Environmental risk and protective factors of adolescents' and youths' mental health: differences between parents' appraisal and self-reports

Mental health and ethnic density among adolescents in England: A cross-sectional study

This paper determines the association of neighbourhood ethnic density on adolescent mental health and its interplay with ethnic minority status and neighbourhood deprivation. 4145 cross-sectional responses to the 2009-2011 UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) youth self-completion questionnaire for youths aged 10-15 living in England were combined with household responses to the household UKHLS interview and 2011 Census data. Regression models were used to predict a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) score (range 0-40) with higher values indicating worse mental health. Ethnic density was operationalised using two distinct measures: co-ethnic density and diversity index. There was no difference in the mental health of ethnic minority youths by whether they lived in neighbourhoods of differing levels of ethnic density or neighbourhood deprivation. White British youths had poorer mental health when living in deprived neighbourhoods where their ethnic group was the vast majority. The difference compared to all other neighbourhoods was two points on the SDQ score. Interventions should seek to encourage adolescents living in white-working class neighbourhoods to explore ethnic diversity to determine whether it improves their mental health.

Mental health problems among adolescents with early-onset and long-duration type 1 diabetes and their association with quality of life: a population-based survey

Objective

To evaluate mental health problems and associations between mental health problems and health-related quality of life in adolescents with type 1 diabetes in comparison with the general population.

Method

A total of 629 11- to 17-year-olds with early-onset and long-lasting type 1 diabetes and their parents completed comprehensive questionnaires. Mental health was assessed using the parent- and self-report versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The Revised Children's Quality of Life Questionnaire (KINDL-R) was used to measure quality of life. The comparison group (n = 6,813) was a representative sample from the German KiGGS study.

Results

The proportion of youths with mental health problems (defined as abnormal SDQ total difficulties score) was, based on self-reports, 4.4% in the patient group and 2.9% in the general population (adjusted OR = 1.61, p = 0.044); and based on proxy reports, 7.9% in the patient group and 7.2% in the general population (OR = 1.05, p = 0.788). Youths with type 1 diabetes and self-reported mental health problems scored worse in the KINDL-R subscales of physical well-being (adjusted average difference β = −16.74, p<0.001) and family (β = −11.09, p = 0.017), and in the KINDL-R total score (β = −8.09, p<0.001), than peers with self-reported mental health problems. The quality of life of diabetic adolescents and proxy-reported mental health problems did not differ from peers with proxy-reported mental health problems adjusted for confounders.

Conclusions

Compared with the general population with mental health problems, the quality of life of adolescents with type 1 diabetes who report mental health problems is more severely impaired. This observation calls for early prevention and intervention as part of pediatric diabetes long-term care.