Rates of seasonal affective disorder in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The authors estimated the frequency of seasonal affective disorder in children and adolescents and examined the relationship of this rate to age and pubertal status. METHOD: A modified version of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was distributed to 2,267 students at a middle school and a high school in a suburb of Washington, D.C. A case diagnosis was made if the respondent scored over 18 and also indicated that the change of seasons was at least a "pretty bad" problem. RESULTS: A total of 1,871 questionnaires (82.5%) were returned. Sixty probable cases of seasonal affective disorder (3.3%) were identified among the 1,835 surveys analyzed. Age was directly correlated with the frequency of seasonal affective disorder, and the rate was higher in postpubertal girls. Differences between the subjects with and without identified cases of seasonal affective disorder were seen in the symptom endorsement patterns, particularly for "feel worst," "least energy," "most irritable," and "socialize least." CONCLUSIONS: These pilot data suggest that between 1.7% and 5.5% of 9-19-year-old children may have seasonal affective disorder. Further research is warranted, particularly that which examines the relationship between seasonal affective disorder and puberty.

Exposure to ambient light in patients with winter seasonal affective disorder.

In a study of the quantitative relationship between ambient light and depression in winter seasonal affective disorder, 13 outpatients and 13 normal comparison subjects each wore a light monitor for 1 week. The patients and normal subjects showed similar light exposure profiles; among the patients, severity of depression was inversely related to photoperiod, and there was a trend toward a correlation between greater severity of depression and later time of onset of morning light exposure. These findings suggest that vulnerability to short photoperiods may be related to depression in winter seasonal affective disorder.

Brain metabolism in teenagers with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to obtain and compare values of cerebral glucose metabolism in normal minors and minors with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We also sought to confirm our earlier findings of reduced brain metabolism in adults with ADHD, and to examine whether these results might be diagnostically useful. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Adolescents were recruited to National Institutes of Health Clinical Center/Research Facility through advertisement at local high schools and ADHD organizations. PATIENTS: Subjects were 10 normal adolescents and 10 adolescents with ADHD diagnosed with structured interviews using DSM-III-R criteria. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Positron emission tomography and fludeoxyglucose F18 were used to study cerebral glucose metabolism in minors while they performed an auditory-attention task. RESULTS: Global or absolute measures of metabolism did not statistically differ between groups, although hyperactive girls had a 17.6% lower absolute brain metabolism than normal girls. As compared with the values for the controls, normalized glucose metabolism was significantly reduced in six of 60 specific regions of the brain, including an area of the left anterior frontal lobe (P < .05). Lower metabolism in that specific region of the left anterior frontal lobe was significantly inversely correlated with measures of symptom severity (P < .001-.009, r = -.56 to -.67). CONCLUSIONS: Global or absolute measures of metabolism using positron emission tomography and fludeoxyglucose F18 did not statistically differentiate between normal adolescents with ADHD. Positron emission tomography scans can be performed and are well tolerated by normal teenagers and teenagers with ADHD. The feasibility of normal minors participating in research involving radiation was established.

Enhanced enamel F uptake by monocalcium phosphate monohydrate gels.

Application of DCPD-forming solutions has been shown to increase substantially the enamel reactivity toward F. The effectiveness of a variation of this treatment procedure, in which the DCPD-forming solution was replaced by a viscous carboxymethylcellulose gel containing monocalcium phosphate monohydrate (MCPM), was evaluated by use of 12 extracted human molars. The MCPM gel was highly effective in enhancing the F uptake by enamel. The mean F uptakes by teeth treated with MCPM gel, followed by exposure to a F solution, were 3972 (+/- 565), 2383 (+/- 312), and 1751 (+/- 313) ppm, respectively, in the outer 5-, 10-, and 15-microns depths in enamel. These uptakes were 2374, 1273, and 852 ppm more than those of the control teeth. Because the F solution was undersaturated with respect to CaF2, the F incorporated into the enamel was believed to be in apatitic form and not as CaF2. The MCPM gel has advantages over the DCPD-forming solution because (1) much longer gel-tooth contact times can be achieved, and (2) the treatment agent can readily be delivered to specific sites where the tooth needs the protection most.