Automatic thoughts as a predictor of internalizing and externalizing problems in Chinese adolescents: A test of the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis with age effects

The longitudinal relation between violence exposure in daily life, hostile automatic thoughts, and cyber-aggression

Cyber-aggression is a serious social problem worldwide. Its risks have been frequently explored, and violence exposure in daily life has been regarded as an important risk factor of cyber-aggression. However, the longitudinal association between violence exposure in daily life and cyber-aggression has not yet been examined, and the mechanisms underlying the link between violence exposure and cyber-aggression remain largely unclear. Based on the General Aggression Model and Script Theory, we explored the circular relation between violence exposure in daily life, hostile automatic thoughts, and cyber-aggression. The current study adopted a longitudinal design to address these issues among 941 college students. The results indicated violence exposure in daily life predicted hostile automatic thoughts and cyber-aggression 6 months later; hostile automatic thoughts predicted violence exposure and cyber-aggression 6 months later; and cyber-aggression predicted hostile automatic thoughts and violence exposure 6 months later. Moreover, each of them plays a mediating role in the association between the other two variables. These results support and expand the General Aggression Model and Script Theory that violence exposure, aggressive cognition, and aggression facilitate each other. This also provides theoretical guidance on reducing cyber-aggression in daily life.

The relationship between the frequency of suicidal ideation and sleep disturbance factors among adolescent earthquake victims in China

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the frequency of suicidal ideation (SI) and identify exposure variables, mental health, and sleep-related risk factors of SI among adolescents following the 2013 Ya'an earthquake.

METHODS

Participants consisted of 5563 adolescent students selected through random sampling from 11 primary and high schools in the counties most severely affected by the earthquake. They were asked to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-13, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders. Multinomial logistic analysis was used to identify possible relationships between SI and psychopathology, sleep problems, earthquake exposures or demographic characteristics. The mediation analysis was used to identify direct and indirect effects among sleep problems, psychopathology, earthquake exposures and SI.

RESULTS

Our findings suggest that 29.5% of the sample experienced SI during the past year (12.9% once, 11.9% twice, 2.6% on 3-4 occasions and 2.1% on at least 5 occasions). Multiple sleeping problems, including trouble falling asleep, shorter sleep duration, and daytime dysfunction, showed independent associations with SI. The mediation analysis suggested that depression and anxiety mainly mediated the association of sleep with SI.

LIMITATIONS

This study was cross-sectional and did not include controls. No baseline data were collected prior to the earthquake.

CONCLUSION

SI can be a serious problem among adolescents following a major earthquake, especially those who are older, who live in one-child households, or who are female. Years after a disaster, we found that exposure severity, psychopathology and sleep impairment all contributed to SI, and that earthquake exposure may have disrupted sleep and worsened mood, which in turn may have impacted SI. By enhancing teenagers' sleep management and shaping their activities, post-disaster intervention programs may help prevent SI among Chinese adolescents.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescent earthquake victims: comorbidity and associated sleep-disturbing factors

PURPOSE

Our study aimed to examine the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and their comorbidity and correlation with sleep problems among adolescent survivors 3 years after the 2013 Ya'an earthquake.

METHODS

A representative sample of 6132 adolescent students was analysed from 11 primary and high schools in the three counties most severely affected by the earthquake. Students were invited to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-13, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, and Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders.

RESULTS

Three years after this major earthquake, 1-month prevalence of mental health problems was 13.1% for PTSD, 37.3% for anxiety, and 19.8% for depression. Among the participants who reported PTSD, 71.5% also reported anxiety, and 49.7% also reported depression. At least half of those with any type of mental health problem reported concurrent sleeping problems. Specific sleep risk factors were independently associated with increased risk of PTSD, depression or anxiety. Girls were more likely than boys to exhibit symptoms of PTSD, depression or anxiety. Older adolescents were more likely to have depression and anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Mental health problems are prevalent with high comorbidity and are associated with sleep-related problems among adolescent survivors, even years after the occurrence of a major earthquake. Nightmares and difficulty initiating sleep are independently associated with PTSD. Insufficient sleep is independently associated with anxiety and depression. Sleep-related problems may be effective targets of preventive interventions, which may need to be optimised for gender and age.

An epidemiologic study of self-reported sleep problems in a large sample of adolescent earthquake survivors: The effects of age, gender, exposure, and psychopathology

BACKGROUND

This study investigated the prevalence of sleep problems and their associated risk factors in child and adolescent survivors three years after the 2013 Ya'an earthquake.

METHODS

A total of 6132 adolescent survivors aged 9-18 years were invited to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-13, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders. Logistic analysis was used to identify possible relationships of sleep disturbance scores with earthquake exposures, mental health and demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

More than a quarter of the sample showed sleep problems of some kind, with 23.1% sleeping fewer than 7 h per night, 32.5% having difficulty falling asleep, 24.2% having difficulty remaining asleep, 25.3% having poor sleep quality, 17.4% having nightmares and 44.6% having difficulty functioning during daytime hours. Older participants were at a significantly higher risk of sleep issues than younger children (OR 2.89), and the subjects had significantly elevated risks of probable anxiety (OR 3.47), probable depression (OR 2.45), and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (OR 1.89). Other risk factors for sleep problems were earthquake exposure variables, including being injured (OR 1.42), having a parent injured (OR 1.27), witnessing death (OR 1.32) or feeling extremely scared (OR 1.22) in the Ya'an earthquake.

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep disturbances are common in adolescent earthquake survivors, and they are associated with age, gender, psychiatric symptoms and factors related to earthquake exposure. These results highlight the importance of development- and gender-specific interventions to prevent sleep disturbances after a major earthquake.

The latent profile analysis of Chinese adolescents' anxiety: Examination and validation

The main purpose of current study was to investigate the characteristics of anxiety in Chinese adolescents using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) with the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. LPA was conducted with a sample of 2158 participants aged 12-20 years from 3 urban schools in Beijing, China. Results suggested a best-fitting model with three profiles: Low Group with Diffuse Types of Anxiety, Moderate Group with Predominant Generalized and Social Anxiety and High Group with Predominant Somatization Anxiety. Additional analyses using Regression Mixture Modeling suggested that older adolescents and girls were significantly more likely to be classified into the High Group with Predominant Somatization Anxiety. Finally, in support of the construct validity of the anxiety profiles, differential negative cognitions, especially the subscales measuring cognitions about social threat and physical threat, predicted the anxiety profiles. The current study supports an intuitive model of adolescent anxiety in a large, non-Western population with clinical implications for anxious adolescents in China.