Stability and change in a predictive model of emotional and behavioural problems from early adolescence to middle adulthood.

The impact of negative life events, self-esteem, and coping behaviour are considered to be contributing factors in the development of emotional and behavioural problems. Differences in the predictive value of these three factors on emotional and behavioural problems from adolescence to adulthood have not yet been studied. Multiple linear regressions separate for the two sexes were used to assess whether the impact of negative life-events, self-esteem, and coping behaviour predicted emotional and behavioural problems at four discrete measurement points from early adolescence to middle adulthood in a cohort of N = 366 participants from a Swiss longitudinal community study.

Effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youth-rated problems and strengths in 38 societies.

Background: Clinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla et al.

Development of Perceived Familial and Non-familial Support in Adolescence; Findings From a Community-Based Longitudinal Study.

There are pronounced developmental changes in perceived social support during adolescence. The present study used the newly developed Adolescent Social Support Questionnaire (ASSQ) to examine both the consultation frequency of, and the satisfaction with perceived social support across adolescence in a longitudinal study focusing on nine different familial and non-familial supporters. The sample of = 857 adolescents was derived from the Zurich Adolescent Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS) and included three measurement time points.

Growth Trajectories of Perceived Parental Behavior During Adolescence.

Perceived parental behaviour has mainly been studied in association with various developmental outcomes in children and adolescents but less is known about the underlying developmental change of parental behavior during adolescence. In the present study, a sample of N = 552 participants aged 11-12 years were assessed at three measurement times during adolescence. Perceived acceptance, psychological control, and structure were measured separately for both parents with the brief Perceived Parental Behavior Inventory (PPBI).

Predictors and outcomes of self-reported dysregulation profiles in youth from age 11 to 21 years.

Understanding the dysregulation profile (DP) consisting of high scores in aggression, attention problems, and anxious/depressed problems is still limited. The aims of the present study were threefold: (a) to analyze developmental trajectories of DP (b) to identify predictors of these trajectories, and (c) to study the outcome of DP in terms of mental disorders and criminal offenses in young adulthood. A sample of 402 individuals aged 11-14 years at baseline was followed up during adolescence and young adulthood.

Selective attrition does not affect cross-sectional estimates of associations with emotional and behavioral problems in a longitudinal study with onset in adolescence.

The present examination raises the question whether attrition in a longitudinal study leads to biased findings. The Zurich Adolescent Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS) originated in 1994 by following a sample of 1239 adolescents with follow-ups after three, six, and 22 years. The study collected data on life-events, self-esteem, and coping behavior as independent and mental problems as dependent variables.

Testing Syndromes of Psychopathology in Parent and Youth Ratings Across Societies.

As societies become increasingly diverse, mental health professionals need instruments for assessing emotional, behavioral, and social problems in terms of constructs that are supported within and across societies. Building on decades of research findings, multisample alignment confirmatory factor analyses tested an empirically based 8-syndrome model on parent ratings across 30 societies and youth self-ratings across 19 societies. The Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 and Youth Self-Report for Ages 11-18 were used to measure syndromes descriptively designated as , and .

Motivation to change, coping, and self-esteem in adolescent anorexia nervosa: a validation study of the Anorexia Nervosa Stages of Change Questionnaire (ANSOCQ).

Background: Understanding motivation to change is a key issue in both the assessment and the treatment of eating disorders. Therefore, sound instruments assessing this construct are of great help to clinicians. Accordingly, the present study analysed the psychometric properties of the Anorexia Nervosa Stages of Change Questionnaire (ANSOCQ), including its relation to coping style and self-esteem.

Parent-Adolescent Cross-Informant Agreement in Clinically Referred Samples: Findings From Seven Societies.

To conduct international comparisons of parent-adolescent cross-informant agreement in clinical samples, we analyzed ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) for 6,762 clinically referred adolescents ages 11-18 from 7 societies (M = 14.5 years, SD = 2.0 years; 51% boys).

