Suicide prevention for youth - a mental health awareness program: lessons learned from the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) intervention study

Background: The Awareness program was designed as a part of the EU-funded Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) intervention study to promote mental health of adolescents in 11 European countries by helping them to develop problem-solving skills and encouraging them to self-recognize the need for help as well as how to help peers in need. Methods: For this descriptive study all coordinators of the SEYLE Awareness program answered an open-ended evaluation questionnaire at the end of the project implementation. Their answers were synthesized and analyzed and are presented here. Results: The results show that the program cultivated peer understanding and support. Adolescents not only learned about mental health by participating in the Awareness program, but the majority of them also greatly enjoyed the experience. Conclusions: Recommendations for enhancing the successes of mental health awareness programs are presented. Help and cooperation from schools, teachers, local politicians and other stakeholders will lead to more efficacious future programs

Association between victimization by bullying and direct self injurious behavior among adolescence in Europe: a ten-country study.

Previous studies have examined the association between victimization by bullying and both suicide ideation and suicide attempts. The current study examined the association between victimization by bullying and direct-self-injurious behavior (D-SIB) among a large representative sample of male and female adolescents in Europe. This study is part of the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) study and includes 168 schools, with 11,110 students (mean age = 14.9, SD = 0.89). Students were administered a self-report survey within the classroom, in which they were asked about three types of victimization by bullying (physical, verbal and relational) as well as direct self-injurious behavior (D-SIB). Additional risk factors (symptoms of depression and anxiety, suicide ideation, suicide attempts, loneliness, alcohol consumption, drug consumption), and protective factors (parent support, peer support, pro-social behavior) were included. The three types of victimization examined were associated with D-SIB. Examination of gender as moderator of the association between victimization (relational, verbal, and physical) and D-SIB yielded no significant results. As for the risk factors, depression, but not anxiety, partially mediated the effect of relational victimization and verbal victimization on D-SIB. As for the protective factors, students with parent and peer support and those with pro-social behaviors were at significantly lower risk of engaging in D-SIB after being victimized compared to students without support/pro-social behaviors. This large-scale study has clearly demonstrated the cross-sectional association between specific types of victimization with self-injurious behavior among adolescents and what may be part of the risk and protective factors in this complex association

Pathological Internet use among European adolescents: psychopathology and self-destructive behaviours.

Rising global rates of pathological Internet use (PIU) and related psychological impairments have gained considerable attention in recent years. In an effort to acquire evidence-based knowledge of this relationship, the main objective of this study was to investigate the association between PIU, psychopathology and self-destructive behaviours among school-based adolescents in eleven European countries. This cross-sectional study was implemented within the framework of the European Union project: Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe. A representative sample of 11,356 school-based adolescents (M/F: 4,856/6,500; mean age: 14.9) was included in the analyses. PIU was assessed using the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire. Psychopathology was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Self-destructive behaviours were evaluated by the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory and Paykel Suicide Scale. Results showed that suicidal behaviours (suicidal ideation and suicide attempts), depression, anxiety, conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention were significant and independent predictors of PIU. The correlation between PIU, conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention was stronger among females, while the link between PIU and symptoms of depression, anxiety and peer relationship problems was stronger among males. The association between PIU, psychopathology and self-destructive behaviours was stronger in countries with a higher prevalence of PIU and suicide rates. These findings ascertain that psychopathology and suicidal behaviours are strongly related to PIU. This association is significantly influenced by gender and country suggesting socio-cultural influences. At the clinical and public health levels, targeting PIU among adolescents in the early stages could potentially lead to improvements of psychological well-being and a reduction of suicidal behaviours