Facial emotion recognition in adolescent depression: The role of childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia and empathy.

Introduction: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is crucial for effective social competency, and problems in this skill are linked depression during adolescence. In this study, we aimed to find the rates of FER accuracy for negative (fearful, sad, angry, disgusted), positive (happy, surprised), and neutral emotions, and the possible predictors of FER skill for most confusing emotions. Subjects and Methods: A total of 67 drug-naive adolescents with depression (11 boys, 56 girls; 11-17 years) were recruited for the study. The facial emotion recognition test, childhood trauma questionnaire and basic empathy, difficulty of emotion regulation, and Toronto alexithymia scales were used. Results: The analysis demonstrated that adolescents have more difficulties in recognizing negative emotions when compared the positive ones. The most confusing emotion is fear (39.8% of fear was recognized as surprise). Boys have lower fear recognition skill than girls and higher childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, and difficulty in describing feelings to predict lower fear recognition skill. For sadness recognition skill, emotional neglect, difficulty in describing feelings, and depression severity were the negative predictors. Emotional empathy has a positive effect on disgust recognition skill. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that impairment of FER skill for negative emotions is associated with childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia, and empathy symptoms in adolescent depression.

Sluggish cognitive tempo (Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome) symptoms are more associated with a higher risk of internet addiction and internet gaming disorder than ADHD symptoms: A study with medical students and resident doctors.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT), demographic factors, and Internet Addiction (IA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) among medical students and resident doctors. METHODS: The study included 274 medical students and resident doctors. (Ages:18-35, 70.4% female). Fisher exact test, Contingency Table analyses, Mann Whithey-U Test and structural equation model-path analysis were used for analysis. The Sociodemographic Information Form, ASRS Scale, Barkley SCT Scale, Young Internet Addiction Test-Short Form and The Digital Game Addiction Scale were utilized to collect data. RESULTS: In the sample, 48 participants (17.51%, 22 female, 26 male) were classified as having a high-risk internet gaming disorder (IGD+), while 53 participants (19.3%, 37 female, 16 male) were classified as having a high-risk internet addiction (IA+). SCT Scale Daydreaming and Sluggishness scores, as well as ASRS Scale Inattention and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity ratings, were all substantially higher in high-risk groups (for all, p < 0.05). Instead of age, there was no difference between high and low-risk groups, but men had a significantly greater rate of high risk- IGD (%32.1 vs. 11.4; p = 0.001). Path analysis revealed that while older age has a substantial negative effect (ß = -0.37, p = 0.001) on increased risk of IA, Inattention (ß = 0.19, p = 0.028), Daydreaming (ß = 0.62, p0.001), and Sluggishness ( ß = 1.12, p0.001) had significant positive effects. On the other hand, results revealed that male gender (ß = 5.08, p0.001), IA scores (ß = 0.21, p0.001), and only Sluggishness ( = 0.52, p = 0.002), but not Inattention, Hyperactivity/impulsivity, or Daydreaming, have positive effects on greater risk of internet gaming disorder (IGD). CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS: Our study is the first to show that SCT symptoms increase the risk of Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder even when ADHD symptoms are controlled. To date, many research have highlighted the necessity of ADHD treatment when evaluating IA and IGD. However, SCT symptoms have a greater impact on people who are predisposed to these behavioral addictions, and despite high comorbidity rates, various treatment approaches for ADHD and SCT are effective. SCT should be kept in mind when assessing treatment-resistant individuals with IA and IGD.

Electroencephalogram abnormalities in children have rotated error on block design performance: An university hospital child and adolescent psychiatry clinic sample.

