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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA A survey by leading psychiatrists among 755 children and youths aged five-16 has identified a staggering 62% being at risk of emotional problems and a host of issues which fell short of a mental disorder. In a first-of-its-kind assess- ment of Maltese childhood and adolescence, psychiatric registrar Rosemarie Sacco said more youths need healthy cop- ing mechanisms that can help them deal with challenging sit- uations that will serve them in- to adulthood. "We don't want adolescents to grow up not being able to handle touch situations – we want the next generation to be capable of regulating their emotions effectively," Sacco said. The study was conducted by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and the Malta Council for the Vol- untary Sector, searching for the prevalence of mental dis- orders among Maltese children and adolescents, supervised by Dr Nigel Camilleri. A second phase of the study will be com- pleted by 2022. In what are the results for the first phase of the study, the study found that 60% were unlikely to have a mental dis- order. But the survey found that 62% of youths aged 5-16 were at risk of emotional problems; 51% were likely to have con- duct problems; 54% were likely to have hyperactivity problems; and 49% were likely to have anxiety problems. Sacco explained that some youths don't score high enough to be classified with a specif- ic disorder. However, these youths still have problems that will follow them into adulthood if not resolved. "These issues could affect school, and even- tually work and in extreme cas- es can lead to unemployment," Sacco said. The study also touches base on how aware parents are of these issues in youths. It found that 17% of parents had reported problems with them functioning as a family. Breaking that down further, only 11% of parents said they were very concerned with bullying. 6% said they were very concerned with social media-related problems, 1% said they were very concerned with alcohol and substance abuse problems, and 0% said they were very concerned with problems related to self-harm. Sacco highlighted that in- ternationally, at least 50% of youths who reach the threshold to be diagnosed with a mental disorder are not. This figure could be higher for youths who do not meet the threshold. "Not enough parents and teachers are recognising that youths are not coping – this results in them not being diag- nosed. "This is why more awareness needs to be raised because there are youths who don't reach the threshold yet are still suffering and not being given healthy mechanisms for later on in life," she said. Sacco added that this ex- tends to GPs: she said more of an effort should be made on their end to catch symptoms. "Schools also need to recognise symptoms more. Remember a school is an ideal place because children spend a large amount of time there. This is where they learn good social skills. So it is the prime place for teach- ers to pick up these issues." Sacco said the earlier adoles- cents are given coping mecha- nisms, the greater the chance of them not needing medica- tion in the future. "We're not trying to label ad- Successful candidates must be in possession of the following: Qualifications: A Bachelor of Laws (Honours) LL.B (Hons) (Melit) degree together with Master in Advocacy (M.Adv Melit) degree or have the qualifications of Doctorate of Laws (LL.D) (Melit). Experience: Experience and knowledge of legislation will be considered an asset. Skills: Legal, interpersonal, communication, presentation, and general management. Candidates are to present scanned copies of all qualifications with their application together with any local equivalence evaluation, which documentation is issued by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) in case of foreign certificates (excluding Ordinary and Advanced Levels) and certificates which are not issued by MCAST or the University of Malta, by the closing date for submissions. The above post is for an indefinite period. Interested candidates are advised to submit their application, together with a detailed curriculum vitae in pdf format, by not later than Monday, 6th September 2021 to: The Human Resources Manager Planning Authority Ref: Assistant Professional Officer (Legal) Jobsplus Permit No. 405/2021 By sending your application via email on jobapplications@pa.org.mt For further information visit our website: www.pa.org.mt/en/vacancies ASSISTANT PROFESSIONAL OFFICER (LEGAL) The role requires a person who will be responsible to assist and support the functioning of the Planning Authority on legal matters, through legal advice on matters, having legal implications especially related to the implementation of the Development Planning Act, and representation in court proceeding. Vacancy www.pa.org.mt PLANNING AUTHORITY 30th jan and 2nd feb.indd 1 19/08/2021 08:24:04 One in two children suffers from anxiety "This is why more awareness needs to be raised because there are youths who don't reach the threshold yet are still suffering and not being given healthy mechanisms for later on in life"

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