“Smartphone apps are cool, but do they help me?”: A qualitative interview study of adolescents’ perspectives on using smartphone interventions to manage nonsuicidal self-injury

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major mental health problem associated with negative psychosocial outcomes and it most often starts in early adolescence. Despite this, adolescents are rarely involved in informing the development of interventions designed to address their mental health problems. This study aimed to (1) assess adolescents’ needs and preferences about future interventions that are delivered through smartphones and (2) develop a framework with implications for designing engaging digital mental health interventions. Fifteen adolescent girls, aged 12– 18 years, who met diagnostic criteria for a current NSSI disorder and were in contact with mental health services, participated in semi-structured interviews. Following a reflexive thematic analysis approach, this study identified two main themes: (1) Experiences of NSSI (depicts the needs of young people related to their everyday experiences of managing NSSI) and (2) App in Context (por-trays preferences of young people about smartphone interventions and reflects adolescents’ views on how technology itself can improve or hinder engaging with these interventions). Adolescent patients expressed interest in using smartphone mental health interventions if they recognize them as helpful, relevant for their life situation and easy to use. The developed framework suggests that digital mental health interventions are embedded in three contexts (i.e., person using the interven-tion, mental health condition, and technology-related factors) which together need to inform the development of engaging digital resources. To achieve this, the cooperation among people with lived experience, mental health experts, and human computer interaction professionals is vital

Psychiatric symptoms and disorders among Yazidi children and adolescents immediately after forced migration following ISIS attacks | Psychiatrische Symptome und Störungen bei jesidischen Kindern und Jugendlichen unmittelbar nach erzwungener Migration infolge von IS-Angriffen

Background The aim of the present study was to evaluate psychiatric problems and disorders among Yazidi Kurd refugee children and adolescents, who were assessed immediately after their forced migration following life-threatening attacks by ISIS terrorists. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the psychiatric assessments of 38 Yazidi children and adolescents (age 218, mean 12 years, m:f = 16:22), which were performed upon their arrival at the refugee camp. Results All children and adolescents exhibited psychiatric problems and disorders, 50% had one, and 50% had more than one. The most relevant problems were disturbed sleeping (71% of children), followed by depression (36.8%), conversion disorders (28.9%), adjustment (21.8%), acute (18.4%) and posttraumatic stress (PTSD, 10.5%) disorders, and non-organic enuresis (18.4%). Conclusion Our study confirms the results of previous studies, asserting that refugee children and adolescents do not just suffer from PTSD but from various other problems that are already present in the first days of resettlement. Children and adolescents living in refugee camps urgently need psychosocial support.(VLID)348262