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Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 46406

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero

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Guest Editor

Department of Educational Sciences, Universidad de La Rioja, 26004 Logrono, Spain
Interests: psychosis; suicidal behavior; mental health; risk factors; schizotypy; prevention; psychometric; assessment; validation

Prof. Martin Debbané

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Interests: psychosis; reflective functioning; mentalization; schizotypy; 22Q11DS; psychopathology; developmental clinical psychology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mental health disorders in children and adolescents are a major public health issue. These developmental periods are a vulnerable time during which children and adolescents experience many bio-psycho-social changes. Childhood and adolescence are considered as crucial developmental stages during which the first mental health difficulties may emerge. For instance, 15% of children and adolescents are diagnosed with a mental health disorder. In addition, at least 75% of mental health disorders begin by the age of 24. In addition, mental health disorders during childhood or adolescence have been associated with impairments in familial, social, educational, and health outcomes.

Thus, the period of childhood and adolescence is an optimal window of opportunity in which to improve the outcomes of mental problems and disorders through the promotion of mental well-being and prevention strategies. Mental health prevention requires the early and reliable identification of youths at heightened risk, as well as evidence-based psychological interventions. For prevention purposes, we need to analyse the underlying etiological mechanisms as well as risk and protective factors from multiple levels of analyses. We must also develop and validate psychometric measures and empirically supported treatments. In addition, with the aim providing new insights into the mental health field, the incorporation of new conceptual (staging model and transdiagnostic), psychometric (e.g., network model), assessment, and intervention procedures (ambulatory assessment/intervention) are needed.

In this issue, an empirical research focus on mental health in childhood and adolescence is welcome. We especially encourage the submission of research on the prevalence of mental health symptoms and disorders, analysis of risk and protective factors, psychological processes, or validation of tools and mental health interventions. We also encourage the submission of health systems and health policy-related manuscripts that focus on issues related to mental health in childhood and adolescence. Finally, we welcome original research papers using different study designs as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Dr. Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero
Prof. Martin Debbané
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

mental health
prevention
well-being promotion
children and adolescents
youth
risk and protective factors
developmental psychopathology
etiological mechanisms
psychological processes
test validation
psychometric procedures

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 1829 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nonverbal Oro-Motor Exercises: Do They Really Work for Phonoarticulatory Difficulties?

by Pablo Parra-López, Marina Olmos-Soria and Ana V. Valero-García

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5459; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19095459 - 29 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5856

Abstract

Articulation disorders are deficiencies in the realization of speech sounds unrelated to organic or neurological disorders. Over the last decade, there has been a debate on the efficiency of non-verbal oro-motor exercises, which are orofacial movements programmed and organized in an intentional and coordinated way to control lips, tongue, and soft palate muscles. Of the 122 children evaluated, 52 presented articulatory difficulties. An intervention with nonverbal oro-motor exercises was applied, and children were again assessed following treatment. The results showed no differences between the experimental and control groups, either in the number of sounds that improved after this period or in the severity of difficulties (we categorized those with articulation difficulties in two to six sounds as ‘medium’ and those with difficulties in articulating more than seven sounds as ‘severe’). These results indicated that nonverbal oro-motor exercises alone are not efficient for intervention in difficulties in the realization of sounds in 4-year-old children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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13 pages, 2671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Risk and Protective Factors in Adolescent Suicidal Behaviour: A Network Analysis

by Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero, Susana Al-Halabí, Alicia Pérez-Albéniz and Martin Debbané

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1784; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031784 - 04 Feb 2022

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 6744

Abstract

Given that death by suicide continues to rank among the top three causes of death during adolescence, new psychological models may contribute critical insight towards understanding the complex interactions between risk and protective factors in suicidal behaviour. The main objective of this study was to analyse the psychological network structure of suicidal behaviour and putative risk and protective factors in school-aged adolescents. Methods: Stratified random cluster sampling was performed. The final sample comprised 1790 students (53.7% female, M = 15.7 years, SD = 1.26). Instruments were administered to assess suicidal behaviour, emotional and behavioural difficulties, prosocial behaviour, subjective well-being, self-esteem, depressive symptomatology, academic performance, socio-economic status, school engagement, bullying, and cyberbullying. Results: In the estimated psychological network, the node with the highest strength was depressive symptomatology, and that with the highest expected influence value was bullying. Suicidal behaviour was positively connected to symptoms of depression and behavioural problems. In addition, suicidal behaviour was negatively connected to self-esteem and personal well-being. The results of the stability analysis indicated that the network was accurately estimated. Conclusions: Suicidal behaviour can be conceptualised as a dynamic, complex system of cognitive, emotional, and affective characteristics. New psychological models allow us to analyse and understand human behaviour from a new perspective, suggesting new forms of conceptualisation, evaluation, intervention, and prevention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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12 pages, 607 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spanish Validation of the Emotional Reactions to Challenging Behaviours Scale in Employees Working with People Exhibiting Intellectual Disabilities

by Pilar Montañés Muro, Francisco Lucas Chinchilla Hernández, Guadalupe Manzano García and Renzo Bianchi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 219; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010219 - 25 Dec 2021

