Core Beliefs, Self-Perception, and Cognitive Organization in Depressed Adolescents

The relationships between cognitive products (e.g., self-perception) and cognitive structure (or organization) in clinically depressed adolescents and nonpsychiatric controls (average age = 14.68) were examined. Adolescents with major depressive disorder showed significantly higher scores than did controls on the Young Schema Questionnaire domains of Disconnection, Impaired Autonomy, and Impaired Limits. These individuals also demonstrated poorer self-concept than controls on scholastic abilities, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance, job competence, behavioral conduct, and global self-worth, as well as perceptions of limited social networks. The organization of self-referent adjectives was more tightly interconnected for negative content and less interconnected for positive content in depressed adolescents than in nonpsychiatric controls. Specificity of cognitive organization to themes of interpersonal and achievement beliefs/self-perceptions was also found, particularly for positive content. Implications of the findings for the cognitive vulnerability model of depression and future directions are discussed

Improving Access and Mental Health For Youth Using Smart Technologies

The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth between the ages of 14 and 25 years, with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. This project includes 122 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers are using the Smart technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile questionnaires (QnairesTM) to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the plan of care. The youth were provided a smartphone and talk/text/data plan, if needed. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (73.5%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the sample (73.6% and 66.9% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary established that both staff and youth found having a smartphone and data plan beneficial. Demographic variables such as age, sex, mental health and physical health did not predict which youth were more likely to use the application

Improving Access and Mental Health for Youth Through Virtual Models of Care

The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth between the ages of 14–25 years, with symptoms of anxiety/depression. This project includes 115 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers are using eHealth technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile questionnaires to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the plan of care. The technology also allows secure virtual treatment visits that youth can participate in through mobile devices. This longitudinal study uses participatory action research with mixed methods. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (66.9%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the sample (71.9% and 67.5% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary established that both staff and youth found the software and platform beneficial

Toddlers' inference of people's desires for objects : the effect of gender-stereotype knowledge

Children as young as 18 months of age are capable of reasoning about other people's desires for objects and food items. During the same age range, children acquire concepts of male and female, including knowledge of the activities, toys, and other objects associated with each gender. The present study assessed whether children's knowledge of gender stereotypes plays a role in their inferences about men's and women's desires for objects. Using an object request task, 20- and 24-month-old children were shown a series of object pairs, each consisting of one feminine- and one masculine-stereotyped item. A male or female experimenter expressed a desire for one of the two items, as revealed by a happy vs. disgust facial expression, then requested that the child give him or her one item. Half of the children observed the experimenter expressing preferences for the gender-appropriate objects, and the other half, preferences for the gender-inappropriate objects. A stereotyping task was also included to ensure that the objects were gender stereotyped by the children. Children were hypothesized to be more likely to select the desired item to hand to the experimenter if it was gender consistent than if it was gender inconsistent, beginning at 24 months. This effect was hypothesized to be stronger for girls than boys. Children were also administered a task to assess their understanding of other people's desires for food items, in addition to various gender-concept and gender-typing measures. Results suggested that some children show a rudimentary ability to reason about others' desires for gender-typed objects in the second year of life. Specifically, boys who demonstrated adequate gender-category knowledge and a basic understanding of others' desires for food successfully offered the experimenter the desired item on the majority of trials. Although these boys also displayed significant gender-stereotype knowledge on the stereotyping trials, they based their desire inferences on the experimenter's affective cues, rather than on the gender stereotyping of the objects. Girls with similar gender and food desire knowledge, however, did not consistently offer the experimenter the desired items. Rather, they offered the experimenter cross-gender-typed items, regardless of which objects were desired