OBJECTIVE: Neuropsychiatric assessment is essential part of child and adolescent psychiatry clinic practice, also provides important information about central nervous system dysfunctions. In studies conducted to date, it has been known that both the high frequency of psychiatric comorbidity in epileptic patients and that epilepsy comorbidity is quite common in neurodevelopmental disorders. In fact, considering the high comorbidity of epileptic abnormalities and psychiatric disorders, it has been very important to determine predictors for epileptic abnormalities in a clinical sample of child and adolescent psychiatry. In this retrospective study, we aim to determine possible predictive factors for epileptic abnormalities in a clinical sample of child and adolescent psychiatry according to Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) results. METHODS: We identified patients who had two or more rotation errors in the block design subtest of WISC-R by retrospectively scanning the system records of 2609 cases who were applied WISC-R with different prediagnoses at Gazi University Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic between January 2013 and December 2020 (n=71). After the first step identification, we selected the ones who had a previous electroencephalography (EEG) recording available for our own re-review (n=60). RESULTS: We found 15% EEG abnormalities and ADHD is the most common diagnosis in both normal and abnormal EEG groups. Due to correlation analysis, there was a positive-mild correlation between presence of EEG abnormality and WISC-R performance (r=0.56) in intellectual disability (ID) group and a positive-strong correlation between presence of EEG abnormality and WISC-R performance-verbal scores (r=0.74) in ID group. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that many different abnormal EEG patterns can be found in patients who have rotation errors in the block design test of WISC-R, suggesting diagnoses of ID, and having notable performance-verbal subtests scores difference and rotation errors in the block design subtest of WISC-R should be predicitive factors for epileptic abnormalities.

Mother-child interactions among children with visual impairment: Addressing maternal attachment style, depression-anxiety symptoms, and child's behavioral problems.

OBJECTIVE: The birth of a visually impaired child leads to stress, disappointment, and medical challenges for the family due to the economic and financial costs, unmet expectations of other family members, and social embarrassment-isolation of the family from society. In these families, mothers are exposed to the stressors more often than other family members, because, in most families, they are the primary caregivers. In this study, we examined the relationship between maternal attachment styles, maternal depression and anxiety levels, and behavioral problems of children with visual impairment. METHODS: This is a case-control study. In the study group, there were 35 children with visual impairment, and in the control group, there were 31 healthy children. All mothers completed adult attachment style dimensions scales, beck depression, and anxiety inventories, and the aberrant behaviour checklist. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that children with visual impairment have higher levels of behavior problems including irritability, stereotypic behavior, and inappropriate speech when compared with healthy controls. Contrary to our expectations depression and anxiety, scores of mothers were similar, also, there was not a difference in terms of maternal attachment types. Interestingly, there was a positive relationship between secure attachment and depression among mothers of the visual impairment group. In other words, securely attached mothers were more depressive. On the other hand, there was a positive relationship between anxious/ambivalent attachment and the child's irritability. CONCLUSION: The relationship between maternal depression and secure attachment could be a consequence of higher maternal sensitivity due to a child's impairment and should be evaluated in future studies.

Effects of psychiatric symptoms, age, and gender on fear of missing out (FoMO) and problematic smartphone use: A path analysis with clinical-based adolescent sample.

Background: Fear of missing out (FoMO) is a kind of anxiety that arises from FoMO on rewarding online social experiences that others might be having. Recent studies demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between FoMO and problematic smartphone use (PSU). In this study, we aimed to address the relationship between age, gender, psychiatric symptoms, PSU, and FoMO among a clinical-based adolescent sample. Methods: In total, 197 adolescents (136 boys, 12-18 years) who applied to psychiatry clinics were recruited in the study. Path analysis with observed variables was used to investigate the relationships of PSU and FoMO with each other and with psychiatric symptoms (somatization, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism), age, and gender. Results: Path analysis showed that age (B1 = 2.35, P < 0.001), somatization (B1 = 1.19, P < 0.001), hostility (B1 = 0.92, P = 0.001), and paranoid ideation (B1 = 0.93, P = 0.005) have significant positive effect on PSU, when interpersonal sensitivity has a significant negative effect (B1 = -1.47, P < 0.001). For FoMO, male gender (B0 = 0.35, P < 0.001), anxiety (B1 = 1.37, P < 0.001), and PSU have positive effects, whereas age (B1 = -1.60, P < 0.001), depression (B1 = -0.58, P = 0.004), and hostility (B1 = -0.49, P = 0.001) have a negative effect. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that although PSU and FoMO are closely related to each other in previous studies, they have different associations with age, gender, and psychiatric symptoms among a clinical-based adolescent sample. The positive effects of PSU, anxiety on FoMO are predictable; however, the negative effect of age, hostility, and depression on FoMO was interesting. These relationships could be related to social exclusion-hostility and impulsivity-male gender/younger age associations in adolescence. In addition, we did not find a significant effect of FoMO on PSU, this could be related to the social and non-social use of smartphones, and should be reevaluated in clinical samples in the future.