Viewed by 2317

Abstract

The Emotional Reactions to Challenging Behaviours Scale (ERCBS) was designed to evaluate the emotional states of support staff facing challenging behaviours from recipients. Employees working with People Exhibiting Intellectual Disability (PEIDs) are exposed to challenging behaviours. Exposure to challenging behaviours can affect the occupational well-being of these employees. It is thus important for investigators to have instruments assessing employees’ emotional reactions to challenging behaviours reliably and validly. In this study, we translated the ERCBS into Spanish and inquired into the psychometric and structural properties of the adapted instrument. We relied on a sample of 232 employees working with PEIDs. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the ERCBS was best modelled as a two-factor measure involving a negative emotion factor and a positive emotion factor. The two factors were highly correlated (0.547), suggesting that a distinction between “emotional” and “non-emotional” individuals might be relevant when using the ERCBS. Alpha and omega reliabilities were satisfactory. ERCBS scores did not differ between men and women. ERCBS scores correlated negatively with participants’ age and years of service with PEIDs. Our study suggests that the Spanish version of the ERCBS can be used to assess emotional reactions to challenging behaviours among employees working with PEIDs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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13 pages, 535 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gambling in Spanish Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Mental Health Indicators

by Alicia Pérez-Albéniz, Mario Gil, Adriana Díez-Gómez, Gema Martín-Seoane and Beatriz Lucas-Molina

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 129; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010129 - 23 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2698

Abstract

Concern about the development of behavioral addictions in adolescence, including gambling, has increased in recent years. Evidence shows that problem gambling can lead to personal, social, or health problems. However, even though gambling is an illegal activity, studies on this problem are quite limited in Spain. The main objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of gambling in adolescents in Spain. Moreover, gambling behaviors were examined according to gender and age, and their possible relationship with several mental health indicators was analyzed. The results showed that 20.6% of the adolescents who participated in the study had gambled money in the past year. The highest gambling prevalence was found in boys and in adolescents from the age of 16 years old. Moreover, the results showed that gambling behavior was related to different mental health indicators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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26 pages, 4583 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Six-Item Version of the Internet Addiction Test: Its Development, Psychometric Properties, and Measurement Invariance among Women with Eating Disorders and Healthy School and University Students

by Amira Mohammed Ali, Amin Omar Hendawy, Abdulaziz Mofdy Almarwani, Naif Alzahrani, Nashwa Ibrahim, Abdulmajeed A. Alkhamees and Hiroshi Kunugi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(23), 12341; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182312341 - 24 Nov 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3863

Abstract

Internet addiction (IA) is widespread, comorbid with other conditions, and commonly undetected, which may impede recovery. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is widely used to evaluate IA among healthy respondents, with less agreement on its dimensional structure. This study investigated the factor structure, invariance, predictive validity, criterion validity, and reliability of the IAT among Spanish women with eating disorders (EDs, N = 123), Chinese school children (N = 1072), and Malay/Chinese university students (N = 1119). In school children, four factors with eigen values > 1 explained 50.2% of the variance, with several items cross-loading on more than two factors and three items failing to load on any factor. Among 19 tested models, CFA revealed excellent fit of a unidimensional six-item IAT among ED women and university students (χ²(7) = 8.695, 35.038; p = 0.275, 0.001; CFI = 0.998, 981; TLI = 0.996, 0.960; RMSEA = 0.045, 0.060; SRMR = 0.0096, 0.0241). It was perfectly invariant across genders, academic grades, majors, internet use activities, nationalities (Malay vs. Chinese), and Malay/Chinese female university students vs. Spanish women with anorexia nervosa, albeit it was variant at the scalar level in tests involving other EDs, signifying increased tendency for IA in pathological overeating. The six-item IAT correlated with the effects of internet use on academic performance at a greater level than the original IAT (r = −0.106, p < 0.01 vs. r = −0.78, p < 0.05), indicating superior criterion validity. The six-item IAT is a robust and brief measure of IA in healthy and diseased individuals from different cultures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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8 pages, 1484 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Regulation and Emotional Eating Behaviour in the Early Development of Obesity

by Ana V. Valero-García, Marina Olmos-Soria, Julia Madrid-Garrido, Irene Martínez-Hernández and Emma Haycraft

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 11884; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182211884 - 12 Nov 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2367

