Dissonance-based Program for Eating Disorders Prevention in Mexican University Students / Un programa de prevención de los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria basado en la técnica de disonancia cognitiva en alumnos universitarios mexicanos

The purpose of this study was to identify changes in the risk of eating disorders after a one-year follow-up of a dissonance-based eating disorders prevention program. The Body Project was implemented in a sample of male and female university students: 133, 110, and 74 at baseline, post-test, and follow-up respectively, and we tested the change in disordered eating behaviors (DEB) over time, and by levels of variables that according to the theoretical model lie on the path between the intervention and DEB, with one-way MANOVA analyses of repeated measures for the associations between internalization of the esthetic thin ideal, depressive symptoms, and DEB. The average value of DEB was 5.23 at pre-test, 3.45 at post-test, and 2.80 at follow-up. The model with DEB at each time point, as dependent variables, and internalization of the esthetic thin ideal and depressive symptoms, as independent variables, showed a significant effect of internalization of the esthetic thin ideal, F(2, 136) = 7.66, p = .0011, while there was no significant effect of depressive symptoms, F(2, 136) = 0.45, p = .6191, indicating that the intervention exerted its effect on DEB via the former variable. The intervention proved to produce effects after a one-year follow-up. These findings support the implementation of universal prevention programs using dissonance-based techniques

El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los cambios en el riesgo de desarrollar trastornos de la conducta alimentaria después de un año de seguimiento de un programa de prevención basado en la técnica de la disonancia cognitiva para trastornos de la conducta alimentaria. El Body Project fue implementado en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios, hombres y mujeres: 133, 110 y 74 en el pre-test, post-test y seguimiento, respectivamente. Se comprueba el cambio en las conductas alimentarias de riesgo (CAR) a lo largo del tiempo y según las variables que, de acuerdo con el modelo teórico, se encuentran entre la intervención y las CAR, con un análisis MANOVA de medidas repetidas para las asociaciones entre interiorización del ideal estético de delgadez, los síntomas depresivos y las CAR. El valor promedio de las CAR en el pre-test fue 5.23, 3.45 en el post-test y 2.80 en el seguimiento. El modelo de las CAR como variable dependiente e interiorización del ideal estético de delgadez y los síntomas depresivos como variables independientes mostró un efecto significativo de la internalización del ideal estético de delgadez, F(2, 136) = 7.66, p = .0011, mientras que no hubo un efecto significativo de los síntomas depresivos, F(2, 136) = 0.45, p = .6191, lo que indica que la intervención tuvo un efecto en las CAR por vía de la variable antecedente. Se mostró que la intervención produce efectos después de un año de seguimiento. Este hallazgo sustenta la implementación de programas universales de prevención que utilicen la técnica de disonancia cognoscitiva

Emerging adults not in education, employment or training (NEET): socio-demographic characteristics, mental health and reasons for being NEET.

BACKGROUND: A growing group of emerging adults in many countries around the globe are not incorporated into the education system or the labor market; these have received the label "NEET: not in education, employment nor training". We describe the mental health and socio-demographic characteristics of emerging adults who are NEET from Mexico City (differentiating between NEET who are homemakers and NEET who are not) compared to their peers who are studying, working or both, in a city in which education and employment opportunities for youth are limited. A secondary objective, because of the often inconsistent inclusion criteria or definitions of NEET, was to evaluate the heterogeneity amongst NEET emerging adults in terms of their perceived reasons for being NEET and to evaluate whether different reasons for being NEET are associated with different mental health characteristics. METHODS: The participants were 1071 emerging adults aged 19 to 26; they were interviewed in person by an interviewer in their homes as part of a follow-up study of the Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) assessed psychiatric disorders, substance use and abuse, suicidal behavior and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 15.3% were NEET homemakers, 8.6% NEET non-homemakers, 41.6% worked only, 20.9% studied only and 13.5% worked and studied. Of those who were NEET, 12.6% were NEET by choice. NEET non-homemakers had overall greater odds of substance use, substance use disorders and some suicidal behaviors in comparison with all their peers, whereas NEET homemakers had reduced odds. Those who were NEET because they didn't know what to do with their life had greater odds of mood, behavioral, and substance disorders, use of all substances and of suicide behaviors compared to those who were NEET by choice. CONCLUSIONS: Non-homemaker NEET who lack life goals require targeted mental health intervention. The demographic reality of emerging adults not in education or employment and the varying reasons they give for being NEET are not consistent with how NEET is often conceptualized in terms of a societal problem.

NEET adolescents grown up: eight-year longitudinal follow-up of education, employment and mental health from adolescence to early adulthood in Mexico City.

The purpose is to examine the socio-demographic and mental health outcomes in early adulthood of those who as adolescents were not in education, employment or training, termed NEET, compared to their counterparts who studied, worked, or both. One thousand and seventy-one youth residing in Mexico City participated in a representative, prospective, longitudinal 8-year two-Wave cohort study. At Wave I the participants were aged 12-17 and at Wave II aged 19 and 26. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessed psychiatric disorders, substance use and abuse, suicidal behavior, interpersonal relationships, employment and education. The main finding of this study is that being NEET in adolescence was associated with several socio-demographic and mental health outcomes in early adulthood, above and beyond baseline socioeconomic disadvantage and mental health compared to their peers, particularly their peers who studied only or studied and worked. NEET youth were not that different from their peers who worked exclusively highlighting the protective value of keeping youth in school. The strongest differences between NEET youth and all their peer groups were their increased risks of incident suicidal behaviors. Social policies are needed for creating more educational opportunities, greater support for retention of students, and programs to facilitate the transition from school to the labor market considering cultural attitudes towards life trajectory expectations.