Open Access in JAH
Anxiety and Depression Signs Among Adolescents in 26 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Prevalence and Association With Functional Difficulties
The aim of this study is to describe the occurrence of signs of depression and anxiety among adolescents from 26 low- and middle-income countries and explore the extent to which these are associated with difficulties across other functional domains.Detecting Depression and Anxiety Among Adolescents in South Africa: Validity of the isiXhosa Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7
Screening tools such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) could potentially be used in resource-limited settings to identify adolescents who need mental health support. We examined the criterion validity of the isiXhosa versions of the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 in detecting depression and anxiety among adolescents (10–19 years) in South Africa.Screening and Brief Intervention With Low-Income Youth in Community-Based Settings
We described screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) results and assessed whether SBIRT is associated with positive changes in substance use, risky use, and educational/employment outcomes for youth in community-based settings that are not healthcare focused.Translation and Adaptation of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale: A Qualitative Study in Belize
Adapting data collection instruments using transcultural translation and adaptation processes is essential to ensure that respondents comprehend the items and the original meaning is retained across languages and contexts. This approach is central to UNICEF’s efforts to expand the use of standard data collection tools across settings and close the global data gap on adolescent mental health.Toward a Demand-Driven, Collaborative Data Agenda for Adolescent Mental Health
Existing datasets and research in the field of adolescent mental health do not always meet the needs of practitioners, policymakers, and program implementers, particularly in the context of vulnerable populations. Here, we introduce a collaborative, demand-driven methodology for the development of a strategic adolescent mental health research agenda. Ultimately, this agenda aims to guide future data sharing and collection efforts that meet the most pressing data needs of key stakeholders.Accuracy of a Proactive Case Detection Tool for Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among Children and Adolescents
Lack of identification and referral of children and adolescents with mental health problems contributes to the treatment gap in low- and middle-income countries, and especially in humanitarian settings. The Community Case Detection Tool (CCDT) is developed to improve community-based detection and increase help-seeking among children and adolescents in need of mental health care. The CCDT uses brief, easily understood pictorial vignettes that represent common symptoms of childhood internalizing and externalizing problems.Unequal Gender Norms Are Related to Symptoms of Depression Among Young Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional, Cross-Cultural Study
This study was undertaken among 10- to 14-year-old girls and boys in disadvantaged areas of Shanghai, China; Cuenca, Ecuador; Flanders, Belgium; and Denpasar and Semarang, Indonesia. It aimed to assess whether gender norms are related to depressive symptomatology, and to examine whether sex differences in depressive symptoms can be explained by differences in gender norm perceptions.Pornography Use and Perceived Gender Norms Among Young Adolescents in Urban Poor Environments: A Cross-site Study
The purpose of the study is to assess the prevalence of pornography use and its association with a range of perceived gender norms among adolescents aged 10–14 years across five urban poor settings globally.The Intersection of Power and Gender: Examining the Relationship of Empowerment and Gender-Unequal Norms Among Young Adolescents in Kinshasa, DRC
To examine how perceptions of gender norms and expressions of empowerment are related among disadvantaged young adolescent boys and girls in Kinshasa, DRC.Digital Health Technology to Enhance Adolescent and Young Adult Clinical Preventive Services: Affordances and Challenges
The lives of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) have become increasingly intertwined with technology. In this scoping review, studies about digital health tools are summarized in relation to five key affordances—social, cognitive, identity, emotional, and functional. Consideration of how a platform or tool exemplifies these affordances may help clinicians and researchers achieve the goal of using digital health technology to enhance clinical preventive services for AYAs. Across these five affordances, considerable research and development activity exists accompanied by signs of high promise, although the literature primarily reflects demonstration studies of acceptability or small sample experiments to discern impact.Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Preventive Adolescent Healthcare
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are creating new opportunities for personalizing technology-based health interventions to adolescents. This article provides a computer science perspective on how emerging AI technologies—intelligent learning environments, interactive narrative generation, user modeling, and adaptive coaching—can be utilized to model adolescent learning and engagement and deliver personalized support in adaptive health technologies. Many of these technologies have emerged from human-centered applications of AI in education, training, and entertainment.Adolescents' Intense and Problematic Social Media Use and Their Well-Being in 29 Countries
This study examined (1) whether intense and problematic social media use (SMU) were independently associated with adolescent well-being; (2) whether these associations varied by the country-level prevalence of intense and problematic SMU; and (3) whether differences in the country-level prevalence of intense and problematic SMU were related to differences in mobile Internet access.Weight Reduction Behaviors Among European Adolescents—Changes From 2001/2002 to 2017/2018
