Adolescent Development

Background: Most adult women with irregular periods of unknown cause report symptoms dating back to early adolescence. This study aims to learn how girls' periods change in the 2 years after their first period. We are also looking at girls who may have a condition called PCOS. This will help researchers learn what healthy puberty looks like and how they can spot signs of hormone problems early on. Objective: To learn how long it takes girls to develop regular menstrual cycles after their first period. Eligibility: Healthy girls ages 8-14 who either (1) haven't had their first period but show signs of puberty, such as breast development and hair in the genital area; or (2) had their first period in the past 6 months Girls at risk for PCOS age 8-14 who have a mom or sister with PCOS Girls with irregular menstrual cycles age 11-17.5 To compare with the girls, we are looking at women \>=18-34 years old with PCOS, Healthy women \>= 18-34 years old without PCOS, and Mothers of pediatric participants age 18-65 Design: Both parents or guardians must allow their daughter to participate. They must attend all study visits with her. Participants will first be screened by phone. Those who qualify will be screened in person. They will have a physical exam. They will give blood and urine samples. They will have an ultrasound of their abdomen. They will fill out questionnaires. They will sit in a BOD POD for 6 minutes: This is an egg- shaped machine that takes body measurements. They have the option to provide DNA samples. Participants will have sets of visits at home or at the clinic about every 6 months. The number of visits in each set will depend on their menstrual cycle. Then they will have a final visit. Visits will include repeats of the screening tests. There are additional parts that participants may choose to be involved in depending on how involved they want to be. At home, participants will collect their urine daily to measure hormones. They will keep a diary of their periods. Adults: Women with known PCOS will complete the same Screening Visit as the girls and will collect dried urine specimens at home for 8 weeks; The Healthy control women group will complete the same Screening Visit as the girls and collect dried urine specimens at home for 2 menstrual cycles; The Mothers of pediatric participants group will complete a Screening Visit (informed consent, urine pregnancy test) and collect vaginal swab specimens at home for 2 menstrual cycles (approx. 8 weeks)....

The intervention program targets adolescents between 12 and 16 years of age. The intervention program is designed for adolescents during a critical developmental stage marked by significant life transitions, where building strong personal resources and receiving psychological support is essential to foster socioemotional skills and overall well-being. The serious game aims to promote psycho-emotional health in the general adolescent population, supporting healthy development and preventing future emotional difficulties. At the same time, it incorporates specific modules for adolescents living with chronic conditions such as asthma, food allergy, type 1 diabetes, and allergic rhinitis, who may face additional risks of psychological challenges that can complicate treatment and prognosis. By combining universal health promotion with tailored support, the program addresses both the needs of healthy adolescents and those with chronic illnesses. The platform integrates digital and technological tools for dynamic and personalized intervention. Artificial intelligence adapts activities and feedback to each participant's socio-demographic profile and evolving needs, this supports directly in participants' daily lives and natural environments, making the experience more relevant and impactful. The serious game, proven effective in engaging young people, goes beyond traditional psychoeducation by creating an interactive environment where adolescents develop socio-emotional competencies, resilience, and health-related knowledge. Through its six thematic areas, the game promotes overall well-being and healthy habits, while its condition-specific modules provide targeted guidance and coping strategies for asthma, food allergies, type 1 diabetes, and allergic rhinitis.

The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to investigate the effects of group-based rhythm-based body percussion training on neuromotor performance, attention, and functionality in adolescents with mild intellectual disability. The study will be conducted in individuals aged 14-18 years with mild intellectual disability using a two-arm, parallel-group, evaluator-blind design. Participants will be assigned to experimental and control groups using a simple randomization method. The experimental group will receive structured body percussion training twice a week for 45 minutes over 8 weeks. This training consists of rhythmic patterns including clapping, knee tapping, chest tapping, finger snapping, and foot tapping, and will be presented as a progressively advancing program with metronome accompaniment. The control group will receive passive music listening without intervention for the same duration and frequency. Participants will be evaluated at two time points: before and after the intervention. Evaluation tools include: The tests cover neuromotor performance with the Minnesota Hand Skills Test and the Four Square Step Test, rhythm coordination with the Metronome Synchronization Test, attention with the Stroop Test, and functionality with the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Chart 2.0.