Is Processing Speed (Gs) related to Hyperactivity (As a Narrow Cognitive Area of Gps): A Dimensional Approach to Heterogeneity of Clinical and WISC-IV Cognitive Profiles in ADHD From RDoC/HiTOP Perspective.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between symptomatology and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) cognitive profiles in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), taking into account clinical heterogeneity. METHOD: The WISC-IV was administered to 60 children aged 6 to 13 years with ADHD who had not previously taken psychotropic medication. Conners Teacher-Rating Scale (CTRS-R/L) and Conners Parent-Rating Scale (CPRS-R/L) were completed by parents and teachers. RESULTS: We found a statistically significant positive correlation between the symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity and PSI (Processing Speed Index). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the CTRS-R/L's DSM-IV Inattentive subscale and PRI (Perceptual Reasoning Index). No relationship was found between the inattention or hyperactivity/impulsivity symptomatology with Working Memory Index (WMI). WMI stood out as the most frequently reported weakness among the four index scores. CONCLUSION: Considering the relationship between the cognitive domains of RDoC (Research Domain Criteria) and dimensions of HiTOP with the ADHD symptom clusters, the assessment of cognitive and behavioral symptoms may be useful for phenotyping ADHD. According to the CHC (Cattell-Horn-Carroll) theory; the positive correlation level between PSI, which is accepted as Gs, and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in people with ADHD may be due to the fact that hyperactivity is one of the narrow cognitive domains of Gps.

Psychometric validation of Barkley's Adult Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) Ratings Scale -Turkish version and distinguishing SCT from attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among Turkish adults.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: SCT is characterized by sluggishness, daydreaming, lethargy/ apathy, slowed behavior/thinking, and mental confusion. For a long time these symptoms were thought to be a part of ADHD but then studies revealed that SCT is a different phenomenon in some cultures. In this study. we aimed to examine the validity and reliability of Barkley's Adult SCT Ratings Scale, and to determine if SCT is an independent factor from ADHD in Turkish adults like in other cultures. METHODS: 274 Medical School students/trainees enrolled the study (Age: 18-35, 70.4 % female). Data was collected via an online survey including SCT and ADHD rating scales. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated that the scale consisted of two factors: Daydreaming and Sluggishness.The model demonstrated a good-fit (χ2 = 43.642, p = 0.001; χ2/df = 2.425, GFI = 0.962,RMSEA = 0.072). As expected, there were positive and significant associations between SCT total, Daydreaming, Sluggishness, and ADHD-Inattention scores (r = 0.645, 0.664, 0.382; respectively), but all SCT items loaded within SCT factors and distinquished from ADHD factors. Cronbach's alpha values were: 0.87 for SCT-total, 0.87 for Daydreaming; 0.79 for Sluggishness. CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS: Our study provides a valid and reliable SCT screening tool for Turkish adults and increases our confidence in the transcultural generalizability of SCT.

Evaluation of COVID-19-related psychological distress in parents of children referring to a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic: a university hospital sample.

AIMS: We aimed to determine parents' levels of anxiety and fear and suspicion in relation to the COVID-19 period and the possible predictive factors for these variables in families admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Turkey. In this way, it is hoped to contribute to the identification of priority target groups in psychosocial support services. METHOD: The research study group consisted of 600 patients aged 0-18 years and their parents who were referred to a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Parents completed the COVID-19-related psychological distress (CORPD) scale and the data recording form developed specifically for this study. All cases included in the study were examined by a child and adolescent psychiatrist for diagnostic evaluation and their current diagnoses were recorded. RESULTS: Parents of children with any psychiatric diagnosis had higher suspicion scores on the CORPD scale and parents of children with high COVID-19-related anxiety also had higher anxiety and fear scores on the same scale. Logistic regression analysis revealed that negative changes in family relationships increased the risk of higher maternal COVID-19-related suspicion. CONCLUSIONS: The most important factors associated with parental high CORPD levels were negative changes in family relationships and children with high COVID-19-related anxiety. Children's high COVID-19-related anxiety levels were associated with living with a single parent or separation from parents, negative changes in family relationships, previous COVID-19 infection in the family, and changes in daily routines.

