Mental illness is a worldwide public health concern. In the UK, there is a high prevalence of mental illness and poor mental wellbeing among young people. The aim of this study was to investigate ...whether physical activity is associated with better mental wellbeing and reduced symptoms of mental health disorder in adolescents.
A cohort of 928 12-13 year olds (Year 8) from six secondary schools in England, who had participated in the AHEAD trial, 'Activity and Healthy Eating in Adolescence', were followed up three years later (when 15-16 years old, Year 11). At baseline, physical activity was measured using accelerometers. At follow-up, mental wellbeing was measured using the 'Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale' (WEMWBS) and symptoms of mental health disorder using the 'Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire' (SDQ). Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to investigate associations between physical activity and both mental wellbeing and symptoms of mental health disorder.
794 (86%) of the eligible 928 young people provided valid accelerometer data at baseline. 668 (72%) provided complete mental wellbeing data and 673 (73%) provided complete symptoms of mental health disorder data at follow-up. The multivariable analyses showed no evidence of an association between physical activity volume (counts per minute (cpm)) or intensity (Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA)) and mental wellbeing (WEMWBS overall score) or overall symptoms of mental health disorder (SDQ Total Difficulties Score). However, higher levels of physical activity volume at age 12-13 years were associated with lower scores on the emotional problems subscale of the SDQ at age 15-16 years.
This cohort study found no strong evidence that physical activity is associated with better mental wellbeing or reduced symptoms of mental health disorder in adolescents. However, a protective association between physical activity and the emotional problems subscale of the SDQ was found. This suggests that physical activity has the potential to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents. Future cohort study designs should allow for repeated measures to fully explore the temporal nature of any relationship.
The breakout of COVID-19 has brought about huge influence on people’s physic and mental health. This paper aims to investigate the mental health status of young people living in isolation due to the ...policy response to Coronavirus disease. Nine hundred ninety-two Chinese college students (
M
age = 19.45,
SD
= 1.41) were recruited to finish an online survey in the period of self-isolation. Seven dimensions of psychological well-being were measured, including mental status, knowledge of stress management, behavioral patterns, risk perception, academic stress, family relationships, and peer relationships. Results of cluster analysis indicated that young individuals’ mental status can be divided into three groups: high-risk (
n
= 61,
M
age = 19.26,
SD
= 1.32), medium-risk (
n
= 627,
M
age = 19.43,
SD
= 1.38), and low-risk (
n
= 304,
M
age = 19.54,
SD
= 1.49). Moreover, results of multiple regression showed that the isolation policy has had a complex influence on the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder
F
(12, 979) = 44.894,
p
< 0.001, fear
F
(12, 979) = 30.776,
p
< 0.001, hypochondria
F
(12, 979) = 22.530,
p
< 0.001, depression
F
(12, 979) = 39.022,
p
< 0.001, and neurasthenia
F
(12, 979) = 45.735,
p
< 0.001 via various factors. This paper also proposes a six-step intervention strategy to alleviate young people’s psychological problems while in isolation. It provides practical insights into the psychological interventions in face of the global threat.
Psychological distress and suicidal behavior are important mental health problems among university students and warrant research to inform strategies for effective prevention in this young ...population. The present study aimed to assess psychological distress and suicidal behavior and to unravel their associations among university students.
A total of 5972 undergraduate students, randomly selected from six universities in central China, comprised the sample. The Chinese version of the Symptom Checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R) was used to assess various psychological symptoms. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between psychological distress and risk for suicidal behavior.
40.7% of the university students reported positive in a least one of the 9 psychological symptom dimensions assessed by the SCL-90-R. 7.6% of the students reported suicidal behavior in the previous twelve months. The risk of suicidal behavior was significantly associated with psychological symptoms of all types, but there were notable differences by sex. For male students, depression and phobic anxiety increased the risk of suicidal behavior. Meanwhile, depression and obsessive-compulsiveness were positively associated with suicidal behavior in female students. Furthermore, increasing risk of suicidal behavior was associated with increasing positive symptom total (PST) score and a statistically significant trend was observed.
