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Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children
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Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Children's Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 15471

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Valentina Baglioni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: child and adolescent psychiatry; neuropsychiatry; neurodevelopmental diosrders; neuroimmunity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the topic of children and adolescents’ mental health has attracted increased attention, representing a clinical challenge for the early diagnosis and prevention of several psychiatric disorders. OMS reported that 10% of children and 20% of adolescents are at risk for mental health disorders.

Moreover, the outbreak of the SARS-COVID-19 pandemic had a sudden and dramatic effect on the population’s mental health, especially in youth. Indeed, a pediatric psychiatric emergency has been reported during the last two years and hospitalizations increased by 30%, frequently for suicide and self-injurious behavior but also due to internalized issues as social withdrawal, mood disorders, anxiety and somatization with functional neurological disorders.

This Special Issue will primarily focus on the investigation and evaluation of mental health in children and adolescents, mainly due to the importance of a diagnostic analysis in the developmental age, which aims to avoid important delays in the early diagnosis and in therapeutic strategies. Potential topics include suicide in children and adolescent psychiatry, non-suicidal self-injury behavior (NSSI) in youth, mood disorders in children, adolescent social withdrawal in youth, functional neurological disorders in pediatric age, early diagnosis in children and adolescent psychiatry, and prevention strategies in children and adolescent psychiatry.

Dr. Valentina Baglioni
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • early diagnosis
  • prevention strategies
  • suicide
  • non-suicidal self-injury behavior
  • social withdrawal
  • social withdrawal in youth functional neurological disorders

