Teacher-youth inter-informant agreement on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a community sample of refugee and immigrant adolescents in Montreal

Early detection and treatment of psychological problems amongst refugee and immigrant youth is crucial to improve their developmental outcomes and their social integration. Multiple informants approach is a standard practice in detecting psychological problems. Based on its extensive empirical use, this approach is recommended in order to avoid bias or misinterpretation during the assessment of the youth mental health needs. However, very few studies have investigated the inter-informant agreement between teachers and youth in a multiethnic context. The current study explores teacher-youth inter-informant agreement in a culturally heterogeneous sample of refugee and immigrant adolescents from three high schools in Montreal. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was administered to 113 recently arrived migrant adolescents (female, n = 55; male, n= 58) to assess their own emotional and behavioural symptoms. The SDQ was also administered to their teachers (n = 7) so that a comparison between self- and teacher reports could be made. Teacher-youth agreement was significant for the Emotional symptoms subscale, but this inter-informant agreement was significant for males only. These results underscore the need to raise school personnel awareness about potential undetected emotional problems in newly arrived refugee and immigrant female adolescents

Reply to: Are stressful childhood experiences relevant in non monosexual women?

We thank the commentator for his thoughtful response (Schneeberger, 2015) to our study entitled, “Explaining Mental Health Disparities for Non-monosexual Women: Abuse History and Risky Sex, or the Burdens of Non-disclosure?” (Persson et al., 2014) To summarize, Schneeberger (2015) highlights three aspects of our methodological approach: (1) how the participants were grouped; (2) how sexual orientation was evaluated; and (3) how a history of childhood abuse was assessed. We will reflect on these three issues while further considering future research directions in the study of female sexual orientation and childhood abuse

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Research has found that non-monosexual women report worse mental health than their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts. The reasons for these mental health discrepancies are unclear. This study investigated whether higher levels of child abuse and risky sexual behavior, and lower levels of sexual orientation disclosure, may help explain elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among non-monosexual women. Participants included 388 women living in Canada (Mean age = 24.40, SD = 6.40, 188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian) who filled out the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories as part of an online study running from April 2011 to February 2014. Participants were collapsed into non-monosexual versus monosexual categories. Non-monosexual women reported more child abuse, risky sexual behavior, less sexual orientation disclosure, and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than monosexual women. Statistical mediation analyses, using conditional process modeling, revealed that sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior uniquely, but not sequentially, mediated the relation between sexual orientation, depression and anxiety. Sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior were both associated with depression and anxiety. Childhood abuse did not moderate depression, anxiety, or risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate that elevated levels of risky sexual behavior and deflated levels of sexual orientation disclosure may in part explain mental health disparities among non-monosexual women. Results highlight potential targets for preventive interventions aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes for non-monosexual women, such as public health campaigns targeting bisexual stigma and the development of sex education programs for vulnerable sexual minority women, such as those defining themselves as bisexual, mostly heterosexual, or mostly lesbian

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Research has found that non-monosexual women report worse mental health than their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts. The reasons for these mental health discrepancies are unclear. This study investigated whether higher levels of child abuse and risky sexual behavior, and lower levels of sexual orientation disclosure, may help explain elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety among non-monosexual women. Participants included 388 women living in Canada (Mean age = 24.40, SD = 6.40, 188 heterosexual, 53 mostly heterosexual, 64 bisexual, 32 mostly lesbian, 51 lesbian) who filled out the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories as part of an online study running from April 2011 to February 2014. Participants were collapsed into non-monosexual versus monosexual categories. Non-monosexual women reported more child abuse, risky sexual behavior, less sexual orientation disclosure, and more symptoms of depression and anxiety than monosexual women. Statistical mediation analyses, using conditional process modeling, revealed that sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior uniquely, but not sequentially, mediated the relation between sexual orientation, depression and anxiety. Sexual orientation disclosure and risky sexual behavior were both associated with depression and anxiety. Childhood abuse did not moderate depression, anxiety, or risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate that elevated levels of risky sexual behavior and deflated levels of sexual orientation disclosure may in part explain mental health disparities among non-monosexual women. Results highlight potential targets for preventive interventions aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes for non-monosexual women, such as public health campaigns targeting bisexual stigma and the development of sex education programs for vulnerable sexual minority women, such as those defining themselves as bisexual, mostly heterosexual, or mostly lesbian