Corrigendum: Validation of the neuroconnective endophenotype questionnaire (NEQ): a new clinical tool for medicine and psychiatry resulting from the contribution of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1039223.].

Validation of the neuroconnective endophenotype questionnaire (NEQ): a new clinical tool for medicine and psychiatry resulting from the contribution of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Introduction: The link between anxiety disorders and joint hypermobility syndrome (now under hypermobility spectrum disorders, which include hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) has been widely replicated over the past 30 years and has grown beyond the initial nosological limits. To integrate clinical and research progress in this field, a new neuroconnective endophenotype (NE) and its corresponding instrument, the Neuroconnective Endophenotype Questionnaire (NEQ), have been developed. This new clinical construct, created with the active participation of patients, includes both somatic and psychological dimensions and symptoms and resilience items. Methods: The NE includes five dimensions: (1) sensorial sensitivity, (2) body signs and symptoms, (3) somatic conditions, (4) polar behavioral strategies, and (5) psychological and psychopathological dimensions. The NEQ information is collected through four self-administered questionnaires (sensorial sensitivity, body signs and symptoms, polar behavioral strategies, and psychological characteristics) and a structured diagnostic part that should be completed by a trained observer. This hetero-administered part incorporates (a) psychiatric diagnoses (using structured criteria, e.g., MINI), (b) somatic disorders diagnosis, using structured criteria, and (c) assessment of joint hypermobility criteria. Results: In a sample of 36 anxiety cases with 36 matched controls, the NEQ obtained high scores for test-retest, inter-rater reliability, and internal consistency. As for predictive validity, cases and controls significantly differed in all five dimensions and hypermobility measurements. Discussion: We can conclude that the NEQ has achieved acceptable reliability and validity values and, therefore, is ready to be used and tested in different samples. This original and consistent construct including somatic and mental items may improve clinical specificity, the search for more comprehensive therapies, and their genetic and neuroimaging bases.

La hiperlaxitud articular como marcador de ansiedad en niños / Joint hypermobility is a marker for anxiety in children

Antecedentes: Se ha encontrado que el síndrome de hiperlaxitud articular (SHLA) está asociado a trastornos de ansiedad en poblaciones clínicas y no clínicas, aunque hasta la fecha ningún estudio ha evaluado esta asociación en niños. El objetivo principal de este estudio es evaluar el SHLA junto con la ansiedad, las medidas somáticas y conductuales en niños, para clarificar si el SHLA está asociado a cualquiera de estas variables en este rango de edad. Métodos: Se reclutó una muestra de 160 niños (74 chicas y 86 chicos) con edades comprendidas entre los 5 y los 17 años, procedentes de una clínica de salud mental de niños/adolescentes, para participar en el estudio. A todos los niños se les realizó una entrevista diagnóstica utilizando Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents. Los instrumentos utilizados incluyeron Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Screening Questionnaire to detect Hypermobility (SQ-CH) y Children Manifested Anxiety Scale (CMAS-R). Resultados: La prevalencia de SHLA en esta muestra fue del 22%, siendo significativamente alta en chicas (31%) en comparación con los chicos (14%) (χ2=6,83; p=0,001). El grupo SHLA obtuvo una puntuación considerablemente superior en la escala de ansiedad total CMAS-R (F=4,51; p=0,035), ansiedad fisiológica CMAS-R (F=7,19; p=0,008) y quejas somáticas CBCL (F=8,46; 0,004), y los análisis de regresión reflejaron que estas 3 variables eran factores predictivos de SHLA (χ2=36,77; p <0,001; r2=0,22). El grupo SHLA obtuvo también puntuaciones superiores en determinadas medidas conductuales. Conclusión: Los niños con SHLA tienen mayor frecuencia de trastornos de ansiedad y mayor intensidad de ansiedad fisiológica, quejas somáticas y, por tanto, podría utilizarse el SHLA como marcador para este fenotipo de ansiedad en los jóvenes

Background: Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) has been found to be associated with anxiety disorders in clinical and nonclinical populations, but to date no studies have evaluated this association in children. The main goal of this study is to evaluate JHS along with anxiety, somatic and behavioral measures in children to clarify if JHS is associated with any of these variables in this age range. Methods: A sample of 160 children (74 girls and 86 boys) ranging from 5 to 17 o were recruited from a Child-Adolescent Mental Health clinic to participate in the study. All children underwent a diagnostic interview using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents. Instruments used include the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Screening Questionnaire to detect Hypermobility (SQ-CH) and the Children Manifested Anxiety Scale (CMAS-R). Results: The prevalence of JHS in this sample was 22%, and this was significantly higher in girls (31%) than in boys (14%) (χ2=6.83; P=.001). The JHS group scored significantly higher in the CMAS-R total anxiety (F=4.51; P=.035), CMAS-R Physiological anxiety (F=7.19; P=.008) and the CBCL somatic complaints (F=8.46; 0.004) and regression analyses showed that these 3 variables were predictors of JHS (χ2=36.77; P<.001; r2=0.22). The JHS group also scored higher in some behavioral measures. Conclusion: Children with JHS have higher frequency of anxiety disorders and higher intensity of physiological anxiety, somatic complaints, and therefore, JHS might be used as marker for this anxiety phenotype in youngsters

Joint hypermobility is a marker for anxiety in children. / La hiperlaxitud articular como marcador de ansiedad en niños.

