Introduction
Objectives of the MHAT study
Study design
-
students in the 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th school grade of all school types (except for special needs schools)
-
children/adolescents aged 10–18 years in child- and adolescent psychiatry institutions for inpatient care and not attending a regular school
-
adolescents aged 15+ years attending training courses for unemployed youth/early school leavers
Sample size calculations
Instruments
Questionnaires/Measurements | Contents |
---|---|
Screening Stage
| |
Youth Self-Report (YSR) | General Psychopathology, Behavioral and emotional problems |
SCOFF | Screening Tool for Eating disorders |
KIDSCREEN (KS) 52/27/10 | Health-related Quality of Life (HrQoL) |
General HrQoL (KS-10), Self-Perception (KS-52), Parent Relation & Home Life (KS-52), Social Support & Peers (KS-27), School Environment (KS-27), Bullying (KS-52) | |
Headache Questionnaire | Migraine, Tension type Headache |
Family Affluence Scale (FAS I, II) | Socioeconomic status |
Sociodemographic variables | Sex, school grade, school type, Austrian state, class repetition, birth months and year, country of birth, parental country of birth, other people who live in the same household, occupation of parents, availability of an attachment figure |
Other health-related variables | Current height & weight, self-perception of weight, diagnosed chronic somatic and psychiatric diseases (including onset of disease, use of medication, necessity of consulting health services regularly), diagnosed chronic somatic and psychiatric diseases of parents and siblings, life-time experiences of traumatic and burdening events |
Interview-stage
| |
Kinder-DIPS | Structural diagnostic interview for psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescents based on DSM-5 criteria including following disorders: |
Disorders assessed from adolescents’ interview: Specific Phobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Non-suicidal Self-Injury, Suicidal Behavior Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, Internet Gaming Disorder; Screening for alcohol, nicotine and drug abuse, Screening for non-organic psychosis | |
Disorders assessed from parents’ interview: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Tic Disorders (Tourette’s Disorder, Persistent Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder, Provisional Tic Disorder), Separation Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Enuresis, Encopresis, Pica, Rumination Disorder, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder | |
Severity of diagnosis based on clinical judgment (rated on a scale from 0 to 9) | |
General assessment of the functioning level based on clinical judgment (rated on a scale from 0 to 100) | |
Treatment history & Help seeking | Use of any mental health service, type of therapy, type of care (inpatient/outpatient), duration and frequency of therapy, satisfaction with treatment, perceived benefit of the treatment, use of medications, help/treatment seeking (yes/no), reasons why no help/treatment is sought |
Additional variables assessed in adolescents’ interview | School problems, school absenteeism, media consumption (time spent with watching television, gaming on computer/game console/mobile phone, using internet/social media, contacting friends by phone/short messages/emails), life-time history of pregnancy (for girls from age 14), cramped living conditions, frequency and burden of family conflicts |
Additional variables assessed in parents’ interview | Sociodemographic information: Age of parents, sex and age of siblings, family structure (people in the same household, civil status), highest educational attainment of parents, occupation of parents and working hours, occupation of mother in the first year of child, approximate household income, first language of child and language that is mainly spoken at home, relocation with child associated with change of school, adolescents’ affiliation to a religious community and exercise of religious beliefs |
Childrens’ early development: complications in pregnancy and during birth, Alcohol and nicotine consumption of mother during pregnancy, abnormalities in early childhood development, problems with speaking | |
Life-time history of chronic diseases and severe accidents
| |
Interview-Evaluation | Short qualitative interview regarding the preceding interview based on three levels 1. Content (of questions) 2. Feelings 3. Situation (Interviews by telephone) |
Recruitment and data collection
School sample
Non-school sample
Ethics and data confidentiality
Sample description and representativeness
School Sample | Non-School Sample | ||
---|---|---|---|
(n = 3615) | Courses for adolescents (n = 43) | Child- & adolescents psychiatries (n = 133) | |
Females (%)
| 55.3% | 48.8% | 78.1% |
Age (Mean, SD)
| 14.53 (2.31) | 18.23 (1.91) | 15.28 (1.97) |
Place of residence
a
| |||
Urban area | 58.2% | 83.7% | 100% |
Rural area | 41.8% | 16.3% | 0% |
Place of residence
| |||
Federal capital or capital of federal state | 30.6% | 83.7% | 100% |
Other place | 69.4% | 16.3% | 0% |
Migration background
| |||
Generalb (%) | 25.4% | 74.4% | 32.3% |
1st generationc (%) | 6.1% | 65.8% | 5.4% |
2nd generationd (%) | 10.6% | 7.9% | 6.2% |
FAS I—Score
e
(Mean, SD)
| 6.45 (1.73) | 3.55 (2.10) | 5.67 (1.82) |
FAS II—Score
f
(Mean, SD)
| 8.93 (2.06) | 5.44 (2.46) | 7.86 (2.25) |
FAS category
g
| |||
Low (%) | 2.0% | 40.0% | 3.8% |
Moderate (%) | 25.2% | 42.5% | 42.0% |
High (%) | 72.8% | 17.5% | 54.2% |
Self-evaluation of familial financial situation
h
(Mean, SD)
| 2.25 (0.87) | 2.81 (1.15) | 2.62 (0.94) |
Parental employment status (% employed)
| |||
No parent | 2.8% | 42.5% | 9.8% |
One parent | 19.1% | 32.5% | 24.1% |
Both parents | 78.1% | 25.0% | 56.1% |
Family status
| |||
Both biological parents | 74.5% | 32.0% | 45.0% |
Single parent | 16.6% | 40.0% | 38.3% |
Patchwork | 9.9% | 28.0% | 16.7% |
BMI standard deviation score (Mean, SD)
| −0.05 (1.08) | −0.09 (1.16) | −0.52 (1.69) |
Diagnosed chronic somatic illness
i
(%)
| 11.3% | 18.4% | 30.5% |
Diagnosed mental illness
i
(%)
| 2.9% | 16.2% | 85.6% |
Diagnosed physical illness in family (parents/siblings)
i
(%)
| 15.3% | 8.8% | 36.7% |
Diagnosed mental illness in family (parents/siblings)
i
(%)
| 4.3% | 22.9% | 28.1% |
Any burdensome event in life (like death, accident)
i
(%)
| 40.1% | 47.1% | 53.8% |
Any potential traumatic event in life (like abuse, violence)
i
(%)
| 6.7% | 45.7% | 37.4% |