Comparing depressive symptoms in teenage boys and girls

Experience of psychosocial rehabilitation; perspectives of depressed adolescents

Given the multifaceted character of depression and its related symptoms, an adolescent living with it is at increased risk for a wide range of adverse events. This research aimed to understand and characterize the psychosocial rehabilitation experiences of depressed teenage participants in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. A cross-sectional semi-structured interview design influenced by an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique was adopted. We employed a nonprobability, purposeful sampling approach to recruit twenty-one adolescents (6 males, 15 females) diagnosed with depression from the community after one month of discharge from admission and undergoing psychosocial rehabilitation. Using separate interviews, we gathered and analyzed data using interpretive phenomenological analysis to produce themes and sub-themes. These were presented with the participants' direct quotations. We discovered that the perspectives of adolescents' psychosocial rehabilitation experience include hopelessness and suicide ideation, coping difficulties, undesirable attitudes from support networks, challenges related to school, and isolation. Participants suggested appropriate therapeutic environments, encouraging support systems, and the media's role in preventing and treating depression among young people as rehabilitation approaches that could assist adolescents to remain lucid for longer intervals. These results shed light on the tragic realities faced by depressed adolescents. There is an urgent need to put well-defined structures in place to aid their rehabilitation and develop coping strategies for a better life.

Maternal and Child Depressive Symptoms in a Sample of Low-income Families of Color: The Mediating Role of Child Adaptability

Maternal depressive symptoms are linked with child internalizing concerns, such as depressive symptoms. The impact that maternal depressive symptoms have on the onset and maintenance of child depressive symptoms might be especially salient in families of color who are low-income because of elevated rates of maternal depressive symptoms and environmental stressors in those populations. The relationship between maternal and child depressive symptoms might be partially explained by a child's capacity to flexibly respond to stressors in the environment, a construct known as adaptability. A simple mediation model was conducted with a sample of low-income, Black/African American and Latina mothers and their children (n = 128). Results suggested that child adaptability partially mediated the link between maternal and child depressive symptoms. We discussed how this study can inform research and practice that aim to assist low-income families of color with mental health needs.

Developmental Trajectories of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Youth and Associated Gender Differences: A Directed Network Perspective

Psychopathology in youth is highly prevalent and associated with psychopathology in adulthood. However, the developmental trajectories of psychopathology symptoms, including potential gender differences, are markedly underspecified. The present study employed a directed network approach to investigate longitudinal relationships and gender differences among eight transdiagnostic symptom domains across three years, in a homogenous age sample of youth participants (n = 6,414; mean baseline age = 10.0 years; 78.6% White; Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study). Anxious/depressed problems and aggressive behaviors were central symptoms and most predictive of increases in other symptom clusters at later timepoints. Rule-breaking behaviors, aggressive behaviors, and withdrawn/depressed problems emerged as bridge symptoms between externalizing and internalizing problems. Results supported cascade models in which externalizing problems predicted future internalizing problems, but internalizing problems also significantly predicted future externalizing problems, which is contrary to cascade models. Network structure, symptom centrality, and patterns of bridge symptoms differed between female and male participants, suggesting gender differences in the developmental trajectories of youth psychopathology. Results provide new insights into symptom trajectories and associated gender differences that may provide promising pathways for understanding disorder (dis)continuity and co-occurrence. The central and bridge symptoms identified here may have important implications for screening and early intervention for youth psychopathology.

Common Mental Disorders in Smart City Settings and Use of Multimodal Medical Sensor Fusion to Detect Them

