Exploring the Association of Age with Depressive Symptomatology in Childhood and Adolescence: A Network Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association of age with individual depression and anxiety symptoms and their connectivity (i.e., number/strength of connections with other symptoms) in girls and boys. METHOD: Our study comprised cross-sectional data from 31,960 Dutch girls and 32,162 Dutch boys aged 8 to 18 and considered 11 depression symptoms and 14 anxiety symptoms measured by the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. Network estimations were used to examine whether age was associated with individual symptoms and, in a separate step, with the connectivity of depression symptoms with other depression symptoms and with the connectivity of depression symptoms with anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: Age was, in general, positively associated with depression symptoms in girls, but not in boys, and with the connectivity of depression symptoms with other depression symptoms in both sexes. These findings were the most profound for energy-related symptoms in girls. Age was, in general, negatively associated with anxiety symptoms and not or negatively associated with the connectivity of depression symptoms with anxiety symptoms in girls and boys, respectively. Substantial differences across symptoms were found. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that it is important to focus on individual symptoms, for age is mainly associated with energy-related depression symptoms and their connectivity in girls. Future etiologic studies may examine the role of energy-related depression symptoms in the development of depressive symptomatology in girls as these symptoms seem potential targets for the prevention of depression in the female population.

Equity of access to mental health care for anxiety and depression among different ethnic groups in four large cities in the Netherlands.

PURPOSE: This study explored (in)equities between ethnic groups in the Netherlands regarding their access to health care for symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD). METHODS: Data were used from a health survey conducted in four Dutch cities in 2008, including 11,678 Dutch, 700 Turkish, 571 Moroccans, 956 Surinamese and 226 Antilleans/Arubans. The prevalence of a medium to high risk of having CMD per ethnic group and of health care consumption by ethnic groups of people, likely having CMD, was calculated, using SPSS Complex Samples weighting for gender, age and district. Logistic regression models were used for assessing the association between health care utilisation and need, demographic factors, social structure and enabling resources. RESULTS: The prevalence of a medium to high risk of having CMD was 42.9 % (Dutch), 50.3 % (Turkish), 37.3 % (Moroccans), 51.5 % (Surinamese) and 44.9 % (Antilleans/Arubans). The 1-year prevalence of contacts with the general practitioner by ethnic groups of people who were likely having CMD was 81.2 % (Dutch), 87.2 % (Turkish), 88.4 % (Moroccans), 88.6 % (Surinamese) and 76.6 % (Antilleans/Arubans). Concerning specialised mental health care, this one-year prevalence was 15.9 % (Dutch), 25.8 % (Turkish), 19.7 % (Moroccans), 17.1 % (Surinamese) and 20.5 % (Antilleans/Arubans). The elevated use of health care by some ethnic minority groups was partly associated with need and demographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: There are no indications for an inequitable access to health care for symptoms of CMD among different ethnic groups in the Netherlands.

Validity and reliability of the short Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-5) in Dutch adolescents.

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the short Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-5) in a Dutch adolescent sample. The sample consisted of 2063 secondary school students (mean age 13.6 years, 48% girls) who filled out a battery of screening questionnaires for a routine health check. We investigated structural validity with a confirmatory factor analysis, scale reliability with internal consistency coefficients, and construct validity with hypotheses testing and convergent validity. The proposed one-factor structure fitted well in the present sample. However, there was an indication of measurement variance for gender. Scale reliability was high (ω = 0.88), and sufficient positive correlations were found between TAI-5 scores and anxiety, depression, worry, executive functioning, and sleep problems (r ranging from 0.36 to 0.56). Girls had significantly higher test anxiety scores than boys (d = 0.47). The present study provided evidence for the validity and reliability of TAI-5 scores in a general population of Dutch adolescents.

Youth-centred participatory action approach towards co-created implementation of socially and physically activating environmental interventions in Africa and Europe: the YoPA project study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The majority of adolescents do not meet guidelines for healthy behaviours, posing major risks for developing multiple non-communicable diseases. Unhealthy lifestyles seem more prevalent in urban than rural areas, with the neighbourhood environment as a mediating pathway. How to develop and implement sustainable and effective interventions focused on adolescent health and well-being in urban vulnerable life situations is a key challenge. This paper describes the protocol of a Youth-centred Participatory Action (YoPA) project aiming to tailor, implement, and evaluate social and physical environmental interventions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In diverse urban environments in Denmark, the Netherlands, Nigeria and South Africa, we will engage a dynamic group of 15-20 adolescents (12-19 years) growing up in vulnerable life situations and other key stakeholders (eg, policy makers, urban planners, community leaders) in local co-creation communities. Together with academic researchers and local stakeholders, adolescents will take a leading role in mapping the local system; tailoring; implementing and evaluating interventions during participatory meetings over the course of 3 years. YoPA applies a participatory mixed methods design guided by a novel Systems, User perspectives, Participatory co-creation process, Effects, Reach, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework assessing: (i) the local systems, (ii) user perspectives, (iii) the participatory co-creation process, (iv) effects, (v) reach, (vi) adoption, (vii) implementation and (viii) maintenance of interventions. Through a realist evaluation, YoPA will explore why and how specific outcomes were reached (or not) in each setting (n=800-1000 adolescents in total). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study received approval from the ethics committees in Denmark, the Netherlands, Nigeria and South Africa and will be disseminated via various collaborative dissemination activities targeting multiple audiences. We will obtain informed consent from all participants. We envision that our YoPA co-creation approach will serve as a guide for participation of adolescents in vulnerable life situations in implementation of health promotion and urban planning in Europe, Africa and globally. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT06181162.