Background

While recent studies suggest a high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) clinics, little is known about the factors contributing to problematic gaming among these patients. Given the well-established role of parenting and parent-child relationships in the development of problem behaviors, this study aimed to explore parent-child relationships within a Swedish cohort of CAP patients with IGD.

Methods

A total of 72 adolescents from CAP clinics in Skane, Sweden, diagnosed with IGD based on DSM-V criteria (73% boys), aged 13 to 18 years were included in the study. The adolescents completed the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) and reported on aspects of parent-child communication, such as parental control and adolescent disclosure and secrecy, and family climate. Adolescents were categorized as engaged, problem or addicted gamers based on core approach. Independent sample t-tests, Pearsons’s correlations, and multivariate regression analyses were used to address the study goals.

Results

Independent sample t-tests revealed that girls showed lower levels of parental knowledge than boys. Bivariate correlation analyses showed that IGD-symptoms were related to lower levels of child disclosure, while multivariate regression analyses revealed that higher IGD-symptoms were predicted by high levels of child secrecy and low child disclosure.

Conclusion

Parent-child relationships, in particular adolescent information management to parents, plays an important role for the level of IGD-symptoms in a clinical sample of adolescents. We suggest that therapeutic interventions for IGD should integrate family-focused strategies, such as parent training programs fostering open communication between parents and their children.

The aim of this study was to add knowledge of the longitudinal associations between gaming and emotional closeness between parents and their children. We hypothesized that parent–child emotional closeness was linked to less gaming activity over time and that more gaming activity was linked to less parent–child emotional closeness over time. We also tested the moderating efect of child gender on these anticipated links. This study involved a sample of Swedish adolescents, spanning the developmental years from age 12.5 to 17, and included data from two time points (T1; year 2013 and T2; years 2017/2018) with N=782 participants (T1 Mage=12.10, SD=0.40; 49.6% girls). Utilizing a series of Cross-Lagged Panel Models, we found that emotional closeness to both mother and father predicted less time spent on gaming over time. More time spent on gaming predicted less emotional closeness to mother over time. Additionally, gaming activity among girls was specifcally related to less emotional closeness to their father over time. Strengthening parent–child relationships and emotional bonds may be crucial in safeguarding adolescents from developing habits of excessive gaming that could potentially pose problems for their psychosocial development.

Background

Sustaining multiple concussions over one’s lifetime may be associated with behavioral and mood changes beyond the acute phase of injury. The present cross-sectional study examined the relationship between concussion history, the incidence of current moderate-severe psychological distress, and lifetime adolescent hazardous gambling in high school students.

Methods

Four-hundred fifty-nine high school students from southern Sweden (age: 16.81 ± 0.83, 58.2% male) completed a survey assessing concussion history (0,1,2…>8), psychological distress using the Kessler-6 scale, and lifetime hazardous gambling using the NODS-CLiP scale.

Results

Participants who self-reported three or more concussions were more likely to endorse moderate-severe symptoms of psychological distress than those with no concussion history while controlling for covariates, OR = 2.71, 95% CI [1.19, 6.18]. In contrast, concussion history was not associated with hazardous gambling after controlling for confounding variables.

Conclusions

Self-reporting three or more concussions was associated with increased current psychological distress beyond the acute phase of injury among high school students. Adolescents who have sustained multiple concussions should undergo mental health evaluations beyond the acute phase of injury to identify and treat psychological distress, but probing for hazardous gambling may not be clinically relevant in this previously concussed adolescent population.

Background:

Screen time among children and adolescents has increased dramatically, raising concerns about its impact on development and mental health. While research highlights both potential benefits and risks, excessive use has been linked to issues like anxiety, depression, and gaming addiction. Despite growing concern, effective interventions are scarce. Recognizing the importance of family dynamics in child development, we propose a family-centered program to address problematic gaming and excessive screen use in a clinical population. By involving both children and parents, we aim to create a more comprehensive approach to prevention and treatment.

Objective:

This study aims to determine the possibility of distributing and evaluating a family-centered group program for problematic gaming and excessive screen use (FAME) in a clinical child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) population. We will monitor the recruitment rate; track the retention and attendance rates of both parents and children; and assess whether each session’s objectives are met, the content is delivered within the allotted time, and the necessary resources (eg, facilitators andmaterials) are available. Additionally, we will gather qualitative and quantitative feedback from participants through postprogram surveys and individual interviews with both children and parents.