Cities have undergone numerous permanent transformations at times of severe disruption. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755, for example, sparked the development of seismic construction rules. In 1848, when cholera spread through London, the first health law in the United Kingdom was passed. The Chicago fire of 1871 led to stricter building rules, which led to taller skyscrapers that were less likely to catch fire. Along similar lines, the COVID-19 epidemic may have a lasting effect, having pushed the global shift towards greener, more digital, and more inclusive cities. The pandemic highlighted the significance of smart/remote healthcare. Specifically, the elderly delayed seeking medical help for fear of contracting the infection. As a result, remote medical services were seen as a key way to keep healthcare services running smoothly. When it comes to both human and environmental health, cities play a critical role. By concentrating people and resources in a single location, the urban environment generates both health risks and opportunities to improve health. In this manuscript, we have identified the most common mental disorders and their prevalence rates in cities. We have also identified the factors that contribute to the development of mental health issues in urban spaces. Through careful analysis, we have found that multimodal feature fusion is the best method for measuring and analysing multiple signal types in real time. However, when utilizing multimodal signals, the most important issue is how we might combine them; this is an area of burgeoning research interest. To this end, we have highlighted ways to combine multimodal features for detecting and predicting mental issues such as anxiety, mood state recognition, suicidal tendencies, and substance abuse.

Anxiety and Depression Signs Among Adolescents in 26 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Prevalence and Association With Functional Difficulties

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to describe the occurrence of signs of depression and anxiety among adolescents from 26 low- and middle-income countries and explore the extent to which these are associated with difficulties across other functional domains.

METHODS

We analyzed randomly selected, nationally representative data from 26 countries with a total sample size of 123,975 adolescents aged 10-17 years. Data on functional difficulties, including signs of depression and anxiety, were collected by the Child Functioning Module, an instrument validated to identify the population of children with disabilities through household surveys. We estimated percentages and 95% confidence intervals of adolescents with difficulties across 11 domains of functioning, and of signs of depression and/or anxiety. We used multinomial regressions to estimate the association between difficulties in the different domains and having signs of depression only, signs of anxiety only, and signs of both depression and anxiety, relative to not presenting signs of depression or anxiety.

RESULTS

In total, 5.5% of adolescents were reported to have had signs of anxiety, 3.1% signs of depression, and 2.3% co-occurring signs of anxiety and depression. Compared to adolescents without functional difficulties, those with difficulties in one or more domains were three times more likely to have signs of depression and anxiety. The likelihood of presenting signs of depression only or signs of both depression and anxiety was significantly higher across all domains, and the highest among adolescent with difficulties to self-care and communicating. The likelihood of presenting signs of anxiety only was significantly higher across all domains except seeing and hearing, and the highest among adolescent with difficulties communicating and accepting changes.

DISCUSSION

Adolescents with functional difficulties in all domains analyzed, across different contexts, are more likely to experience depression and anxiety signs than those without such difficulties. Increasing the availability of population-level data on adolescent functional difficulties, including those related to depression and anxiety, is important in promoting inclusivity, participation, and the right of children to equal opportunities.

Experiences of adolescents and parents on the mental health management of depression in adolescents, North West province, South Africa

Background

Living with or managing an adolescent suffering from depression predisposes the adolescent and parents to various experiences, considering the multifactorial nature of depression and associated symptoms.

Objective

This study explored and described the experiences of adolescents and their parents on the mental health management of depression in the North West province (NWP), South Africa.

Method

A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual research design was adopted. Data was collect from two mental health care institutions and two mental health care units attached to two general hospitals in the NWP, SA. Thirty-two participants (18 adolescents and 14 parents) were purposefully selected for the study. Data were collected through individual interviews and analysed using Tesch’s open-coding method to generate themes and categories which were presented with the concurrent support of participants direct quotations.

Results

The study revealed that the experiences of adolescents with depression and their parents taking care of them at homes include the following: emotional distress, poor coping mechanisms, financial burden, repeated suicidal attempts, negative attitudes from support systems and withdrawal behaviours. Appropriate therapeutic environments, ongoing monitoring by mental healthcare practitioners and adequate support systems were suggested by participants as management approaches that could enhance the recovery of adolescents from depression.

Conclusion

The findings revealed the devastating experiences of adolescents with depression and their parents taking care of them in their various homes which confirms the dire need for attention on the plights of these groups in order to facilitate adolescents’ recovery and strengthen the adolescents’ and parents’ coping mechanisms for a healthier family.

