The relationship between profiles and transitions of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children and suicidal thoughts in early adolescence

Identifying post-traumatic stress symptom typologies in clinical and non-clinical healthcare staff: a latent profile analysis

Background: There has been growing concern regarding increasing levels of post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms experienced by healthcare workers (HCW) in the UK, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.Objectives: PTS symptom typologies have been investigated in other adult populations using person-centred latent variable approaches, revealing profiles showing differing symptom levels and patterns. We aimed to explore typologies among clinical and non-clinical healthcare staff to elucidate heterogeneity of presentation.  Methods: This was a retrospective study using referral data from treatment-seeking healthcare staff in the North of England (N = 1600). We employed latent profile analysis using the PTSD International Trauma Questionnaire domains as profile indicators. We included covariates relating to role-type, depression, anxiety and mental health concerns before March of 2020.   Results: A model with six profiles fit the data best. Profile names were given as follows: 'No symptom'; 'Low symptom'; 'Low symptom (moderate Sense of current threat (Th_dx) and Functional impairment (FI))'; 'Moderate symptom (low Th_dx and high Avoidance (Av_dx))'; 'Moderate symptom'; and 'High symptom'. Covariates were shown to have differential predictive power on profile membership. Conclusions: The finding of profiles with pattern differences suggests a need for both differential and specifically targeted treatments, as well as a consideration of early intervention for those individuals with subclinical PTS symptoms. As expected, anxiety and depression were both predictors of several of the symptomatic profiles, with anxiety producing a larger effect. Further research is required to fully understand the link between role-type and PTS symptom typologies among HCW. .

Suicidal ideation and its relationship with mental health reported by different informants among children aged 6-12

BACKGROUND

Suicidal ideation in children has received less attention than in adolescents. This study aimed to explore the self-reported prevalence of suicidal ideation among children aged 6-12 and to identify the relationship between self-reported suicidal ideation and children's mental health reported by different informants in Chinese setting.

METHOD

The study sample was 1479 children aged 6-12 from three elementary schools in Tianjin. Children completed the Dominic Interactive to report their mental health and suicidal ideation. Parents and teachers completed the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

RESULTS

The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and death thoughts was 18.05 % and 16.90 %, respectively. Parent reported emotional symptoms, ADHD and externalized problems were associated with death thoughts, and ADHD was associated with suicidal thoughts. For teacher's reports, emotional symptoms, and impact were associated with death thoughts, and ADHD, peer problems, internalized problems, and internalized and externalized comorbidity were associated with suicidal thoughts. All of the children's self-reported mental health problems were associated with suicidal thoughts and death thoughts.

LIMITATIONS

Causality cannot be inferred in a cross-sectional study.

CONCLUSION

Suicidal ideation is not uncommon in Chinese children. The relationships between mental health problems and suicidal ideation varied in different informants. Suicide prevention in young children should be enhanced, and screening for suicidal ideation is recommended at the onset of different informants who reported specific mental health problems.

Pathways to Suicidal Behavior in Children and Adolescents: Examination of Child Maltreatment and Post-Traumatic Symptoms

Suicide in youth exacts significant personal and community costs. Thus, it is important to understand predisposing risk factors. Experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child maltreatment (CM-ACE), and the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder has been identified as a risk factor of suicidal behaviors among adults. Theoretical models of suicide suggest that the presence of painful experiences such as CM-ACEs increase the risk of suicidal behaviors. The relation between child maltreatment, post-traumatic stress symptom clusters (PTSS) and suicidal behaviors has not been explicitly examined among youth. The present study examined the relations between CM-ACEs, PTSS clusters, and suicidal behaviors in a clinical population of children. Children, male, ages 6 to 14, enrolled in a residential treatment program completed self-report measures to evaluate variables of interest. Path analyses revealed statistically significant direct effects of CM-ACEs and PTSS clusters on suicidal behaviors. Significant total indirect effects and marginally significant individual indirect effects of intrusion and avoidance symptoms were observed for the relation between CM-ACEs and suicidal behavior. Findings suggest that symptoms associated with specific PTSS clusters might help explain the relation between CM-ACEs and suicidal behavior, and therefore, present important implications for clinical practice and future research.

Application of the RDoC Framework to Predict Alcohol Use and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors among Early Adolescents in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study

Alcohol use confers risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (ideation, attempt) in early adolescents. The Research Domain Criteria provides a framework for examination of multidimensional and modifiable risk factors. We examined distinct latent profiles based on patterns of positive valence (reward responsivity) and cognitive systems (neurocognition) from the ABCD Study (age 9−10, N = 10,414) at baseline enrollment. Longitudinal associations were determined between baseline positive valence and cognitive profiles and group classification (alcohol use, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, or their co-occurrence) two-years after initial assessment (ages 11−12). Three unique profiles of positive valence, cognition, alcohol use, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were identified. Two baseline profiles predicted alcohol use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, two-years after initial assessment. Low positive valence with high cognition (but low impulsivity) predicted alcohol use (OR = 1.414, p< 0.001), while high positive valence with low cognition (but high impulsivity) predicted suicidal thoughts and behaviors (OR = 1.25, p = 0.038), compared to average positive valence and cognition. Unique profiles of positive valence and cognitive systems among 9−12-year-olds may be predictive of alcohol use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors over a two-year period. Findings underscore the potential for trajectory research on positive valence and cognitive profiles to enhance prevention for early-adolescents.

Correlates and predictors of the severity of suicidal ideation in adolescence: an examination of brain connectomics and psychosocial characteristics

BACKGROUND

Suicidal ideation (SI) typically emerges during adolescence but is challenging to predict. Given the potentially lethal consequences of SI, it is important to identify neurobiological and psychosocial variables explaining the severity of SI in adolescents.

METHODS

In 106 participants (59 female) recruited from the community, we assessed psychosocial characteristics and obtained resting-state fMRI data in early adolescence (baseline: aged 9-13 years). Across 250 brain regions, we assessed local graph theory-based properties of interconnectedness: local efficiency, eigenvector centrality, nodal degree, within-module z-score, and participation coefficient. Four years later (follow-up: ages 13-19 years), participants self-reported their SI severity. We used least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regressions to identify a linear combination of psychosocial and brain-based variables that best explain the severity of SI symptoms at follow-up. Nested-cross-validation yielded model performance statistics for all LASSO models.

RESULTS

A combination of psychosocial and brain-based variables explained subsequent severity of SI (R² = .55); the strongest was internalizing and externalizing symptom severity at follow-up. Follow-up LASSO regressions of psychosocial-only and brain-based-only variables indicated that psychosocial-only variables explained 55% of the variance in SI severity; in contrast, brain-based-only variables performed worse than the null model.

CONCLUSIONS

A linear combination of baseline and follow-up psychosocial variables best explained the severity of SI. Follow-up analyses indicated that graph theory resting-state metrics did not increase the prediction of the severity of SI in adolescents. Attending to internalizing and externalizing symptoms is important in early adolescence; resting-state connectivity properties other than local graph theory metrics might yield a stronger prediction of the severity of SI.