A cross-sectional study on the correlates of food addiction symptoms in adolescents seeking treatment for obesity: eating attitudes and gender differences.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Multidisciplinary approach including psychiatric support, have come to the fore in the treatment of obesity. Food addiction and disordered eating behaviors are among major psychiatric problems that have important effects on both clinical manifestation and response to treatment. This study aimed to investigate correlates of food addiction among adolescents who are seeking treatment for obesity. METHOD: This study included 126 adolescents between 11 and 18 years of age, 48 patients in the "study group" who are seeking treatment for obesity (BMI for age greater than 95th percentile) and 78 adolescents (BMI for age under 85th percentile) in the "control group" who were reached via online survey. All participants were requested to complete self-report based measurement tools of Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and Eating Attitude Test-40 (EAT-40). RESULTS: 47.9% adolescents (n = 23) in the study group met food addiction diagnosis according to diagnostic evaluation of YFAS; which was significantly higher than 5.1% (n = 4) adolescents in the control group (p < 0.001). EAT-40 total scores and the scores in subscales of "anxiety of gaining weight," "dieting," and "thin body preoccupation" were significantly higher in the study group. Gender differences were observed when food addiction symptoms were correlated with eating attitudes among the study group. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing to the controls, food addiction and disordered eating behaviors were more common in adolescents seeking treatment for obesity. Gender differences in the correlates of food addiction symptoms imply that different approaches might be needed for psychological interventions.

Intra/interpersonal Functions of Non-suicidal Self-injury in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder: The Role of Emotion Regulation, Alexithymia, and Childhood Traumas.

Objective: This study examines non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior, its functions and associated factors like childhood trauma, alexithymia, empathy, and emotion regulation, in adolescents suffering from depression.Method: The study sample consisted of 67 adolescents; 11 boys (mean age = 14.94 ±1.45) and 56 girls (mean age = 14.72 ±1.48), all with major depressive disorder. Standard tests and measurements were used for data collection, including Beck Depression Inventory for identifying depression symptoms; Brief Symptom Inventory for screening psychiatric symptoms; Inventory of Statements About Self Injury (ISAS) to identify the lifetime frequency and functions of NSSI in subjects; Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to evaluate sexual, physical, and emotional abuse plus childhood neglect; Toronto Alexithymia Scale to assess difficulties in identifying and/or describing feelings; Basic Empathy Scale to measure empathy levels within the framework of basic emotions; and the Difficulty of Emotion Regulation Scale to determine the awareness and clarity of emotional response.Results: It was found that 64.1% of adolescents studied have had at least one NSSI to date. The most frequent intrapersonal functions associated with NSSI were Affect Regulation and Marking Distress, and the most common interpersonal functions were Toughness and Interpersonal Boundaries. According to a correlation analysis with ISAS scores, Affect Regulation was associated with obsession-compulsion, anxiety, difficulty identifying feelings and clarity scores. Marking Distress, generating a physical sign of feeling awful, was positively associated with Paranoid Ideation scores and negatively associated with Emotional Neglect scores. The Interpersonal Boundaries was positively associated with Childhood Physical Abuse and Impulse scores.Conclusions: NSSI is realized by different functions in the intrapersonal and interpersonal areas in adolescents with depression. Emotion regulation abilities, alexithymia, and childhood trauma are also associated factors or functions of NSSI.

An Open-Label Trial of Methylphenidate Treating Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, Inattention, and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Symptoms Among 6- to 12-Year-Old ADHD Children: What Are the Predictors of Treatment Response at Home and School?

