Body image predictors of depressive symptoms in adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Depression rises significantly in adolescence, with females reporting twice the prevalence of males into adulthood. In accordance with cognitive vulnerability theories, eating and weight-related disturbances have been implicated in this increase, but a broader assessment of body image constructs within this framework is needed. METHODS: The current prospective study examined body importance, body dissatisfaction, and body change strategies to lose weight and increase muscularity as predictors of depressive symptoms over one year in N = 298 adolescents in Canberra, Australia (at Time 2, the sample comprised n = 161 female adolescents, Mage = 15.36 years, SD = 1.10; n = 137 male adolescents, Mage = 15.54 years, SD = 1.15). The moderating role of sex was also assessed. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Results revealed that body importance and body change strategies to increase muscularity explained significant variance in depressive symptoms beyond baseline covariates of depressive symptoms and stress, with the effect of body importance relevant in female but not male adolescents. The findings support the use of more comprehensive assessments of body image constructs to inform cognitive vulnerability theories of adolescent depression, and corresponding prevention and intervention programs.

Deliberate self-harm, substance use, and negative affect in nonclinical samples: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND METHOD: A systematic literature review was conducted to examine associations between self-harm, substance use, and negative affect in nonclinical samples. RESULTS: Forty-two articles describing 36 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicated that individuals who engage in substance use are significantly more likely to engage in self-harm. It was also found that negative affective states such as depression and anxiety are consistently associated with self-harm. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide some guidance in identifying those who are at increased risk of self-harm. Reducing these risk factors could be an important strategy in preventing self-harm behavior in the general population.

Clusters of older adults with and without experience of alcohol-related harms based on affective motivations for drinking.

Aim: This cross-sectional study explores profiles of community-residing Norwegian older adults (aged 62-95 years) in relation to their personally expressed motives for alcohol use. It specifically investigates drinking motives as they uniquely characterise alcohol consumers reporting problem and non-problem drinking assessed using the Drinking Problem Index (DPI). Methods: Two-step cluster analysis was used to delineate subgroups of alcohol consumers on seven drinking motivation variables, together with DPI score. The clusters were evaluated by gender, physical health and psychological health status. Results: Four clusters of alcohol consumers were identified in relation to drinking motives: Low motivated drinkers, Ambivalent drinkers, Enhancement drinkers, and Coping drinkers. For one subgroup, a strong reliance on alcohol to cope with negative feelings was most relevant to both non-problem and problem drinkers. For another subgroup, enjoying the effects of alcohol, but non-reliance on alcohol to cope with negative mood were associated with reporting drinking problems. Ambivalent drinkers reported overall low satisfaction with mental health. Very poor physical and mental health were more prevalent in men than in women characterised as Coping drinkers. Predominantly mental health status supported distinctiveness of delineated clusters. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the classification approach to profiling of characteristics of alcohol consumers based on their motivations to drink may have a potential utility in human care settings to identify individuals who incur or may be at risk of developing alcohol-related problems in later life, and those who are not.

Investigating adolescent stress and body image.

Adolescent stress is clearly implicated in the development of mental health problems. However, its role in dysfunctional body image, which rises markedly in adolescence, has not been investigated. The present study examined the link between stress and body image, as well as self-esteem and depressive symptoms, in 533 high school students in grades 7 to 10. Results indicated that stress accounts for a sizeable proportion of variance in body image, and the best exploratory model included stress, self-esteem, and gender. Further, specific domains of stressors related to body image differently: peer pressure and school attendance were significant correlates of body image in both genders, while future uncertainty and romantic relationships were significant for males alone. Grade differences in primary variables were also evident for females. This study helps to elucidate the role of adolescent stress in dysfunctional body image and provides insight for future prevention and intervention programs in schools.

Interactive Effects of Quality of Life and Related Factors on Alcohol Use Outcomes.

This investigation derives its impetus from public health concerns around detecting, mitigating, and preventing the deleterious effects that alcohol use can cause particularly in advanced age. We aim to complement gerontological research by exploring the interactive effects of quality of life and related factors on alcohol use outcomes assessed by the Drinking Problem Index. The study is based on cross-sectional data collected from questionnaires mailed to a randomly drawn sample of 6,000 Norwegian adults aged 62 and older (participation rate: 32%). According to the Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis, constellations of interactive factors emerged differently for women and men, and, between non-problem and problem drinkers. For women, drinking outcomes were related to intra-psychic functioning, and for men, to physical health and social situation. An ongoing quality-of-life assessment may be very important in the comprehensive assistance provided to those older people who are vulnerable to undergoing alcohol-related harms.

