Background: the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions may be particularly harmful for adolescents; however, evidence about changes in adolescent mental health during the pandemic is inconsistent.The aim was to examine changes in levels of Russian adolescent mental health and rates of substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic.Participants and methods: two cohorts of 11–18-year-old adolescents were recruited from Siberian cities in 2015–18 (n = 1774, 47% male) and in 2020–21 (n = 1747, 43% male). Participants completed identical sets of questionnaires: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Body Image and Eating Distress scale and items on tobacco, alcohol and drug use. We examined the effect of cohort, gender and age using linear models.Results: in the 2020–21 cohort, depression, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms, total mental health problems and levels of substance use were higher than in the 2015–18 cohort. Increases in emotional symptoms and total mental health problems were similar in both genders, whereas increases in rates of smoking and alcohol use were significant only among girls.Conclusions: the present findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic experience was likely to be stressful for adolescents. Therefore, more research on risk and protective factors of Russian adolescent mental health is needed. The findings also suggest that preventative interventions should be based on gender-specific patterns of adolescent substance use.
A procedure of author’s behavioral training “There is a contact” for parents of children with conduct problems is described, and an assessment of its effectiveness in a longitudinal controlled study is carried out. The intervention group consisted of 17 parents of children with high rate of behavioral problems (12 boys and 5 girls), and the control group consisted of 34 parents of children (19 boys and 15 girls); children were at the age of 2—8 years. The initial level of children’s conduct problems was similar in both groups according to the Eyberg child be- havior inventory. Level of conduct problems in the control group remained sta- ble during six months after the training, and in the intervention group reduced significantly (t=2,3, p<0,05). Large positive effect of intervention on mothers’ disciplinary tactics and anxiety-depression symptoms was revealed in a year after the training (Cohen’s d=2,2 and 0.94, respectively). Conclusion: the program “There is a contact” can be recommended for professionals working with chil- dren’s conduct problems.
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