A comparison of health behaviours in male adolescents with and without offending histories referred for adolescent health services in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Offending and incarceration are important societal problems that might be reduced by improving early intervention. Most prior work identifying risk factors has focussed on early oppositional or aggressive behaviours and environmental problems. Among adults, it is well recognised that offenders have much poorer health than the wider population. This raises questions about whether behaviours that put health at risk while a teenager may also be good markers of subsequent offending. AIMS: To examine the relationship between risky health behaviours and delinquency by comparing male teenage offenders with a history of incarceration and male teenagers with no criminal involvement. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 66 male 12-18-year-old offenders with an incarceration history who were referred for evaluation to the Forensic Medicine Polyclinic in 2021 were compared with 74 similar aged adolescents without a criminal record but attending another clinic in the same hospital, using the Risky Health Behaviour Scale (RHBS). This covers dietary, road safety and sexual behaviours as well as exercise, substance use and violent behaviours. Negative items were reverse scored so that higher scores indicated more pro-health activities. RESULTS: Total RHBS scores were significantly lower among the offender-group than the comparison teenagers (Means 93.19 ± 17.00: 107.20 ± 10.83; p ≤ 0.001). This reflected significant differences in each of the subscale scores except dietary and risky sexual behaviour. Only substance use behaviours, however, were independently related to offender group membership, as was family socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings add indications of risky health-related behaviours to the already extensive literature on risky social behaviours in the history of young offenders. It is possible that focussing on young offenders referred to a health service, albeit one primarily directed at mental health, has exaggerated such differences, but if substantiated in larger and more diverse samples, these findings may open new avenues for early identification of young people at risk of offending and commensurate early interventions. Focus on substance use by young people seems especially important, but low family socio-economic status needs remedies too.

Therapeutic Effects of a Novel Form of Biotin on Propionic Acid-Induced Autistic Features in Rats.

Magnesium biotinate (MgB) is a novel biotin complex with superior absorption and anti-inflammatory effects in the brain than D-Biotin. This study aimed to investigate the impact of different doses of MgB on social behavior deficits, learning and memory alteration, and inflammatory markers in propionic acid (PPA)-exposed rats. In this case, 35 Wistar rats (3 weeks old) were distributed into five groups: 1, Control; 2, PPA treated group; 3, PPA+MgBI (10 mg, HED); 4, PPA+MgBII (100 mg, HED); 5, PPA+MgBIII (500 mg, HED). PPA was given subcutaneously at 500 mg/kg/day for five days, followed by MgB for two weeks. PPA-exposed rats showed poor sociability and a high level of anxiety-like behaviors and cognitive impairments (p < 0.001). In a dose-dependent manner, behavioral and learning-memory disorders were significantly improved by MgB supplementation (p < 0.05). PPA decreased both the numbers and the sizes of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. However, MgB administration increased the sizes and the densities of Purkinje cells. MgB improved the brain and serum Mg, biotin, serotonin, and dopamine concentrations, as well as antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, GPx, and GSH) (p < 0.05). In addition, MgB treatment significantly regulated the neurotoxicity-related cytokines and neurotransmission-related markers. For instance, MgB significantly decreased the expression level of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17, CCL-3, CCL-5, and CXCL-16 in the brain, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). These data demonstrate that MgB may ameliorate dysfunctions in social behavior, learning and memory and reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation indexes of the brain in a rat model.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte and Platelet-lymphocyte Ratios among Adolescents with Substance Use Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVE: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a serious public health problem affecting both the individual and the society, and substance use-related deaths and disability have been shown to increase gradually. Recent etiologic studies have reported that there is a relation between inflammatory parameters and psychiatric disorders. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) used as an indicator of inflammation have been shown to be increased in various psychiatric disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate the NLR and PLR in adolescents with SUD. METHODS: This study was conducted by retrospectively examining the records of 55 male adolescents who were followed up with SUD in a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic between November 2019-June 2020. Patients who had comorbid psychiatric disorder were included, and those who received any psychotropic medication were excluded. A total of 61 healthy male adolescents in the same age range without any psychiatric disorders were recruited as a control group. Neutrophil-lymphocyte-platelet counts were noted retrospectively from complete blood tests, and NLR-PLR were calculated. RESULTS: The NLR and PLR of adolescents with SUD were significantly higher than the healthy adolescents (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, respectively). In addition, conduct disorder, depression, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which were determined as the most common comorbid psychiatric disorders had no effects on NLR (p = 0.513, p = 0.584, p = 0.394, respectively) and PLR (p = 0.210, p = 0.346, p = 0.359, respectively). CONCLUSION: The results of current study indicate that inflammatory processes may have a key role in the pathophysiology of SUD.

