Youth and Health as an issue of Research in Social Work - Two examples of current Research

Health issues under aspects pertaining to social work are currently being investigated in our department under two main perspectives. The study of Youth, Health, and Internet is based on experiences with a project of e-mail counseling for youths we have been running in our department for one year so far. Our thesis is that the internet has become an important platform for youngsters in general as well as concerning health issues specifically. So far, however, little is known about the ways youths address their health related problems in the net. We believe that research in this area is badly needed since future concepts of effective health improvement and prevention for youths cannot ignore this medium. Biography and Health is our second focus of investigation, addressing deficiencies in the empirical research of Aaron Antonovsky´s salutogenetic concept that has lately become quite popular in many health discussions. Drawing from biographical methods we are currently investigating the development of the so called "sense of coherence" - the center piece of salutogenesis.

Mental health-care utilization in survivors of childhood cancer and siblings: the Swiss childhood cancer survivor study

PURPOSE We aimed to (1) describe the utilization of mental health-care in survivors and siblings, the association with severity of distress, and visits to other professionals in distressed survivors not utilizing mental health-care; and (2) identify factors associated with utilization of mental health-care in distressed survivors. METHODS Within the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, we sent postal questionnaires to all participants aged <16 years at diagnosis (1976-2003), who survived ≥5 years after diagnosis and were aged ≥16 years at study. Survivors and siblings could indicate if they utilized mental health-care in the past year. Psychological distress was assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18). Participants with scores T ≥ 57 on two of three scales or the Global Severity Index were considered distressed. RESULTS We included 1,602 survivors and 703 siblings. Overall, 160 (10 %) and 53 (8 %), utilized mental health-care and 203 (14 %) and 127 (14 %) were considered distressed. Among these, 69 (34 %) survivors and 20 (24 %) siblings had utilized mental health-care. Participants with higher distress were more likely to utilize mental health-care. Distressed survivors not utilizing mental health-care were more likely to see a medical specialist than nondistressed. In the multivariable regression, factors associated with utilizing mental health-care were higher psychological distress and reporting late effects. CONCLUSIONS Our results underline the importance of developing interventional programs and implementing psychological screening in follow-up of survivors. It is also important to systematically address siblings' needs. In follow-up, patients at risk should be informed about existing possibilities or advised to visit mental health professionals.

Encouraging adolescents toward mental health careers via website biographies.

This project designed, developed, implemented and is currently evaluating the effectiveness of an interactive, multi-media website designed to encourage adolescents to consider careers in mental health. This Web-based learning environment features biographies of mental health scientists. Evaluation is conducted in a systematic, structured way using cognitive achievement, usability (ease of use), and affective scales (e.g., fun to use) as outcome measures

Intensive Family Preservation in Children's Mental Health: Predictors of Placement

This article examines the predictors of placement following IFPSfor a sample of child mental health service recipients and their families. Risk and protective factors vary depending on the time frame under consideration. Immediately following service, children 's level of Social/Legal functioning, a previous group home placement, and the presence of mental health problems for other family members increase risk of placement, while the number of follow-up services serves to lessen risk. Three to six months after service, the presence of a child behavior presenting problem and a projected placement in foster care serve as protective factors, while two service targets, alcohol monitoring and time management, serve to increase risk. Appropriate use of results for program design and for structuring access to services is discussed.

Shorter time since inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis in children is associated with lower mental health in parents.

AIM This study assessed the mental health of parents of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), compared their mental health with age-matched and gender-matched references and examined parental and child predictors for mental health problems. METHODS A total of 125 mothers and 106 fathers of 125 children with active and inactive IBD from the Swiss IBD multicentre cohort study were included. Parental mental health was assessed by the Symptom Checklist 27 and child behaviour problems by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Child medical data were extracted from hospital records. RESULTS While the mothers reported lower mental health, the fathers' mental health was similar, or even better, than in age-matched and gender-matched community controls. In both parents, shorter time since the child's diagnosis was associated with poorer mental health. In addition, the presence of their own IBD diagnosis and child behaviour problems predicted maternal mental health problems. CONCLUSIONS Parents of children with IBD may need professional support when their child is diagnosed, to mitigate distress. This, in turn, may help the child to adjust better to IBD. Particular attention should be paid to mothers who have their own IBD diagnosis and whose children display behaviour problems.

