Youth Self-Report of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in a Swiss Epidemiological Study

The Youth Self Report (YSR) was used in a Swiss epidemiological study with 1093 subjects aged 10–17 years. Internal consistency was good for the second-order factors Internalizing Problems, ExternalizingProblems, and the Total Problem Score, whereas it was less satisfactory for almost all syndrome scales. In general, internal consistency coefficients were slightly lower in the Swiss sample than in the U.S. sample. Correlations between the syndrome scales resulted in good replications of the original findings as obtained in the U.S. normative sample. Effect analyses showed that sex is more important than age and nationality (indigenous vs. immigrant subjects). However, all effects were small. Correspondence between YSR and Child Behavior Checklist scores showed that agreement between adolescents' and parents' reports is relatively small.     

Adolescent Self-Rated Depressive Symptoms in a Swiss Epidemiological Study

The correlates of self-rated depressive symptoms were examined in an epidemiological sample of Swiss adolescents. Subjects, aged 12 to 17 years, were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, a Life Event Scale, scales measuring self-related cognitions, coping capacities, perceived parental behavior, school environment, and social network. Based on the distribution of the depression scores, 3 subsamples of nondepressed, moderately depressed, and severely depressed subjects were formed. The severely depressed group was clearly differentiated from the other two groups by almost all scales, with a special relevance of negative self-esteem and the impact of life events. The results of this epidemiological study indicate that various factors reflecting personality, life-events, and the psychosocial environment relate to adolescent depression.     

Risk,Compensatory, Vulnerability,and Protective Factors Influencing Mental Health in Adolescence

The aim of the study was to elucidate the relative contribution to and function of general risk factors for mental disorders as well as compensatory, vulnerability, and protective factors in a general population sample of preadolescent and adolescent students. Data were collected in a representative sample of 1,110 (10 to 17 year-old) subjects of a school-based quota sample in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. The factors under study were assessed using questionnaires. The Youth Self Report (YSR) was used as an indicator of emotional and behavioral abnormalities. Further questionnaires were concerned with life events, coping strategies, self-esteem, self-awareness, parental child-rearing behaviors, the school environment, and the social network. General risk factors for both sexes included increased self-awareness, avoidance behavior, perceived rejection by the parents, competitive behavior among classmates, and controlling behavior of the teachers. General compensatory factors included self-esteem and acceptance by the parents. Performance stress served as a risk factor for internalizing disorders in both sexes; for externalizing disorders it was a risk factor in girls and a vulnerability factor in boys. Active coping and peer acceptance were protective factors for internalizing disorders and peer acceptance was also a compensatory factor for externalizing disorders. In addition, some gender-specific interactions were identified.     

Psychosocial Factors in Adolescent and Young Adult Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms: Causal or Correlational Associations?

Using a large longitudinal representative community sample, this study identified three groups of subjects who were depressed either in pre-adolescence, late adolescence or early adulthood, and matched by age and gender to controls without depression. The 90th percentile on one or two self-reported symptom scales [i. e. the Center for Epidemilogical Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) or the subscale Anxious / Depressed subscale on either the Youth Self Report (YSR) or the Young Adult Self Report (YASR)] served as the cut-off for the depression groups. Psychosocial variables under study included life events and life events impact, coping, self-related cognitions, perceived parental rearing style, family relations, perceived school environment, and the internalizing (except anxious/depressed) and externalizing problem scale of the YSR/YASR. The study found a large number of time-related correlations between psychosocial factors and depression. Evidence for causal effect (either antecedent or consequent) was obtained only for self-esteem, perceived maternal rejection, and internalizing problems.