Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment in Children with Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate preliminarily the clinical effects of cognitive-behavioral treatment in children with anxiety disorders. METHODS: Subjects were 11 children between 2nd and 6th grade with anxiety disorder. All subjects were diagnosed through Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) interview. The CBT program consisted of sessions once a week (60min/session) for 14 weeks with parent education. RESULTS: Children and parents reported significantly improved social skills, social competence and decreased anxiety. However, there were no significant changes in children's negative thoughts and subjective depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Cognitive-behavioral treatment is expected to be effective in children with anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, phobia, separation anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The Clinical Approaches to Learning Disorder for Primary Physicians

It is not uncommon for children and adolescents with learning disabilities to have neurologically based disorders and other associated psychosocial problems. Those children have learning disorder need systematic psychiatric and neuropsychological evaluations for proper managements. Moreover many educational test instruments and special educational literatures use an information processing model for understanding learning and learning disabilities. Any learning disorders can involve more than one area in various dysfunctional processes; input disabilities (visual and auditory perceptions, and other sensory integrations), integration disabilities (sequencing, abstraction, and organization), memory disabilities, and output disabilities (language and motor). Individuals with learning disability require appropriate interventions, whether they are clinical or educational. They must be screened primarily by family physicians, pediatricians, and psychiatrists, and have psychosocial supports for themselves and their family, and then be referred to child and adolescent psychiatrists for optimal treatment planning and multimodal managements.

Premenstrual Symptom Patterns and Coping Style in Women with Premenstrual Change / 신경정신의학

This study was designed to compare the relationships of premenstrual symptom patterns, stress perception, and coping style between women with premenstrual change and women without premenstrual change, using prospective methods. Fifty one women older than 20 years and in healthy state were asked to complete the Daily Rating Form and Daily Stress Scale(6-point Likert scale) during one menstrual cycle. They were also instructed to respond to the Ways of Coping Checklist. Fifty-percent-change method was used to identify women with premenstrual change, and methods of chisquare, t-test, paired t-test, and correlation were employed to analyze their responses. The results are as follow. 1) 47.1% of the subjects were classified into premenstrual change group. 2) No significant difference between women with premenstural change and women without premenstrual change was found in demographic characteristics(e.g., age, education, job, marriage) and menstrual characteristics(e.g., ages of menarche, regularity of menstruation, interval and duration of menstruation, amount of menstruation, dysmenorrhea). 3) There was no significant difference in coping style between women with premenstural change and women without premenstrual change. However, we observed relationships between some of premenstrual symptoms(i.e., depressed mood, lability, difficulty in concentrating, changes in appetite, being overwhelmed) and coping style, among women with premenstrual change during premenstrual phase. No association was observed between premenstrual symptoms and coping style among women without premenstrual change. 4) Women with premenstrual change reported more stressfulness premenstrually than post-menstrually(t=5.09, df=22, p=.000) as compared to women without premenstrual change(t=0.59 df=26, p=.56). Our findings suggest that, among women with premenstrual change, there exists significant relationship between premenstrual symptom patterns and coping style. Also, the ways stressors are perceived are likely to be affected by the menstrual cycle phase, only among women with premenstrual change. These findings are consistent with the state-dependent model of premenstrual syndrome. Therefore, we should consider stress management as an important therapeutic strategy for those with premenstrual change, because of their high vulnerability to stressors.