Increasing Knowledge About Depression in Adolescents: Effects of an Information Booklet.

Increasing knowledge about depression in adolescents: effects of an information booklet.

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2013 Aug 2;
Schiller Y, Schulte-Körne G, Eberle-Sejari R, Maier B, Allgaier AK

This study evaluates a newly developed information booklet about depression among adolescents. The aim was to examine the enhancement of knowledge through the booklet with the objective of reducing stigma and facilitating awareness of own treatment needs.628 German ninth graders were enrolled in a pre-post-follow-up study using study-specific questionnaires to investigate knowledge enhancement in seven depression-related topics. Exploratively, knowledge enhancement was calculated with respect to education level and gender. Additionally, the students assessed the booklet’s layout, content and utility. Knowledge enhancement was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA for index values of the booklet’s topics. The effect size partial eta square (?²) was computed.The pre-post-follow-up comparison yielded significant knowledge enhancement for all seven index values (p < 0.001). The associated effect sizes were medium to large. The strongest effects were achieved for the categories "Antidepressants" (?² = 0.56), "Symptoms" (?² = 0.45) and "Treatment" (?² = 0.17) of depression as well as for "Suicidality" (?² = 0.36). Although baseline knowledge was high in all students, knowledge enhancement was greater in better educated than in less educated students. Overall assessment of the booklet was good (mean = 2.15 on a rating scale from "very good" (1) to "fail" (6)).The information booklet as a low-threshold educational approach can significantly enhance depression-specific knowledge in students. Hence, it helps adolescents to acknowledge their own symptoms and treatment needs as well as to recognize these specific mental health problems in their peers. Thus, the booklet can contribute to the reduction of stigma and treatment barriers in adolescents. HubMed – depression

The development and validation of the Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory disease (AIR).

Chest. 2013 Aug 1;
Willgoss TG, Goldbart J, Fatoye F, Yohannes AM

Anxiety is a common co-morbidity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet it remains under-recognised. Existing anxiety measures contain somatic items that can overlap with symptoms of COPD and side-effects of medications. There is a need for a disease-specific non-somatic anxiety scale to screen and measure anxiety in patients with COPD.In Phase 1, 88 patients with COPD (mean age 71 years, 36% male) completed a 16-item scale developed with patients and clinicians. Six items were removed using item and factor analysis. In Phase 2, 56 patients with COPD (mean age 70 years, 48% male) completed the 10-item scale and other self-report measures of anxiety, quality of life and functional limitations. Of these, 41 patients completed the scale on a second occasion, 14 days later. Construct validity (using confirmatory factor analysis; CFA), discriminant validity, convergent validity and anxiety screening accuracy were explored.The Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory disease (AIR) had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s ?=0.92) and test-retest reliability (ICC=0.81), and excellent convergent validity, correlating with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression, HAD-Anxiety subscale (r=0.91, p<0.001). The scale also discriminated between patients with clinical anxiety (measured using the PHQ) and those without (U=9, p<0.001). A cut-off score of 14.5 yielded a sensitivity of 0.93 and specificity of 0.98 for detection of clinical anxiety. A two-factor model of general anxiety and panic symptoms had the best fit according to CFA.The AIR is a short, user-friendly, reliable and valid scale for measuring and screening anxiety in patients with COPD. HubMed – depression