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Understanding depression in adolescents: a dynamic psychosocial web of risk and protective factors
- Authors:
- KASSIS Wassilis, ARTZ Sibylle, WHITE Jennifer
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Youth Care Forum, 46(5), 2017, pp.721-743.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Background: Adolescent depression has been recognised as a complex problem that presents a global public health challenge. Left undetected and untreated, depression can significantly reduce quality of life. Objective: The main purpose of this paper is to re-visit risk and protective factors for depression in adolescents with a specific focus on exploring the individual, familial, and social contexts of depression (especially high and very high depression levels) in a multi-country sample of youth in order to see if these factors are mitigated by cultural location. Methods: Questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study of a randomly selected sample of 5149 middle-school students from four EU-countries (Austria, Germany, Slovenia, and Spain) was used. Applying variance analysis, the prediction strength for the observed risk and protective factors were examined. Results: In all participating countries the authors show that in for both male and female adolescents, depression is linked to a broad range of interactive individual, and social protective and risk factors, such that even if the contribution of a single factor is low but still significant and this factor’s prediction strength is low or moderate, taken together, the cumulative prediction strength of these factors yields a remarkably similar coefficient of determination of 42–49% in all samples. Conclusions: The authors have established a significant and relevant combination of the individual and social multifactorial risk and protective factors that characterise depression in adolescents of both genders, no matter their country of location and with that, the authors call for a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to mental health assessment, prevention and intervention. (Edited publisher abstract)
Child murder and gender differences – a nationwide register-based study of filicide offenders in two European countries
- Authors:
- PUTKONEN Hanna, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 21(5), October 2010, pp.637-648.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The killing of one’s child is an engendered crime, and offending mothers and fathers have been found to differ in both situational characteristics and in mental health issues. This study aimed to investigate gender differences in filicide offenders' psychiatric diagnoses, history, and other mental health-related variables. The study covered all 124 filicide offenders in Austria and Finland in 1995-2005. All registered-based data was gathered for these cases. There were 79 female and 45 male offenders. The findings showed that both genders had an equally challenged childhood. The filicidal fathers were older than the mothers, with mean ages 37.5 and 31.6 years, respectively. Filicidal fathers committed suicide at the crime scene more often than the mothers (38% vs. 15%). Of the examined parents, fathers were diagnosed more often with substance abuse/dependence (39% vs. 2%) and mothers with a psychotic disorder (35% vs. 13%). During the year preceding the crime, 25 (32%) of the mothers and 13 (29%) of the fathers had sought help for mental health-related problems. The article concludes that service providers need specific strategies to support parents in distress, especially when depressive symptoms are present.