Adolescents' self-reported suicide attempts, self-harm thoughts and their correlates across 17 European countries

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents in Europe. Self-harm thoughts and behaviours are documented precursors of completed suicide. It is therefore of great importance to investigate the prevalence of suicide thoughts and attempts and their correlates, with the aim of preventing this major life-threatening public health problem. This study provides cross-national European data on self-reported suicidal thoughts and attempts among adolescents. Methods: Data were obtained from 45,806 high school students aged 15-16 years from 17 countries that participated in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) 2007 school survey. The standardised methods of the ESPAD survey ensure comparability across countries. Students completed an anonymous questionnaire in their classrooms. The prevalences of suicidal thoughts and attempts are reported as well as their sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates identified in logistic regression. Results: The median prevalence of any lifetime self-reported suicide attempt was 10.5% across the participating countries (range 4.1%-23.5%). The median of frequent self-harm thoughts (at least five times) was 7.4% (range 2.1%-15.3%). Suicidal behaviour and thoughts had significant associations with gender, substance use, family integrity and socioeconomic status. Countries with higher prevalence of substance use tended to have a weaker association between substance use and self-reported suicide attempts. Conclusion: Although self-reported self-harm thoughts and suicide attempts vary in prevalence within Europe, there are common correlates across countries. These have an important impact on understanding the phenomenon of suicide among young people and in guiding prevention. © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Changes in associations between psychosocial factors and suicide attempts by adolescents in Greece from 1984 to 2007

Background: Suicide is the second commonest cause of death among adolescents and young adults aged 15-35 years in Europe. Suicide attempts are a strong risk indicator for suicide. This article examines psychosocial factors associated with self-reported suicide attempts in adolescents in Greece and whether the reported increase in suicide attempts from 1984 to 2007 was accompanied by changes in the pattern of related psychosocial factors. Methods: Data were taken from nationwide probability sample surveys of Greek high school students aged 14-18 years in 1984 (n=10507) and 2007 (n=9873). Logistic regression analysis was used to relate any self-reported suicide attempts to basic sociodemographic and psychosocial variables including family and psychological characteristics, and substance use. Results: Female gender, smoking, illicit drug use, low socio-economic status, not living with both parents, dissatisfaction with relationship with parents, visits to a doctor for psychological problems, depression, anti-social behaviour and low self-esteem were risk factors for self-reported attempted suicide by adolescents in both surveys. Significant interaction terms showed that the effects of gender and illicit drug use were smaller in 2007 than in 1984. However, low self-esteem became significantly more important. Conclusions: Several common psychosocial factors seem to be steadily related to self-reported suicide attempts by Greek adolescents in 1984 and 2007. However, the increase in self-reported suicide attempts between 1984 and 2007 has been accompanied by changes in the relative importance of correlates. The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association

The factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Greek adolescents

Background: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a practical, economic and user-friendly screening instrument of emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. This study was aimed primarily at evaluating the factor structure of the Greek version of the SDQ. Methods: A representative nationwide sample of 1,194 adolescents (11 to 17 years old) completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the factor structure of the SDQ. Results: CFA supported the original five-factor structure. The modification of the model provided some improvements. Internal consistency was acceptable for total difficulties, emotional symptoms and prosocial behaviour scale, moderate for hyperactivity/inattention scale and inadequate for peer and conduct problems scale. Older adolescents (aged 15 to 17 years) reported more hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems than younger ones (aged 11 to 14 years) and girls reported more emotional symptoms and less prosocial behaviour problems than boys. Adolescents of low socioeconomic status (SES) reported more difficulties than those of medium and high SES. Conclusion: The Greek SDQ could be potentially considered as a community-wide screening instrument for adolescents' emotional and behavioural problems. © 2009 Giannakopoulos et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Adolescents’ Self-reported Running Away from Home and Suicide Attempts During a Period of Economic Recession in Greece

