Search Results (2,002)

Background: Emotional abuse is both prevalent and underrecognized particularly in culturally complex settings like India. Adolescents, being in a critical developmental phase, are especially vulnerable to the long-lasting psychological effects of emotional abuse. This qualitative literature review aims to synthesize findings from primary studies that explore the lived experiences of emotional abuse among Indian adolescents and identify emerging patterns across sociocultural contexts. Method: Electronic databases, including DOAJ, Google Scholar, ProQuest, JSTOR, Pubmed, PsycNet, and SCOPUS, were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English up to March 2025. Inclusion criteria comprised qualitative or mixed-methods research focusing on emotional abuse among adolescents aged 12–20 in Indian contexts. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) was used for quality assessment. Results: Five major thematic domains were identified across the included studies: (1) Family as a primary site of emotional abuse; (2) Gendered experiences of abuse; (3) Cultural normalization and silence; (4) Psychological and emotional consequences; and (5) Coping and resilience among adolescents. These themes reflect shared experiences of emotional abuse shaped by cultural, familial, and gender-based expectations. Conclusions: This review highlights the urgent need for increased awareness and culturally sensitive interventions addressing emotional abuse in Indian adolescents. The findings suggest that parents, educators, and policymakers must recognize emotionally harmful behaviors and implement prevention-oriented strategies, particularly through non-violent communication and adolescent mental health support frameworks. Full article

Parental school involvement (PSI) is an important contributor to children’s academic and overall positive development. Such activities as discussing schoolwork and tracking progress can boost children’s motivation and achievements. Although the multifaceted nature of PSI is widely recognized, there are limited reliable measures that comprehensively capture all its dimensions, particularly for children and adolescents. This study aims to develop a measure for assessing children and adolescents’ perceptions of parental involvement based on parent- and teacher-validated self-report measures—the Parental School Involvement Questionnaire—Children’s version (PSIQ-CV). A total of 537 children and adolescents (M_Age = 9.64, SD_Age = 2.43), mainly female (52.8%), from the south of Portugal participated in this study. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA, n = 150) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, n = 387) were carried out. The EFA indicated a three-factor solution (i.e., support in learning activities, parent–school communication, and supervision), supported by the CFA, with good quality-of-fit indices (χ² = 225; df = 101; χ²/df = 2.23; CFI = 0.91; TLI = 0.89; RMSEA = 0.060 [CI: 0.049–0.070]). Our data confirmed that the PSIQ-CV has robust psychometric properties, with acceptable reliability and validity. The PSIQ-CV can be considered a relevant and valid tool for measuring the perception of parental school involvement among children and adolescents, in line with Epstein’s theoretical model, and useful for both researchers and practitioners. Full article

Background/Objectives: Internalizing disorders are highly prevalent during adolescence. Previous research has shown that psychological inflexibility (PI) in both adolescents and their parents contributes to internalizing problems. However, how parental and adolescent PI relate to one another in explaining these difficulties remains unclear. The present exploratory study examined whether adolescent PI mediates the relationship between maternal PI and internalizing problems in adolescents. Methods: The study sample included 81 mother–adolescent dyads (80% female adolescents). Mothers completed a general self-report measure of PI, while adolescents completed self-report measures assessing both PI and internalizing problems. Results: The results showed that adolescent PI partially mediated the relationship between maternal PI and internalizing difficulties in female adolescents, whereas the mediation model was not significant for male adolescents. Conclusions: Findings suggest that mothers with high levels of psychological inflexibility may foster similar patterns in their children, particularly in daughters, thereby increasing adolescents’ vulnerability to increased psychological distress. Full article