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 339 KiB  
Article
Digital Mental Health Interventions for Young People in Rural South Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Implementation
by Tafadzwa Mindu, Innocent Tinashe Mutero, Winnie Baphumelele Ngcobo, Rosemary Musesengwa and Moses John Chimbari
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1453; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021453 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 7874
Abstract
Globally, most young people living with mental health conditions lack access to mental health care but have access to a mobile device. The growing access to mobile devices in South Africa has the potential to increase access to mental health care services through [...] Read more.
Globally, most young people living with mental health conditions lack access to mental health care but have access to a mobile device. The growing access to mobile devices in South Africa has the potential to increase access to mental health care services through digital platforms. However, uptake of digital mental health interventions may be hampered by several factors, such as privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, and affordability. This study identified the prospects and challenges of implementing a mobile phone-based mental health intervention for young people in Ingwavuma area. Data were collected from 93 young people in three villages purposefully selected in Ingwavuma area. Participants included in the study were aged 16–24. Data were collected through a questionnaire. Thematic and descriptive analysis was performed on the qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. Mental health education was low, with only 22% of participants having received prior education on mental health. About 50% of the participants had come across a mental health app, but none of them had used any of these apps; 87% of participants had Internet access; 60% preferred to use social media to contact a health worker; and 92% suggested that use of digital apps would improve mental health literacy among young people. Barriers to access of digital mental health interventions were identified as the high cost of data, restrictive religious beliefs, limited privacy, lack of native languages on most digital platforms, low digital literacy, and complicated user interface. In uMkhanyakude, uptake of digital mental health apps among the young people was low. We recommend that, developers create context-specific digital applications catered for young people from different cultural backgrounds. Socio-economic issues such as affordability also need to be addressed in developing these tools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children)
20 pages, 1326 KiB  
Article
Examining Psychotherapeutic Processes with Depressed Adolescents: A Comparative Study of Two Psychodynamic Therapies
by Ana Calderon, Knut Arne Hooper Storeide, Cecilie Elvejord, Helene Amundsen Nissen-Lie, Randi Ulberg and Hanne-Sofie Johnsen Dahl
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16939; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416939 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2212
Abstract
To understand processes associated with better or poorer psychotherapy outcomes is vital. This study examined and contrasted interaction patterns between one therapist and two depressed 17-year-old girls, Johanna (good outcome) and Sonja (poor outcome), in short-term psychoanalytic therapies selected from an RCT. Outcome [...] Read more.
To understand processes associated with better or poorer psychotherapy outcomes is vital. This study examined and contrasted interaction patterns between one therapist and two depressed 17-year-old girls, Johanna (good outcome) and Sonja (poor outcome), in short-term psychoanalytic therapies selected from an RCT. Outcome data were collected regarding level of inter- and intra-personal functioning and symptoms of depression. Process data were obtained using the Adolescent Psychotherapy Q-Set on all available sessions. Analyses yielded five relational patterns or “interaction structures” in the two therapy processes; Three explained most of the variance in sessions with Johanna (i.e., ‘positive working alliance’, ‘therapist’s active use of psychodynamic techniques’, and ‘a receptive patient’) and two explained more of the variance in sessions with Sonja (i.e., ‘therapist using a more problem-solving and symptom-oriented approach’ and ‘patient displaying limited capacity for mentalization’). The processes in the two cases presented differences related to mentalization, psychological mindedness, and attachment style of the patients. The therapist used different therapeutic approaches, favouring more psychodynamic interventions in the good outcome case and a more problem-solving and symptom-oriented approach with the poor outcome case. In the latter case, the relationship seemed to be more of a struggle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children)
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10 pages, 353 KiB  
Article
Inter-Rater Reliability of the Structured Interview of DSM-IV Personality (SIDP-IV) in an Adolescent Outpatient Population
by Eirik Wixøe Svela, Hans Ole Korsgaard, Line Indrevoll Stänicke and Randi Ulberg
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12283; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912283 - 27 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2630
Abstract
Personality disorders (PDs) are a class of mental disorders which are associated with subjective distress, decreased quality of life and broad functional impairment. The presence of one or several PDs may also complicate the course and treatment of symptom disorders such as anxiety [...] Read more.
Personality disorders (PDs) are a class of mental disorders which are associated with subjective distress, decreased quality of life and broad functional impairment. The presence of one or several PDs may also complicate the course and treatment of symptom disorders such as anxiety and depression. Accurate and reliable means of diagnosing personality disorders are thus crucial to ensuring efficient treatment planning and resource allocation, a fact which is widely acknowledged within the adult mental health field. In adolescents, on the other hand, the consensus view has been that the rapid and discontinuous processes of normal personality development render the construct of PD in adolescents clinically unhelpful and conceptually dubious. However, recent research has established the reliability and validity of the construct, heralding an increased interest in the field, with important conceptual and clinical implications. The present article presents reliability data for the Structured Interview of DSM-IV Personality (SIDP-IV) in an adolescent outpatient population. For this study, 25 interviews conducted by experienced clinicians were blindly re-scored based on sound recordings, which allowed for the calculation of intra-class correlation metrics. The intra-class correlation coefficient for categorical diagnosis of specific personality disorders was found to be 0.876 (95% CI 0.718–0.945); Cohen’s kappa for presence/absence of personality diagnosis was found to be 0.896. The present study found excellent intra-rater reliability for the sample, which suggests that the SIDP-IV is a suitable instrument for assessing personality pathology in adolescent populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children)
14 pages, 1668 KiB  
Article
Mapping Geographic Trends in Early Childhood Social, Emotional, and Behavioural Difficulties in Glasgow: 2010–2017
by Samantha Ofili, Lucy Thompson, Philip Wilson, Louise Marryat, Graham Connelly, Marion Henderson and Sarah J. E. Barry
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11520; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811520 - 13 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2153
Abstract
Measuring variation in childhood mental health supports the development of local early intervention strategies. The methodological approach used to investigate mental health trends (often determined by the availability of individual level data) can affect decision making. We apply two approaches to identify geographic [...] Read more.
Measuring variation in childhood mental health supports the development of local early intervention strategies. The methodological approach used to investigate mental health trends (often determined by the availability of individual level data) can affect decision making. We apply two approaches to identify geographic trends in childhood social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). SDQ forms were analysed for 35,171 children aged 4–6 years old across 180 preschools in Glasgow, UK, between 2010 and 2017 as part of routine monitoring. The number of children in each electoral ward and year with a high SDQ total difficulties score (≥15), indicating a high risk of psychopathology, was modelled using a disease mapping model. The total difficulties score for an individual child nested in their preschool and electoral ward was modelled using a multilevel model. For each approach, linear time trends and unstructured spatial random effects were estimated. The disease mapping model estimated a yearly rise in the relative rate (RR) of high scores of 1.5–5.0%. The multilevel model estimated an RR increase of 0.3–1.2% in average total scores across the years, with higher variation between preschools than between electoral wards. Rising temporal trends may indicate worsening social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties over time, with a faster rate for the proportion with high scores than for the average total scores. Preschool and ward variation, although minimal, highlight potential priority areas for local service provision. Both methodological approaches have utility in estimating and predicting children’s difficulties and local areas requiring greater intervention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Investigation and Evaluation of Mental Health among Children)
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