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Berit Grøholt

Publications and source records attributed to Berit Grøholt.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Self-reported strengths and difficulties in a large Norwegian population 10-19 years : age and gender specific results of the extended SDQ-questionnaire.

This study reports young people's assessment of own problems and strengths from a Norwegian survey (n=29,631, age range 10-19), based on the self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (response rate 84.3%). Differences according to the age and gender are illuminated. Girls reported most emotional problems and boys most conduct and peer problems. Compared to other countries, Norwegian adolescents reported more hyperactive behaviour. Total problem scores were highest in early-adolescence for boys (Mean=10.8, SD=6.1), and for girls it is in late adolescence (Mean 11.3, SD=5.2). One third of the subjects reported at least minor perceived difficulties. All symptom scales were strongly associated with perceived difficulties, impact and burden to others (P<0.001) with significant gender and age effects. Impact scores were included in the estimate of possible caseness. Combining symptom scores and impact scores, 3.7% of the sample was defined as a high risk group, while 8.8% needed special attention from mental health services. The results also suggested that SDQ could be a valuable screening instrument for older adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Life leaves its marks].

BACKGROUND: The article highlights how environmental factors early in life, in combination with genetic vulnerability, can influence development and partly explain variations in mental health. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A selection of key articles identified on Medline. RESULT: The plasticity of a child's brain makes it particularly susceptible to environmental factors. This provides a significant potential for learning and adaptation, but also causes vulnerability with respect to, for instance, mental illness. There are no studies showing that a specific trauma or strain causes a specific psychological disorder later in life. Nonetheless, recent studies show that certain environmental factors in early life could have a lasting impact on a child's psychosocial behaviour. The article sums up some of these findings. CONCLUSION: Early preventive measures are particularly important in cases where a biological vulnerability occurs. It is equally important to have realistic expectations with respect to the results of the various measures. Not everything can be returned to normalcy, though it is always possible to promote a development potential.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Bipolar disorders in children and adolescents].

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorders often develop in children and adolescents but are seldom diagnosed before adulthood. These illnesses are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. The aim of this paper is to provide knowledge to facilitate earlier diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Medline search. RESULTS: Bipolar disorders are characterised by serious fluctuations in energy and mood. The diagnosis of bipolar disorders in children and adolescents is challenging because the clinical presentation is influenced by ongoing neural development, which cause considerable symptom overlap and comorbidity with ADHD, conduct disorders, anxiety and Tourette's syndrome. ADHD symptoms may be a precursor of bipolar disorder among some of the youngest children, and prepubertal depression is often pre-bipolar.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Intoxicants and suicidal behaviour among adolescents: changes in levels and associations from 1992 to 2002.

AIMS: To assess whether a substantial increase in substance use over a 10-year period has had an impact on the level of, or associations with, non-fatal suicidal behaviour among Norwegian teenagers. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two cross-sectional school surveys applying identical procedures and measures in 1992 and 2002, using national samples comprising 11 000 and 12 000 13-19-year-old students. FINDINGS: A significant proportion of the increase in the prevalence of attempted suicide among girls could be attributed to the increase in substance use, taking into account other risk and protective factors. Among boys no net increase in the prevalence of attempted suicide was observed, and the impact of substance use on suicidal behaviour was lower in 2002 than in 1992. Yet, it also appeared that unobserved protective factors may have countered the impact of increased substance use among boys. For both genders a larger fraction of attempted suicides was attributable to alcohol intoxication than to use of any other substance. CONCLUSIONS: A significant increase in use of alcohol and drugs may not necessarily be reflected in changes in the level of suicidal behaviour. Further studies applying other data sources and designs are warranted to supplement and validate the present findings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents: different factors contribute to self-esteem.

Some risk and protective factors differ in their importance to suicidal and nonsuicidal people. In this research we explore the cross-sectional differences between risk factors among suicidal adolescents and nonsuicidal adolescents by focusing on self-esteem. Sixty-five suicidal and 390 nonsuicidal adolescents were compared on Harter's Self-Perceived Profile for Adolescents, self-concept stability, seeking support, loneliness, and depression. Self-concept stability, loneliness, and peer support correlated differently with self-esteem. In multivariate regression analyses, variance in self-esteem was explained by depression and loneliness, and among nonsuicidal adolescents also by self-concept stability, support, and competencies. Loneliness and self-concept stability related differently to self-esteem in suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents. When the aim is to enhance self-esteem, this difference may delineate suicidal subgroups that need special interventions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

[Suicidal adolescents--what should clinicians look for?].

BACKGROUND: Over the past decades, suicidal behaviour has increased among adolescents. We wanted to explore what characterises adolescents who come in to see a general practitioner prior to a suicide attempt. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 87 % of a group of adolescents below the age of 20 (N = 92) who were admitted to hospital after attempted suicide were interviewed and compared to a non-suicidal control group. RESULTS: 41 out of the 92 saw a doctor within six weeks prior to the attempt; 27 presented with purely physical problems, 6 with psychological problems and eight with a combination of both. Only 2 brought up suicidal thoughts with their doctors. Those who saw a doctor prior to the suicide attempt were older and more frequently had eating disorders than those who did not. No other significant differences were found. Compared to the control group, suicidal adolescents who came in to see a general practitioner more often reported divorced parents, fewer siblings, little support from family and peers, having sex at an early age, frequent use of tobacco and illegal drugs, low self-esteem, loneliness and depressive symptoms (p < 0.01). INTERPRETATION: Adolescents who saw a doctor prior to a suicide attempt differed significantly from the non-suicidal controls. General practitioners need to have extensive knowledge about risk factors in order to recognise suicidal adolescents. Active inquiry about psychosocial problems, psychopathology and suicidal ideation is necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Suicide in young people under 15 years: problems of classification.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this paper is to examine the classification of suicide in children and young adolescents. Although under-classification of suicide in the very young is a well-known problem, our hypothesis was that accidents might wrongly be classified as suicides, leading to over-classification. This may more easily occur in the very young. METHOD: Information about all registered young suicides under 20 years of age in Norway in 1990-92 was gathered from professional informants. The suicides were reclassified as certain, uncertain or improbable suicide. People under 15 years of age (n=14) were compared with late adolescent suicides (15-19 years) (n=115). RESULTS: Uncertain or improbable suicides were significantly more common in the very young (50% vs. 5%, P<0.001). In contrast to the very young who completed suicide, the very young with uncertain suicide had few risk factors (mental disorders, broken families, known stressors or precipitants, suicide intent and farewell notes). Clinical vignettes are given. CONCLUSION: Some accidents in children may wrongly have been classified as suicide. Cases of death following experimenting or imitations of models from television or fiction should rather be classified as accidents or undetermined deaths. Misclassification of suicide may be an unnecessary burden to families and peers.

Accidents↗