Purpose: To review parental pre-pregnancy and pregnancy exposures in relation to pediatric cancer (diagnosis before age 20). Methods: We conducted literature searches using Ovid Medline and Scopus to find primary research studies, review articles, and meta-analyses published from 2014 to 17 March 2021. Results: Strong evidence links increased risk of childhood cancer with maternal diabetes, age, and alcohol and coffee consumption during pregnancy. Both paternal and maternal cigarette smoking before and during pregnancy are associated with childhood cancers. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure in utero has long been known to be causally associated with increased risk of vaginal/cervical cancers in adolescent girls. More recent evidence implicates in utero DES exposure to testicular cancer in young men and possible intergenerational effects on ovarian cancer in the granddaughters of women exposed to DES during pregnancy. There is strong evidence that childhood cancer risk is also associated with both high and very low birth weight and with gestational age. Evidence is also strong for the protective effects of maternal vitamin consumption and a healthy diet during pregnancy. Unlike early studies, those reviewed here show no association between in utero exposure to medical ionizing radiation, which may be explained by reductions over time in radiation doses, avoidance of radiation during pregnancy, and/or by inadequate statistical power to detect small increases in risk, rather than a lack of causal association. Evidence is mixed or conflicting for an association between childhood cancer and maternal obesity, birth order, cesarean/instrumental delivery, and prenatal exposure to diagnostic medical radiation. Evidence is weak or absent for associations between childhood cancer and multiple gestations or assisted reproductive therapies, as well as prenatal exposure to hormones other than DES, and medications. Full article

Asthma is the leading chronic condition in children and adolescents, requiring continuous monitoring to effectively prevent and manage symptoms. Symptom monitoring can guide timely and effective self-management actions by children and their parents and inform treatment decisions by healthcare providers. This paper examines two conventional monitoring methods, including symptom-based and peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitoring, reviews early efforts to quantify respiratory symptoms, and introduces an emerging sensor-based mHealth approach. Although symptom-based monitoring is commonly used in clinical practice, its adequacy is a concern due to its subjective nature, as it primarily relies on individual perception. PEF monitoring, while objective, has shown weak correlations with actual asthma activity or lung function and suffers from suboptimal adherence among youth. To enhance objectivity in symptom monitoring, earlier efforts focused on quantifying respiratory symptoms by harnessing mechanical equipment. However, the practicality of these methods for daily use is limited due to the equipment’s bulkiness and the time- and labor-intensive nature of data processing and interpretation. As an innovative alternative, sensor-based mHealth devices have emerged to provide automatic, objective, and continuous monitoring of respiratory symptoms. These wearable technologies offer promising potential to overcome the issues of perceptual inaccuracy and poor adherence associated with conventional methods. However, many of these devices are still in developmental or testing phases, with limited data on their clinical efficacy, usability, and long-term impact on self-management behaviors. Future research and robust clinical trials are warranted to establish their role in asthma monitoring and management and improving asthma outcomes in children and adolescents. Full article

Background/Objectives: Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a group of genetic disorders characterized by end-organ resistance to multiple hormones, short stature, brachydactyly, subcutaneous ossifications, obesity, and developmental delays. The tissue specific imprinting of GNAS in the hypothalamus may lead to different eating behavior phenotypes in maternally inherited (PHP1A, PHP1B) vs. paternally inherited (PPHP) variants. In this exploratory study, we aimed to evaluate differences in eating behaviors in a cohort of patients with PHP1A, PPHP and PHP1B. Methods: Assessments included caregiver-reported measures (hyperphagia questionnaire, children’s eating behavior questionnaire, child feeding questionnaire) and self-reported measures (three factor eating behavior questionnaire). Results: A total of 58 patients with PHP1A, 13 patients with PPHP and 10 patients with PHP1B contributed data, along with 124 obese pediatric controls. An increased risk of obesity was found in PHP1A vs. PPHP (adult body mass index (BMI) 39.8 ± 8.7 vs. 30.2 ± 7.4 kg/m², p = 0.03). Parents reported significantly earlier onset of interest in food in children with PHP1A (2.0 ± 2.3 years) and PHP1B (1.1 ± 1.3 years) compared with controls (5.2 ± 3.2 years, p < 0.001). Measures of hyperphagia, satiety and other feeding behaviors were all similar to controls. The highest hyperphagia questionnaire scores were seen prior to adolescence. In a multi-year, longitudinal assessment of 11 pediatric patients with PHP1A, hyperphagia scores were stable and 25% showed an improvement in symptoms. Conclusion: Patients with PHP1A/1B may have hyperphagia symptoms from a young age but they do not worsen over time. Patients may overeat when allowed access to food, but do not usually have disruptive food seeking behaviors. Early diagnosis can give clinicians the opportunity to provide anticipatory diagnosis on the increased risk of obesity in PHP1A/1B and need for scheduled meals and controlled portions. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to confirm these findings. Full article