BACKGROUND: Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) has been found to be associated with anxiety disorders in clinical and nonclinical populations, but to date no studies have evaluated this association in children. The main goal of this study is to evaluate JHS along with anxiety, somatic and behavioral measures in children to clarify if JHS is associated with any of these variables in this age range. METHODS: A sample of 160 children (74 girls and 86 boys) ranging from 5 to 17 o were recruited from a Child-Adolescent Mental Health clinic to participate in the study. All children underwent a diagnostic interview using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents. Instruments used include the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Screening Questionnaire to detect Hypermobility (SQ-CH) and the Children Manifested Anxiety Scale (CMAS-R). RESULTS: The prevalence of JHS in this sample was 22%, and this was significantly higher in girls (31%) than in boys (14%) (χ2=6.83; P=.001). The JHS group scored significantly higher in the CMAS-R total anxiety (F=4.51; P=.035), CMAS-R Physiological anxiety (F=7.19; P=.008) and the CBCL somatic complaints (F=8.46; 0.004) and regression analyses showed that these 3 variables were predictors of JHS (χ2=36.77; P<.001; r2=0.22). The JHS group also scored higher in some behavioral measures. CONCLUSION: Children with JHS have higher frequency of anxiety disorders and higher intensity of physiological anxiety, somatic complaints, and therefore, JHS might be used as marker for this anxiety phenotype in youngsters.

Brain Structure and Function in School-Aged Children With Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is a cluster of symptoms associated with poor function in various domains of major life activities that may comprise a novel attention disorder distinct from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless, very little is known about the neural substrate of SCT in children. The present study aimed to examine associations between SCT symptoms and brain structure and function in school-aged children. METHOD: We performed a cross-sectional MRI study in 178 children 8 to 12 years old from primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. Data were collected between January 2012 and March 2013. Parents completed the Sluggish Cognitive Tempo-Child Behavior Checklist (SCT-CBCL). Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging to assess regional brain volume, white matter integrity using diffusion tensor imaging, and functional connectivity in major neural networks. RESULTS: SCT symptoms were associated with altered anatomy of the frontal lobe in the form of increased regional volume. The anomalously large cortical regions were less mature in terms of functional connectivity. Importantly, all the anatomical and functional anomalies identified remained significant after adjusting the analyses for ADHD symptom scores. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that SCT symptoms are associated with distinct features of brain structure and function that differ from the classical neural substrates described in ADHD.

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in a Child and Adolescent Clinical Outpatient Setting.

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms have largely emerged from investigations of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent research has demonstrated the relevance of SCT symptoms in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychiatry. The goal of this research was to study the symptoms of SCT in a clinical child and adolescent sample and to define its features and comorbid conditions. We reviewed 834 clinical records of patients referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and examined SCT symptoms and their relation with sociodemographic data, clinical diagnosis, comorbid conditions, Child Behavior Checklist dimensions, and intelligence quotient. Of the 515 patients (age range, 4 to 17 y, 62.5% male) for whom a fully completed Child Behavior Checklist for Children and Adolescents was available, 20.8% showed high levels of SCT symptoms. SCT symptoms were strongly associated with age, internalizing symptoms, learning disabilities, and ADHD inattentive subtype (ADHD-I). No significant correlations with intelligence quotient were found. We concluded that SCT symptoms are highly prevalent in a clinical sample, and that these symptoms might be related to the difficulties that some individuals have in responding to demands in their environments, such as academic or social demands, as they increase over time.

Are there glutamate abnormalities in subjects at high risk mental state for psychosis? A review of the evidence.

New approaches to underlying alterations in psychosis suggest increasing evidence of glutamatergic abnormalities in schizophrenia and an association between these abnormalities and certain core psychopathological alterations such as cognitive impairment and negative symptoms. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) is an MR-based technique that enables investigators to study glutamate function by measuring in vivo glutamatergic indices in the brain. In this article we review the published studies of (1)H MRS in subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis. The primary aim was to investigate whether alterations in glutamate function are present before the illness develops in order to expand our understanding of glutamatergic abnormalities in prodromal phases. Three databases were consulted for this review. Titles and abstracts were examined to determine if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The reference lists of the included studies were also examined to identify additional trials. Eleven final studies were included in this review. Significant alterations in glutamate metabolites across different cerebral areas (frontal lobe, thalamus, and the associative striatum) in subjects with an ARMS for psychosis are reported in six of the trials. A longitudinal analysis in two of these trials confirmed an association between these abnormalities and worsening of symptoms and final transition to psychosis. Considering that five other studies found no significant differences across these same areas, we can conclude that more research is needed to confirm glutamatergic abnormalities in subjects with an ARMS for psychosis. However, future research must overcome the methodological limitations of existing studies to obtain reliable results.

Brief Report: Translation and Adaptation of the Theory of Mind Inventory to Spanish.

The Theory of Mind Inventory is an informant measure designed to evaluate children's theory of mind competence. We describe the translation and cultural adaptation of the inventory by the following process: (1) translation from English to Spanish by two independent certified translators; (2) production of an agreed version by a multidisciplinary committee of experts; (3) back-translation to English of the agreed version by an independent translator; (4) discussion of the semantic, idiomatic, and cultural equivalence of the final version; (5) elaboration of the final test; (6) pilot test on 24 representatives of the autism spectrum disorders population and 24 representatives of typically developing children. The steps were conducted satisfactorily, producing the final version in Spanish, which showed good psychometric properties.