Search

To examine the associations of excessive internet use with depression, anxiety, and sleep quality among high school students in northern Vietnam, a country experiencing rapid economic growth.A cross-sectional study was conducted in a high school in northern Vietnam from July to September 2019. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were respectively assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Vietnamese Anxiety Scale. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Internet use and demographic characteristics were obtained using structured questionnaires. A multiple logistic regression was performed.In total, 678 participants with an average age of 16.1 (standard deviation 0.9) years were included. Nearly one-third of the adolescents (30.7%) exhibited excessive internet use (4 h/day), 19.6% experienced depressive symptoms, 14.5% presented anxiety symptoms, and 58.8% reported poor sleep quality. Compared to non-excessive internet users, excessive internet users (4 h/day) experienced significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms (p = .001), anxiety (p = .008), and poorer sleep quality (p.001). Students who were female and with fair/poor self-rated health experienced higher depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality (p.05). After adjusting for demographic and health-related factors, students with excessive internet use were 58% more likely to experience poor sleep quality (odds ratio, 1.58, 95% confidence interval [1.06, 2.35]).Excessive internet use in Vietnamese high school students was significantly associated with poor sleep quality, but not with depression or anxiety.

Purpose The aim of the study was to examine if brisk walking is an effective physical activity for promoting adolescents' mental health. Design and methods This quasi-experimental study employs a one-group repeated-measure design. Sixty-four volunteer students in 10th to 12th grade were recruited from a high school in central Taiwan, and they participated in a brisk-walking program for 12 weeks. Psychological functioning was measured by self-concept, anxiety, and depression scores (Beck Youth Inventories-Second Edition; BYI-II). Measurements were conducted at baseline, and 4, 10 and 16 weeks after baseline. The effects of the program were analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Results Significant decreases were seen in anxiety and depression and an increase in positive self-concept. The effect of physical activity on anxiety was clear and could be observed after 6 weeks of the brisk-walking program. Brisk walking for 30-, 60-, and 90-min sessions was examined, with the 60-min session proving more effective than shorter or longer sessions. Conclusions The results suggest that a 12-week brisk-walking program may be effective both at decreasing depression and anxiety and at improving self-concept. The study also showed that anxiety could be considered a risk factor for depression. Further, self-concept was found to be a mediator acting on the psychosocial mechanism of physical activity promoting mental health in adolescents. Practice implications While most physical activity programs in past studies combined different activities, the present study demonstrated that brisk walking alone is a simple, effective exercise regime that promotes adolescents' mental health.

Background This study examined variation between users of ‘club' and ‘hard' drugs in Taiwan in terms of prevalence of use and demographics and psychosocial characteristics. Methods Data were derived from a survey of 17,837 Taiwanese civilians, aged 12–64 years, using stratified, multi-stage, random sampling. Participants completed a computer-assisted self-interview on tablet computers which covered use of legal substances, sedatives/hypnotics and prescription analgesics; use of illicit drugs/inhalants, risky sexual experiences; expectations of drugs; and psychological distress. Findings Approximately 1.29% of respondents reported ever using an illicit drug in their lifetime; prevalence estimates of club drugs (mainly ketamine, marijuana, and ecstasy) were slightly higher than hard drugs (mainly methamphetamine and heroin). Concurrent use of legal substances, particularly problematic use of alcohol and tobacco, as well as non-medical use of prescription drugs, were strong correlates of illicit drug use in general, with club drug use exhibiting an extremely strong association with alcohol use. Club drug users were demographically different from hard drug users, including in terms of their gender, age, and level of educational attainment. They were also more likely to be divorced or widowed, to report risky sexual partnerships and more depressive symptoms than hard drug users. Conclusions Our findings indicate drug type specific distinct psychosocial characteristics, which may warrant further attention in the design of treatment and intervention programs.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent developmental disorder that seriously and negatively impacts a child's health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, no meta-analysis has been conducted to examine the magnitude of impact, domains affected and factors moderating the impact. This review included nine studies that compared HRQOL of children or adolescents with ADHD with those with typical development using both child self-reports and parent proxy-reports. Seven among nine studies were meta-analytically synthesized to examine the degree of impact of ADHD on children and adolescents, parent-child discrepancy, and the moderators. The results indicate that ADHD impact a child's or adolescent's HRQOL negatively with a moderate effect in physical and a severe effect in psychosocial (i.e., emotional, social, and school) domains. Parental ratings of overall HRQOL in children or adolescents with ADHD were not significantly different from child's ratings when compared with typically developing children and adolescents. Age was negatively associated with all domains of HRQOL in children and adolescents with ADHD both by parent- and child-ratings, and the strongest effect was found in parental ratings of child's emotional HRQOL, with a moderate correlation. This meta-analysis suggests that HRQOL may be assessed in children and adolescents with ADHD both by parent proxy- and child self-reports, and that interventions may be planned accordingly. Future meta-analysis may explore how measures of HRQOL and other factors including child, parental, familiar and school characteristics influence the impact of ADHD and the parent-child agreement in children and adolescents.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that may have a chronic and pervasive impact on the child's function and cause long-term stress to parents. A higher rate of depression is associated with mothers of children with ADHD. This observational study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal depression and the child's ADHD on the quality of the parent-child interaction in children with ADHD and their mothers with depression. The study participants comprised 39 mother-son dyads including children with ADHD and mothers with depression, children with ADHD and mothers without depression, and children without ADHD and mothers without depression. The Specific Affect Coding System, 20-code version was used to code interactional affect, including positive engagement, negative engagement, negative disengagement, and neural affect. There were no statistically significant group-by-context interaction effects or group effects on all affective variables between the group of children with ADHD and mothers without depression and the group of children without ADHD and mothers without depression. Stimulant medication may account for these nonsignificant findings. No significant difference of positive affect between neutral and conflict-solving contexts was observed in depressed mothers whose children were diagnosed as ADHD. Children with ADHD whose mothers were depressed were less positive in their parent-child interaction compared with children in the other groups. Maternal depression may play an important role in the affective presentation of dyads of children with ADHD and mothers with depression. Implications for clinical practice and future research are provided.

