Examining predictors of psychological distress among youth engaging with Jigsaw for a brief intervention.

Risk factors for psychological distress among help-seeking youth are poorly understood. Addressing this gap is important for informing mental health service provision. This study aimed to identify risk factors among youth attending Jigsaw, a youth mental health service in Ireland. Routine data were collected from N = 9,673 youth who engaged with Jigsaw (Mean age = 16.9 years, SD = 3.14), including presenting issues, levels of psychological distress, age, and gender. Confirmatory Factor Analysis identified thirteen factors of clustering issues. Several factors, including Self-criticism and Negative Thoughts, were strongly associated with items clustering as psychological distress, however these factors were poorly predictive of distress as measured by the CORE (YP-CORE: R = 14.7%, CORE-10: R = 6.9%). The findings provide insight into associations between young people's identified presenting issues and self-identified distress. Implications include applying appropriate therapeutic modalities to focus on risk factors and informing routine outcome measurement in integrated youth mental health services

The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health

Mental ill health, which has been the leading health and social issue impacting the lives and futures of young people for decades, has entered a dangerous phase. Accumulating research evidence indicates that in many countries, the mental health of emerging adults has been declining steadily over the past two decades, with a major surge of mental ill health driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken to contain it, and its aftermath. This alarming trend signals a warning that global megatrends (major, long-lasting societal changes such as environmental, social, economic, political, or technological changes) and changes in many societies around the world in the past two decades have harmed the mental health of young people and increased mental ill health among them