Objective: This study investigated the effects of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), other psychiatric symptoms, age, dose, and pretreatment ADHD severity on methylphenidate (MPH) treatment response among ADHD children in both home and school. In addition, the predictors of the MPH-SCT treatment response were examined. Methods: One hundred eighty-five (6-12 years old) ADHD children who were treated with MPH included in the study. Results: MPH improved SCT total and SCT-Daydreaming scores both at home and school while improved SCT-Sluggish scores in only school. Higher pretreatment Daydreaming score predicted lower treatment response for inattention (B = .301, p = .002), and higher Daydreaming-Sluggish scores predicted lower treatment response for total ADHD symptoms at school (B = .456, p = .006; B = .888, p = .04, respectively). Also higher oppositional defiant disorder symptoms have negative effects on MPH treatment response in ADHD. Older age positively affected the MPH-SCT treatment response in paternal and teacher ratings. Conclusion: SCT symptoms have negative effects on MPH treatment response at school.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) types are common among Turkish women from high socioeconomic status and have differing effects on child abuse and contentment with life.

OBJECTIVE: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is an important public health problem. In this study, we aimed to investigate the exposure of IPV types, child abuse and decrease in life contentment of married women from high socioeconomic status in Turkey. METHODS: Data were collected using an online/written questionnaire and Contentment with Life Scale. The questionnaire included definitions of physical, emotional, economic and sexual IPV and asked how many times they experienced these types of abuse. RESULTS: We found that physical, emotional, economic and sexual IPV exposure were 19%, 45.2%, 12.5%, and 6%, respectively, which suggest that IPV types were common in this group, too. Physical child abuse was higher among physical and emotional IPV victims (p=0004, p=0.02, respectively), while emotional child abuse was higher only among physical IPV victims (p=0.01). On the other hand, exposure to economic and sexual IPV was not related to any type of child abuse in this sample (p>0.05). Physical and economic IPV victims were statistically older (p=0.004, p<0.001, respectively), married for longer time (p<0.001 for both) and had relatively lower education level (p<0.001 for both), while sexual IPV victims had lower education level than non-victims (p=0.03). We demonstrated that physical-emotional and sexual intramarital IPV significantly reduce the women's contentment with life scores when compared with non-victims (p=0.02, p<0.001 and p=0.03, respectively). CONCLUSION: IPV exposure is also severe among married women with high socioeconomic levels and is associated with child abuse in the family and a decrease in life contentment. Lengthened education period among women with similar socioeconomic levels may be an additional protective factor for IPV by delaying the age of marriage and increasing the individual income.

Maternal depression, anxiety, psychoticism and paranoid ideation have effects on developmental delay types of infants: A study with clinical infant-mother dyads.

BACKGROUND: Developmental delay in infancy includes cognitive-language delay, fine motor delay, gross motor delay, and social-self help delay. Delay in one intellectual domain frequently effects the other areas of development; therefore, determining risk factors are essential. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between maternal psychiatric symptoms and developmental delay types of infants who have not a known risk factor and are expected to show healthy development but have some behavioral and developmental problems. METHODS: The sample consisted of 79 infant-mother (26 girls, 53 boys) dyads who had been admitted to the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Gulhane Research and Training Hospital over a one year period. Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory and Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory were used. RESULTS: The most frequent developmental delay types were fine motor and social -self-help delay in this sample. For all developmentally delayed infants, maternal interpersonal sensitivity, and depression scores were higher than healthy developed ones. Logistic regression analyses revealed the risk factors: Higher maternal paranoid ideation increases the language-cognitive delay; maternal hostility and anxiety increase the gross motor delay; maternal psychoticism increases the social and self-help delay, and maternal depression increases the total development delay of infants. CONCLUSION: Maternal depression, anxiety, psychoticism, and paranoid ideation are important risk factors for infants' developmental delay types and should be addressed while evaluating infant-mother dyads in clinical practice.

Voices of adolescent incest victims: A qualitative study on feelings about trauma and expectations of recovery.