Evaluating an e-mental health program (“deprexis”) as adjunctive treatment tool in psychotherapy for depression: design of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) places a significant disease burden on individuals as well as on societies. Several web-based interventions for MDD have shown to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms. However, it is not known whether web-based interventions, when used as adjunctive treatment tools to regular psychotherapy, have an additional effect compared to regular psychotherapy for depression. Methods/design This study is a currently recruiting pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) that compares regular psychotherapy plus a web-based depression program (¿deprexis¿) with a control condition exclusively receiving regular psychotherapy. Adults with a depressive disorder (N?=?800) will be recruited in routine secondary care from therapists over the course of their initial sessions and will then be randomized within therapists to one of the two conditions. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) at three months post randomization. Secondary outcomes include changes on various indicators such as anxiety, somatic symptoms and quality of life. All outcomes are again assessed at the secondary endpoint six months post randomization. In addition, the working alliance and feasibility/acceptability of the treatment condition will be explored. Discussion This is the first randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility/acceptability and the effectiveness of a combination of traditional face-to-face psychotherapy and web-based depression program compared to regular psychotherapeutic treatment in depressed outpatients in routine care.

A Longitudinal Study of Mental Health in Emerging Adults

Emerging adulthood is a time of instability. This longitudinal study investigated the relationship between mental health and need satisfaction among emerging adults over a period of five years and focused on gender-specific differences. Two possible causal models were examined: (1) the mental health model, which predicts that incongruence is due to the presence of impaired mental health at an earlier point in time; (2) the consistency model, which predicts that impaired mental health is due to a higher level of incongruence reported at an earlier point in time. Emerging adults (N = 1,017) aged 18–24 completed computer-assisted telephone interviews in 2003 (T1), 2005 (T2), and 2008 (T3). The results indicate that better mental health at T1 predicts a lower level of incongruence two years later (T2), when prior level of incongruence is controlled for. The same cross-lagged effect is shown for T3. However, the cross-lagged paths from incongruence to mental health are marginally associated when prior mental health is controlled for. No gender differences were found in the cross-lagged model. The results support the mental health model and show that incongruence does not have a long-lasting negative effect on mental health. The results highlight the importance of identifying emerging adults with poor mental health early to provide support regarding need satisfaction.

Towards a new model of care: integrating mental health, substance use, and somatic care

Although research and clinical interventions for patients with dual disorders have been described since as early as the 1980s, the day-to-day treatment of these patients remains problematic and challenging in many countries. Throughout this book, many approaches and possible pathways have been outlined. Based upon these experiences, some key points can be extracted in order to guide to future developments. (1) New diagnostic approaches are warranted when dealing with patients who have multiple problems, given the limitations of the current categorical systems. (2) Greater emphasis should be placed on secondary prevention and early intervention for children and adolescents at an increased risk of later-life dual disorders. (3) Mental, addiction, and somatic care systems can be integrated, adopting a patient-focused approach to care delivery. (4) Recovery should be taken into consideration when defining treatment intervention and outcome goals. (5) It is important to reduce societal risk factors, such as poverty and early childhood adversity. (6) More resources are needed to provide adequate mental health care in the various countries. The development of European guidance initiatives would provide benefits in many of these areas, making it possible to ensure a more harmonized standard of care for patients with dual disorders.

No sports – no mental health? Analysis of longitudinal effects in SHP data.

Results from the Zurich study have shown lasting associations between sport practice and mental health. The effects are pronounced in people with pre-exising mental health problems. This analysis aims to replicate these results with the large Swiss Household Panel data set and to provide more differentiated results. The analysis covered the interviews 1999-2003 and included 3891 stayers, i.e., participants who were interviewed in all years. The outcome variables are depression / blues / anxiety, weakness / weariness, sleeping problems, energy / optimism. Confounding variables include sex, age, education level, citizenship. The analyses were carried out with mixed models (depression, optimism) and GEE models (weakness, sleep). About 60% of the SHP participants practise weekly or daily an individual or a team sport. A similar proportion enjoys a frequent physical activity (for half an hour minimum) which makes oneself slightly breathless. There are slight age-specific differences but also noteworthy regional differences. Practice of sport is clearly interrelated with self-reported depressive symptoms, optimism and weakness. This applies even though some relevant confounders – sex, educational level and citizenship – were introduced into the model. However, no relevant interaction effects with time could be shown. Moreover, direct interrelations commonly led to better fits than models with lagged variables, thus indicating that delayed effects of sport practice on the self-reported psychological complaints are less important. Model variants resulted for specific subgroups, for example, participants with a high vs. low initial activity level. Lack of sport practice is an interesting marker for serious psychological symptoms and mental disorders. The background of this association may differ in different subgroups, and should stimulate further investigations in this area.