Community-based screening and triage connecting First Nations children and youth to local supports: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: First Nations children in Canada experience health inequities. We aimed to determine whether a self-report health app identified children's needs for support earlier in their illness than would typically occur. METHODS: Children (aged 8 to 18 yr) were recruited from a rural First Nation community. Children completed the Aaniish Naa Gegii: the Children's Health and Well-being Measure (ACHWM) and then met with a local mental health worker who determined their risk status. ACHWM Emotional Quadrant Scores (EQS) were compared between 3 groups of children: healthy peers (HP) who were not at risk, those with newly identified needs (NIN) who were at risk and not previously identified, and a typical treatment (TT) group who were at risk and already receiving support. RESULTS: We included 227 children (57.1% girls), and the mean age was 12.9 (standard deviation [SD] 2.9) years. The 134 children in the HP group had a mean EQS of 80.1 (SD 11.25), the 35 children in the NIN group had a mean EQS of 67.2 (SD 13.27) and the 58 children in the TT group had a mean EQS of 66.2 (SD 16.30). The HP group had significantly better EQS than the NIN and TT groups (p < 0.001). The EQS did not differ between the NIN and TT groups (p = 0.8). INTERPRETATION: The ACHWM screening process identified needs for support among 35 children, and the associated triage process connected them to local services; the similarity of EQS in the NIN and TT groups highlights the value of community screening to optimize access to services. Future research will examine the impact of this process over the subsequent year in these groups

Mental health and psychosocial factors with single-child high school students in an urban city of China

*FULL TEXT IN JAPANESE OBJECTIVE: This study investigated psychosocial factors underlying the mental health problems of single-child high school students in China, where society and the family situation have been rapidly changing since introduction of the open-economy policy. METHOD: Three hundred and ten college-bound high school students in Heilong Jiangsheng Harbin completed self-administrative questionnaires in February, 2000. The subjects were divided into single-child and non single-child groups. Analysis of correlations was performed for general attributes, mental conditions measured by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), personality variables, stressors, and emotion support network. Cause-and-effect factors were also analyzed using Covariance Analysis. RESULT: In the single-child and in non single-child groups, the percentage suffering neurotic tendencies were 73% and 39%, and the values for a tendency to depression were 63% and 25%, respectively. In the single-child group, anxiety, interpersonal dependence, and perceived stressors were significantly higher while the perceived self-esteem and emotional support from family members were significantly lower than in the non single-child group. Among the variables, having siblings was highly correlated with all the measured factors influencing mental health. The results indicated that a poor emotional support network could cause low self-esteem, high anxiety trait, strong interpersonal dependence, and increased sensitivity to stressors and worsening of mental health. CONCLUSION: The incidence of mental health related problems was found to be significantly higher in the single-children than in the non single-children. Thus having siblings has positive effects on mental health. The emotional support network also plays an important role in the mental condition, development of a healthy personality, and building a positive attitude toward stressors

INFRARED STUDY OF VIBRATIONAL PROPERTY AND POLYMERIZATION OF C-60 AND C-70 UNDER PRESSURE

Infrared spectra were measured for solid C60 and C70 to 7 GPa under hydrostatic or quasi-hydrostatic pressure at room temperature. Some vibrational modes showed negative or insensitive dependence of frequency on pressure, suggesting destabilization of C60 and C70 molecules by compression. In solid C60 new absorption bands gradually grew with increasing pressure in association with an intensity decrease of the original bands. These spectral changes were interpreted in terms of polymerization of C60 molecules. Polymerized molecules recovered at ambient pressure were converted back to the monomer by thermal annealing at 473 K