Health-Related Quality of Life and Behavioral Difficulties in Greek Preschool Children with Developmental Language Disorder.

Developmental language disorder (DLD) has a great impact on language skills as well as on a wide range of functioning areas, such as social and school functioning. In the present study, we aim to explore the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of preschool children with DLD, compared to children with no language difficulties, using a self and proxy report method. A total of 230 parents of preschool children with DLD and 146 parents of children without language difficulties completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM) 4.0 Generic Core Module and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Additionally, 71 children with DLD and 55 peers without DLD completed the self-reported PedsQLTM module. The parents of kindergarten children (5-6 years old) with DLD reported that their kids experience worse social and school functioning compared to the control group. In addition, the children with DLD self-reported lower physical and social functioning. The parents of children with DLD reported that their children experience higher hyperactivity/inattention problems than the parents of the control group. Kindergarten children with DLD have a poorer HRQoL compared to their peers, as perceived by themselves and their parents. Moreover, children with DLD present with higher hyperactivity and inattention symptoms. Health professionals working with children who have DLD need to consider not only the language difficulties but also the children's wellbeing and symptoms of hyperactivity and inattention.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Kindergarten Children with Developmental Language Disorder: Child-Mother Agreement.

Language disorders are associated with difficulties in various aspects of life, such as academic and social functioning, resulting in impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Most studies use a parent proxy method to assess HRQoL. Since HRQoL refers to the subjective experience of an individual, it is necessary to assess children's perspectives along with their mothers'. The aim of the current study is to explore HRQoL rating agreement between children and their mothers, since the literature on other conditions suggests that discrepancies seem to reflect their different perspectives. Thus, 53 Greek-speaking children diagnosed with DLD attending kindergarten and their mothers completed, respectively, self-report and parent proxy PedsQLTM questionnaires. Mothers reported significantly better HRQoL than their children with developmental language disorder (DLD) in all HRQoL domains (p < 0.001). Poor agreement was revealed after comparing the scores from both responders, both in abstract domains, such as emotional functioning, as well as in more observable ones, such as physical health (ICC ranged from -0.05 to 0.07). Bland-Altman plots also showed poor agreement on HRQoL. Our results expand on the already known, from other conditions, importance of evaluating children's subjective experience of their HRQoL in kindergarten children with DLD. A multi-informant approach is ideal, and clinicians should prioritize children's view about their lives even when they are kindergarten-age. This approach could inform interventions focusing not only on language skills but also on other areas where it is necessary, depending on the child's subjective experience combined with the maternal perspective.

Parental Stress Scale: Psychometric Properties in Parents of Preschool Children with Developmental Language Disorder.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities experience more stress compared to those of typically developing children; therefore, measuring parental stress may help clinicians to address it. The Parental Stress Scale (PSS) is a self-rceport measure in the public domain that assesses stress related to child rearing. The present study tested the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the PSS in 204 parents (mean age: 39.4 ± 5.7, 124 mothers and 80 fathers) of kindergarten children diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) after a clinical assessment. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the original four-factor structure. The results showed that the original four-factor structure (parental rewards, parental stressors, lack of control and parental satisfaction) is valid in this specific Greek population. The reliability was high (ω = 0.78) and there were weak correlations (r = -0.372, r = -0.337, r = -0.236), yet of statistical significance (p < 0.001), with similar psychological constructs (quality of life, emotional functioning and worries). Our data confirmed that the PSS is a reliable and valid tool to measure parental stress in parents of children with DLD. Greek clinicians (mental health professionals, speech-language pathologists) can evaluate parental stress and design early interventions targeting specific stress aspects, along with core language interventions for the children.

Prevalence of postpartum depression and antenatal anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic: An observational prospective cohort study in Greece.

INTRODUCTION: A significant proportion of pregnant women and women in the early postpartum period suffer from mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a unique stressor during this period and many studies across the world have shown elevated rates of postpartum depression (PPD). METHODS: In this multicenter two-phase observational prospective cohort study, we aim to assess the prevalence of anxiety prior to labor (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), as well as PPD at 6-8 weeks postpartum using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). RESULTS: Of the 330 women analyzed, 13.2% reported symptoms of depression using EPDS cut-off score ≥13. High antenatal levels of anxiety (24.8% scored ≥10 in GAD-7) were documented. A significant proportion of postpartum women reported a decrease in willingness to attend antenatal education courses (36%) and fewer antenatal visits to their obstetrician (34%) due to pandemic. Higher antenatal anxiety increased the odds of being depressed at 6-8 weeks postpartum (EPDS ≥13). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to reported prevalence of PPD from previous studies before the COVID-19 era in Greece, we did not find elevated rates during the first wave of the pandemic. High anxiety levels were observed indicating that there is a need for close monitoring in pregnancy during the pandemic and anxiety screening to identify women who need support in the pandemic era. A well-planned maternity program should be employed by all the associated care providers to maintain the proper antenatal care adjusted to the pandemic strains as well as a follow-up after labor.

Correction: Ntakolia et al. An Explainable Machine Learning Approach for COVID-19's Impact on Mood States of Children and Adolescents during the First Lockdown in Greece. Healthcare 2022, 10, 149.

Argyris Stringaris was initially included as an author in the original publication [...].

An Explainable Machine Learning Approach for COVID-19's Impact on Mood States of Children and Adolescents during the First Lockdown in Greece.

The global spread of COVID-19 led the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic on 11 March 2020. To decelerate this spread, countries have taken strict measures that have affected the lifestyles and economies. Various studies have focused on the identification of COVID-19's impact on the mental health of children and adolescents via traditional statistical approaches. However, a machine learning methodology must be developed to explain the main factors that contribute to the changes in the mood state of children and adolescents during the first lockdown. Therefore, in this study an explainable machine learning pipeline is presented focusing on children and adolescents in Greece, where a strict lockdown was imposed. The target group consists of children and adolescents, recruited from children and adolescent mental health services, who present mental health problems diagnosed before the pandemic. The proposed methodology imposes: (i) data collection via questionnaires; (ii) a clustering process to identify the groups of subjects with amelioration, deterioration and stability to their mood state; (iii) a feature selection process to identify the most informative features that contribute to mood state prediction; (iv) a decision-making process based on an experimental evaluation among classifiers; (v) calibration of the best-performing model; and (vi) a post hoc interpretation of the features' impact on the best-performing model. The results showed that a blend of heterogeneous features from almost all feature categories is necessary to increase our understanding regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mood state of children and adolescents.

The association of illness perceptions with depressive symptoms and general psychological distress in parents of an offspring with autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a severe stressor and parents often present high levels of depression. Depression is associated with illness perceptions but this association has not been studied in parents of ASD offspring. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress symptoms and their associations with illness perceptions in parents with an ASD offspring. METHODS: In 111 parents of ASD offspring we assessed depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), illness perceptions (B-IPQ) and general psychological distress (GHQ-28). Multiple linear and logistic regressions were used to assess their independent associations. RESULTS: The prevalence of parental clinically significant depressive symptoms was 34.2%, while 55% presented clinically significant levels of general psychological distress. Younger parents and those with lower financial resources had greater psychological distress and more severe depressive symptoms. Parents felt that the condition impacted their lives and believed it would be chronic. Their beliefs about the consequences and the chronicity of the disorder were significant independent correlates of their psychological distress and depressive symptoms severity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that a remarkable proportion of parents with an ASD offspring present clinically significant depressive symptoms, which were associated with illness perceptions relevant to the consequences and the chronicity of the disorder. Our data encourage psychotherapeutic interventions aiming to support parents to deal with the consequences and chronicity of their offspring's disorder, in order to reduce parental psychological distress.