A Cross-Lag Panel Analysis of Low Self-Esteem as a Predictor of Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms in a Prospective Longitudinal Study.

Self-esteem, generally regarded as an important indicator of adolescents' mental health, was assessed by a self-report questionnaire in a school sample of 593 subjects who had been assessed at 3 time points over 7 years between 11 and 25 years of age within the Zurich Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS). Cross-lagged panel analyses of the longitudinal data from ZAPPS indicated that self-esteem was predictive of internalizing problems and had an impact on internalizing symptoms when the analyses were adjusted for coping behavior, efficiency of social networks, and impact of stressful life events. Self-esteem was also stable (r = .

Problem coping skills, psychosocial adversities and mental health problems in children and adolescents as predictors of criminal outcomes in young adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to test child and adolescent psychosocial and psychopathological risk factors as predictors of adult criminal outcomes in a Swiss community sample. In particular, the role of active and avoidant problem coping in youths was analysed. Prevalence rates of young adult crime convictions based on register data were calculated.

Internalizing and externalizing problems, depression, and self-esteem in non-detained male juvenile offenders.

Background: High rates of mental disorders have been found in detained juvenile offenders, whereas the role of psychopathology in non-detained offenders is less clear. Therefore, the present study compared psychopathology in male non-detained delinquent juveniles and two matched samples from the community and an adolescent psychiatric clinic.

Methods: 125 male adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (m = 16.

Parent- and self-reported dimensions of oppositionality in youth: construct validity, concurrent validity, and the prediction of criminal outcomes in adulthood.

Background: Different dimensions of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) have been found as valid predictors of further mental health problems and antisocial behaviors in youth. The present study aimed at testing the construct, concurrent, and predictive validity of ODD dimensions derived from parent- and self-report measures.

Method: Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test a three-dimensional model (ODD-irritability, ODD-headstrong, and ODD-hurtful) and a two-dimensional model (ODD-irritability, ODD-headstrong/hurtful) based on items of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self Report (YSR) collected in a Swiss community study of 1,031 adolescents (519 boys, 512 girls) aged between 10.

Cross-informant agreement between parent-reported and adolescent self-reported problems in 25 societies.

We used population sample data from 25 societies to answer the following questions: (a) How consistently across societies do adolescents report more problems than their parents report about them? (b) Do levels of parent-adolescent agreement vary among societies for different kinds of problems? (c) How well do parents and adolescents in different societies agree on problem item ratings? (d) How much do parent-adolescent dyads within each society vary in agreement on item ratings? (e) How well do parent-adolescent dyads within each society agree on the adolescent's deviance status? We used five methods to test cross-informant agreement for ratings obtained from 27,861 adolescents ages 11 to 18 and their parents. Youth Self-Report (YSR) mean scores were significantly higher than Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) mean scores for all problem scales in almost all societies, but the magnitude of the YSR-CBCL discrepancy varied across societies. Cross-informant correlations for problem scale scores varied more across societies than across types of problems.

The use of the development and well-being assessment (DAWBA) in clinical practice: a randomized trial.

The development and well-being assessment (DAWBA) has been used in various epidemiological studies, whereas the clinical value of the instrument needs support from further studies. In particular, it is important to document how the use of the DAWBA influences clinical decision-making. The present study employed the DAWBA in a consecutive series of 270 new referrals to a large public child and adolescent psychiatric service in Zurich, Switzerland.

[Family perceptions and moderating factors of involvement in non-residential fathers].

The involvement of non-resident fathers with their child was analysed by use of a questionnaire in a sample of 74 divorced or separated families living in the city of Ziurich, Switzerland. Fathers, mothers, and one child separately rated the involvement of the father. The three perspectives were compared and showed significant differences in the dimensions of educational responsibility, cognitive and social support, and the quality of the emotional relationship.

[The questionnaire on paternal engagement of separated fathers].

