Managing deliberate self-harm in young people: An evaluation of a training program developed for school welfare staff using a longitudinal research design

BACKGROUND: Although deliberate self-harm is prevalent among young people, many who engage in deliberate self-harm receive sub-optimal care. Although schools are a well placed setting to support young people who engage in self-harm there are no specific training packages designed to assist school welfare staff to support these young people.The current study aimed to design, deliver and evaluate a training course specifically for school staff. METHODS: The study employed a longitudinal design. Two hundred and thirteen people participated in the training and evaluation. A questionnaire was administered at baseline, immediately after the training and at 6-month follow-up in order to determine if the training led to improvements in confidence when working with young people who self-harm, perceived skill, knowledge of, and attitudes towards people who self harm. RESULTS: Prior to the course, the majority of participants demonstrated relatively high levels of confidence, perceived skill and knowledge of self-harm and endorsed relatively positive attitudes towards people who engage in self-harm. Despite this, significant improvements were observed in terms of increased confidence, increased perceptions of skill along with increased knowledge of deliberate self-harm. These improvements were sustained over the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the provision of specifically designed training can help school welfare staff to feel better equipped to support young people who are engaging in deliberate self-harm

Mindfulness-based prevention for eating disorders: A school-based cluster randomized controlled study

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Objective Successful prevention of eating disorders represents an important goal due to damaging long-term impacts on health and well-being, modest treatment outcomes, and low treatment seeking among individuals at risk. Mindfulness-based approaches have received early support in the treatment of eating disorders, but have not been evaluated as a prevention strategy. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a novel mindfulness-based intervention for reducing the risk of eating disorders among adolescent females, under both optimal (trained facilitator) and task-shifted (non-expert facilitator) conditions. Method A school-based cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in which 19 classes of adolescent girls (N-=-347) were allocated to a three-session mindfulness-based intervention, dissonance-based intervention, or classes as usual control. A subset of classes (N = 156) receiving expert facilitation were analyzed separately as a proxy for delivery under optimal conditions. Results Task-shifted facilitation showed no significant intervention effects across outcomes. Under optimal facilitation, students receiving mindfulness demonstrated significant reductions in weight and shape concern, dietary restraint, thin-ideal internalization, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment relative to control by 6-month follow-up. Students receiving dissonance showed significant reductions in socio-cultural pressures. There were no statistically significant differences between the two interventions. Moderate intervention acceptability was reported by both students and teaching staff. Discussion Findings show promise for the application of mindfulness in the prevention of eating disorders; however, further work is required to increase both impact and acceptability, and to enable successful outcomes when delivered by less expert providers

Quality of life and psychosocial wellbeing in youth with neuromuscular disorders who are wheelchair Users: A systematic review

Objective: To investigate quality of life (QoL) and psychosocial wellbeing in youth with Neuromuscular Disorders (NMD) who are wheelchair users. Data Sources: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO (January 2004 to April 2016) and reference lists of retrieved full-text papers. Study Selection: Peer-reviewed studies were included when data describing self-reported QoL and psychosocial wellbeing could be separately understood for those using wheelchairs and aged 12-22 years old. 2058 records were independently screened and potentially eligible papers were obtained and examined by all reviewers. Twelve observational and three qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Data Extraction: Population representativeness, measurement tools and outcomes, where possible with comparison groups. Two reviewers independently appraised studies for risk of bias to internal validity and generalisability. Data Synthesis: Heterogeneity of measurement and reporting precluded meta-analysis. Data were cross-sectional only. Compared to same age typically developing peers, physical QoL was scored consistently and significantly lower in youth with NMD, whilst psychosocial QoL was not. Psychosocial QoL was highest in youth non-ambulant since early childhood and in those recruited via single tertiary specialist clinics. Mental health and social participation could not be compared to same age populations. Conclusions: Despite low physical QoL, psychosocial QoL in youth with NMD appeared comparable to same age peers. The psychosocial wellbeing of younger adolescents on degenerative disease trajectories appeared most compromised, though the longitudinal impacts of growing up with NMD on mental health and social participation are unknown. Interpretation was hampered by poor description of participant age, gender and physical ability, lack of population based recruitment strategies and inconsistent use of age appropriate measures. Understanding of self-reported QoL and psychosocial wellbeing in youth with NMD transitioning to adulthood is limited