Background: Running away from home and suicide attempts during adolescence are high-risk behaviors for safety and health, and a “way out” from negative life experiences. Objective: To examine the self-reported prevalence of running away and suicide attempts among adolescents in Greece in the midst of a severe economic recession which is exerting pressure on families, and to identify associated psychosocial factors. Methods: Data were drawn from a nationally representative school survey (n = 23,279, 15–19 years old). Students answered in their classrooms an anonymous questionnaire under the supervision of trained researchers. Results: Each behavior was reported by one in nine adolescents (11.3 % for lifetime suicide attempts and 11.6 % for lifetime running away). Among those who reported the one behavior, a quarter also reported the other. Logistic regression analyses indicated that these behaviors share several common psychosocial correlates: family related (quality of parental relationships, parental monitoring), school related (poor performance and dissatisfaction), substance use, and emotional, psychological and behavioral problems. Gender was a significant correlate but in opposite directions for running away (more common among boys) and suicide attempts (more common among girls). Socioeconomic status was not a significant correlate for either behavior, possibly because the impact of the economic crisis on parents had not yet filtered down to their children in 2011 (the survey year). Conclusions: Findings suggest the need for timely interventions towards vulnerable youth and their families by identifying personal, familial and school factors associated with these two health- and life-compromising behaviors. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York

Quality of life in newly diagnosed children with specific learning disabilities (SpLD) and differences from typically developing children: A study of child and parent reports

Introduction Research on quality of life (QoL) of school children with specific learning disabilities (SpLD) and their parents is scarce. The present study explores QoL deficits in newly diagnosed children with SpLD and their parents, in comparison to a similar age group of typically developing children. Possible associations between parental and child QoL were statistically explored in both groups of children. Methods 70 newly diagnosed children with SpLD [International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) criteria] (38 boys, 32 girls, mean age 10.1 years) and a control group of 69 typically developing children of the same age (40 boys, 29 girls, mean age 10.6 years) were recruited. Children were of normal intelligence quotient, attending mainstream schools. Their parents were also recruited so a child's scores could be associated with corresponding parental scores (mother or father). Children's QoL was assessed by the German questionnaire for measuring quality of life in children and adolescents (KINDLR) questionnaire and parental QoL by World Health Organization Quality of Life brief questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) of the World Health Organization. Results Children with SpLD in comparison to typically developing children reported according to the KINDLR measurement poorer emotional well-being, lower self-esteem and satisfaction in their relationships with family and friends. Surprisingly, school functioning was not reported by these children as an area of concern. Parents of children with SpLD indicated experiencing lower satisfaction in the WHOQOL-BREF domains of social relationships and environment. Correlational and regression analysis with parental-child QoL scores provided evidence that in the SpLD group, parental scores on WHOQOL-BREF social relationships and psychological health domains could be predictors of the child's emotional well-being, satisfaction with family, friends and school functioning. Stepwise regression analysis verified the effect of parents' WHOQOL-BREF social relationships domain on several dimensions of children's KINDLR QoL. Conclusions The results may suggest certain significant effects of the SpLD condition on newly diagnosed children's QoL. Emotional and social deficits seem to be experienced by this cohort of children and their parents. Investigation into the possible interrelationships between parental and child QoL seems to indicate that parental social wellbeing may to a certain extend influence some dimensions of the child's QoL. The findings are useful for policy making and specialized interventions for children with SpLD and their families. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Psychopathology and Mental Health Service Utilization by Immigrants’ Children and Their Families

To investigate the psychopathology of immigrants’ children and psychiatric service utilization by the immigrant families, data were collected from the files of all 35 immigrant children seen over a 3-year period at the Community Mental Health Centre of the Athens University Psychiatric Department. Immigrant children were matched by age, gender and intake date with 70 Greek children. Data concerned information about the child's place of birth, current living conditions, parents’ country of origin, social and economic situation, occupations and educational status, social insurance, psychiatric history, referral source, diagnostic and therapeutic services rendered, number of sessions and outcome. Utilization of services was assessed 6 months after intake. No significant differences were found regarding family's structure and parents’ psychopathology. However, immigrant families had significantly worse economic situations, lower status jobs, worse housing and were usually uninsured. No significant differences were observed regarding service utilization parameters, except concerning ‘cooperation with other services’. No differences were found regarding frequency or type of psychiatric diagnosis. However, 91% of the immigrant group received a psychosocial diagnosis as opposed to 49% of the Greek group. Immigrant children did not present more serious or diverse psycho-pathology than did Greek children. Immigrant families had equal levels of service utilization as Greek families. However, it was apparent that immigrant families did not apply for help as readily as their Greek counterparts. © 2004, Sage Publications. All rights reserved