Separation Practices in Children and Adolescents Admitted for Suicidal Behavior: A National Survey of French Psychiatrists.

Objectives: To assess practices of French psychiatrists regarding their management of children and adolescents with suicidal behaviors, focusing on the use of a separation protocol in which the youths are separated from their relatives. Methods: In 2017, we conducted an online cross-sectional survey of French psychiatrists caring for children and adolescents. Participants were asked to describe their practice of a separation protocol in children and adolescents admitted for suicidal behavior. Our main analysis followed a descriptive approach. We also explored whether participant characteristics were associated with the use of a separation protocol. Results: The response rate was 218/2403 (9,1%); 57.9 % of respondents worked in a University hospital, and 60% of respondents reported routinely hospitalizing children. A separation protocol was set up by 91.1% of survey participants (systematically 39.6%, on a case-by-case basis 51.5%). The mean age from which a separation protocol was indicated was above 11 years; 64% of participants reported a separation period of ≤ 48 h. The most common (87%) criterion cited for establishing a separation period was family relationship difficulties. The most common (80.9%) reason to justify the use of a separation protocol was to allow a better clinical assessment. Exploratory analyses did not identify any participant characteristics associated with the use of a separation protocol (p > 0.2 for all). Conclusion: The use of a separation protocol in children and adolescents admitted for suicidal behavior is a widespread practice in France, despite the deprivation of liberty it implies. This raises the question of the relevance and usefulness of such a practice.

Cultural Competence of Professionals Working With Unaccompanied Minors: Addressing Empathy by a Shared Narrative.

BACKGROUND: The number of migrant youth traveling without parents continues to rise in Europe and North America. Some of t hem leave their home countries on their own and find themselves in a new country, separated from their family and cut off from their cultural roots. Besides those who leave to study, work, and pursue a better life, others are escaping war-torn countries. They need adequate social, educational, and therapeutic spaces, where they can feel entitled to speak. Social workers often ask about how they can understand these young people better so that they can provide them with better care (cope with their trauma and suspicion, deal with the cultural distance between the adolescents and their social workers, etc). AIM: At Cochin Hospital in Paris, we led a participative action-research program to transmit cultural competence to social workers who provide care for these youth. The aim was to develop an approach to help these young migrants to share their representations about themselves and to train these social workers to encourage this sharing in a culturally sensitive manner. METHODS: This study used a qualitative method that mixed narrative and transcultural approaches. Two researchers met each youth and social worker with an interpreter-cultural mediator three times (once a month) to assess changes in their relationships during the study. The youth were asked to bring three items of their choice, representing their past, present, and future. They could use their imagination and creativity. We also used the circle test described by Cottle for this purpose. We used a phenomenological approach to analyze the interviews. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: This study included 29 young people from 13 different countries and 29 social workers. A transcultural approach appears to be a useful framework for reactivating their identity construction process. It promotes the emergence of cultural representations and takes their experiences before, during, and after migration into account. We assisted them in developing their ability to produce a thorough narrative of their bicultural adolescences and simultaneously helped their social workers to develop their cultural competence. CONCLUSION: Together, a transcultural approach and methods stimulating the production of narrative are relevant ways to help children to describe their representations of themselves, especially those who have learned to protect themselves by remaining silent. This protocol could be useful for both preventive action and therapy for psychotrauma.

[Suicide attempts in preadolescents]. / Les tentatives de suicide des préadolescents.

Suicide attempts in children and adolescents are a major public health concern. Although the suicide of children remains, fortunately, infrequent, this phenomenon has been constantly increasing since 2009. While many studies have been conducted on adolescent suicidal behaviour, less attention has been paid to suicide attempts in children and preadolescents. Screening for children who are more likely to be suicidal must be performed as early as possible by general practitioners, paediatricians and school doctors.

[Initiating psychiatric care for young, isolated foreigners]. / Initier un suivi psychiatrique chez les jeunes isolés étrangers.

The various traumatic events experienced by young isolated foreigners can weaken them psychologically and cause psychiatric decompensation. A qualitative study, carried out by the Maison de Solenn and the Avicenne hospital, aimed to provide better understanding of the conditions for initiating psychiatric care with these adolescents. The different results show that this type of care for these young migrants must be cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary.