de la Torre-Luque, Alejandro

McElroy, Eoin

Menashe, Idan

Frontiers in Psychiatry

English

Ulster University`s Research Portal

                      Editorial: Psychopathological trajectories in adolescent and young adult psychiatryde la Torre-Luque, A., Menashe, I., & McElroy, E. (2025). Editorial: Psychopathological trajectories in adolescentand young adult psychiatry. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 16, 1-2. Article 1517233.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233Link to publication record in Ulster University Research PortalPublished in:Frontiers in PsychiatryPublication Status:Published (in print/issue): 18/02/2025DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordDocument Licence:CC BYGeneral rightsThe copyright and moral rights to the output are retained by the output author(s), unless otherwise stated by the document licence.Unless otherwise stated, users are permitted to download a copy of the output for personal study or non-commercial research and arepermitted to freely distribute the URL of the output. They are not permitted to alter, reproduce, distribute or make any commercial use of theoutput without obtaining the permission of the author(s).If the document is licenced under Creative Commons, the rights of users of the documents can be found athttps://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/.Take down policyThe Research Portal is Ulster University's institutional repository that provides access to Ulster's research outputs. Every effort has beenmade to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content inthe Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact pure-support@ulster.ac.ukDownload date: 22/03/2025Frontiers in PsychiatryOPEN ACCESSEDITED AND REVIEWED BYElaine F. Walker,Emory University, United States*CORRESPONDENCEAlejandro de la Torre-Luqueaf.delatorre@ucm.esRECEIVED 25 October 2024ACCEPTED 05 February 2025PUBLISHED 18 February 2025CITATIONde la Torre-Luque A, Menashe Iand McElroy E (2025) Editorial:Psychopathological trajectories inadolescent and young adult psychiatry.Front. Psychiatry 16:1517233.doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233COPYRIGHT© 2025 de la Torre-Luque, Menashe andMcElroy. This is an open-access articledistributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (CC BY). Theuse, distribution or reproduction in otherforums is permitted, provided the originalauthor(s) and the copyright owner(s) arecredited and that the original publication inthis journal is cited, in accordance withaccepted academic practice. No use,distribution or reproduction is permittedwhich does not comply with these terms.TYPE EditorialPUBLISHED 18 February 2025DOI 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233Editorial: Psychopathologicaltrajectories in adolescent andyoung adult psychiatryAlejandro de la Torre-Luque1*, Idan Menashe2and Eoin McElroy31Department of Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, UniversidadComplutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2Department of Public Health. Faculty of Health Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel, 3School of Psychology, Ulster University,Coleraine, United KingdomKEYWORDSadolescence, mental disorder, personalized medicine, lifelong approach,developmental psychopatholgyEditorial on the Research TopicPsychopathological trajectories in adolescent and young adult psychiatryAdolescence constitutes a crucial period in life, featured by critical influences ofbiological and maturational forces on physiological and psychological processes towardsadulthood. People face important individual and social challenges when enteringadulthood, such as the exploration of life directions and the entry into adultcommitments. Alterations from normative patterns of adjustment are frequently seenduring these ages, leading to psychiatric conditions that may show enduring effects later inlife. In this regard, over one in four people may exhibit a psychiatric disorder during theiradolescent and young ages (1, 2). Moreover, the development of a psychiatric condition inyoung ages (regardless of reaching a clinical meaningfulness point) can increase up to 12times the risk of suffering from another condition later in life (3). In addition, the presenceof a mental health disorder at a young age has been associated with an increased risk ofmortality directly or indirectly, through the development of suicidal behaviour. Suicidalbehaviour and non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH) are increasingly prevalent in adolescenceaccording to both community and clinical research. Finally, the burden of disease and lossof functioning (i.e., years of life lost) derived from psychiatric disorders have increased by35% in young people in recent decades (4).From a lifelong standpoint, the study of mental health conditions in adolescence andyouth becomes critical to understanding early psychopathology and psychiatricmanifestations, and further episodes across the lifespan. Moreover, the identification ofperiod-specific protective and risk profiles may help improve diagnostic tools and optimizetreatment provision and follow-up protocols. Casey et al. (5) stressed the importance offocusing on critical periods of psychopathology development to study the natural course ofpsychiatric disorders across the lifespan, to identify potential developmental cascades inconstant interaction with environmental influences. In this regard, the course of aneurodevelopmental process may depict different shapes with notable peaks across the lifeperiods. These peaks may represent sensitive periods or restricted windows of development,frontiersin.org01de la Torre-Luque et al. 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233featured by a greater susceptibility to external influences. A largebody of evidence has put the spotlight on adolescence and youth assensitive periods of psychopathology development.This Research Topic entitled ‘Psychopathological Trajectories inAdolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry,’ comprises fouroutstanding studies aimed at providing robust evidence onpsychiatric conditions and their interplay with protective and riskfactors in adolescence and youth, understood as critical periods ofpsychopathology and NSSH development. The Research Topicpresents a good variety of studies, obtaining evidence fromqualitative and quantitative designs and from different regionsacross the globe. First, the study by Pace et al. constitutes asystematic review with meta-analysis on the use of an empiricallybased assessment system (ASEBA) to explore emotional symptomsand conduct problems in Italian adolescents. Overall, 44 studieswere included in the analysis, comprising evidence from both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The analyses provided normativescores on emotional and conduct problems in adolescents, as well assome interesting effects of sociodemographic factors on emotionalsymptoms. For example, a higher proportion of female participantsin the sample, higher age, and higher mean scores in studiespublished during the pandemic years were uncovered.The second study by Xiao et al. constitutes an empirical,prospective study comprising a sample of 520 adolescents (hospitalinpatients) with a psychiatric disorder and to describe thesociodemographic and clinical profiles of patients with self-harmbehaviour (NSSH). The authors reported that more than 1 in fourparticipants (77.8%) in their sample showed active NSSH.Furthermore, the factors associated with the group with NSSHwere: female gender, having younger age (10–14 years), depressivesymptoms, suicide history, and a history of adverse life events. Most ofthese findings are in-line with risk factors of NSSH that are commonlyseen in studies across the globe, providing invaluable data from aneastern country with a large sample of adolescents in clinical settings.From a wider, systemic perspective, Wang et al. collected data onparental experiences of parents from Chinese adolescent inpatientswith an affective disorder and NSSH during the COVID-19 pandemicyears. This study was based on a phenomenological approach tocollect qualitative data. The study stressed several important points toincorporate within therapeutic interventions to reduce NSSHengagement, such as the knowledge gaps of parents in terms ofdealing with NSSH crisis, management of expectations towards theirsons and related role to maintain NSSH. Additionally, the studystresses the importance of parental processes to help adolescentsFrontiers in Psychiatry 02resolve internal conflicts and external conflicting situations, andplacing parental factors as critical risk factors for NSSH engagement.Finally, the study by Lockwood et al. aimed to study thedynamics of NSSH in a sample of young people and adults whoengaged in a NSSH episode repeatedly. The participants were askedto report about their experiences of self-harming by using the CardSort Task for Self-harm (CaTS). Changes from the first NSSHepisode to the most recent one were assessed. As a result, theauthors stressed similarities and differences between the age groupsin terms of NSSH dynamics. Additionally, some valuable insight onemotional regulation dynamics were obtained from this study. Forinstance, young people showed an attenuation in positive emotionstates after self-harming from the first NSSH episode in comparisonto a more recent one; in contrast, adult people who engaged inNSSH kept feeling better after self-harming. Moreover, adultparticipants showed higher negative emotional states the day afterself-harming in comparison to their young counterparts.In summary, this Research Topic constitutes an invaluablesource of evidence, contributing to the advancement ofpersonalized medicine of psychiatric disorders and gaining insightinto a comprehensive understanding of clinical profiles inadolescence and youth, as critical periods of development withpivotal influence in adult and older life.Author contributionsAd: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. IM:Writing – review & editing. EM: Writing – review & editing.Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in theabsence of any commercial or financial relationships that could beconstrued as a potential conflict of interest.Publisher’s noteAll claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authorsand do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations,or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any productthat may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by itsmanufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.References1. Merikangas KR, Nakamura EF, Kessler RC. Epidemiology of mental disorders inchildren and adolescents. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. (2009) 11:7–20. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2009.11.1/krmerikangas2. Chen YL, Chen WJ, Lin KC, Shen LJ, Gau SSF. Prevalence of DSM-5mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of children in Taiwan:methodology and main findings. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. (2020) 29:e15.doi: 10.1017/S20457960180007933. McGrath JJ, Lim CCW, Plana-Ripoll O, Holtz Y, Agerbo E, Momen NC, et al.Comorbidity within mental disorders: a comprehensive analysis based on 145 990survey respondents from 27 countries. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. (2020) 29:e153.doi: 10.1017/S20457960200006334. Armocida B, Monasta L, Sawyer S, Bustreo F, Segafredo G, Castelpietra G, et al.Burden of non-communicable diseases among adolescents aged 10–24 years in the EU1990–2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019. LancetChild Adolesc Health. (2022) 6(6):367–83. doi: 10.1016/s2352-4642(22)00073-65. Casey BJ, Oliveri ME, Insel T. A neurodevelopmental perspective on the researchdomain criteria (RDoC) framework. Biol Psychiatry. (2014) 76:350–3. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.01.006frontiersin.org

Editorial: Psychopathological trajectories in adolescent and young adult psychiatry

Alejandro de la Torre-Luque

Idan Menashe

Eoin McElroy

Directory of Open Access Journals

Frontiers in PsychiatryOPEN ACCESSEDITED AND REVIEWED BYElaine F. Walker,Emory University, United States*CORRESPONDENCEAlejandro de la Torre-Luqueaf.delatorre@ucm.esRECEIVED 25 October 2024ACCEPTED 05 February 2025PUBLISHED 18 February 2025CITATIONde la Torre-Luque A, Menashe Iand McElroy E (2025) Editorial:Psychopathological trajectories inadolescent and young adult psychiatry.Front. Psychiatry 16:1517233.doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233COPYRIGHT© 2025 de la Torre-Luque, Menashe andMcElroy. This is an open-access articledistributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (CC BY). Theuse, distribution or reproduction in otherforums is permitted, provided the originalauthor(s) and the copyright owner(s) arecredited and that the original publication inthis journal is cited, in accordance withaccepted academic practice. No use,distribution or reproduction is permittedwhich does not comply with these terms.TYPE EditorialPUBLISHED 18 February 2025DOI 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233Editorial: Psychopathologicaltrajectories in adolescent andyoung adult psychiatryAlejandro de la Torre-Luque1*, Idan Menashe2and Eoin McElroy31Department of Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, UniversidadComplutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2Department of Public Health. Faculty of Health Sciences,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel, 3School of Psychology, Ulster University,Coleraine, United KingdomKEYWORDSadolescence, mental disorder, personalized medicine, lifelong approach,developmental psychopatholgyEditorial on the Research TopicPsychopathological trajectories in adolescent and young adult psychiatryAdolescence constitutes a crucial period in life, featured by critical influences ofbiological and maturational forces on physiological and psychological processes towardsadulthood. People face important individual and social challenges when enteringadulthood, such as the exploration of life directions and the entry into adultcommitments. Alterations from normative patterns of adjustment are frequently seenduring these ages, leading to psychiatric conditions that may show enduring effects later inlife. In this regard, over one in four people may exhibit a psychiatric disorder during theiradolescent and young ages (1, 2). Moreover, the development of a psychiatric condition inyoung ages (regardless of reaching a clinical meaningfulness point) can increase up to 12times the risk of suffering from another condition later in life (3). In addition, the presenceof a mental health disorder at a young age has been associated with an increased risk ofmortality directly or indirectly, through the development of suicidal behaviour. Suicidalbehaviour and non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH) are increasingly prevalent in adolescenceaccording to both community and clinical research. Finally, the burden of disease and lossof functioning (i.e., years of life lost) derived from psychiatric disorders have increased by35% in young people in recent decades (4).From a lifelong standpoint, the study of mental health conditions in adolescence andyouth becomes critical to understanding early psychopathology and psychiatricmanifestations, and further episodes across the lifespan. Moreover, the identification ofperiod-specific protective and risk profiles may help improve diagnostic tools and optimizetreatment provision and follow-up protocols. Casey et al. (5) stressed the importance offocusing on critical periods of psychopathology development to study the natural course ofpsychiatric disorders across the lifespan, to identify potential developmental cascades inconstant interaction with environmental influences. In this regard, the course of aneurodevelopmental process may depict different shapes with notable peaks across the lifeperiods. These peaks may represent sensitive periods or restricted windows of development,frontiersin.org01de la Torre-Luque et al. 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1517233featured by a greater susceptibility to external influences. A largebody of evidence has put the spotlight on adolescence and youth assensitive periods of psychopathology development.This Research Topic entitled ‘Psychopathological Trajectories inAdolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry,’ comprises fouroutstanding studies aimed at providing robust evidence onpsychiatric conditions and their interplay with protective and riskfactors in adolescence and youth, understood as critical periods ofpsychopathology and NSSH development. The Research Topicpresents a good variety of studies, obtaining evidence fromqualitative and quantitative designs and from different regionsacross the globe. First, the study by Pace et al. constitutes asystematic review with meta-analysis on the use of an empiricallybased assessment system (ASEBA) to explore emotional symptomsand conduct problems in Italian adolescents. Overall, 44 studieswere included in the analysis, comprising evidence from