Stressful events and adolescents' suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 epidemic: A moderated mediation model of depression and parental educational involvement

Parental education level and adolescent depression: A multi-country meta-analysis

Adolescent depression, as a common problem, has always been the focus of attention and research. However, no consistent conclusion has been drawn on its relationship with parental education level. Therefore, this study used meta-analysis and dose-response analysis techniques to explore the overall relationship between the two, and further explore the moderating factors affecting the relationship between the two through subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis. After a literature search and screening, a total of 22 literatures were included, including 634,821 adolescents aged 9-25, distributed in 10 countries. The results showed that: (1) Overall parental education level was negatively correlated with adolescent depressive symptoms (RR = 0.88. p < 0.001), and there was a dose-response relationship between the two. (2) Geographical location (p = 0.002 < 0.05) and national economic development (p = 0.03 < 0.05) significantly moderated and affected the association between parental education level and adolescent depression, thus presenting a global inconsistency. The results of this study provide a more accurate conclusion on the relationship between parental education and adolescent depression to some extent, highlight the importance and necessity of considering family, economic and cultural factors when studying and solving adolescent depression problems, and guide us to pay more attention to the cross-regional and cross-cultural differences in adolescent depression problems.

Factors Related to Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents According to Types of Stress

Background

We aimed to identify the factors associated with suicidal ideation by classifying adolescents into three groups: no stress, interpersonal stress, as well as academic and career stress.

Method

Using the data from the 16th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2020), 15,343 adolescents were included in the study, and their socio-demographic characteristics as well as physical and psychological factors were assessed. A complex sample logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with suicide.

Results

The following factors were significantly associated with suicide: fatigue recovery by sleep, body mass index, physical activity, and depression in the no stress group; current school, academic grade, drinking, depression, loneliness, and anxiety in the interpersonal stress group; and gender, current school, academic grade, father's educational level, drinking, fatigue recovery by sleep, depression, loneliness, subjective health, smartphone overdependence, as well as anxiety in the academic and career stress group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

To prevent suicide among adolescents, it is necessary to consider these factors when developing educational policies.

A Mental Health Pandemic? Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Young People's Mental Health

BACKGROUND

Research indicates that young people have been a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to negative mental health outcomes following COVID-19, with some authors warning of a 'mental health pandemic'.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Using a survey approach, this study explored the effects of lockdowns on the mental health of 1995 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland. Respondents completed the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) along with closed- and open-ended questions about COVID-19.

RESULTS

Results from regression analysis showed that being female, identifying as non-heterosexual and perceiving that mental health had worsened during lockdown were the best predictors of poor mental health. In the open responses, young people reported significant concerns about their mental health and their educational outcomes. They also felt that their needs were not given the same priority as those of adults during lockdown.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that the COVID-19 lockdowns adversely affected the mental health of many young people in Northern Ireland with the effects most acute for females and those identifying as non-heterosexual. Future research should explore the longer-term impact of the pandemic on the mental health of these vulnerable young people and identify what support mechanisms need to be put in place to mitigate the negative effects of any future crises.

Macroeconomics and health: Understanding the impact of a declining economy on health outcomes of children and young adults in South Africa

Background

The current covid-19 economic crisis continues to weaken economic growth in South Africa. This study was designed to show how a declining economic state affects the mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, communicable conditions, and non-communicable conditions of adolescent (18-year cohorts) and adult (25-year cohorts) population groups comparatively.

Study design

This was a panel analysis using secondary data issued by Statistic South Africa.

Methods

The author used a Two-stage Least Squared Model (2SLS) to quantify the impact of the declining economy on mental health conditions (depression and traumatic stress), non-communicable conditions (cancer and diabetes), metabolic risk factors (alcohol abuse and hypertension), and communicable conditions (influenza, diarrhea, dry cough) of both adolescent and young adult population groups. Each group comprised a treatment and a control group.

Results

The declining economic state of 2008-2014 worsens the mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions of adolescent and young adult populations. However, the declining economy reduced cases of communicable conditions. The impact of the declining economy worsens mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions more in urban settings than in rural regions. Men abuse alcohol more than women during economic decline, triggering worsening mental health conditions, hypertension, and non-communicable conditions, especially in the adult population residing in urban settings.

Conclusions

Economic decline worsen mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions. The South African government may want to prioritize these conditions as covid-19 economic shocks continue to backslide economic growth.

Psychological mediators of the associations between pandemic-related stressors and suicidal ideation across three periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic's mental health impact is well-established. While early evidence suggested suicide deaths remained stable or declined, suicidal ideation (SI) became more prevalent than before the pandemic. Our study: (1) examined the prevalence and distribution of SI among Canadian adults, (2) compared SI among those with and without pre-existing mental illnesses, and (3) evaluated associations between pandemic-related stressors (i.e., unemployment, insecure employment, loss of income, medical vulnerability, COVID-19 exposure) with SI, and whether such associations were mediated by depression, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, or perceived discrimination.

METHODS

The sample was comprised of data gathered at three timepoints (Wave 1 08/18/2020-10/01/2020, n = 6629; Wave 2 12/21/2020-03/31/2021, n = 5920; Wave 3 09/07/2021-12/07/2021, n = 7354). Quota-based responses from survey research panels which matched the geographic, age, and sex distribution of the Canadian population were supplemented with convenience-sampled responses.

RESULTS

The prevalence of SI was 4.1 % (Wave 1), 5.3 % (Wave 2), and 5.8 % (Wave 3). Odds of SI were higher for respondents under the age of 35 years and with pre-existing mental illnesses. SI was associated with quarantining due to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 exposure, potential COVID-19 exposure at work, medical vulnerability toward COVID-19, insecure employment or unemployment, and income loss. These associations were mediated by psychological experiences, particularly depression and thwarted belongingness.