Affect and subjective cognitive functioning by depression symptom levels during naturalistic cigarette smoking in premenopausal females who smoke daily

Objective: High negative affect, low positive affect, and low cognitive functioning are depression-related states that may be particularly relevant to females who smoke cigarettes and may be more prominent following overnight tobacco abstinence. This study aimed to assess relations between depression symptom levels and negative affect, positive affect, and subjective cognitive functioning in premenopausal females who smoke. Methods: Premenopausal females who smoke daily with low (n = 66) or elevated (n = 33) baseline depression symptoms completed subjective ratings of negative affect, positive affect, and cognitive functioning pre-first cigarette (i.e., after overnight tobacco abstinence) and at random prompts throughout the day via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for 35 days. Results: Participants with elevated depression symptoms reported overall higher negative affect (p = .01). Positive affect was significantly lower prior to the first cigarette of the day (p < .001), but did not significantly differ between depression symptom groups. Subjective cognitive functioning was significantly lower pre-first cigarette of the day (p < .001). There was a significant Depression Symptom × Prompt Type interaction for subjective cognitive functioning (p = .01). Subjective cognitive functioning did not significantly differ by depression symptom group pre-first cigarette of the day but was significantly different at random prompts throughout the day. Conclusions: As participants smoked as usual, findings identify naturalistic factors which may influence smoking behavior among premenopausal females who smoke with elevated depression symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

COVID-19 and Depression: Prevalence and Risk Factors in Youth from Maharashtra, India

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown have been a seismic shock for youth in India, elevating their risk of mental health problems like depression. This cross-sectional study sought to measure the point prevalence levels of depression in university students (ages 19–25 years) from Maharashtra, India, during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic and lockdown, through an online opt-in survey. The BDI-II was self-administered by 783 respondents (males = 243; females = 540). Results indicated overall mild levels of depression (mean BDI = 16.48) and high point prevalence, with 51.8% (n = 406) of the population being symptomatic, of which 16.3% had severe, 17.9% had moderate, and 17.8% had mild levels of depression. No association was found with age, gender, educational level of participants, period of hostel stay, education, and occupational level of parents. Overall percentages of symptomatic women were higher, suggesting the gendered effects of the pandemic. This study explored the symptomatology of depression wherein “sadness,” “changes in sleep patterns,” and “concentration difficulties” emerged as the most commonly experienced symptoms. Symptom expression was found to vary with intensity and gender. Symptomatic men experienced significantly more cognitive symptoms like self-criticalness, punishment feelings, thoughts about past failures, and changes in sleep patterns, while symptomatic women felt significantly high “loss of energy.” No significant gender differences were seen in the experience of cognitive-affective symptoms. Possible reasons are discussed. Further exploration of the experiences of youth is essential to understand the full gamut of the pandemic’s impact on them.

The Impact of Relational Adverse Childhood Experiences on Suicide Outcomes During Early and Young Adulthood

This study aimed at investigating the degree to which relational adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) would affect suicide outcomes during early and young adulthood of Iranian female and male students. In all, 487 undergraduate students (59.2% females) with a mean age of 20.66 ± 1.42 were recruited using a multistage clustering sampling method from eight schools from the fields of humanities, engineering, and basic sciences. Suicide Behavior Questionnaire-Revised form (SBQ-R) was employed for assessing past year suicidal ideation (PYSI, once or more), the meaningful likelihood of future suicide (mLoFS, a score of 2 or more), and suicide risk (SR ≥7). Relational ACEs were assessed in the form of a yes/no question, including caregivers' maltreatment, household relational dysfunction, family loss events, school events, and sexual abuse. Analyses were conducted using Fisher's exact test, chi-square test, and univariate binary logistic regression. The rates of PYSI, LoFS, and SR were, respectively, 37.2%, 44.6%, and 30.8%. The most experienced event was witnessing verbal violence (68.8%) and the least was divorce/separation (6.2%). All the events and domains (except family loss events), the interaction of domains, and cumulative events significantly increased the odds of suicide outcomes, in which females were more affected by all types of relational ACEs. Students whose ethnicity was Azari & Turk and who were studying in humanities or basic sciences showed a higher suicide risk than their counterparts. The study showed that the rates of relational ACEs and suicide outcomes were remarkable, in Iran. Because of the detrimental effects of relational ACEs on suicidality, mostly for females, it is necessary to improve the initiatives promoting child protection and legal support for health professionals to address child abuse. There is also an urgent need for providing young students with supports and effective interventions.