Abstract

The purpose of our research was to explore the role of both parents’ use of behavioural regulation with food and children’s emotional self-regulation in young children with and without overweight/obesity. For this purpose, 123 participants (n = 62 boys and n = 61 girls) were recruited and classified into two groups by their Body Mass Index (BMI, non-overweight vs. overweight/obese) and into two age groups (four years and seven years). The children’s parents/primary caregivers completed two scales of the Childhood Obesogenic Behaviours’ Questionnaire (COBQ). The participants were measured and weighed to calculate their BMI to identify overweight, obesity, and non-overweight. The results showed that the means for children who were obese/overweight were significantly higher than those of children who were non-overweight for both the parents’ behavioural regulation scale (non-overweight: M = 1.80, SD = 0.69; overweight/obesity: M = 2.94, SD = 0.85) and the child’s emotional overeating scale (non-overweight: M = 1.47, SD = 0.56; overweight/obesity: M = 2.65, SD = 0.87). No statistically significant differences were found related to age (4 and 7 years), indicating that the potential impact of obesogenic behaviours starts early in development. Similarly, no differences by gender were found. Due to the implications of obesity for physical and mental health, and the high probability of maintaining this overweight status in the long term, family-based interventions to prevent obesity are highly advisable from birth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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19 pages, 440 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Individual and Interpersonal Factors Associated with the Incidence, Persistence, and Remission of Internet Gaming Disorders Symptoms in an Adolescents Sample

by Rosario J. Marrero, Ascensión Fumero, Dolores Voltes, Manuel González and Wenceslao Peñate

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11638; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182111638 - 05 Nov 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2257

Abstract

Video game playing behavior has serious consequences for adolescents on a personal, family, social, and academic level. This research aimed to examine risk and protective factors involving incidence, persistence, and remission of gaming disorders symptoms (IGDs) in Spanish adolescents after nine months of follow-up. Data were drawn from self-administered questionnaires completed on two occasions: at the beginning (T1) and end of the academic year (T2). A total of 950 adolescents aged from 11 to 20 years (M = 14, SD = 1.52, 48.5% female) completed the questionnaire at T1, while 550 adolescents aged from 11 to 18 years (M = 13.43, SD = 1.23, 48.9% female) took part in the follow-up study (T2). The incidence, persistence, and remission rates were 6%, 2.7%, and 4.2%, respectively. Significant relationships with IGDs were found between the male gender and studying at a private school in T1 and T2. The findings show that the time spent playing video games during T1 was positively associated with IGDs in T1 and T2. The incidence of IGDs was associated with emotional problems and low family affection. The persistence of IGDs was linked to higher motor impulsivity, agreeableness, and lower family resolve. Remission was related to a decrease in anxiety and hostility as well as an increase in the emotional stability of adolescents. These findings imply that emotional well-being and family adjustment could be relevant for the effective management of gaming behaviors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

11 pages, 365 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adherence to Oral Contraception in Young Women: Beliefs, Locus of Control, and Psychological Reactance

by Ascensión Fumero, Rosario J. Marrero, Wenceslao Peñate, Juan M. Bethencourt and Pedro Barreiro

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11308; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182111308 - 28 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3015

Abstract

Background: There is a high dropout rate of oral contraceptive pills (OCP), mainly due to a lack of adherence to treatment. The aim of this study was to identify the psychological processes and attitudes toward medication involved in adherence to OCP, depending on the prescription, to avoid unintended pregnancies (AUP) or gynecological problems (GP). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by asking 689 young women in the fertile period, mean age 23.41 (SD = 5.90), to complete questionnaires related to attitudes, beliefs, psychological reactance, locus of control, and adherence to contraceptive medication. Descriptive analyses and a binary logistic regression were performed. Results: The results confirmed that different beliefs and psychological processes were involved in adherence to oral contraception, based on women’s reasons for taking contraceptive medication. More psychological processes were involved in non-adherence in the AUP group than in the GP group. Psychological reactance contributed most to explaining non-adherence in women who used the OCP to prevent unintended pregnancies. Conversely, women with gynecological problems reported difficulties in adherence, mainly due to their beliefs about contraceptive pills. Conclusions: These findings indicate that attitudes toward medication and psychological processes can play an important role in adherence to OCP, including reasons for using the pill. Identifying the psychological factors and beliefs linked with contraception could guide health professionals to provide counseling to women, thus increasing their adherence to medication and maximizing their health and well-being. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

20 pages, 1044 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21: Development and Validation of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-Item in Psychiatric Patients and the General Public for Easier Mental Health Measurement in a Post COVID-19 World

by Amira Mohammed Ali, Abdulmajeed A. Alkhamees, Hiroaki Hori, Yoshiharu Kim and Hiroshi Kunugi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10142; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph181910142 - 27 Sep 2021