Methods:

A total of 10 families with ongoing contact with CAP in Skåne, Sweden, will be recruited and offered participationin a family-centered group program targeting children aged 10-18 years with reported difficulties regarding screen gaming or screen use. The intervention to be tested is a newly developed, family-centered, psychoeducational, cognitive behavioral therapy–based intervention addressing both positive and negative aspects of screen use; setting boundaries; the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; conflict triggers; and sleep hygiene. The primary goal of the pilot study is to test the feasibility of the program, as well as recruitment and the analysis of participants’ experiences with the program.

Results:

A total of 11 children and their parents were enrolled during first quarter of 2024. A 4-session pilot was delivered in first quarter of 2024, and the first results are expected in the third quarter of 2024.

Conclusions:

The overarching goal of this pilot study is to determine the possibility of distributing and evaluating a family-centered group program for problematic gaming and excessive screen use (FAME) in a clinical CAP population. The insights gained from this study will guide our future research, which will focus on conducting a larger-scale evaluation of the intervention’s impact on family screen time conflicts and inform future strategies for the implementation of family-centered interventions in child and youth clinics.

Previous literature has reported increased rates of gambling problems in athletes compared to non-athletes. More liberal gambling-related attitudes have been suggested as a reason, although this rarely has been researched. The present study aimed to examine gambling experience, gambling problems, and gambling-related attitudes and parental gambling experience in high school students, comparing student-athletes to students at conventional schools. This is a cross-sectional web survey study in high school students (N = 473, 53% at sports high schools, 57% male) at eleven schools in the Skåne region, Sweden, who answered a web survey addressed gambling experiences, parental gambling and gambling-related attitudes, and included validated screening instruments for gambling problems and psychological distress. A history of any gambling was common and increased with age. Problem gambling was detected in 10% (13% of males and 5% of females, p <.001), and was associated with paternal and maternal gambling but not with psychological distress. Sports high school students were not more likely (9%) than other students (10%) to endorse gambling problems and history of each gambling type. However, paternal (but not maternal) gambling was more commonly reported in athletes, who also had more positive attitudes to gambling’s effects on society and gambling availability. In contrast to other studies, this study did not demonstrate higher prevalence of gambling or gambling problems among young athletes than among other students, but liberal attitudes towards gambling, and experience of parental gambling on the father’s side, were more common among athletes than among non-athletes. Gambling attitudes in adolescents may need to be targeted in future preventive efforts in young athletes and others. © The Author(s) 2024.

Objective:

The scientific literature reports on how social media potentially influences eating disorders, although there is a large gap in the specific case of TikToks influence of adolescent's recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN). Our study uses in-depth interviews with female adolescents primarily suffering from AN to explore how they perceive the social media platform TikTok in relation to their recovery.

Method:

A total of 14 interviews with female adolescents recovering from AN were conducted and analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis.

Results:

We developed four distinct main themes: social connectivity, algorithmic engagement, regulation and adaptation, and personal agency and recovery pathways.

Our findings indicate both potential benefits and harm by TikTok use when in recovery from AN, depending on a complex inter-play of individual and contextual factors.

Discussion:

The study adds nuance to the on-going scientific debate on the role that TikTok plays in recovery from AN in general from the perspective provided by female adolescents. Suggestions are made for clinical implications at adolescent AN outpatient care including parental or professional support in TikTok adaptations and advice on how to discern when use may betriggering or supportive. Future research would benefit from longitudinal designs and inclusion of how individual differences, such as gender and personality, influence the effects on recovery and TikTok use.

Culturally responsive parenting interventions are crucial for immigrant parents in disadvantaged areas. This qualitative study delves into the experiences of 18 immigrant mothers (Mage =41.2 years) from Somalia, Syria, Turkey, Eritrea, and Iraq participating in the Swedish Self-Assured Parents programme, targeting immigrant parents who live in social disadvantage with teenage children. Thematic analysis revealed seven main themes

(1) the meaning of the programme content and structure,

(2) enjoying  oneself  and  being  comfortable,  

(3) putting  theadolescent  in  the  centre,

(4) mothers’own  socioemotionaldevelopment,

(5) changing from being a passive reactor to anactive agent,

(6) empowered citizenship, and

(7) having always been a strong and good mother.