Neuroimaging markers of adolescent depression in the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study

BACKGROUND

Adolescents are at increased risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) than many other age groups. Although the neural correlates of MDD in adults have been studied prospectively, such adolescent depression studies are mainly cross-sectional. We extracted data regarding the relationship between cortical thickness and later development of adolescent MDD from a national community study that uses an accelerated longitudinal design to examine the psychological, environmental, and neural differences related to drinking and brain development.

METHODS

692 subjects (age 12-21 years; 50% female) without a history of MDD were assessed with structural neuroimaging at baseline. We compared those 101 subjects who transitioned to MDD by 1-year follow-up to those who remained non-depressed over the same time period. FreeSurfer's autosegmentation process estimated vertex-wide cortical thicknesses and its Query, Design, Estimate, Contrast (Qdec) application investigated cortical thickness between those who later developed MDD and those who remained without MDD (Monte Carlo corrected for multiple comparisons, vertex-wise cluster threshold of 1.3, p < 0.01).

RESULTS

Those who transitioned in the next year to MDD had, at baseline, thinner cortices in the superior frontal cortex, precentral and postcentral regions, and superior temporal cortex, above and beyond effects attributable to age and sex. No cortical thickness sex differences or sex-by-depression interactions were observed.

LIMITATIONS

A larger sample size could improve statistical power and future investigations will be needed to confirm our results.

CONCLUSIONS

Thinner cortices over frontal and temporal regions may be linked to enhanced vulnerability for future depression during the adolescent-young adulthood transition.

The prevalence of depression among adolescent with HIV/AIDS: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Depression is particularly common among adolescents with HIV/AIDS and has been associated with disruption of the important developmental process, subsequently leading to a wide range of negative mental, physical and psychosocial consequences, as well as poor quality of life in those population groups. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, there are no prior systematic reviews and meta-analytic studies that determined the prevalence of depression among adolescents with HIV/AIDS.

METHOD

We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science for relevant literature until May 2020. A random-effect meta-analysis was used to pool prevalence rates from individual studies. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed to identify the source of heterogeneities and to compare the prevalence estimates across the groups. The Joanna Briggs Institute's quality assessment checklist was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Cochran's Q and the I² tests were used to assess heterogeneity between the studies.

RESULTS

A total of ten studies were included for the final analysis, with 2642 adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Our final meta-analysis showed that more than a quarter of adolescents with HIV had depression [26.07% (95% CI 18.92-34.78)]. The prevalence was highest amongst female adolescents (32.15%) than males (25.07%) as well as amongst the older adolescents aged 15-19 years (37.09%) than younger adolescents aged 10-14 years (29.82%).

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that a significant proportion of adolescents with HIV had depression, indicating the imperativeness of intervention strategies to alleviate the suffering and possibly reduce the probable negative ramifications.

Atypical social reward anticipation as a transdiagnostic characteristic of psychopathology: A meta-analytic review and critical evaluation of current evidence

Several psychopathologies (e.g. schizophrenia spectrum conditions, autism spectrum disorders) are characterised by atypical interpersonal and social behaviour, and there is increasing evidence to suggest this atypical social behaviour is related to adjusted behavioural and neural anticipation of social rewards. This review brings together social reward anticipation research in psychopathology (k = 42) and examines the extent to which atypical social reward anticipation is a transdiagnostic characteristic. Meta-analyses of anticipatory reaction times revealed that, in comparison to healthy controls, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia spectrum conditions are associated with significantly reduced behavioural anticipation of social rewards. The pooled meta-analysis of anticipatory reaction times found that the full clinical sample demonstrated significant social reward hypoanticipation in comparison to the healthy control group with a medium effect size. A narrative synthesis of meta-analytically ineligible behavioural data, self-report data, and neuroimaging studies complemented the results of the meta-analysis, but also indicated that bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and sexual addiction disorders may be associated with social reward hyperanticipation. The evaluation of existing evidence suggests that future research should better account for factors that affect reward anticipation (e.g. gender, psychotropic medication) and highlights the importance of using stimuli other than happy faces as social rewards.