Assessment of suicide probability and related factors in male incarcerated adolescents; a sample of reformatory center in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: Suicidal behavior in adolescents is an important public health problem, and it ranks first among the causes of prison deaths in incarcerated adolescents(IAs). The aim of this study is to determine the probability of suicide and associated risk factors in IAs. METHOD: Seventy-one male adolescents in a reformatory center were contrasted with a matched group of 71 male adolescent with no psychiatric disorder and no criminal record. Suicidal probability and psychiatric symptomatology were assessed with the Suicide Probability Scale, SA-45 Questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: It was determined that the probability of suicide was higher in IAs, and depression and hostility symptoms, the presence of another individual involved in delinquency in family had predictive effects. It was also found that there was a positive correlation between the probability of suicide and the number of delinquencies, the number of incarceration, and a negative correlation between attending to school or work while in reformatory and being visited by relatives while in reformatory. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that when assessing suicide risk for IAS, it may be useful to pay attention to those with symptoms of depression or hostility, those with multiple delinquencies or entrance to reformatory, and those who have family members involved in delinquency.

Methylphenidate-Induced Enuresis: 3 Case Reports.

ABSTRACT: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children and adolescents. Methylphenidate (MPH) is one of the most widely used drugs in the treatment of ADHD. Enuresis can occur comorbidly with ADHD. However, enuresis is sometimes seen in patients with ADHD as an adverse effect of MPH treatment. In contrast, in some cases, MPH reportedly improves enuresis in patients with ADHD comorbid with enuresis. The literature is contradictory with regard to the relationship between MPH and enuresis. This report presents the cases of 3 children with ADHD who displayed enuresis during MPH treatment.

Low-dose Aripiprazole Induced Enuresis Continuum in a Child.

Aripiprazole is an atypical antipsychotic commonly used in the treatment of childhood disorders, such as bipolar disorder, psychosis, and irritability associated with autism spectrum disorder. Common side effects of its use include extrapyramidal side effects, somnolence, tremor, fatigue, nausea, and akathisia. Enuresis is an additional and rare side effect of aripiprazole use. There is limited data on the subject of enuresis induced as a result of treatment with aripiprazole. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature on aripiprazole-induced enuresis continuum in children. In this report, we present the case of a 9-year-old boy who developed enuresis continuum after the initiation of a low dose of aripiprazole and describe his rapid improvement when administration of the drug was ended.

Evaluation of Incest Cases: 4-Years Retrospective Study.

Incest is specific type of sexual abuse. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sociodemographic data and examination findings of cases referred to our hospital as forensic court cases of incest, and to measure the effect on mental health disorders of the nature of the sexual abuse. Retrospective examination was made of the records of 40 cases of incest victims. Evaluation was made of the age, gender, incident suffered, the perpetrator, form of abuse, examination findings, and mental status. The cases comprised 36 girls and 4 boys. Without penetration sexual abuse was determined in 25 cases and with penetration sexual abuse in 15 cases. At least one mental health disorder was determined in 20 of the cases of simple sexual abuse and in 11 of the major sexual abuse type cases. The most frequently seen mental health disorder was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 21 cases. Mental health disorders were determined in 77.5% of the incest cases in this study, at a greater rate 80% in cases of "without penetration sexual abuse" than in cases of "with penetration sexual abuse" 74.33%. Therefore, all cases of incest must be followed up carefully without differentiation of without or with penetration abuse.