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 9582

Abstract

Despite extensive investigations of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) since its development in 1995, its factor structure and other psychometric properties still need to be firmly established, with several calls for revising its item structure. Employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study examined the factor structure of the DASS-21 and five shortened versions of the DASS-21 among psychiatric patients (N = 168) and the general public (N = 992) during the COVID-19 confinement period in Saudi Arabia. Multigroup CFA, Mann Whitney W test, Spearman’s correlation, and coefficient alpha were used to examine the shortened versions of the DASS-21 (DASS-13, DASS-12, DASS-9 (two versions), and DASS-8) for invariance across age and gender groups, discriminant validity, predictive validity, item coverage, and internal consistency, respectively. Compared with the DASS-21, all three-factor structures of the shortened versions expressed good fit, with the DASS-8 demonstrating the best fit and highest item loadings on the corresponding factors in both samples (χ²(16, 15) = 16.5, 67.0; p = 0.420, 0.001; CFI = 1.000, 0.998; TLI = 0.999, 0.997; RMSEA = 0.013, 0.059, SRMR = 0.0186, 0.0203). The DASS-8 expressed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across age and gender groups. Its internal consistency was comparable to other versions (α = 0.94). Strong positive correlations of the DASS-8 and its subscales with the DASS-21 and its subscales (r = 0.97 to 0.81) suggest adequate item coverage and good predictive validity of this version. The DASS-8 and its subscales distinguished the clinical sample from the general public at the same level of significance expressed by the DASS-21 and other shortened versions, supporting its discriminant validity. Neither the DASS-21 nor the shortened versions distinguished patients diagnosed with depression and anxiety from each other or from other psychiatric conditions. The DASS-8 represents a valid short version of the DASS-21, which may be useful in research and clinical practice for quick identification of individuals with potential psychopathologies. Diagnosing depression/anxiety disorders may be further confirmed in a next step by clinician-facilitated examinations. Brevity of the DASS-21 would save time and effort used for filling the questionnaire and support comprehensive assessments by allowing the inclusion of more measures on test batteries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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16 pages, 660 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adolescents’ Bipolar Experiences and Suicide Risk: Well-being and Mental Health Difficulties as Mediators

by Ascensión Fumero, Rosario J. Marrero, Alicia Pérez-Albéniz and Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3024; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18063024 - 15 Mar 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2876

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is usually accompanied by a high suicide risk. The main aim was to identify the risk and protective factors involved in suicide risk in adolescents with bipolar experiences. Of a total of 1506 adolescents, 467 (31%) were included in the group reporting bipolar experiences or symptoms, 214 males (45.8%) and 253 (54.2%) females. The mean age was 16.22 (SD = 1.36), with the age range between 14 and 19. Suicide risk, behavioral and emotional difficulties, prosocial capacities, well-being, and bipolar experiences were assessed through self-report. Mediation analyses, taking gender as a moderator and controlling age as a covariate, were applied to estimate suicide risk. The results indicated that the effect of bipolar experiences on suicide risk is mediated by behavioral and emotional difficulties rather than by prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. Specifically, emotional problems, problems with peers, behavior problems, and difficulties associated with hyperactivity were the most important variables. This relationship was not modulated by gender. However, the indirect effects of some mediators varied according to gender. These results support the development of suicide risk prevention strategies focused on reducing emotional difficulties, behavioral problems, and difficulties in relationships with others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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Review

Jump to: Research

19 pages, 1495 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Scoping Review of Climate Change, Climate-Related Disasters, and Mental Disorders among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

by Isobel Sharpe and Colleen M. Davison

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 2896; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19052896 - 02 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3420

Abstract

Children, particularly those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. Our main objective was to conduct a scoping literature review to determine how exposure to climate change and climate-related disasters influences the presence of mental disorders among children in LMICs. We also aimed to identify gaps in this area of scholarship. We included studies of children in LMICs that had a climate change or climate-related disaster exposure and mental disorder outcome. Twenty-three studies were included in the final synthesis. Fourteen studies were conducted in China, three in India, two each in Pakistan and the Philippines, and one each in Namibia and Dominica. All studies assessed the association between a climate-related disaster exposure and a mental disorder outcome, while none explored broader climate change-related exposures. Post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 21 studies) and depression (n = 8 studies) were the most common mental disorder outcomes. There was considerable between-study heterogeneity in terms of sample size, follow-up length, and outcome measurement. Overall, the literature in this area was sparse. Additional high-quality research is required to better understand the impacts of climate-related disasters and climate change on mental disorders within this population to ultimately inform future policies and interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention of Mental Health Disorders in Children and Adolescents)

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