Background: Western dietary patterns worldwide are increasingly dominated by energy-dense, nutrient-deficient industrial foods, often identified as ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Such products may have detrimental health implications, particularly if nutritionally inadequate. This study aimed to examine the intake of unhealthy UPFs among children and adolescents from five Mediterranean countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, and Lebanon) involved in the DELICIOUS project and to assess the association with dietary quality indicators. Methods: A survey was conducted with a sample of 2011 parents of children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years to evaluate their dietary habits. Diet quality was assessed using the Youth Healthy Eating Index (Y-HEI), the KIDMED index to determine adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and compliance with national dietary guidelines. Results: Increased UPF consumption was not inherently associated with healthy or unhealthy specific food groups, although children and adolescents who consumed UPF daily were less likely to exhibit high overall diet quality and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. In all five countries, greater UPF intake was associated with poorer compliance with dietary recommendations concerning fats, sweets, meat, and legumes. Conclusions: Increased UPF consumption among Mediterranean children and adolescents is associated with an unhealthy dietary pattern, possibly marked by a high intake of fats, sweets, and meat, and a low consumption of legumes. Full article

This paper examines the importance of ‘education outside the classroom’ (EOtC) in an Australian secondary school. The primary aim was to develop a sense of belonging, build resilience, and enhance wellbeing in female students. This study investigated two cohorts of Year 9 students (aged 14–15 yrs) who participated in a four-week residential EOtC pilot program. The first cohort (Wave 1; N = 58) undertook the program alongside (N = 39) boys. The second cohort was single-sex girls (Wave 2; N = 28). A mixed-methods research design was implemented to inform experiences of students, parents, and staff and to triangulate inferences drawn from the data. Quantitative data was gained from pre- and post-program surveys with students and parents, whilst qualitative data was gathered from student focus groups, staff, and parents through semi-structured interviews to assess more nuanced impacts. School belonging was measured using the PISA six-item scale. Academic buoyancy was quantified using the four-item Academic Buoyancy Scale. Self-efficacy, peer relations, and resilience were evaluated by employing the 34-item Adolescent Girls’ Resilience Scale. The findings revealed significant improvements in students’ sense of belonging, including higher levels of school belonging than reported Australia-wide averages for 15-year-olds. Despite students’ mean academic buoyancy scores being more than a point lower than reported baseline scores for Australian high school students, it was promising to see a modest increase following the EOtC program. In conclusion, EOtC is a potent vehicle for developing a sense of belonging, enhancing resilience, and equipping students to deal with academic challenges. Full article

Background/Objectives: Smartphone addiction (SA) and gaming addiction (GA) have become risk factors for individuals of all ages in recent years. Especially during adolescence, it has become very difficult for parents to control this situation. Physical activity and the effective use of free time are the most important factors in eliminating such addictions. This study aimed to test a new machine learning method by combining routine regression analysis with the gradient-boosting machine (GBM) and random forest (RF) methods to analyze the relationship between SA and GA with leisure time management (LTM) and the enjoyment of physical activity (EPA) among adolescents. Methods: This study presents the results obtained using our developed GBM + RF hybrid model, which incorporates LTM and EPA scores as inputs for predicting SA and GA, following the preprocessing of data collected from 1107 high school students aged 15–19 years. The results were compared with those obtained using routine regression results and the lasso, ElasticNet, RF, GBM, AdaBoost, bagging, support vector regression (SVR), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), and light gradient-boosting machine (LightGBM) models. In the GBM + RF model, probability scores obtained from GBM were used as input to RF to produce final predictions. The performance of the models was evaluated using the R², mean absolute error (MAE), and mean squared error (MSE) metrics. Results: Classical regression analyses revealed a significant negative relationship between SA scores and both LTM and EPA scores. Specifically, as LTM and EPA scores increased, SA scores decreased significantly. In contrast, GA scores showed a significant negative relationship only with LTM scores, whereas EPA was not a significant determinant of GA. In contrast to the relatively low explanatory power of classical regression models, ML algorithms have demonstrated significantly higher prediction accuracy. The best performance for SA prediction was achieved using the Hybrid GBM + RF model (MAE = 0.095, MSE = 0.010, R² = 0.9299), whereas the SVR model showed the weakest performance (MAE = 0.310, MSE = 0.096, R² = 0.8615). Similarly, the Hybrid GBM + RF model also showed the highest performance for GA prediction (MAE = 0.090, MSE = 0.014, R² = 0.9699). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that classical regression analyses have limited explanatory power in capturing complex relationships between variables, whereas ML algorithms, particularly our GBM + RF hybrid model, offer more robust and accurate modeling capabilities for multifactorial cognitive and performance-related predictions. Full article

