Background The term ‘stability’ has different meanings, and its implications for the etiology, prevention, and treatment of depression vary accordingly. Here, we identify five types of stability in childhood depression, many undetermined due to a lack of research or inconsistent findings. Methods Children and parents (n = 1,042) drawn from two birth cohorts in Trondheim, Norway, were followed biennially from ages 4–14 years. Symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymia were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (only parents) and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (age 8 onwards). Results (a) Stability of form: Most symptoms increased in frequency. The symptoms’ importance (according to factor loadings) was stable across childhood but increased from ages 12–14, indicating that MDD became more coherent. (b) Stability at the group level: The number of symptoms of dysthymia increased slightly until age 12, and the number of symptoms of MDD and dysthymia increased sharply between ages 12–14. (c) Stability relative to the group (i.e., ‘rank‐order’) was modest to moderate and increased from ages 12–14. (d) Stability relative to oneself (i.e., intraclass correlations) was stronger than stability relative to the group and increased from age 12–14. (e) Stability of within‐person changes: At all ages, decreases or increases in the number of symptoms forecasted similar changes two years later, but more strongly so between ages 12–14. Conclusions Across childhood, while most symptoms of MDD and dysthymia become more frequent, they are equally important. The transition to adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period: The depression construct becomes more coherent, stability increases, the level of depression increases, and such an increase predicts further escalation. Even so, intervention at any time during childhood may have lasting effects on reducing child and adolescent depression.

Background: Self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents are of serious consequence and increase during the adolescent years. Consequently, there is need for interventions that prevent such behaviour. The objective of this paper: to evaluate the effects of interventions preventing self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents in an overview of systematic reviews. Methods: We conducted a review of systematic reviews (OoO). We included reviews evaluating any preventive or therapeutic intervention. The quality of the included reviews was assessed independently, and data was extracted by two reviewers. We report the review findings descriptively. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: Moderate certainty evidence suggests that school-based interventions prevent suicidal ideation and attempts short term, and possibly with long term effects on suicide attempts. The effects of community-based interventions following suicide clusters and local suicide plans are uncertain, as are the benefits and harms of screening young people for suicide risk. The effects of most interventions targeting children and adolescents with known self-harm are uncertain. However, low certainty evidence suggests that dialectical behavioural therapy and developmental group therapy are equally as effective on repetition of self-harm as enhanced treatment as usual. Conclusions: Research on several recommended practices, such as local suicide plans, prevention of suicide clusters and approaches to risk assessment, is lacking. When implemented, these interventions should be closely evaluated. There also is need for more research on treatment for repeated self-harm, including long term follow-up, and in general: possible harmful effects. Policy makers and health providers should consider evidence from population-based studies and adults in preventing self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents. Also, approaches showing promise in treatment of conditions associated with self-harm and/or suicidality, such as depression and psychosis, should be considered. PROSPERO registration: CRD42019117942 08/02/19.

The current study focused on the relationship between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms on the threshold of adolescence. We aimed to investigate the role of body dissatisfaction in gender differences in depressive symptoms, as well as the impact of social support from peers and parents. Mediation and moderation analyses were based on self-reports from a Norwegian population-based sample (the Tracking Opportunities and Problems Study) of 12- to 13-year-olds ( N = 547). Body dissatisfaction explained over 20% of the variance in depressive symptoms. The findings indicate that body dissatisfaction mediates gender differences in depressive symptoms, and that peer support moderates the positive association between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. This is in line with Stress Exposure and Stress-Buffering models. The findings indicate that to prevent depressive symptoms in the transition into adolescence, focus should be on promoting body satisfaction, especially in girls, as well as promoting peer support for adolescents already struggling with body dissatisfaction.

Self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents are of Background: serious consequence and increase during the adolescent years. Consequently, there is need for interventions that prevent such behaviour. The objective of this paper: to evaluate the effects of interventions preventing self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents in an overview of systematic reviews.We conducted an overview of systematic reviews (OoO). We Methods: included reviews evaluating any preventive or therapeutic intervention. The methodological quality of the included reviews was assessed independently, and data was extracted by two reviewers. We report the review findings descriptively. The certainty of evidence was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE).Moderate certainty evidence suggests that school-based Results: interventions prevent suicidal ideation and attempts short term, and possibly suicide attempts long term. The effects of community-based interventions following suicide clusters and local suicide plans are unknown, as are the benefits and harms of screening young people for suicide risk. The effects of most interventions targeting children and adolescents with known self-harm are unknown. However, low certainty evidence suggests that dialectical behavioural therapy and developmental group therapy are equally as effective on repetition of self-harm as enhanced treatment as usual.Research on several recommended practices, such as local Conclusions: suicide plans, prevention of suicide clusters and approaches to risk assessment, is lacking. When such interventions are implemented, the effects should be closely evaluated. There is also need for more research on treatment of repeated self-harm. Further research should include long term follow-up, and investigate possible adverse effects. In prevention of self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents, policy makers and health providers should consider evidence from population-based studies with mixed-age samples, adult samples, and studies on conditions associated with self-harm and/or suicidality, such as depression and psychosis. , Morken IS, Dahlgren A, Lunde I and Toven S. How to cite this article: The effects of interventions preventing self-harm and suicide in F1000Research 2020, :890 children and adolescents: an overview of systematic reviews [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] 8 https://doi.• We describe more carefully the most relevant limitations/ shortcomings of the present study. Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article REVISED PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text 3. Edmondson AJ, Brennan CA, House AO: Non-suicidal reasons for self-harm: A systematic review of self-reported accounts. J Affect Disord. 2016; 191: 109-17. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text 4. Hawton K, Saunders KE, O'Connor RC: Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. Lancet. 2012; 379(9834): 2373-82. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text 5. Bertolote JM, Fleischmann A: Suicide and psychiatric diagnosis: a...