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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1430805
This article is part of the Research Topic The Heterogeneity of Psychiatric Symptoms and Disorders View all 9 articles

Psychological and Social Difficulties in Young Non-Help-Seeking Adolescents at Risk for Psychosis: Insights from a Large Cohort Study

Provisionally accepted
Charlotte M. Teigset Charlotte M. Teigset 1*Christine Mohn Christine Mohn 2Caroline R. Mohn-Haigen Caroline R. Mohn-Haigen 2Frank Larøi Frank Larøi 3Bjørn R. Rund Bjørn R. Rund 3
  • 1 Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway
  • 2 Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • 3 University of Oslo, Oslo, Oslo, Norway

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    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.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-helpseeking adolescents at-risk, similar to issues seen in help-seeking youths.Conclusions: 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, non-help-seeking, self-reported psychosis symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, self-esteem, social function, Psychological difficulties

    Received: 10 May 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Teigset, Mohn, Mohn-Haigen, Larøi and Rund. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Charlotte M. Teigset, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway

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