@article{MittermeierSeidelScheineretal.2024,
  author    = {Mittermeier, Sabrina and Seidel, Alexandra and Scheiner, Christin and Kleindienst, Nikolaus and Romanos, Marcel and Buerger, Arne},
  title     = {Emotional dysregulation and its pathways to suicidality in a community-based sample of adolescents},
  series = {Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health},
  volume    = {18},
  journal   = {Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health},
  issn      = {1753-2000},
  doi       = {10.1186/s13034-023-00699-4},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357501},
  year      = {2024},
  abstract  = {Objective Effective suicide prevention for adolescents is urgently needed but difficult, as suicide models lack a focus on age-specific influencing factors such as emotional dysregulation. Moreover, examined predictors often do not specifically consider the contribution to the severity of suicidality. To determine which adolescents are at high risk of more severe suicidality, we examined the association between emotional dysregulation and severity of suicidality directly as well as indirectly via depressiveness and nonsuicidal self-injury. Method Adolescents from 18 high schools in Bavaria were included in this cross-sectional and questionnaire-based study as part of a larger prevention study. Data were collected between November 2021 and March 2022 and were analyzed from January 2023 to April 2023. Students in the 6th or 7th grade of high school (11-14 years) were eligible to participate. A total of 2350 adolescents were surveyed and data from 2117 students were used for the analyses after excluding incomplete data sets. Our main outcome variable was severity of suicidality (Paykel Suicide Scale, PSS). Additionally, we assessed emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, DERS-SF), depressiveness (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9) and nonsuicidal self-injury (Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory, DSHI). Results In total, 2117 adolescents (51.6\% female; mean age, 12.31 years [standard deviation: 0.67]) were included in the structural equation model (SEM). Due to a clear gender-specific influence, the model was calculated separately for male and female adolescents. For male adolescents, there was a significant indirect association between emotional dysregulation and severity of suicidality, mediated by depressiveness (β = 0.15, SE = .03, p = .008). For female adolescents, there was a significant direct path from emotional dysregulation to severity of suicidality and also indirect paths via depressiveness (β = 0.12, SE = .05, p = 0.02) and NSSI (β = 0.18, SE = .04, p < .001). Conclusions Our results suggest that gender-related risk markers in 11-14-year-olds need to be included in future suicide models to increase their predictive power. According to our findings, early detection and prevention interventions based on emotion regulation skills might be enhanced by including gender-specific adjustments for the co-occurrence of emotional dysregulation, depressiveness, and nonsuicidal self-injury in girls and the co-occurrence of emotional dysregulation and depressiveness in boys.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ScheinerGrashoffKleindienstetal.2022,
  author    = {Scheiner, Christin and Grashoff, Jan and Kleindienst, Nikolaus and Buerger, Arne},
  title     = {Mental disorders at the beginning of adolescence: Prevalence estimates in a sample aged 11-14 years},
  series = {Public Health in Practice},
  volume    = {4},
  journal   = {Public Health in Practice},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.puhip.2022.100348},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300404},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Objectives This study aims to provide a deeper insight into mental disorders in early adolescence. We report prevalence rates (mental health problems, depressive symptoms, eating disorders, NSSI, STBs) to be used in future studies and clinical ventures. We also expected to find gender differences, with girls being be more affected than boys are. Study design 877 adolescents (M = 12.43, SD = 0.65) from seven German high schools completed a series of questionnaires assessing their mental health (SDQ, PHQ-9, SEED, DSHI-9, Paykel Suicide Scale, FAS III). Methods We calculated cut-off-based prevalence estimates for mental health issues for the whole sample and compared estimates between genders. Results 12.5\% of the sample reported general mental health problems. The estimated prevalence of depressive symptoms lay at of 11.5\%. Additionally, 12.1\% and 1.3\% of the participants displayed relevant symptoms of anorexia or bulimia nervosa, respectively. A total of 10.8\% reported engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) at least once in their lifetime, of whom 5.6\% reported repetitive NSSI. 30.1\% of the participants described suicidal thoughts, 9.9\% suicide plans, and 3.5\% at least one suicide attempt. Girls were generally more affected than boys, except for bulimia nervosa, suicidal behavior, and partly NSSI. Conclusion Our findings corroborate the established relevance of early adolescence for the development of mental health problems and suggest that a substantial proportion of young adolescents suffer from such problems early on. Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and reported negative mental health consequences, the current findings underline the importance of preventive interventions to avoid the manifestation of mental disorders during adolescence.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ScheinerSeisKleindienstetal.2023,
  author    = {Scheiner, Christin and Seis, Christian and Kleindienst, Nikolaus and Buerger, Arne},
  title     = {Psychopathology, protective factors, and COVID-19 among adolescents: a structural equation model},
  series = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health},
  volume    = {20},
  journal   = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health},
  number    = {3},
  issn      = {1660-4601},
  doi       = {10.3390/ijerph20032493},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304475},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 and the associated restrictions, mental health in children and adolescents has been increasingly discussed in the media. Negative impacts of the pandemic, including a sharp increase in psychopathology and, consequently, reduced quality of life, appear to have particularly affected children and young people, who may be especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of isolation. Nevertheless, many children and adolescents have managed to cope well with the restrictions, without deterioration of their mental health. The present study therefore explored the links between COVID-19 infection (in oneself or a family member, as well as the death of a family member due to the virus), protective factors such as self-efficacy, resilience, self-esteem, and health-related quality of life, and measures of psychopathology such as depression scores, internalizing/externalizing problems, emotion dysregulation, and victimization. For this purpose, we examined data from 2129 adolescents (mean age = 12.31, SD = 0.67; 51\% male; 6\% born outside of Germany) using a structural equation model. We found medium to high loadings of the manifest variables with the latent variables (COVID-19, protective factors, and psychopathology). Protective factors showed a significant negative correlation with psychopathology. However, COVID-19 had a weak connection with psychopathology in our sample. External pandemic-related factors (e.g., restrictions) and their interaction with existing psychopathology or individual protective factors appear to have a greater influence on young people's mental health than the impact of the virus per se. Sociopolitical efforts should be undertaken to foster prevention and promote individual resilience, especially in adolescence.},
  language  = {en}
}