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Evidence suggests that adolescents respond positively to simple, early interventions, including psychosocial support and educational interventions, even when offered in non-clinical settings. Cinematherapy can help manage life challenges, develop new skills, increase awareness, and offer new ways of thinking about specific problems. This pilot trial was conducted in Italy, aiming to investigate the effects of a six-week filmmaking course on the psychological well-being of adolescents (N = 52) with emotional/behavioural problems and neurodevelopmental disorders. At the end of the project, most participants showed improvements mostly in social skills, such as social cognition (p = 0.049), communication (p = 0.009), and motivation (p = 0.03), detected using the SRS Social Responsiveness Scale. In addition, social awareness (p = 0.001) increased in all patients. Statistically significant differences resulted in four sub-scales of Youth Self-Report Scale: withdrawn/depressed (p = 0.007), social problems (p = 0.003), thought problems (p < 0.001), and rule-breaking behaviour (p = 0.03); these results showed a decrease in emotional and behavioural problems. This study is an innovative therapeutic and educational approach based on the filmmaking art. This research can offer an empirical basis for the effectiveness of alternative therapeutic tools in child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. At the same time, it can be replicated in broader contexts (e.g., school and communities) to promote children's psychological well-being.
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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1085948.].
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Background: Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) is characterized by a wide spectrum of symptoms, including the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or severely restricted food intake, associated with emotional symptoms, behavioral symptoms, developmental regression, and somatic symptoms. Among the possible triggering agents, infectious agents have been extensively explored. More recently, sporadic case reports describe a possible association between PANS and SARS-CoV-2 infection but data on clinical presentation and treatment are still scarce. Methods: We describe a case series (10 children) with acute onset or relapse of PANS symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Standardized measures (CBCL, CPRS, C-GAS, CGI-S, Y-BOCS, PANSS, and YGTSS) were used to describe the clinical picture. The efficacy of a pulse treatment with steroids for three consecutive months was assessed. Results: Our data suggest that the clinical presentation of the COVID-19-triggered PANS is largely similar to that reported in typical PANS, including acute onset, with OCD and/or eating disorders, and associated symptoms. Our data suggest that treatment with corticosteroids may be beneficial for both global clinical severity and global functioning. No serious adverse effects were observed. Both OCD symptoms and tics consistently improved. Among psychiatric symptoms, affective and oppositional symptoms appeared more sensitive to the steroid treatment than the other symptoms. Conclusion: Our study confirms that COVID-19 infection in children and adolescents could trigger acute-onset neuropsychiatric symptoms. Thus, in children and adolescents with COVID-19, a specific neuropsychiatric follow-up should be routinely included. Even if a small sample size and a follow-up with only two points (baseline and endpoint, after 8 weeks) limit the conclusions, it seems that steroid treatment in the acute phase may be beneficial and well tolerated.