Adolescent stress: evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-N).

The present study reports an evaluation of the factor structure of the Norwegian version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-N) among 723 students. Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed nine internally consistent dimensions of adolescent stress. Scales constructed from this PCA correlated positively with measures of depression and anxiety and negatively with self-esteem. Girls reported higher stress levels than boys in seven of the nine scales and age was also positively correlated with the scale scores of adolescent stress. The results revealed that the instrument has potential for measuring adolescent stress. The stability of the ASQ-N needs to be tested repeatedly, across cohorts and over time, to establish the adequacy for use in Norwegian adolescent studies.

Psychometric validation of the Emerging Adult Stress Inventory (EASI).

Emerging adulthood is characterized by a prolonged transition from adolescence into adult roles and responsibilities. During this time, changes across multiple life domains can elicit stress, and while the impact of this has received substantial attention, measurement across different domains has been inconsistent. The ability to assess both the global stress experience and specific stressor domains (such as in family, peer and romantic relationships, study, work, finances, competing priorities and the future) would be valuable in understanding and addressing the impact of stress on well-being during this period. Informed by the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire, this study sought to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of a multidimensional self-report stress scale for use in emerging adults. The factor structure and validity of the self-report instrument was examined in two large community samples of emerging adults (Nsample1 = 760, Nsample2 = 546) aged 18 to 25 years. A series of exploratory factor analyses yielded eight internally reliable dimensions of emerging adult stress which were then validated with confirmatory factor analysis against univariate and hierarchical models. The derived scale scores related positively to established measures of general stress, anxiety and depression, and negatively to self-esteem, supporting their validity as measures of emerging adult stress. Associations across the domains with age and gender are also reported. The resultant 39-item Emerging Adult Stress Inventory offers a multidimensional self-report stress measure for emerging adults which enables investigation of specificity in the relationship between stress and well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Depression, stress and vascular function from childhood to adolescence: A longitudinal investigation.

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress is associated with risk markers for cardiovascular disease, including increased arterial stiffness and high blood pressure, but it's unclear when these first manifest. This study aims to investigate the effect of psychosocial stress and depression on arterial stiffness and blood pressure in a cohort study of Australian children followed through to adolescence. METHOD: Depression and psychosocial stress in 520 young people (265 boys; M age = 11.6 y) were assessed via the Children's Depression Inventory and Children's Stress Questionnaire respectively. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was assessed using applanation tonometry, with further assessments of supine brachial blood pressure and percent body fat (dual x-ray absorptiometry). All measures were repeated four years later at age 16-years. RESULTS: We found no cross-sectional or longitudinal evidence that children self-reporting higher levels of psychosocial stress or depressive symptoms had greater arterial stiffness. Children reporting an increase in depressive symptoms had an increase in diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure over time. An effect was also evident for pulse pressure, where higher pulse pressure was found in children with lower psychosocial stress at baseline and in children self-reporting a decrease in stress between baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the current study contribute to the scant paediatric literature but only provide limited support for any influence of psychological factors on blood pressure. Depressive symptoms in apparently healthy adolescents may exert some influence on later risk for cardiovascular disease via increases in diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure, but these effects were small.

Do self-reported stress and depressive symptoms effect endothelial function in healthy youth? The LOOK longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be an early indicator of risk for cardiovascular disease and has been associated with both stress and depression in adults and adolescents. Less is known of these relationships in younger populations, where the origins of CVD is thought to manifest. This study examined the effects of questionnaire derived psychosocial stress and depressive symptoms on endothelial function among children, following them through to adolescence. METHOD: Participants were 203 grade 2 children (111 girls; M age = 7.6 ± 0.3 years) from the LOOK longitudinal study, who were followed through to adolescence (16 years). Self-reported psychosocial stress and depression were assessed using the validated Children's Stress Questionnaire and a modified and validated version of the Children's Depression Inventory respectively; endothelial function was assessed using EndoPAT 2000 system at follow-up only; and adjustments were made for fitness, pubertal development and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: Although all relationships occurred in the hypothesised direction, no cross-sectional or prospective evidence of early symptoms of psychological stress or depression being associated with endothelial dysfunction was found among our asymptomatic cohort of adolescents (all p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to previous findings in adolescents, our data provided little evidence of any relationship between current or previous psychosocial stress or depression and endothelial function in 16-year-old boys and girls. However, our data need to be interpreted alongside the potential limitations in the sensitivity associated with self-report methods for detecting psychological distress of children.