Home and away: child and youth homelessness report

Executive summary According to the 2011 Census, some 44,000 children and young people in Australia are homeless. The reality is worse; many others are ‘hidden homeless’ who are not counted in the official statistics. There is a growing body of evidence being developed about the true picture of child and youth homelessness. Our own primary research, the Mission Australia Youth Survey, gives a special insight into the housing experiences of young people across Australia and from different socio-economic backgrounds, which is rare in the youth homelessness literature. What does child and youth homelessness look like? The Youth Survey uncovered a substantial number of young people experiencing housing instability, frequently as a result of family breakdown or conflict, which may impact negatively on their schooling, support networks, community connections and familial bonds. It also revealed that nearly one in seven young Australians responding to the survey had spent time away from home because they couldn’t return, a proxy indicator for couch surfing. The vast majority of these young people had done so on more than one occasion and some had typically stayed away for periods longer than six months. The Youth Survey’s findings point to the existence of a critical group of young couch surfers with poor family relationships, experiencing family conflict, not feeling confident about the future, unsure of their ability to cope with stress, concerned about depression and suicide, who leave home repeatedly, often for extended periods, because they feel they can’t stay with their families at home. The Youth Survey’s finding of the prevalence of family conflict and couch surfing is also reflected in other recent Australian research. Family conflict affects 1.9 million Australian children in their early to middle years. Over 85% of homeless young people had spent time couch surfing before they were 18. Even amongst non-homeless young people, 38% had couch surfed at some point. These young people are on a pathway to entrenched homelessness unless action is taken

Youth survey report 2015

More than half of young people believe there are barriers which will prevent them reaching their goals when they leave school, according to this report. Introduction Demographic profile of respondents A total of 18,994 young people aged 15-19 years responded to Mission Australia’s Youth Survey 2015. The largest number of responses came from New South Wales (24.9%), Victoria (24.5%) and Queensland (21.6%). Over half of the respondents (55.3%) were female and 6.2% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. The percentage of young people who spoke a language other than English at home was 21.9%, similar to results in 2014 (19.7%). The level of reported disability remained fairly constant again between 2015 (6.0%) and 2014 (4.4%). The vast majority of respondents were studying full-time (94.0%), consistent with the 93.8% in 2014. Around four in ten (38.8%) respondents were working part-time and 35.9% were looking for work, again consistent with previous years. Young people and plans for study and training Young people were asked about their future plans for education and training following school. Of those who were still at school, 96.6% stated that they intended to complete Year 12. Almost three times the proportion of males indicated that they did not intend to complete Year 12 (5.3% compared with 1.8% of females). When asked what they were planning to do after school, going to university was the most frequently chosen option among both males and females (65.3%), although a greater proportion of females than males stated that they planned to do so (71.2% compared with 58.0%). Many planned to get a job (34.5%) or to travel or go on a gap year (29.6%) after school, while 13.0% planned to attend TAFE or college and 9.7% planned to undertake an apprenticeship. Barriers to further education and employment The Youth Survey 2015 asked young people how confident they were in their ability to achieve their study/work goals after school. Just over half of respondents indicated high levels of confidence in their ability to achieve study/work goals, with 10.3% indicating that they were extremely confident and 40.3% indicating that they were very confident. However, around one in ten young people were less confident in their ability to achieve their goals, with 8.1% being slightly confident and 2.3% not at all confident in their ability to achieve their study/work goals after school. Overall, a greater proportion of male respondents than female respondents reported high levels of confidence in their ability to achieve their study/work goals. While many respondents reported high levels of confidence in their ability to achieve their post-school study/work goals, when asked whether they felt there were any barriers which may impact on the achievement of these goals, more than half (52.0%) of young people across Australia felt that barriers were present. Respondents who indicated the presence of barriers were asked to indicate from a number of items which barriers they saw as preventing them from achieving their goals after school. Nationally, the top three barriers that young people felt would impact on their study/work goals were academic ability (18.2%), financial difficulty (16.9%) and lack of jobs (12.2%). Just over one in ten respondents indicated that they saw family responsibilities (12.0%) and physical or mental health (10.3%) as barriers to the achievement of their study/work goals after school. A greater proportion of female than male respondents indicated that they saw each of these items as a barrier to their post-school goals. What young people value In 2015 young people were again asked how much they valued family relationships, financial security, friendships, getting a job, physical and mental health and school or study satisfaction. The responses were consistent with previous years, with friendships and family relationships ranked as the two most highly valued items. Also consistent with past years was the high value placed on school or study satisfaction and physical and mental health. Around four in ten respondents placed a high value on financial security and getting a job. Issues of personal concern Young people were asked to rank how concerned they had been about a number of issues in the past year. Nationally, the top three issues of concern were coping with stress, school or study problems and body image, with around four in ten respondents indicating that they were either extremely concerned or very concerned about coping with stress, one third indicating they were either extremely concerned or very concerned about school or study problems and around one quarter highly concerned about body image. Around one in five respondents were either extremely concerned or very concerned about depression and family conflict. The proportion of females concerned about each of these issues was much higher than the proportion of males. &nbsp