Overall, the mothers were positive about both the content and the format of the programme, appreciating the warm and supportive climate. They also perceived themselves as being more attentive to adolescent needs, having improved their own socio-emotional skills, and being empowered both as a citizen and as a mother on accoun tof attending the programme. With the development of culturally responsive programmes that take into account the unique needsand experiences of diverse populations, governments  can effectively support parents, promote child positive development, and help cultivate social cohesion among the members of society.

While parental knowledge of adolescents’ whereabouts is generally considered to be a key protective factor for adolescent alcohol use, the developmental links during adolescence are unclear. Focusing on within-family processes on a sample of Swedish early to late adolescents (n = 782; 49% female) over four waves of data, we (1) tested the interplay between parental knowledge and adolescent alcohol inebriation, (2) investigated whether changes over time in parental knowledge and adolescent inebriation were linked to the parent–child relationship, and (3) tested the moderating role of adolescent gender and SES on these potential links. The results from random intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that increases in parental knowledge predicted decreases in frequencies of adolescent inebriation the following year as well a more positive parent–child relationship over time. Increases in adolescent inebriation were predicted by less parental knowledge only in late adolescence. These links were not moderated by adolescent gender or SES. The results emphasize the importance of increasing parental knowledge of adolescent activities in order to reduce adolescent involvement in heavy alcohol use as well as the importance of parent–child closeness.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents with substance use problems (SUP) constitute a group expected to face increased mental health problems (MHP). SUP can exacerbate mental health issues while also serving as a coping mechanism. Understanding the interplay between psychological, substance-related, and social factors is crucial for shaping effective interventions for this demographic. This article presents a three-year follow-up study with adolescents who had outpatient treatment for SUP, focusing on MHP and psychiatric conditions.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the prevalence of ongoing SUP and MHP in adolescents who received outpatient treatment at a specialized substance use clinic three years post-treatment initiation. Additionally, it seeks to explore psychosocial risk factors distinguishing adolescents with solely MHP from those with both MHP and persistent SUP (co-occurring problems) three years post-treatment initiation.

METHOD: The study utilizes a longitudinal design, combining structured interview data at intervention onset with national register data at one- and three-years post-treatment initiation. A total of 451 adolescents participated, with 29% females and a median age of 17 years. Descriptive statistics and gender distribution of outcome groups are presented, alongside logistic regressions to assess the predictive value of risk factors for psychiatric conditions, substance use, and co-occurring conditions.

RESULTS: Nearly three-quarters of enrolled youth show no ongoing SUP, and one-third exhibit indications of MHP three years after treatment initiation. Risk factors diverge when distinguishing adolescents with MHP from those with co-occurring problems at the three-year mark post-treatment. School problems, depression, female gender, and low primary drug use increase the likelihood of solely exhibiting MHP.

CONCLUSIONS: Integrated outpatient clinics like Maria clinics could play a crucial role in early detection and management of both SUP and MHP. The findings offer hope, suggesting positive outcomes regarding substance use even for individuals with heavy risk loads or severe SUP.

Immigrant parents facing socioeconomic disadvantages confront structural risks, including language barriers and exposure to criminogenic environments, which adversely impact their parenting and, consequently, their children. In response, social workers in Sweden devised the Self-Assured Parents (SAP) parenting support program, aiming to enhance parenting skills and individual- and family-level protective factors, such as parent-child communication. Over a 1.5-year period, the program was implemented in seven Swedish municipalities with immigrant mothers from Africa and the Middle East.

An evaluation of SAP's effectiveness utilized a Single-Group Case Series Design with three phases—pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention. Out of N = 48 mothers who agreed to participate in the evaluation, n = 22 mothers, majority from Somalia, completed all three phases of evaluation. Additionally, individual interviews were conducted with n = 18 mothers up to three months post-program participation. The application of Jacobson's reliable change index and individual case data examination revealed a directional change in only a minority of mothers, suggesting limited immediate effectiveness of SAP. Conversely, interview data indicated overall parental satisfaction with the program's content, reporting acquired skills for emotional and behavioral regulation, as well as feelings of empowered parenting and citizenship. Despite the poor immediate effects, we propose the possibility of "sleeper effects" emerging at later stages post-program participation.