Studies in recent years and especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown a significant increase in the problematic use of computer games and social media. Adolescents having difficulties in regulating their unpleasant emotions are especially prone to Problematic Internet Use (PIU), which is why emotion dysregulation has been considered a risk factor for PIU. The aim of the present study was to assess problematic internet use (PIU) in adolescents after the third wave (nearly 1.5 years after the onset in Europe) of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the German region of Siegen-Wittgenstein, all students 12 years and older from secondary-level schools, vocational schools and universities were offered a prioritized vaccination in August 2021 with an approved vaccine against COVID-19. In this context, the participants filled out the Short Compulsive Internet Use Scale (SCIUS) and two additional items to capture a possible change in digital media usage time and regulation of negative affect due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A multiple regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of PIU. The original sample consisted of 1477 participants, and after excluding invalid cases the final sample size amounted to 1268 adolescents aged 12–17 (x = 14.37 years, SD = 1.64). The average prevalence of PIU was 43.69%. Gender, age, digital media usage time and the intensity of negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic were all found to be significant predictors of PIU: female gender, increasing age, longer digital media usage time and higher intensity of negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with higher SCIUS total scores. This study found a very high prevalence of PIU among 12- to 17-year-olds for the period after the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased significantly compared to pre-pandemic prevalence rates. PIU is emerging as a serious problem among young people in the pandemic. Besides gender and age, pandemic-associated time of digital media use and emotion regulation have an impact on PIU, which provides starting points for preventive interventions.

Parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to negative outcomes in children, including emotional and behavioral problems, developmental delays, and higher risk for psychopathology. Most research focuses on school-aged children or community samples, with few studies examining preschool-aged children in child psychiatric care. Understanding parental ACEs in this population is crucial, as early childhood is a sensitive developmental period, and intergenerational effects may be particularly pronounced in children already presenting with psychiatric symptoms. Background/Objectives: The goal of this study was to analyze how parents of patients in an early childhood (0–5.9 yrs) mental health outpatient clinic differ from the general population in terms of the frequency of ACEs. In addition, we investigated the connection between mental health disorders in young children and the specific ACE scores of their parents. Methods: A total of 116 caregivers (34.45 years (SD = 5.28)) and their children (71.6% boys, 28.4% girls) at an average age of 3.99 years (SD = 1.35, range = 0.31–5.95) were included in the analysis. The legal guardians completed the 10-item ACE questionnaire. The young children were diagnosed as part of outpatient treatment using the DC:0–5 classification system. We analyzed the ACE scores and diagnoses descriptively and in comparison to a community sample. Results: An average value of 2.38 parental ACEs was reported by our sample, and 68.1% (n = 79) reported at least one ACE. The high-risk group with four or more ACEs comprised 30.2% (n = 35). The most common diagnosis in young children was the Disorder of Dysregulated Anger and Aggression of Early Childhood, followed by global developmental delay. Adjustment disorder was third in terms of frequency. Among the examined child psychiatric diagnoses, adjustment disorder showed a significant correlation with parents being affected by the ACE category of neglect (OR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.012–6.369; p = 0.047). Conclusions: Parents who presented their children at an early childhood mental health outpatient clinic reported significantly more ACEs as compared to representative data on ACEs in adulthood. These results highlight the need for further studies with larger samples to enable a more in-depth analysis of the general intergenerational transmission processes and the differential transmission of specific ACEs to specific diagnoses in preschool-aged children.

Background/Objectives: In the new conceptualization of personality disorders (PD) in ICD-11 and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (DSM-5 AMPD), identity development in terms of impaired personality functioning plays a central role in diagnostic guidelines and determining PD severity. On the one hand, there is a temporary identity crisis while keeping an integrated sense of identity and, on the other hand, there is pathological identity diffusion, which is associated with a high risk of a current or emerging PD. The latter is characteristic not only of borderline PD but of all personality disorders and should be detected as early as possible to prevent chronic illness and critical life courses. Maternal psychopathology is linked to several areas of child psychopathology (e.g., eating disorders, depression). In the current study, its potential to predict a child’s impaired identity development is investigated. Methods: A total of 101 mothers were asked about their health status 2 weeks after the birth of their child and when their child was 6 weeks, 4 months, 14 months and 5.5 years of age. Specifically, physical and psychological symptoms were assessed with SCL-90-R. In addition, their children were assessed in young adulthood regarding their identity development with the AIDA (Assessment of Identity Development in Adolescence) questionnaire. Linear regression models were used to investigate the amount of explanation of children’s identity diffusion by maternal symptom burden. Results: Maternal psychopathology significantly predicted identity diffusion at all time points with small effect sizes, while after 14 months, the explanation model showed a medium effect size. Conclusions: The present data suggest a relevant influence of maternal psychopathological symptoms on their children’s identity development in terms of functioning that has not yet been empirically shown in a longitudinal study. This finding highlights the importance of including further factors (particularly on the part of the child) in longitudinal studies and of investigating this clinically highly relevant relationship in greater depth.