Background and Objectives: The transition from pediatric to adult-oriented healthcare is challenging and data on parental involvement and perception regarding the transition of children with chronic digestive diseases are scarce. Materials and Methods: Legal guardians of adolescents with chronic digestive diseases receiving care at a North-Eastern Romanian tertiary center and private offices were administered a 30-item survey. Results: There were 124 responders; 73.4% lived in rural areas; 81.5% were patients’ mothers. Positive correlations were found between parents’ perception of the child’s readiness for health-related decisions and appreciation of the children’s preparedness for transition (0.544; p = 0.000), between parents encouraging their children to maintain healthcare records and their perception of the children’s knowledge about their disease (0.67; p = 0.000), between parents’ fear of therapeutic breaks during transition and their perception of the need for transition training (0.704; p = 0.000), between fears for children’s impropriate health-related choices, fears of therapeutic breaks (0.573; p = 0.00) and parental perception that the adult physicians would be more patient-oriented and less family-centered (0.453; p < 0.000) and between parents’ trust in their children’s self-management skills and encouraging them to make decisions on their own (0.673; p < 0.000). Conclusions: The results of our study highlight the importance of addressing parental fears during special parent–children counseling sessions and promoting a child’s independence, chronic disease knowledge, records and alone consultations. Full article

The literature has been scarce in addressing parental interference/family abduction and its relationship with depressive symptoms. Due to this, the objective of this study was to examine the association between family abduction/parental interference and depressive symptoms in a national sample of 11,568 children and adolescents aged 12 to 18 from Chile. Robust linear regression models were conducted to assess how these experiences are related to depressive symptoms while controlling for age. Our results show that children and adolescents who reported these experiences in their lives presented higher levels of depressive symptoms. Additionally, although all forms of caregiver victimization were associated with depressive symptoms, parental interference/family abduction also showed a significant association, even when controlling for sociodemographic variables. These findings highlight the need for attention to the phenomenon of family abduction/parental interference, especially concerning its potential associations with mental health outcomes such as depression. Theoretically, the study contributes to the limited body of research on this form of caregiver victimization, and practically, it provides evidence that may inform future prevention strategies and mental health policies targeting children and adolescents exposed to high-conflict family dynamics in the Chilean context. Full article

Maternal mental illness significantly impacts caregiving, influencing both mothers and their children. This narrative review examines the challenges faced by mothers with conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, which often disrupt caregiving routines, emotional stability, and social integration. These difficulties can hinder secure attachments and contribute to adverse developmental outcomes in children, including heightened risks of anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, and cognitive impairments. Children of mothers with mental illnesses are 1.8 times more likely to develop emotional or behavioral problems and face a 2.7 times higher risk of suicidal ideation during adolescence. Intergenerational transmission of mental illness is also prevalent, with affected children showing a 2.5 times greater likelihood of developing mental illnesses in adulthood. Effective interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), family-based approaches, and community programs integrating parenting education and mental health resources. These strategies have demonstrated improvements in maternal well-being and child resilience. The review highlights the need for comprehensive policies addressing maternal mental health, early intervention for children, and culturally sensitive support systems to break cycles of intergenerational mental illness. Future research should prioritize evaluating long-term intervention effectiveness and exploring innovative tools like digital mental illnesses solutions to support affected families. Full article