Development of a Shortened Version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-S): construct validity and sex invariance in a large sample of Swedish adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Stressor experience is an important topic of research concerning adolescent health and ill-health. For this, valid and reliable measures of adolescent stress are needed. The Adolescent Stress Questionnaire 2 was developed to tap into stressor domains specific for adolescence. Psychometric evaluations in Australian and European samples have indicated adequate psychometric properties. However, the ASQ-2 is quite extensive, which may render its use in large cohort studies, where several aspects of adolescent health are investigated, inconvenient and problematic. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of a short version of the ASQ-2 (ASQ-S) in terms of construct validity and factorial invariance across gender. METHOD: The ASQ-2 was translated into Swedish and items were retained from nine of the ten scales based on factor loadings. One scale (stress of emerging adult responsibilities) was removed entirely due to low internal consistency and variance explained. The remaining 27 items were piloted and then included in an ongoing 5-year longitudinal study involving the participation of all students in the 7th and 8th grade in public schools from three Swedish municipalities (N = 2768, 47.5 % girls, mean age 13.64 years). For this study data from the first and second wave was used. RESULTS: A nine factor Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed a good fit to the data and invariance across sexes was supported. The nine scales correlated positively with depressive symptoms, anxiety and worry and negatively with self-esteem. Girls reported higher stress levels than boys in eight of the nine scales. Stressors related to peer pressure predicted reported levels of anxiety and worry one year later, whereas stressors related to romantic relationships predicted depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Overall this study suggests that the ASQ-S could be a valid measure of adolescent stressor experience and psychometrically equivalent to the full ASQ-2.

Support for the Multidimensional Adolescent Stress Questionnaire in a Sample of Adolescents in the United Kingdom.

Adolescence is a time of physical, social and emotional development, and this development can be accompanied by feelings of stress. The Adolescent Stress Questionnaire is a 56-item scale measuring stress in 10 domains. Developed in Australia, the scale has been translated, and its reliability and validity have been tested in a number of countries across Europe, where the 10-factor, 56-item version of the scale has received little support. The present study tested the factor structure, construct validity and reliability in a sample (n = 610) of adolescents in the United Kingdom. Support was found for the 10-factor, 56-item version of the scale, and correlations with self-concept measures, sex scores on stress factors and Cronbach's α-values, suggesting that the scale may be a viable assessment tool for adolescent stress. Results for alcohol-specific analyses support the domain-specific nature of the scale. Future work may seek to investigate the stability of age-specific stress domains (e.g. the stress of Emerging Adult Responsibility) in samples that include younger adolescents.

Thinking on your back: solving anagrams faster when supine than when standing.

There is potentially less locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system activity when lying down than when standing, an effect expected to develop via a difference in baroreceptor load. Furthermore, there is evidence implying that locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system activity impairs attempts to solve anagrams. Consistent with these ideas, we found that subjects solved anagrams significantly faster when supine than when standing. With anagrams characterized as insight problems, our finding suggests that insight may be influenced by body posture.

The relationship between stress and body satisfaction in female and male adolescents.

This study investigated the relationship between stress and body satisfaction in adolescence. A sample consisting of 515 adolescents aged 12-16 years completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing general and specific aspects of adolescent stress, body satisfaction and the psychological constructs of self-esteem, depressive symptoms and body importance. Results revealed a significant association between higher body dissatisfaction and higher ratings of peer stress, lower self-esteem and greater body importance for female and male adolescents. These findings suggest that adolescent stress relates to satisfaction with the body and that this stress is specifically focused on the peer environment for both genders during adolescence. This may have implications for intervention programmes aimed at improving body satisfaction, suggesting that the inclusion of stress management training in these programmes could specifically focus on difficulties within the peer domain.

The development of the Canberra symptom scorecard: a tool to monitor the physical symptoms of patients with advanced tumours.

BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced (incurable) tumours usually experience a diverse burden of symptoms. Although many symptom assessment instruments are available, we examined whether these addressed tumour-related symptoms. METHODS: We reviewed existing symptom assessment instruments and found a number of deficiencies such as instruments being too long or burdensome, too short, or measuring quality of life rather than tumour-related symptoms. Others focused on emotional, rather than physical symptoms. Therefore, we decided to devise a new symptom instrument. A list of 20 symptoms common in patients with advanced tumours generated from the literature and existing instruments, was ranked according to prevalence by 202 Australian clinicians. Following clinicians' responses, the list was revised and two severity assessment scales (functional severity and distress severity) added. The resultant 18-item list was assessed in 44 outpatients with advanced tumours. RESULTS: Patient responses indicated that a shorter questionnaire of 11 items, reflecting three main symptom clusters, provided a good representation of physical symptoms. An additional symptom that is an important predictor of survival was added, making a 12-item questionnaire, which was entitled "The Canberra Symptom Scorecard" (CSS). For symptom severity, the distress severity scale was more appropriate than the functional severity scale. CONCLUSION: The CSS focuses on tumour-related physical symptoms. It is about to be assessed in patients with advanced tumours receiving palliative treatments, when it will also be validated against existing instruments.

A longitudinal investigation of the mediating role of self-esteem and body importance in the relationship between stress and body dissatisfaction in adolescent females and males.

Body dissatisfaction is particularly prevalent during adolescence and has recently been linked to stress in females and males. However, prospective studies are needed to better understand the relationship between stress and body dissatisfaction. The present study investigates the direction of this association and the mediating role of self-esteem and body image importance. A sample of 298 adolescent females and males in Grades 7 to 10 (ages 12 to 17 years) were surveyed at two time points over a one-year period. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that stress significantly predicted body dissatisfaction one year later. Furthermore, a multiple mediation analysis controlling for gender revealed a significant indirect effect in both cross-sectional and longitudinal models, indicating that stress predicts reductions in self-esteem and increases in body importance, which in turn predict body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that stress, self-esteem, and body importance should be included in programmes aimed at improving body dissatisfaction.

Self-harm, substance use and psychological distress in the Australian general population.

AIMS: To examine predictors of self-harm, especially substance use and psychological distress, in an Australian adult general population sample. DESIGN: Sequential-cohort design with follow-up every four years. SETTING: Australian general population. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of adults aged 20-24 and 40-44 years (at baseline) living in and around the Australian Capital Territory. MEASUREMENTS: Self-report survey including items on four common forms of self-harm. Psychological distress was indexed by the combined Goldberg Anxiety and Depression scale scores and alcohol problems by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). FINDINGS: Four thousand one hundred and sixty people (84% of baseline) were re-interviewed at 8 years: 4126 reported their self-harm status. Past year self-harm was reported by 8.2% (95% CI 7.4-9.0%) of participants [males: 9.3% (8.0-10.6%), females: 7.3% (6.2-8.4%)]. Several forms of substance use-smoking (OR = 1.52), marijuana use (OR = 1.77) and drinking alcohol at a level likely to cause dependence (AUDIT score ≥ 20) (OR = 2.08)-were independently predictive of past year self-harm. Additional key risk factors for self-harm in the past year were childhood sexual abuse by a parent (OR = 3.07), bisexual orientation (OR = 2.65), younger age (OR = 2.23) and male gender (OR = 1.86). Other independent predictors were years of education, adverse life events, psychological distress and financial strain. CONCLUSIONS: Self-harm in young and middle-aged adults appears to be associated with current smoking, marijuana and 'dependent' alcohol use. Other independent predictors include younger age, male gender, bisexual orientation, financial strain, education level, psychological distress, adverse life events and sexual abuse by a parent.

The development and validation of the Dieting Intentions Scale (DIS).

This article presents information on the psychometric properties of the Dieting Intentions Scale (DIS), a new scale of dieting that predicts future behavioral efforts to lose weight. We begin by reviewing recent research indicating theoretical and empirical problems with traditional approaches to measuring dieting. The DIS addresses several of these problems by (a) focusing on naturalistic dieting behavior and (b) being future-oriented. Four validation studies are presented with a total of 741 participants. We demonstrate that the DIS has predictive utility for dieting behaviors and is positively correlated with other measures related to eating, weight, and shape. Furthermore, the DIS demonstrates discriminant validity by not being related to constructs such as self-esteem and social desirability. The DIS also has high internal consistency, with a 1-factor solution replicated with confirmatory factor analysis. The potential uses of the scale in both research and clinical settings are considered.

An effect of posture on anticipatory anxiety.

This study investigated the effects of body posture on state anxiety and psychological stress. Twenty normal adults performed a demanding mental arithmetic task in both standing and supine conditions, with subjective measures of anxiety and stress obtained before, immediately, and 10 min after the task. Participants were found to experience anticipatory anxiety when standing, although not when supine. The mechanism underlying this effect remains to be determined, although it could involve a postural difference in baroreceptor load.