The present contribution presents psychometric findings of a newly developed questionnaire on paternal engagement after parental separation based on a sample of 225 separated or divorced fathers living in the German part of Switzerland. Factor analyses led to the following five dimensions: educational responsibility, cognitive and social support, quality of the emotional relationship, temporal availability, and leisure activities. Internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's Alpha) ranged from .

Accuracy of the DSM-oriented attention problem scale of the child behavior checklist in diagnosing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: The present study aimed at testing the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) including an adapted five-item DSM-Oriented Attention Problem Scale for predicting attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD).

Methods: CBCL ratings were made both in a community sample (N = 390) and an outpatient child psychiatric sample (N = 392). Four different prediction models were analyzed in a community subsample (n = 195) and an outpatient subsample (n = 196) and cross-validated in two further subsamples of the same size.

Prediction of major affective disorders in adolescents by self-report measures.

Background: The Youth Self-Report (YSR) has been used widely as a screening instrument for adolescent psychopathology. The present study aimed at a test of the diagnostic accuracy of the various YSR-scales including a DSM-oriented affective problem scale (YSR AFF) in the prediction of depressive episodes and a comparison with results based on the Center of Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D).

Methods: A consecutive clinical sample of 140 adolescents diagnosed with major depressive episodes according to ICD-10 criteria was compared to a sample of 140 non-referred controls matched by age and sex from a community survey.

Prevalence of self-reported seasonal affective disorders and the validity of the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire in young adults Findings from a Swiss community study.

Background: The objective of this study was to expand the knowledge on the prevalence of self-reported Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and to further study the validity of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ).

Methods: A total of N=844 young adults were assessed in a Swiss community study by use of the SPAQ, a Seasonal Affective Disorders Questionnaire (SADQ), the Young Adult Self Report (YASR), the Centre for Epidemiologic Depression Scale (CES-D), and scales for measuring self-esteem, self-awareness and life events. At a second stage, a total of N=534 screen positives and controls were subjected to the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI) for the assessment of mental disorders.

Psychosocial adaptation of adolescent migrants in a Swiss community survey.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare psychosocial adaptation in adolescent (first generation) migrants, double-citizens (mainly second generation with one migrant parent), and native Swiss, and to compare migrants from various European regions.

Method: Data from a community survey were based on 1,239 participants (mean age 13.8, SD = 1.

Performance of the adolescent obsessive-compulsive scale in a community survey.

Obsessive-compulsive behavior was studied in a cohort of N=570 subjects who had been assessed at three times between adolescence and young adulthood. Based on the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Young Adult Self-Report (YASR), the adolescent obsessive-compulsive scale (AOCS) was defined. At each of the three assessments, subjects scoring above the cut-off score of the 90th percentile of the AOCS were identified and compared to the rest of the sample serving as control group.

The relevance of body weight in the medium-term to long-term course of adolescent anorexia nervosa. Findings from a multisite study.

Objective: The relevance of repeated body mass index (BMI) assessments for long-term outcome in anorexia nervosa (AN) was studied.

Method: Two-hundred and twelve adolescent patients aged 10-18 (Mean 14.9) years from five sites were followed up for an average of 8.

Frequency, stability and differentiation of self-reported school fear and truancy in a community sample.

Background: Surprisingly little is known about the frequency, stability, and correlates of school fear and truancy based on self-reported data of adolescents.

Methods: Self-reported school fear and truancy were studied in a total of N = 834 subjects of the community-based Zurich Adolescent Psychology and Psychopathology Study (ZAPPS) at two times with an average age of thirteen and sixteen years. Group definitions were based on two behavioural items of the Youth Self-Report (YSR).

[The mental status of overweight children].

Objective: Numerous studies based on parent questionnaires reveal that obese children are subject to both physical and psychosocial strains. Children are not included as informants in the assessment procedure, and there is a lack of clinical interview studies assessing DSM-IV-based diagnoses in overweight children.

Methods: Emotional and behavioural problems of treatment seeking obese children (N = 59; aged 8-12-years) attending a mental health service were assessed by means of clinical interviews (Kinder-DIPS) that included child and parent reports.