BACKGROUND: Incest, is a serious social problem facing society and children/adolescents themselves. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways adolescents talk about and give meaning to their experiences of incest concerning cultural, ethnic factors relevant to southeastern of Turkey. METHOD: We focused on in-depth interviews of five incest victims (14-16 years girls, from low socioeconomic status in southeastern of Turkey). RESULTS: Four key themes were constructed from the qualitative analysis: 1. Unable to understand/Delayed meaning-making: Adolescents provided definitive information about the first abuse memory but they were also unable to understand what they had experienced so they delayed meaning making. 2. Dysfunctional coping style with the incest: Adolescents told that they threatened the perpetrators in various phases of incest. 3. Avoidance of eye contact by the perpetrator: We recognized that perpetrators avoided social contact with the victim. This theme evokes dehumanizing of women during incest. 4. The urge to destroy happy memories: This theme presents data on the adolescents' expectations about recovery. CONCLUSION: According to the themes, two fundamental therapeutic precepts could guide the treatment process for adolescent girl incest survivors: 1. Exploration of the delayed meaning making: Therapist could address dysfunctional family functioning and explain that it is normal for a child to be delayed in meaning making. 2. Recovery of the adolescent's lost self after semantic dehumanization in abuses: Therapist should help her to dispute irrational beliefs about worthlessness and to gain control of her body.

Effect of fluoxetine and psychotherapy on heart rate variability in children and adolescents diagnosed with panic disorder: 24-hour Holter monitoring study before and after treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Panic disorder (PD) is now recognized as a common and important problem in children, and particularly adolescents, and one that can negatively affect daily well-being and educational performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the severity of symptoms before and after treatment with psychotherapy and fluoxetine. METHODS: The PD study group consisted of 23 children diagnosed with PD and the healthy control (HC) group comprised 27 healthy children. Panic-anxiety symptoms were measured using 2 assessments performed before and after treatment. HRV was evaluated with a 24-hour Holter examination. RESULTS: According to the analysis of the 24-hour, all-day Holter device recordings, the high frequency (HF) and parasympathetic (%) scores in the PD group were lower than those of the HC group (p<0.05). The low frequency (LF)/HF ratio and sympathetic (%) scores in the PD group were higher than those of the HC group (p<0.05). The analysis of daytime readings indicated that the HF values of the PD group were lower than those of the HC group (p<0.05), while the very LF/HF ratio and LF/HF ratio were higher than those of the HC group (p<0.05). Analysis of nighttime Holter results revealed that the rMSSD, pNN50, and HF readings of the PD group were lower than those of the HC group (p<0.05), while the LF/HF ratio in PD patients was higher than that seen in the HC group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In children and adolescents with PD, increased sympathetic activity can cause changes in some HRV parameters. Some of these changes may return to normal with treatment.

Parental attitudes in children with persistent developmental stuttering: a case-control study

Abstract Background Clinical experiences emphasize the possible role of parental attitudes and behaviours in shaping stuttering behaviors however, the number of studies in this area is still insufficient. Objective Our aims were to compare parental attitudes in children with and without stuttering and to determine the effect of parental attitudes on stuttering severity. Methods We used an age and gender matched case control design with 24 children with stuttering and 22 healthy school children. Demographic information form and Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI) were enrolled by the mothers. Results According to our results; there was a statistically significant difference in parental attitudes of children with and without stuttering. Our results showed that excessive maternal control of the child and the expectations of obedience from the child more frequently observed in parents of the children with stuttering. Also there was a significant positive correlation with the severity of stuttering and excessive maternal control of the child, the expectations of obedience from the child and marital conflict. Discussion In conclusion, there was an important difference in parental styles of study group and this difference was related to the severity of stuttering. Clinicans should address parental attitudes in this samples.

Methylphenidate and Central Precocious Puberty: A Probable Side Effect among Seven Children with the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Methylphenidate (MPH) is the most preferred drug for treatment of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here, we aimed to discuss the possible effects and mechanisms of MPH on precocious puberty (PP) via a case series with seven children who had normal body mass index. In this case series we evaluated seven children with ADHD, who had received MPH for at least 6 months (0.5 mg/kg/dose three times a day, maximum 60 mg) and admitted to Department of Pediatric Endocrinology with PP symptoms. The mean age was 8.16 years. Basal hormonal levels (luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle stimulating hormone, and estrogen/testosterone) were within normal range. Results of LH-releasing hormone stimulation tests demonstrated central pubertal responses. Glutamine, dopamine and noradrenaline are most important excitatory neurotransmitters that have a role at the beginning of puberty. The effect of MPH, cumulating dopamine and noradrenaline in the synaptic gap could be associated with the acceleration of puberty with the excitatory effect of dopamine’s gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) release, excitatory effect of noradrenaline’s GnRH release and the disappearance of GnRH receptor expression suppressor effect on prolactin disinhibitory effect.