(1) Background: This study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to investigate family patterns of paternal and maternal responses to adolescents’ discrete emotions (happiness, sadness, and anger) and examined the relationship between these profiles and demographic factors, as well as adolescents’ emotion adjustment (emotion regulation and depressive symptoms). (2) Methods: A sample of 666 adolescents reported parental responses and their emotional adjustment; their mothers provided family information. (3) Results: (a) The LPA identified four profiles for adolescent happiness, including high enhancing but low dampening and neglect from both parents (Consistent Supportive); low enhancing but high dampening and neglect from both parents (Consistent Unsupportive); low to moderate scores on each response from both parents (Consistent Disengaging); and high maternal dampening and neglect but relatively low scores on the paternal response (Inconsistent). There were two profiles for sadness (Consistent Supportive, Consistent Unsupportive) and three for anger (Consistent Supportive, Consistent Unsupportive, Consistent Disengaging). (b) Parents with boys, higher incomes, better education, and greater marital satisfaction were likely to be classified into the Consistent Supportive profile across emotions. (c) When adolescents perceived their parents with the Consistent Supportive profile, they would show the best emotional adjustment; while for parents with the Inconsistent profile (for happiness) and the Consistent Unsupportive profile, the adolescents had the poorest outcome. Interestingly, adolescents who perceived their parents as fitting the Consistent Disengaging profile (especially for anger) exhibited comparatively less adverse adjustment. (4) Implications: A person-centered approach highlights different patterns of emotion socialization, underscores the importance of fostering parental cooperation and supportive responses to adolescents’ happiness, and suggests that joint disengagement from anger may promote healthier emotional development. Full article

Much U.S. research supports the effectiveness of parenting education delivered via the home visiting method. Home visitors are essential to reaching fathers in this context, but not all have favorable attitudes toward father engagement or feel confident working with fathers. Given that father involvement is important for a wide range of child and adolescent outcomes and that fathers benefit from parenting education, it is important to better understand the forces that shape home visitors’ attitudes toward fathers, and thus their subsequent efforts to include them in publicly funded programming. Using survey data from 95 home visitors in Tennessee, this study explores whether home visitors’ beliefs about fathers and attitudes toward father engagement vary as a function of home visitor or agency characteristics. Results suggest training in social work, reporting father-friendly organizational attitudes and behaviors at one’s agency, and reporting supervisor support specifically for father engagement relate to various favorable fathering attitudes. Home visitors’ strategies to engage fathers in home visiting are presented, including strategies for before, during, and after the home visit. Overall, family service agency administrators are in key positions to make decisions that can improve agency father-friendliness, home visitor attitudes toward fathers, and subsequent outcomes for fathers, mothers, and children. Full article

Background/Objectives: The use of digital technologies among children and adolescents has been increasing exponentially, raising concerns about the potential impacts on physical, mental, cognitive, educational, and social development. Understanding these effects is key to informing clinical and educational practices and public policies that promote digital wellbeing in childhood and adolescence. The main objective of this study was to map the latest available scientific evidence on the patterns of digital technology use by children and adolescents and its main impact, identifying risk factors, opportunities, and strategies for promoting digital wellbeing. Methods: A rapid review was carried out following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed studies published between 2020 and 2025, in Portuguese or English, that addressed the use of digital technologies by children and adolescents were included. The assessment of methodological quality was based on JBI’s Critical Appraisal Tools. Results: Ten studies from diverse contexts showed an association between excessive screen time and risks of sedentary lifestyles, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, attention difficulties, and low academic performance. Occasional benefits arose with adult mediation and educational use; parental mediation and socioeconomic background were key factors. Conclusions: The use of digital technologies is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon that requires integrated approaches; the promotion of digital literacy, public policies for equitable access to quality digital resources, and longitudinal and intercultural studies are recommended to clarify causal relationships and adapt interventions to local contexts. Full article