National Youth Survey 2005: rural and regional responses

The main findings of \u27National Youth Survey 2005: Rural and Regional Responses\u27 show that regardless of where young people live, family relationships and friendships are what they value most. They’re also involved in their communities, through sport, youth groups, arts and cultural activities and volunteering. However, the differences between the two groups emphasises, once again, that young Australians are not a homogenous group

Location, vocation, aspiration: findings from mission Australia’s youth survey 2014

Young people living in low socio-economic status areas are more likely to be concerned with getting a job, bullying and other emotional abuse than young people from higher SES areas. Executive summary Inequality and disadvantage remain entrenched in areas of our society with intergenerational poverty becoming well-known. It is becoming increasingly common to understand that this disadvantage is concentrated in some locations. Location, Vocation, Aspiration considers this year’s Youth Survey findings in relation to young people’s socio-economic status (SES) measured by whether they were living in low, moderate or high SES areas. In order to conduct this analysis, responses were mapped by their postcode against the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to determine the relative SES of the area they live in. A closer examination of remoteness is also included

National Youth Survey 2006: the main concerns of young Australians

This national annual survey of 14,700 young people, aged 11-24 (95% between 11-19), has found family conflict, alcohol and other drugs and body image are their three main issues of concern. When asked to rank 12 issues in level of importance, family conflict was ranked most frequently in the top three by 28.6% of respondents. Alcohol and other drugs was a top concern for 28.2% of respondents, while body image – included as a category in the survey for the first time – came in third at 28.1%. Both females and males were similarly concerned about body image. Changes in the 2006 survey reveal young people are confronting a broader and more complex range of issues. This is Mission Australia’s fifth National Youth Survey – and its largest so far. It was conducted through schools and colleges around the country – and with the assistance of community organisations, government agencies, corporate partners – and was available on-line. The survey asked a range of questions, including ‘What do young people value?’, ‘Where do you turn for advice/support?’ and ‘What people/organisations do you most admire?’. Of around 800 respondents identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, 150 respondents were homeless

Rural and regional Australia: change, challenge and capacity

This paper examines non-metropolitan disadvantage in the framework of five key areas: economic capital; institutional capital; social capital; human capital; and natural capital. The report makes a number of recommendations and calls for a whole of government approach – in co-operation with business and community organisations – to decrease inequality between rural/regional and metropolitan centres across a range of areas.This is a paper about the ‘value’ placed on the diverse communities in rural and regional Australia. While many non-metropolitan areas have experienced growth and stability, there are still numbers of people living with high levels of disadvantage. How can we bring ‘value’ to their lives? The paper places this question in a framework of five major ‘capitals’ – that is the environments and circumstances that can be shown to work for people and communities’ advantage. This scheme of arguing leads on to an examination of the ‘value’ inherent in their natural environment, their networks, their life transformation opportunities, their built environment, and the land and economy that provide their livelihood