The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in the prevalence of weight reduction behaviors (WRBs) among European adolescents from 26 countries between 2001/2002 and 2017/2018. The impact of the perception of body weight on WLB was also analyzed, with particular attention being paid to overestimation.How Are Adolescents Sleeping? Adolescent Sleep Patterns and Sociodemographic Differences in 24 European and North American Countries
Insufficient and poor sleep patterns are common among adolescents worldwide. Up to now, the evidence on adolescent sleep has been mostly informed by country-specific studies that used different measures and age groups, making direct comparisons difficult. Cross-national data on adolescent sleep that could inform nations and international discussions are lacking. We examined the sleep patterns of adolescents across 24 countries and by gender, age, and affluence groups.Measuring Social Norms Related to Child Marriage Among Adult Decision-Makers of Young Girls in Phalombe and Thyolo, Malawi
Given the importance of developing appropriate measures for assessing social norm change, this article documents the process, results, and lessons learned from a baseline survey measuring social norms related to child marriage in Phalombe and Thyolo districts in Southern Malawi.Scaling-up Normative Change Interventions for Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health: An Examination of the Evidence
Adolescent and youth reproductive health (AYRH) outcomes are influenced by factors beyond individual control. Increasingly, interventions are seeking to influence community-level normative change to support healthy AYRH behaviors. While evidence is growing of the effectiveness of AYRH interventions that include normative change components, understanding on how to achieve scale-up and wider impact of these programs remains limited. We analyzed peer-reviewed and gray literature from 2000 to 2017 describing 42 AYRH interventions with community-based normative change components that have scaled-up in low/middle-income countries.Keep Your Eyes on the Road: Young Driver Crash Risk Increases According to Duration of Distraction
Secondary task engagement that distracts the driver is a contributing factor to motor vehicle crashes among adults. However, the association between eye glance duration and crash risk with novice teenage drivers has not been determined.Distracted Driver Behaviors and Distracting Conditions Among Adolescent Drivers: Findings From a Naturalistic Driving Study
The proliferation of new communication technologies and capabilities has prompted concern about driving safety. This concern is particularly acute for inexperienced adolescent drivers. In addition to being early adopters of technology, many adolescents have not achieved the degree of automaticity in driving that characterizes experienced adults. Consequently, distractions may be more problematic in this group. Yet little is known about the nature or prevalence of distracted driving behaviors or distracting conditions among adolescent drivers.Social Norms and Risk Perception: Predictors of Distracted Driving Behavior Among Novice Adolescent Drivers
Adolescent drivers are at elevated crash risk due to distracted driving behavior (DDB). Understanding parental and peer influences on adolescent DDB may aid future efforts to decrease crash risk. We examined the influence of risk perception, sensation seeking, as well as descriptive and injunctive social norms on adolescent DDB using the theory of normative social behavior.Suicidal Adolescents’ Experiences With Bullying Perpetration and Victimization during High School as Risk Factors for Later Depression and Suicidality
This is the first study to examine the extent to which frequent involvement in high-school bullying (as a bullying perpetrator, victim of bullying, or bully-victim) increases the risk for later depression and suicidality beyond other well-established risk factors of suicide. The study included 96 students who reported being a bully, a victim, or a bully-victim, and also reported depression, suicidality, or substance problems during an initial suicide screen. These students were interviewed 2 years later and were compared with 142 youth identified during the initial screen as “suicide-at-risk” by virtue of their depression, suicidal ideation, attempts, and substance problems, but who did not report any involvement in bullying behavior.An Intervention to Decrease Adolescent Indoor Tanning: A Multi-Method Pilot Study
Indoor tanning usually begins during adolescence, but few strategies exist to discourage adolescent use. We developed and tested a parent–teenager intervention to decrease indoor tanning use.Correlates of Intentional Tanning Among Adolescents in the United States: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation and a history of sunburn in childhood contribute to risk of skin cancer in adolescence and in adulthood, but many adolescents continue to seek a tan, either from the sun or from tanning beds (i.e., intentional tanning). To understand tanning behavior among adolescents, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify correlates of intentional tanning in the United States.Exposure to Chemicals and Radiation During Childhood and Risk for Cancer Later in Life
Many chemical carcinogens are in food, water, air, household products, and personal care products. Although genetic susceptibility is an important factor in how an individual responds to exposure to a carcinogen, heritable genetic factors alone account for only a minor portion of cancer rates.Image Gently: A Campaign to Reduce Children's and Adolescents' Risk for Cancer During Adulthood
Recently, the Cancer Prevention Across the Lifespan workgroup at the Centers for Disease Control held a workshop entitled “Identifying Opportunities for Cancer Prevention During Pre-Adolescence and Adolescence.” With the goal of raising awareness and developing community and policy interventions to decrease risk factors for cancer, one session highlighted the danger of ionizing radiation exposure from diagnostic medical imaging. This session focused on the Image Gently campaign, which is a multidisciplinary partnership focused on increasing awareness, developing education materials, and advocating for children to protect them from unnecessary radiation.Physical Activity and Lung Function in Adolescents: The 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study
To evaluate the association between physical activity changes in those aged 11 to 15 years and lung function at age 15 years.
