Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep 17:15:1430805.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1430805. eCollection 2024.

Psychological and social difficulties in young non-help-seeking adolescents at risk for psychosis: insights from a large cohort study

Charlotte M Teigset  1 , Christine Mohn  2 , Caroline R Mohn-Haugen  2 , Frank Larøi  3 , Bjørn Rishovd Rund  3
Affiliations

Psychological and social difficulties in young non-help-seeking adolescents at risk for psychosis: insights from a large cohort study

Charlotte M Teigset et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: This study used data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), and explored the psychological and social challenges of 14-year-olds who report psychotic symptoms. Research on help-seeking youths indicates comorbid symptoms of depression, anxiety, and social deterioration, but less is known about non-help-seeking individuals who may not use healthcare services, possibly skewing comorbidity profiles. Also, findings suggest that adolescents manifesting psychotic symptoms refrain from pursuing help. This gap underscores the necessity of studying non-help-seeking adolescents to better understand their needs and the risks they face without intervention.

Methods: We analyzed responses from adolescents who completed the 14-year questionnaire in MoBa (N = 127), identifying those as at risk by their high scores on psychosis-risk items, within the top 0.4% (N = 58). Comparative analyses were conducted against matched controls to assess differences in psychological and social functioning (N = 69).

Results: Results indicated that the at-risk adolescents experience significantly more depression and anxiety and have lower self-esteem and poorer social functioning than controls. Social functioning parameters, including leisure activities, social competence, quality of parental relationship, and sense of school belonging, were significantly worse than those observed in controls. The results indicate a pronounced vulnerability among non-help-seeking adolescents at-risk, similar to issues seen in help-seeking youths.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention strategies that reach beyond traditional clinical settings, suggesting the efficacy of population or community-based screenings to prevent long-term adverse outcomes. The study proposes a broader understanding of psychosis risk, stressing the importance of inclusive approaches to support at-risk adolescents effectively.

Keywords: adolescents at-risk; anxiety; depression; non-help-seeking; psychological difficulties; self-esteem; self-reported psychosis symptoms; social function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of inclusion and data collection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Addington J., Farris M. S., Liu L., Cadenhead K. S., Cannon T. D., Cornblatt B. A., et al. . (2021). Depression: an actionable outcome for those at clinical high-risk. Schizophr. Res. 227, 38–43. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.10.001, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Addington J., Piskulic D., Liu L., Lockwood J., Cadenhead K. S., Cannon T. D., et al. . (2017). Comorbid diagnoses for youth at clinical high risk of psychosis. Schizophr. Res. 190, 90–95. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2017.03.043 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Addington J., Santesteban-Echarri O., Braun A., Lecomte T. (2021). Assessing social functioning in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis. Schizophr. Res. 228, 188–189. - PubMed
    1. Allan S. M., Hodgekins J., Beazley P., Oduola S. (2021). Pathways to care in at-risk mental states: a systematic review. Early Interv. Psychiatry 15, 1092–1103. doi: 10.1111/eip.13053, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allen K.-A., Slaten C. D., Arslan G., Roffey S., Craig H., Vella-Brodrick D. A. (2021). “School belonging: the importance of student and teacher relationships” in The Palgrave handbook of positive education. eds. Kern M. L., Wehmeyer M. L. (Cham: Springer International Publishing; ), 525–550.

LinkOut - more resources