mixed-method approach. The quantitative stage included 128 adolescents who met the ICD-11 criteria of chronic pain. After random allocation, adolescents allocated to the intervention group received a pain management program through a smartphone-based application. No education was given to the adolescents in the control group. The adolescents were assessed regarding pain intensity and different dimensions of quality of life at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up. The findings in the quantitative stage were explained by qualitative interviews. The findings of the quantitative stage showed significant improvements in the pain intensity, emotional, social, and school functioning but not in the physical functioning of the adolescents. A high level of adherence (78.12%) and satisfaction (Mean = 26.45, SD = 6.45) with thes martphone-based pain management program was found. Based on the qualitative interviews, adolescents' pain management strategies can be classified in three main categories: physical management, psychological management, and interpersonal resources. The results confirm the positive effect of a smartphone-based pain management program on the pain intensity and different dimensions of quality of life of adolescents with chronic pain. Within the context of chronic pain management, a mobile application incorporating both the psychological and physical management of pain may help adolescents with chronic pain to reduce the negative impacts of pain on their life.

The Distal Role of Adolescents' Awareness of and Perceived Discrimination on Young Adults' Socioeconomic Attainment among Mexican-Origin Immigrant Families

Cultural-ecological frameworks posit that there are harmful effects of social stratification on developmental outcomes. In particular, awareness of aspects of social stratification in society and interpersonal experiences of discrimination, more generally and within specific contexts, may differentially influence outcomes across life stages; yet, few studies have examined the distal effects during adolescence on early adult developmental outcomes. The current study fills this gap by examining distal mechanisms linking adolescents' (Time 1: ages 13-15) awareness of and perceived general and school discrimination to young adults' (Time 3: ages 23-25) socioeconomic attainment (i.e., educational attainment, occupational prestige, earned income) through adolescents' (Time 2: ages 16-18) academic adjustment (i.e., grades and educational expectations). The study also examined variation by adaptive culture (i.e., English and Spanish language use behavior, familism values) and youth gender. Data are from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (N = 755 Mexican-origin adolescents and their foreign-born parents; 51.5% male adolescents; Time 1 M age = 14.20 years). The results revealed that adolescent's awareness of societal discrimination (Time 1) related to adolescents' higher grades (Time 2), which, in turn, related to higher educational attainment and occupational prestige in early adulthood (Time 3). For young women, but not men, sources of perceived discrimination within the school context during adolescence related to lower educational attainment. Additional variation by adaptive culture and gender was also found. Implications discussed are related to positive development among Mexican-origin youth in immigrant families.