Background: Adolescence is a period of intensified emotional responses and occurs when mental health disorders commonly develop since adolescents are learning how to deal with powerful emotions. Globally, 15% of adolescents experience a mental disorder like depression or anxiety. However, adolescent mental health goes beyond mental disorders. It is state of mental well-being that allows individuals to deal with stressors, recognize their abilities, develop their activities well, and participate in society, providing a holistic approach that highlights the interplay between psychological well-being and other aspects of life. Given this perspective, a Lifestyle Medicine (LM) approach based on a multi-component framework is needed for assessing adolescents' mental health. This study aims to evaluate adolescents' (aged 14-19) mental health, identify and mitigate the risks of developing any mental health disorder as well as formulate comprehensive interventions to promote and increase their emotional wellbeing. Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies will be performed. Adolescents from Quito, Ecuador will be recruited using a simple random sampling technique. The minimum sample size is 385; however, to increase the precision of the estimates, a target sample of approximately 1000 participants will be established. Main outcome measure will be mental health using social determinants of health and lifestyle medicine factors. Conclusion: This research project will evaluate adolescents' mental health through a holistic and multiapproach evaluation and interrelate social determinants of health and lifestyle medicine variables to propose and design multidisciplinary strategies and interventions to prevent and mitigate mental health outcomes in adolescents. Additionally, the results will be useful in informing public health authorities to evaluate or modify current policies

This project will examine how multiple biological measures from the brain and the body's stress response system contribute to anhedonia (the loss of pleasure) in adolescence. The goal of this project is to see if it is possible to combine these biological measures to describe different patterns of activity in the brain and body that adolescents may have in response to stress. The main question this study aims to answer is whether different patterns of activity in the brain and body are related to whether adolescents develop anhedonia and how high or low levels of anhedonia are over time. This study will enroll 192 adolescents who are between 13 and 15 years. Adolescents will complete tasks three times: at the beginning of the study, 10 months after that, and then 10 months after that. In total, they will be part of the study for 20 months. At each time, adolescents will complete surveys, provide samples of spit to measure hormones and provide pictures of their brain to measure brain activity, participate in mildly stressful tasks, and complete different activities that measure how they think. The investigators will also ask each adolescent's parent or legal guardian to answer some surveys about themselves and their child.

150 males and 150 females ages 14-17 years-old will be enrolled in an observational, longitudinal study. There are three planned in-person visits: a baseline assessment, an 18-month follow-up, and a 36-month follow-up. The in-person visits will include assessment of substance use and other individual differences (e.g., reward function, psychiatric history), neuromelanin-sensitive MRI, as well as functional brain activation collected while the participant is at rest (resting-state fMRI) and while the participant completes a Monetary Incentive Delay task. Subjects will also be asked to complete past 90-day substance use assessments remotely every 90 days for 36 months.

Purpose: This 5-year R01 study will elucidate the role of maturational change across adolescence in neural connectivity and physiological stress responses in the relationship between anxiety and adverse pathways to substance use (APSU). Participants: Children (N=200) aged 12-14 with symptoms of anxiety and their legal caregiver will be recruited from clinical and community sources. Procedures: Youth participants will complete several questionnaires and interviews, undergo neuroimaging while performing cognitive tasks, and have their heart rate and skin conductance monitored during a mildly stressful task. Caregivers will complete several questionnaires.

This study will investigate the effects of inspiratory and expiratory muscle training on respiratory muscle strength, pulmonary function, and performance status in adolescent athletes

Recent data show a deterioration in the mental health of adolescents, with an increase in anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, eating disorders, and a significant increase in suicides. Psychological distress may be related to the absence of a life project that provides motivation, satisfaction, and direction in their lives, and allows the formation of an integrated sense of personal identity, along with a projection of improvement in abilities. An intervention aimed at enhancing the life project of adolescents could increase their life satisfaction and, secondarily, improve their mental health. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a structured intervention oriented towards the discovery and development of personal talents can have a strong positive impact on the life satisfaction and mental health of adolescents. The Spanish versions of the Satisfaction with Life Scale and Young Person-Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation scales will be used to evaluate life satisfaction and psychological distress of participants before and after the intervention. In addition, the Geniotype questionnaire will be used to explore and enhance the participants' personal talents. The full intervention comprises eight sessions based on Humanistic Integrative Psychotherapy (HIP). It includes one session with Explore Your Meanings (EYME), an immersive digital platform based on the repertory grid technique aimed to enhance the success of therapeutic work and improve personal capabilities. Researchers will compare the full intervention, with an intervention in which the Geniotype questionnaire is substituted by a somatic symptoms questionnaire (with no implications for the talents of the participant) to see if the Geniotype identification works to increase life satisfaction and reduce psychological distress. The control group will be a non-active waiting list. Participants will attend eight weekly, one-hour sessions of a psychological intervention including Geniotype or a somatic symptoms questionnaire or remain in a waiting list for 2 months.

Assess the prevalence of medico-psychological characteristics at the time of placement (M0), their appearance / disappearance and during the two years following placement (M12 and M24) by age group in children / adolescents in Child Protective Services and placed full-time in the structures of Seine-Maritime and Eure as well as in nursery in Le Havre or Rouen