How women with intimate partner violence (IPV) reason about other's intentions: effect of IPV on counterfactual inferences among healthy high socioeconomic level women from Turkey

Abstract Background: Counterfactual thinking (CFT) is a specific type of human thought involving mental representations of alternatives to past situations by perceiving the immediate environment from an imagined perspective. CFT problems and deficits in counterfactual inference ability are related to psychopathologies. Objective: We aimed to assess the CFT in a sample of high sociocultural-healthy women with and without intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure to determine whether exposure to different types of IPV has effects on CFT. Methods: Three hundred thirty-six women recruited the study. Data was collected by Violence Exposure Questionnaire and Counterfactual Inference Test. Results: Compared with non-victims, physical IPV victims significantly generate fewer counter-factual thoughts when faced with a simulated scenario. In addition, the reaction of rumination (judgemental) in response to a temporal nearly happened event was significantly lower among both physical and emotional IPV victims. Among victims, deficits in the CIT is positively correlated with the number of physical, emotional and economic abuses but the degree of correlations were weak. Discussion: We demonstrated that IPV exposure is severe in healthy women at the high socioeconomic level and is associated with the decrease in CFT ability.

The relationship between problematic smartphone use and psychiatric symptoms among adolescents who applied to psychiatry clinics.

Problematic mobile phone use is an important problem which has increasing prevalence among adolescents. We should address risk factors to create intervention frameworks related to this problem. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of problematic smartphone use among adolescents who were referred to clinics, its relationship to sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric symptoms and emotion regulation problems. We included 150 adolescents aged 12-18 years who own smartphones. All participants filled out the Sociodemographic Information Form, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Problematic Mobile Phone Use Scale (PMPUS). Problematic smart phone use was detected in 50.6% of the sample. Adolescents with problematic use were found to be older than the others, with lower levels of maternal education and self-achievement. Regression analysis revealed that the factors predicting the risk of problematic smartphone use are somatization, interpersonal sensitivity and hostility symptoms. According to our results, we suggest psychiatrists consider the high prevalence of problematic smartphone use, address the relationship between hostility, somatic symptoms and interpersonal sensitivity (susceptibility) and the effects of this current problem on social-academic functioning while evaluating and treating adolescents.

Alexithymia, depression and anxiety in parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorder: Comparative study of autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and their relatives have problems expressing and recognizing emotions, but there is a lack of studies on alexithymia, and the relationship between parental alexithymia and depression-anxiety symptoms in these groups. The aim of this study was therefore to measure alexithymia, depression, and anxiety levels in parents of children with pervasive developmental disorders and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and determine whether there is a positive correlation between the child's neurodevelopmental problem severity and parent scores. METHODS: Parents of 29 autistic disorder (AD), 28 pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and 29 ADHD children were recruited into the study, and completed a demographic information form, as well as the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS: Alexithymia symptoms were higher in parents of children with AD than in others but unexpectedly, also these symptoms were higher in ADHD parents than in PDD-NOS groups. In addition, there were unexpected differences according to alexithymia subtype, while only the difference in maternal TAS-1 scores (difficulty in describing feelings) were statistically significant. Parental depression and state anxiety scores were increased as the child's symptom severity increased, but trait anxiety symptoms were higher in the AD and ADHD group than in the PDD-NOS group. In all groups, maternal depression and anxiety scores were higher than paternal scores, and differences were significant for depression and anxiety types in AD, and for only anxiety types in ADHD parents. The AD group had the strongest correlation between parental depression-anxiety and alexithymia. CONCLUSION: The possibility of alexithymia, depression and anxiety should be kept in mind when working with parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.