LIMITATIONS

This cross-sectional, observational study cannot establish temporality or causality.

CONCLUSION

Results highlight groups who may benefit from enhanced screening for depression and suicide risk. Reducing depression and increasing sense of belonging should be prioritized.

Social work research ethics in China: A scoping review of research involving human subjects during COVID-19

As the first review to systematically explore the scope and application of Chinese social work research ethics, this study incorporated web-crawling technology in the scoping review process and identified 18 eligible studies from 1168 publications from January 2020 to July 2021. Findings suggest that social work scholars are aware of research ethics when conducting human subjects research in the Chinese population. Yet, many failed to fully demonstrate practical considerations of internationally accepted ethical principles (e.g. respect for persons). We discuss education on research ethics, new challenges of the digital age, and considerations of Chinese culture in developing ethical protocols for social work research in China.

Youth Help-Seeking Intention During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Comparison of Infection Rate in Living Area

The aim of this study was to compare help-seeking intentions among youth living in areas with different Covid-19 infection rates during the pandemic. Data was collected using demographical questions and the General Help-seeking Questionnaire from a sample of 1,340 adolescents (971 females, 369 males) between August 11th and 21st, 2020. Of these participants, 423 (122 females, 301 males) were eligible for analysis. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and ANOVA. The results showed that youth living in areas with low Covid-19 infection rates had higher help-seeking intentions than those living in areas with high infection rates or no Covid-19 cases. These findings suggest that the rate of Covid-19 infection in an individual's living area may impact their help-seeking intentions during the pandemic. Further research is needed to fully understand the factors that contribute to help-seeking intentions during times of crisis and to develop interventions to support individuals in need of help. It is also important to consider the potential impact of other factors, such as access to resources and support systems, on help-seeking intentions among youth.

The protective role of parental involvement at home in negative psychological outcomes among Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 epidemic

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 outbreak has generated many negative psychological outcomes, such as depression, in adolescents. Exploration of protective factors for adolescent mental health is urgently needed, and no research has examined the role of parental involvement.

METHODS

From March to April 2020, valid data were collected from 1663 Chinese adolescents through online demographic and other questionnaires. Parental involvement at home was assessed by an adapted questionnaire on parental support in learning at home, stress since the COVID-19 outbreak was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, and three negative psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)) were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale, and PTSD Check List-Civilian Version, respectively.

RESULTS

In total, 35.4%, 21% and 25% of adolescents had depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and PTSS, respectively. Three moderated mediation models consistently showed the following: a. Parental involvement indirectly reduced the three psychological problems by alleviating perceived stress, and the indirect effects were not moderated by sex. b. There were negative direct effects of parental involvement on the three psychological problems, and the links were not moderated by sex. c. Sex moderated the associations between perceived stress and the three psychological problems.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design and the sampling of all participants from one junior high school impeded causal inferences and the generalization of our findings, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We found similar indirect and direct protective roles of parental involvement in boys' and girls' mental health, and girls were more vulnerable to stress.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) toward COVID-19 Pandemic among the Public in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) models are often used by researchers in the field of public health to explore people’s healthy behaviors. Therefore, this study mainly explored the relationships among participants’ sociodemographic status, COVID-19 knowledge, affective attitudes, and preventive behaviors. Method: This study adopted an online survey, involving a total of 136 males and 204 females, and used a cross-sectional study to investigate the relationships between variables including gender, age, COVID-19 knowledge, positive affective attitudes (emotional wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and social wellbeing), negative affective attitudes (negative self-perception and negative perceptions of life), and preventive behaviors (hygiene habits, reducing public activities, and helping others to prevent the epidemic). Results: The majority of participants in the study were knowledgeable about COVID-19. The mean COVID-19 knowledge score was 12.86 (SD = 1.34, range: 7−15 with a full score of 15), indicating a high level of knowledge. However, the key to decide whether participants adopt COVID-19 preventive behaviors was mainly their affective attitudes, especially positive affective attitudes (β = 0.18−0.25, p< 0.01), rather than COVID-19 disease knowledge (β = −0.01−0.08, p > 0.05). In addition, the sociodemographic status of the participants revealed obvious differences in the preventive behaviors; females had better preventive behaviors than males such as cooperating with the epidemic prevention hygiene habits (t = −5.08, p< 0.01), reducing public activities (t = −3.00, p< 0.01), and helping others to prevent the epidemic (t = −1.97, p< 0.05), while the older participants were more inclined to adopt preventive behaviors including epidemic prevention hygiene habits (β = 0.18, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.03), reducing public activities (β = 0.35, p< 0.001, R2 = 0.13), and helping others to prevent the epidemic (β = 0.27, p< 0.001, R2 = 0.07). Conclusions: Having adequate COVID-19 knowledge was not linked to higher involvement in precautionary behaviors. Attitudes toward COVID-19 may play a more critical function in prompting individuals to undertake preventive behaviors, and different positive affective attitudes had different predictive relationships with preventive behaviors.

Factors associated with suicidal ideation among medical students during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru: A multicenter study

We aimed to describe the prevalence and factors associated with suicidal ideation in a sample of 1238 medical students from different medical schools in Peru based on question 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Our results revealed that 17.9% of the participants had suicidal ideation. Furthermore, using logistic regression, we found that not practicing any religion, the presence of clinically significant depression, and the presence of clinically significant anxiety were statistically related to the presence of suicidal ideation. Our results indicate that suicidal ideation was highly prevalent in the sample of medical students studied.