Memories of the self in adolescence: examining 6558 self-image norms.

Adolescence is a critical developmental period. It involves the construction and consolidation of "the self" and the laying down of autobiographical memories that endure throughout life. There is limited data that examines how young people spontaneously describe their "self". The aim of the current study is to provide normative data of adolescent generated self-images and present this in a freely accessible database. A secondary aim is to compare adult and adolescent self-images. Young people (n = 822) aged 13-18 years completed the Twenty Statements Test a task that requires participants to generate their own self-images. Data were coded into "Self-image norms" according to the method devised by Rathbone and Moulin [2017. Exploring memories of the self: 2412 self-image norms for adults aged 17 to 88. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1445), doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01445 ]. Descriptive data showed that positive "Traits" were most often used by adolescents to describe "the self". There were few gender differences, but boys generated fewer self-images than girls. Adolescents were more likely to use "Traits" to describe their "self" and adults were more likely to use "Social roles." These data are the first set of self-images generated by adolescents, collated in a freely accessible database. They can be used to understand how "the self" is described by adolescents and will be useful for cueing autobiographical memories in young people.

Parent implementation of a treatment for late talkers based on cross-situational statistical learning principles: Treatment fidelity and acceptability.

PURPOSE: Early intervention based on principles of cross-situational statistical learning (CSSL) for late-talking children has shown promise. This study explored whether parents could be trained to deliver this intervention protocol with fidelity and if they found the intervention to be acceptable. METHOD: Mothers of four English-speaking children aged 18-30 months who scored <10th centile for expressive vocabulary were recruited to an 8-week group training program. Parents were taught principles of CSSL and asked to perform 16 home treatment sessions (30 minutes each) in total, providing auditory bombardment of target words in full sentences at high dose number and syntactic variability, using a range of physical exemplars. Home diaries and two videotaped sessions measured treatment fidelity. Pre- and post-treatment questionnaires measured acceptability. RESULT: One parent discontinued the study after the second group training session. Three parents completed 15/16 group training sessions and reported completing 87% of home sessions. Two parents demonstrated implementing the intervention as per the target dose number by the first fidelity session (Weeks 2/3), and the third parent was very close to meeting target dose number by the second fidelity session (Weeks 7/8). CONCLUSION: Parents can be trained to deliver an intervention based on cross-situational statistical learning principles.

Identifying Child Anxiety Through Schools-identification to intervention (iCATS-i2i): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial to compare screening, feedback and intervention for child anxiety problems to usual school practice.

BACKGROUND: Systematically screening for child anxiety problems, and offering and delivering a brief, evidence-based intervention for children who are identified as likely to benefit would minimise common barriers that families experience in accessing treatment. We have developed a short parent-report child anxiety screening questionnaire, and procedures for administering screening questionnaires, sharing screening outcomes with families, and offering and delivering a brief parent-led online intervention (OSI: Online Support and Intervention for child anxiety) through schools. This trial aims to evaluate clinical and health economic outcomes for (1) children (aged 8-9) who screen positive for anxiety problems at baseline (target population) and (2) the wider population of all children in participating classes (total population) in schools randomly allocated to receive identification-to-intervention procedures and usual school practice ('screening and intervention'), compared to assessment and usual school practice only ('usual school practice').  METHODS: The trial design is a parallel-group, superiority cluster randomised controlled trial, with schools (clusters) randomised to 'screening and intervention' or 'usual school practice' arms in a 1:1 ratio stratified according to the level of deprivation within the school. We will recruit schools and participants in two phases (a pilot phase (Phase 1) and Phase 2), with progression criteria assessed prior to progressing to Phase 2. In total, the trial will recruit 80 primary/junior schools in England, and 398 children (199 per arm) who screen positive for anxiety problems at baseline (target population). In schools allocated to 'screening and intervention': (1) parents/carers will complete a brief parent-report child anxiety screening questionnaire (at baseline) and receive feedback on their child's screening outcomes (after randomisation), (2) classes will receive a lesson on managing fears and worries and staff will be provided with information about the intervention and (3) parents/carers of children who screen positive for anxiety problems (target population) will be offered OSI. OSI will also be available for any other parents/carers of children in participating classes (total population) who request it. We will collect child-, parent- and teacher-report measures for the target population and total population at baseline (before randomisation), 4 months, 12 months and 24 months post-randomisation. The primary outcome will be the proportion of children who screen positive for anxiety problems at baseline (target population) who screen negative for anxiety problems 12 months post-randomisation. DISCUSSION: This trial will establish if systematic screening for child anxiety problems, sharing screening outcomes with families and delivering a brief parent-led online intervention through schools is effective and cost-effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN76119074. Prospectively registered on 4.1.2022.

Negative view of the self and symptoms of depression in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Although negative self-evaluation is a common symptom of depression in adolescents, there is little understanding of how the self is associated with depression. Beck (1967) proposed that a negative view of the self was a 'hallmark' of depression. In contrast Linville (1985; 1987) proposed that holding multiple aspects of the self was associated with lower levels of depression. The aim of this paper is to evaluate these two models of self and depression in adolescents. METHODS: Young people aged 13-18 years (n = 822) reported symptoms of depression (the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and completed a measure of self-concept, the Twenty Statements Test (TST). We coded responses to the TST to reflect the valance (positive to negative) and the complexity of their self-concept (number of self-aspects). RESULTS: Valence, but not complexity, of self-concept was significantly associated with severity of depression symptoms. The valance of young people's self-concept accounted for 25% of the variance in depression symptoms. Adolescent's with more positive self-concept tended to have fewer symptoms of depression. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design of this study precludes any conclusions about the causal relationship between depression and negative self-evaluation; experimental and longitudinal research is needed to assess the causal direction of the relationship. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study supported the cognitive model of depression. Negative self-evaluation may constitute a risk factor for depression in adolescents and could offer a potential target for prevention and early intervention in adolescents.

Blunted neural response to anticipation, effort and consummation of reward and aversion in adolescents with depression symptomatology.

Neural reward function has been proposed as a possible biomarker for depression. However, how the neural response to reward and aversion might differ in young adolescents with current symptoms of depression is as yet unclear. Thirty-three adolescents were recruited, 17 scoring low on the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (low risk group) and 16 scoring high (high risk group). Our functional magnetic resonance imaging task measured; anticipation (pleasant/unpleasant cue), effort (achieve a pleasant taste or avoid an unpleasant taste) and consummation (pleasant/unpleasant tastes) in regions of interest; ventral medial prefrontal cortex, pregenual cingulate cortex, the insula and ventral striatum. We also examined whole brain group differences. In the regions of interest analysis we found reduced activity in the high risk group in the pregenual cingulate cortex during anticipation and reduced pregenual cingulate cortex and ventral medial prefrontal cortex during effort and consummation. In the whole brain analysis we also found reduced activity in the high risk group in the prefrontal cortex and the precuneus during anticipation. We found reduced activity in the hippocampus during the effort phase and in the anterior cingulate/frontal pole during consummation in the high risk group. Increased anhedonia measures correlated with decreased pregenual cingulate cortex activity during consummation in the high risk group only. Our results are the first to show that adolescents with depression symptoms have blunted neural responses during the anticipation, effort and consummation of rewarding and aversive stimuli. This study suggests that interventions in young people at risk of depression, that can reverse blunted responses, might be beneficial as preventative strategies.