both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The analyses provided normativescores on emotional and conduct problems in adolescents, as well assome interesting effects of sociodemographic factors on emotionalsymptoms. For example, a higher proportion of female participantsin the sample, higher age, and higher mean scores in studiespublished during the pandemic years were uncovered.The second study by Xiao et al. constitutes an empirical,prospective study comprising a sample of 520 adolescents (hospitalinpatients) with a psychiatric disorder and to describe thesociodemographic and clinical profiles of patients with self-harmbehaviour (NSSH). The authors reported that more than 1 in fourparticipants (77.8%) in their sample showed active NSSH.Furthermore, the factors associated with the group with NSSHwere: female gender, having younger age (10–14 years), depressivesymptoms, suicide history, and a history of adverse life events. Most ofthese findings are in-line with risk factors of NSSH that are commonlyseen in studies across the globe, providing invaluable data from aneastern country with a large sample of adolescents in clinical settings.From a wider, systemic perspective, Wang et al. collected data onparental experiences of parents from Chinese adolescent inpatientswith an affective disorder and NSSH during the COVID-19 pandemicyears. This study was based on a phenomenological approach tocollect qualitative data. The study stressed several important points toincorporate within therapeutic interventions to reduce NSSHengagement, such as the knowledge gaps of parents in terms ofdealing with NSSH crisis, management of expectations towards theirsons and related role to maintain NSSH. Additionally, the studystresses the importance of parental processes to help adolescentsFrontiers in Psychiatry 02resolve internal conflicts and external conflicting situations, andplacing parental factors as critical risk factors for NSSH engagement.Finally, the study by Lockwood et al. aimed to study thedynamics of NSSH in a sample of young people and adults whoengaged in a NSSH episode repeatedly. The participants were askedto report about their experiences of self-harming by using the CardSort Task for Self-harm (CaTS). Changes from the first NSSHepisode to the most recent one were assessed. As a result, theauthors stressed similarities and differences between the age groupsin terms of NSSH dynamics. Additionally, some valuable insight onemotional regulation dynamics were obtained from this study. Forinstance, young people showed an attenuation in positive emotionstates after self-harming from the first NSSH episode in comparisonto a more recent one; in contrast, adult people who engaged inNSSH kept feeling better after self-harming. Moreover, adultparticipants showed higher negative emotional states the day afterself-harming in comparison to their young counterparts.In summary, this Research Topic constitutes an invaluablesource of evidence, contributing to the advancement ofpersonalized medicine of psychiatric disorders and gaining insightinto a comprehensive understanding of clinical profiles inadolescence and youth, as critical periods of development withpivotal influence in adult and older life.Author contributionsAd: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. IM:Writing – review & editing. EM: Writing – review & editing.Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in theabsence of any commercial or financial relationships that could beconstrued as a potential conflict of interest.Publisher’s noteAll claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authorsand do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations,or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any productthat may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by itsmanufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.References1. Merikangas KR, Nakamura EF, Kessler RC. Epidemiology of mental disorders inchildren and adolescents. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. (2009) 11:7–20. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2009.11.1/krmerikangas2. Chen YL, Chen WJ, Lin KC, Shen LJ, Gau SSF. Prevalence of DSM-5mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of children in Taiwan:methodology and main findings. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. (2020) 29:e15.doi: 10.1017/S20457960180007933. McGrath JJ, Lim CCW, Plana-Ripoll O, Holtz Y, Agerbo E, Momen NC, et al.Comorbidity within mental disorders: a comprehensive analysis based on 145 990survey respondents from 27 countries. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. (2020) 29:e153.doi: 10.1017/S20457960200006334. Armocida B, Monasta L, Sawyer S, Bustreo F, Segafredo G, Castelpietra G, et al.Burden of non-communicable diseases among adolescents aged 10–24 years in the EU1990–2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019. LancetChild Adolesc Health. (2022) 6(6):367–83. doi: 10.1016/s2352-4642(22)00073-65. Casey BJ, Oliveri ME, Insel T. A neurodevelopmental perspective on the researchdomain criteria (RDoC) framework. Biol Psychiatry. (2014) 76:350–3. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.01.006frontiersin.org

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