This meta-analysis examined the effect of behavioral parent training on child and parental outcomes for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Meta-analytic procedures were used to estimate the effect of behavioral parent training on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Variables moderating the intervention effect were examined. Forty studies were included and generated an overall moderate effect size at post-treatment and a small effect size at follow-up. The majority of outcome categories were associated with a moderate effect size at post-treatment that decreased to a small effect size at follow-up. Parenting competence was the only outcome that had a large effect, which decreased to moderate at follow-up. The strength of the effect differed between questionnaire and observation measures. Behavioral parent training is an effective intervention for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sustainability of the effects over time is a problem that awaits further scrutiny. Recommendations for further research and clinical practices are provided.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to develop a new visual grading system for the vascular ratio, to assess the correlation of the prognostic significance of the visual grading system, tumoral blood flow velocity and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen serum levels in invasive SCC of the cervix.Patients and MethodsA total of 117 patients with invasive cervical carcinoma were enrolled for the assessment of vascular grading and tumor flow using transvaginal ultrasound with power Doppler angiography (TV-PDA) before treatment. The modified visual grading system of the vascular ratio (grades 1 to 3) and six blood flow characteristics of tumor vessels (pulsatility index, resistance index, peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, time-averaged maximum velocity, vascular index) were measured by TV-PDA. In addition, serum levels of SCC antigen were randomly obtained in 74 patients with invasive cervical SCC (stages Ia to IIIb) before treatment.ResultsThe modified visual grading system of the vascular ratio significantly correlated with pretreatment SCC antigen serum levels (p < 0.05) and intratumoral resistance index values (p < 0.05, r2 = 0.49) from multiple regression analysis in 71 patients with invasive SCC of the cervix. Modified visual grading of the vascular ratio negatively correlated with intratumoral resistance index values (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r = −0.571, p = 0.001), but positively correlated with pretreatment serum levels of SCC antigen (r = 0.296, p = 0.012). In addition, this modified vascularity grading positively correlated with FIGO stage (r = 0.336, p = 0.004) by correlation analysis.ConclusionThe modified visual grading system of the vascular ratio is a valuable sonographic marker in assessing invasive cervical carcinoma. The three major advantages of this semi-quantitative analysis are ease of discrimination, immediate results, and avoiding wasting time. This semi-quantitative analysis with pretreatment SCC antigen serum levels are two effective markers for assessing invasive cervical carcinoma.

Background: Despite that adolescent substance use is increasingly prevalent throughout the world and leads to increased risk of progression to illicit drug use, few studies have examined in detail individual features that are associated with such use. We aimed to examine personality traits, incompetence, and behavioral/emotional problems in relation to adolescent substance use and possible interactions between these factors. Methods: Junior high school adolescents (N=905) randomly selected from Taipei in 1996 completed a questionnaire consisting of substance use experience, the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ), and the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). Students’ parents (N=854) were asked to complete the Child Behavior Checklist. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between substance use and personality traits or behavioral problems. Results: The most commonly used substance was liquid substance (alcohol and refreshing beverage), followed by tobacco and betel nut with an age-related trend in boys. Associated factors of substance use included higher Extroversion and lower Lie Scale (as measured in the JEPQ), higher Novelty Seeking (as measured in the TPQ), poorer School Competence, and more Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior, and Somatic Complaints. The associations remained unchanged with potential confounders controlled for. Conclusions: Adolescents who use substance have specific individual features that are readily assessable by existing instruments. This bears important implications for the early intervention of substance abuse in adolescents.

Objective To evaluate the rates and patterns of comorbidity between behavioral syndromes in adolescents as reported by parents and teachers. Whether the patterns of comorbidity were “epiphenomenal” was also assessed. Method Parents of 854 randomly selected students (response rate = 88%) in Taipei in 1996 completed the Child Behavior Checklist; among them, 240 also were randomly selected to have the Teacher's Report Form completed by their teachers. In addition to bidirectional comorbidity rates, odds ratios with and without other comorbid pairs controlled for were estimated via multiple logistic regressions. Results High comorbidity rates between behavioral syndromes were found in adolescents as reported both by parents and teachers except for that of Somatic Complaints with other syndromes. When other comorbidity pairs were controlled for, the comorbidity rates between Anxious/Depressed with externalizing syndromes turned out to be epiphenomenal, whereas those between externalizing syndromes remained high for both informants’ reports. Attention Problems also remained significantly comorbid with other syndromes in the multiple logistic regressions except for that of Aggressive Behavior in the Teacher's Report Form sample. Conclusions High comorbidity rates between adolescent behavioral syndromes exist in both parents’ and teachers’ reports, and it is important to control for the epiphenomenal condition when assessing such comorbidity rates.