CORE-OM as a routine outcome measure for adolescents with emotional disorders: factor structure and psychometric properties

Background

Instruments for monitoring the clinical status of adolescents with emotional problems are needed. The Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) according to theory measures problems/symptoms, well-being, functioning and risk. Documentation of whether the theoretical factor structure for CORE-OM is applicable for adolescents is lacking.

Methods

This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the CORE-OM based on two samples of adolescents (age 14–18): youths seeking treatment for emotional problems (N = 140) and high school students (N = 531). A split half approach was chosen. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the first half of the stratified samples to establish the suitability of the model. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the chosen model from the EFA was performed on the second half. Internal consistency and clinical cut-off scores of the CORE-OM were investigated.

Results

The best fitting model only partially confirmed the theoretical model for the CORE-OM. The model consisted of five factors: 1) General problems, 2) risk to self, 3) positive resources 4) risk to others and 5) problems with others. The clinical cut-off score based on the all-item total was higher than in an adult sample. Both the all-item total and general problems cut-off scores showed gender differences.

Conclusion

The factor analysis on CORE-OM for adolescents resulted in a five-factor solution, and opens up for new subscales concerning positive resources and problems with others. A 17-item solution for the general problems/symptoms scale is suggested. We advise developers of self-report instruments not to reverse items, if they do not intend to measure a separate factor, since these seem to affect the dimensionality of the scales. Comparing means for gender in non-clinical samples should not be done without modification of the general emotional problem and the positive resources scales. Slightly elevated CORE-OM scores (up to 1.3) in adolescents may be normal fluctuations.

Anhedonia, screen time, and substance use in early adolescents: A longitudinal mediation analysis

INTRODUCTION

Screen time is associated with substance use risk among adolescents; however, less is known about the underlying factors that explain this association.

METHODS

This research examined anhedonia, a facet of depression noted by the reduced capacity to experience pleasure, as a mediating factor in the relationship between screen time (hours spent watching television, using internet, and/or playing video games outside of school) and substance use (alcohol and/or cigarettes). We used a longitudinal survey design among a sample of students aged 9-11 years in the 4th to 6th grades in Southern California, United States of America [N = 709 (354 males)].

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling (SEM) findings revealed longitudinal mediation effects of anhedonia on the association between screen time and substance use, while controlling for baseline screen time, baseline individual and peer substance use, race/ethnicity, and gender. Moderation analysis based on a multiple-group approach revealed that gender was not a significant moderator of this mediation pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents may become desensitized and exhibit a blunted response to hedonic effects from increased screen time. This may result in increased anhedonia and greater risk for substance use through the need to compensate for the reduced experience of rewards. These findings have implications for future school-based substance use prevention and intervention programs.

Emission of 22 kHz vocalizations in rats as an evolutionary equivalent of human crying: Relationship to depression

There is no clear relationship between crying and depression based on human neuropsychiatric observations. This situation originates from lack of suitable animal models of human crying. In the present article, an attempt will be made to answer the question whether emission of rat aversive vocalizations (22 kHz calls) may be regarded as an evolutionary equivalent of adult human crying. Using this comparison, the symptom of crying in depressed human patients will be reanalyzed. Numerous features and characteristics of rat 22 kHz aversive vocalizations and human crying vocalizations are equivalent. Comparing evolutionary, biological, physiological, neurophysiological, social, pharmacological, and pathological aspects have shown vast majority of common features. It is concluded that emission of rat 22 kHz vocalizations may be treated as an evolutionary vocal homolog of human crying, although emission of 22 kHz calls is not exactly the same phenomenon because of significant differences in cognitive processes between these species. It is further concluded that rat 22 kHz vocalizations and human crying vocalizations are both expressing anxiety and not depression. Analysis of the relationship between anxiety and depression reported in clinical studies supports this conclusion regardless of the nature and extent of comorbidity between these pathological states.