Data collected from a cross-sectional survey does not allow any examination of causal inference.
Psychological distress and suicidal behavior were both common among university students; and psychological distress was highly associated with suicidal behavior. The findings underscore the importance of mental health care for university students.
•A large sample of 5972 undergraduates randomly selected from six universities.•40.7% of the students is positive for a least one symptom of psychological distress.•7.6% of them reported suicidal behavior within the past one year period.•Suicidal behavior is highly associated with depression and phobic anxiety in males, and depression and obsessive-compulsiveness in females.•The risk increases progressively with the score of positive psychological symptom total.
The book examines the power of young people’s social relationships in schools to transform, or more often, to continue, differences that pervade societies: mind-body-emotional diff erences or Special ...Educational Needs and Disability, gender, poverty, race/ethnicity, sexuality and their intersections. The book details extensive qualitative research with young people, foregrounding their accounts. In challenging educators and others to engage with young people’s own agencies and to make space for their socialities, the concepts of embodied social and emotional capital and young people as contextual bodies/subjectivities/agencies are developed, emphasising both young people’s agencies and how these are socio-spatially situated, constrained and enabled. The book is most concerned with how and when young people challenge and change enduring differences. The concept of ‘immersive geographies’ outlines the potential of change inherent in the repeated coming together of the same people in space, doing similar things that are, however, always provisional and always with the potential to be done diff erently. Examples of when diff erence is transformed are presented. The book marks a major interdisciplinary contribution to geographies and social studies of children, youth and education, child development, social work, social policy and education studies. Furthermore, it is of appeal to anyone interested in young people, social reproduction and sociality: from educators, policy makers, youth workers and social workers to parents.
Abstract Purpose To review the literature on young people's perspectives on health care with a view to defining domains and indicators of youth-friendly care. Methods Three bibliographic databases ...were searched to identify studies that purportedly measured young people's perspectives on health care. Each study was assessed to identify the constructs, domains, and indicators of adolescent-friendly health care. Results Twenty-two studies were identified: 15 used quantitative methods, six used qualitative methods and one used mixed methodology. Eight domains stood out as central to young people's positive experience of care. These were: accessibility of health care; staff attitude; communication; medical competency; guideline-driven care; age appropriate environments; youth involvement in health care; and health outcomes. Staff attitudes, which included notions of respect and friendliness, appeared universally applicable, whereas other domains, such as an appropriate environment including cleanliness, were more specific to particular contexts. Conclusion These eight domains provide a practical framework for assessing how well services are engaging young people. Measures of youth-friendly health care should address universally applicable indicators of youth-friendly care and may benefit from additional questions that are specific to the local health setting.
The burden of tuberculosis (TB) in migrant children and young people (CYP) is commonly overlooked, despite the increasing incidence of TB in migrant populations in the European region. This study ...aimed to examine the distribution and disease characteristics of TB among migrant and native-born CYP through analysis of data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) surveillance system (TESSy).
Retrospective database analysis.
A retrospective database analysis was conducted on all CYP TB cases (0–17 years) reported to TESSy (1995–2017), exploring distribution, site of TB, and presence of MDR-TB using multivariate analysis in R statistical software.
Of the 73,176 CYP TB cases reported in the EU/EFTA (1995–2017), 24.4% (n = 17,879) occurred in migrant CYP and 75.6% (n = 55,297) occurred in native-born CYP. Migrant CYP were more likely (P < 0.001) to have pulmonary TB (OR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.74–2.09) and unsuccessful treatment outcomes (OR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.74–2.40) compared to native-born CYP. The proportion of extrapulmonary TB, compared to pulmonary TB across total CYP cases was higher than the existing evidence base.
Overall, there were significant differences in the site of TB and treatment outcomes between migrant and native-born CYP. To improve outcomes, TB screening and detection practices should focus on facilitating care in migrant CYP. However, to better understand the implications of these findings on broader TB control, TB among CYP should be addressed more frequently in reports and research.
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