Psychological screening, providing social security or strengthening training? How can government and labor unions protect the mental health of young employees

As the mental health problems of young employees become more and more prominent, the government and labor unions need to take measures to protect the mental health of young employees. Considering that the main mental health safeguard measures are divided into psychological screening, providing social security and strengthening training, this article constructs a differential game model under these three modes. The balanced efforts and social benefits of the government and labor unions under the three modes are obtained, and the applicable conditions of various mental health protection modes are compared. The results show that if the government pays a lower cost, the government gets the highest economic benefit under the training mode, followed by the security mode, and the government gets the lowest economic benefit under the psychological screening mode. If the reputation of the labor unions improved by its efforts is low, the equilibrium benefits of the labor unions under psychological screening and providing security are the same, and greater than the equilibrium benefits under the intensive training mode. If the labor unions have a higher reputation enhanced by its efforts, the balance return of the labor unions under the guarantee mode is the highest, followed by the balance return under the intensive training mode, and the balance return of the labor unions under the psychological screening mode is the lowest.

What helps distressed Australian adolescents impacted by cancer? Mechanisms of improvement of the PEER program

PEER is a four-day residential program for adolescents impacted by their own or a relative's cancer, with both psychosocial (acceptance and commitment therapy, self-compassion) and recreational components. This study aimed to determine whether previously observed improvements in quality of life amongst highly distressed participants were mediated by improvements in processes targeted by psychotherapeutic elements of the program (psychological flexibility, mindfulness, self-compassion, peer support, distress). Adolescents attending PEER completed surveys assessing the quality of life and proposed mediator variables at pre-program, post-program and two-month follow-up. Adolescents experiencing high/very high levels of baseline distress (n = 52; 5 patients/survivors, 31 siblings/offspring, 13 bereaved siblings/offspring) were previously identified as experiencing clinically significant improvements in psychosocial well-being; here, mediation analyses explored whether these improvements were associated with improvements in process variables. Findings evidenced improvements in quality of life amongst distressed PEER participants, mediated by increases in psychological flexibility and self-compassion, and reductions in distress. Peer support and mindfulness were not significant mediators. Together, this suggests that the psychosocial benefits of PEER observed for highly distressed adolescents are linked to the specific therapeutic approaches used in the program, rather than being non-specific effects of peer connection or recreation. Findings from this evaluation provide further evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of the effect of PEER for supporting distressed adolescents impacted by cancer. The study also demonstrates the viability and utility of the therapeutic approaches (acceptance and commitment therapy, self-compassion) used, showing that they have psychosocial benefits for this population.

The influence of academic pressure on adolescents’ problem behavior: Chain mediating effects of self-control, parent–child conflict, and subjective well-being

As a negative social issue, teenagers’ problem behavior not only affects individuals’ physical and mental health and social function development but is also not conducive to social harmony and stability. This study mainly discusses the influence of academic pressure on adolescents’ problem behavior, and the potential relationship between these and academic pressure, examining issues such as self-control, parent–child conflict, and subjective well-being. The data were collected from the fifth wave of the China Family Panel Studies (2017–2018). The data of 2,465 teenagers aged 10–15 were analyzed by LISREL8.8 software. The results show that academic pressure positively affects adolescents’ deviant behavior. The mediation model finds that parent–child conflict and self-control play a direct mediating role between academic pressure and adolescents’ behavioral problems. Parent–child conflict, self-control, and subjective well-being have important chain mediation effects between academic pressure and adolescents’ problem behavior. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of such problems, it is necessary to further strengthen individuals’ ability to maintain self-control, promote or cultivate adolescents’ character strengths, create a harmonious family atmosphere, reduce the probability of parent–child conflict, and increase the subjective well-being of teenagers.

Dissociative Tendencies Aggregate the Impact of Negative Life Events on Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Male Juvenile Delinquents

Non-suicidal self-injury is a significant global public health problem during adolescence, nevertheless there is a lack of investigations among juvenile offenders. Our cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between negative life events and self-harm, including the effects of dissociation and experiential avoidance that accounted for this link in a sample of underaged male offenders (N = 226; Mage = 16.97, SD = 1.31; 23.5% performed self-harm in the past month). Structural equation modeling showed that dissociation can explain the effect of friendship- and romantic relationship-related negative life events on self-harm. Our findings pointed out that dissociative tendencies could reduce intense emotions stemming from negative life events associated with peer relationships, but consequences of such tendencies might be self-harm in a correctional context.

Screening Depression and Anxiety via Brief Measures of Psychological Inflexibility

We evaluated the usefulness of scores from two transdiagnostic scales—the 8-item version of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth and the second edition of the Avoidance and Action Questionnaire—for estimating symptom severity on two measures of depression and anxiety. Responses from 797 college students, who mostly identified as White and female, to both measures of psychological inflexibility were analyzed to determine how well scores estimated anxiety and depression above or below a given severity level and at specific categories of symptom severity. Findings indicated that scores from both measures were acceptable to excellent screeners of concurrent ratings of anxiety and depression. Results varied somewhat depending on the measure used, level of severity targeted, and scope of screening. By investigating the screening accuracy of these transdiagnostic measures and potential cut scores to ease in interpreting results, we hope these measures might prove useful for addressing barriers in public health screening endeavors.

Greek Version of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth: Psychometric Evaluation and Gender Multigroup Invariance in Adolescents

The Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth–Eight-Item Short Version (AFQ-Y8) assesses psychological inflexibility in youth. The present study is the first to examine alternative measurement models for the Greek adaptation of the AFQ-Y8, latent associations with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II (AAQ-II), gender-group invariance, and latent mean comparisons between males and females. In total, 432 students from seven high schools in Cyprus participated in the study. Both a unidimensional and a two-dimensional model had excellent fit, although the one-factor solution was substantively superior. The correlation of the latent AFQ-Y8 factor with AAQ-II was strong and positive, indicating good convergent validity. Finally, the unidimensional AFQ-Y8 model was found to be invariant for gender and no latent means difference was detected between males and females.

Preliminary Validation of the Subjective Academic Problems Scale: A New Tool to Aid in Triaging School Mental Health Screening Results

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the preliminary structural, convergent, and incremental classification validity of responses to the Subjective Academic Problems Scale (SAPS), which is a seven-item self-report behavior rating scale intended for use as a triaging tool within secondary-level school mental health screening contexts. Findings from psychometric analyses carried out with Sample 1 ( N = 177) indicated that responses to the SAPS were characterized by a unidimensional measurement model and that scores derived from the scale had convergent validity with scores from several other self-reported measures of student wellbeing and mental health problems. Results from analyses conducted with Sample 2 ( N = 219) confirmed the unidimensionality of responses to the SAPS measurement model and demonstrated that SAPS scores had incremental validity, when used in conjunction with scores from a self-report internalizing problems screener, for identifying students with greater levels of mental health risk. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.