The goal of this qualitative study was to explore how adolescents with diagnosed depression describe their social relationships with peers, parents and teachers. Several previous findings have revealed the dual role of interpersonal relationships — as a stressor and contributor to different mental disorders, and also as a source of social support for mental health. Previous studies confirmed the value of a qualitative approach in exploring the self-perceived experiences of adolescents. The research group consisted of 28 adolescents, aged 13–17, with a diagnosis of depression. Individual semistructured interviews (Children's Depression Rating Scale Revised; CDRS-R) were applied in this study, which were analysed using thematic analysis. The results have both scientific and practical value, as well as relevance for the development of preventive interventions targeted at well-being and mental health of adolescents.
Emotion awareness (EA) is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence, an essential prerequisite for the development of children's social competence. Recent scientific studies have shown that EA has a number of positive psychological outcomes. The main objective of the study was to develop and implement the EA and social competence intervention program for children (N=19, boys n=8 and girls n=11, age8 -9, M=8,05, SD=0,23) and compare the indicators of EA of middle childhood students before and after the realization of the author's program. Additional purpose of the study was the approbation of The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children (LEAS-C; Bajgar&Lane, 2003) by analysis of its psychometric indicators. In total 13 sessions were carried out during the school year 2013/2014 - from the beginning of November, 2013 until the end of May, 2014. LEAS-C (Bajgar&Lane, 2003) and Children's Personality Questionnaire (CPQ, Porter & Cattel, 1975), observations, interviews, content analysis were used. The study results show the effectiveness of intervention programs, namely, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the EA level of children before and after the intervention program (SELF t=- 2,99, p=0,008, OTHER t=- 3,78, p=0,001, TOTAL t=- 3,58 (p=0,002<0,05). The level of EA increased and the quality of emotional vocabulary improved after the intervention program. The LEAS-C version in Latvian language of showed high internal consistency scores and high Inter-Rater Reliability between the two encoders. The paper also carries out detailed analysis of indicators of construct validity.
Social emotional competence (SEC) is called as one of the most needed competences of 21st century. In the past dozen years, number of researches about SEC’s relationship to many other crucial outcomes in psychosocial life of individual –performance, school readiness, success in participation and interaction with peers and adults, well-being, different clinical variables, in example, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, withdrawal behavior etc. –have been published. Nevertheless, there is no agreement about the definition of SEC, which components comprises it, and there is no standardized measure for SEC assessment. There hasn’t been sufficient qualitative scientific discussion about the topic in Latvia as well, although SEC or its components have been frequently researched here. The aim of this article was to provide a theoretical overview of the problems and challenges in SEC research in general and to justify the need of development of integrative model of SEC. The main objective was to develop its preliminary theoretical version.
Depression is one of the most widespread mental disorders worldwide. Adolescence is a vulnerable period for developing depression. It is associated with a number of challenges in biological, psychological and social areas. Valid and reliable measurement instruments are required for assessment of symptoms of depression in clinical samples of adolescents in Latvia. Children's Depression Rating Scale Revised (CDRS-R, Posnanski & Mokros, 1996) is a semi-structured, clinician-rated interview for assessment of depression in children and adolescents. While the CDRS-R is the most widely used rating scale for research and clinicians’ practical use worldwide, there's no validated version in Latvian language available yet. The aim of this study is to present the reliability and validity of the Latvian version of CDRS-R in the adolescent age group. Twenty-five adolescents (aged 12-17) with diagnosis of depressive disorder (inpatients and outpatients) and twenty healthy controls were assessed with CDRS-R by clinical psychologist. Reliability and validity were calculated and analyzed: Cronbach’s alpha, Weighted Kappa, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, Receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The Latvian translation of CDRS-R showed good psychometrical properties. Internal consistency for the CDRS-R was high. CDRS-R total score was significantly correlated with CDI both in nonclinical and clinical sample. There was a significant concordance with the reference standard of ICD-10 diagnosis.
Depression is one of the most widespread mental disorders worldwide. Adolescence is a vulnerable period for developing depression. It is associated with a number of challenges in biological, psychological and social areas. Depression, if left unassessed and untreated properly, has a great negative impact on well–being, mental and physical health, social functioning, academical achievement, and economical disadvantages on the national level as well. Studies reveal the need of improving the identification of depression symptoms in adolescents among different types of specialists working with them (i.e. in educational, primary care, clinical settings). Also, efficient measurement instruments and tools are evaluated to help specialists in assessment of the symptoms of adolescents’ depression more precisely. The aim of the current article is, firstly, to justify the actuality of the problem and the assessment of adolescents’ depression, secondly, to provide a theoretical review, integrative analysis of contemporary approaches to assessment of adolescents’ depression globally and in Latvia, thirdly, to describe the proximal research ideas and tasks of the author of this article on the topic.
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