Young suicide attempters compared with a control group: psychological, affective, and attitudinal variables.

Suicide attempters admitted to a general hospital psychiatric ward completed questionnaires to elicit information following their suicide attempt. Compared to normal controls who had never attempted suicide, suicide attempters were significantly more hopeless, depressed, and hostile. The suicide attempts seemed to occur in response to stress. A crisis intervention model was suggested as the most appropriate way of managing these patients.

Sleep behaviors and disorders in children and adolescents evaluated at psychiatric clinics.

The parents of 150 children and adolescents, evaluated at a university psychiatry outpatient clinic and a mental health center, were surveyed to determine the frequency of various sleep-related behaviors. This clinic sample was compared with a nonclinic sample of 309 subjects from the general population. A significantly higher incidence of restless sleep, limb movements, nightmares, night terrors, reluctance going to sleep, sleeping with others, fear of dying, fears of dark, and daytime overactivity differentiated the clinic population from the nonclinic population. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of sleep behaviors in the clinic sample due to chronic ear-nose-throat (ENT) problems, sex, or social class. However, bedwetting, sleeping with others, bedtime rituals, need for security objects, fears of the dark, and daytime overactivity were significantly more frequent in the younger age population. Nightmares and restless sleep were more likely to occur in patients having anxiety-affective disorder or conduct disorder DSM III diagnosis, as compared to clinic patients without psychiatric diagnoses. Patients with mental retardation were more likely to experience fears of the dark. A significantly greater number of patients with attention deficit disorder manifested problems with snoring, head banging, restless sleep, and nighttime awakening. There appeared to be an association between chronic ENT problems and daytime overactivity.

Iatrogenic behavioral and psychiatric symptoms in children with partial complex seizures.

Reports are presented of two children with partial complex seizures (PCS) who had a variety of behavioral and psychiatric symptoms that were related to toxic serum levels of anticonvulsants. Anticonvulsant toxicity should be considered in the differential diagnosis of psychiatric symptoms in all children with convulsive disorders. The traditional view that the psychomotor spells have behavioral and psychiatric components increases the complexity of the differential diagnosis. PCS in children present differences in symptomatology and more difficulties in diagnosis and treatment compared with adults.

Life events and hospitalization in children: a comparison with a general population.

This study compared life events in three groups: hospitalized psychiatric, hospitalized paediatric, and non-patient non-hospitalized children, all aged 7-12 years. The most common life event in each group respectively was moving to a new school district, hospitalization for physical illnesses, and outstanding personal achievement. The hospitalized children had a significantly greater number of life events and mean score of life events than that of the general population. The authors conclude that the study of life events alone is insufficient to infer a causal relationship between life events, onset of illness and hospitalization in children.

Behavioral and psychiatric assessment of preterm and full-term low birth weight children at 9-11 years of age.

Preterm (N = 33) and full-term (N = 18) low birth weight subjects were compared at age 9 to 11 years to 52 full-term normal birth weight subjects of similar age and socioeconomic levels. All groups were evaluated by a psychiatrist who was not aware of prenatal or perinatal histories at the time of the interview. Mothers completed various standardized questionnaires designed to elicit information about the children's behaviors. There were no significant differences among the groups in the numbers of subjects with diagnoses of psychiatric disorders or in scores on ratings of hyperactivity, general behavioral maladjustment, and specific behavioral factors. These results indicate that low birth weight per se does not portend serious psychiatric sequelae during middle childhood.

Relationship between minor physical anomalies, perinatal complications, and psychiatric diagnoses in children.

Thirty-three preterm infants of low birth weight, 18 full-term infants of low birth weight, and 52 full-term infants of normal birth weight were evaluated at ages 9 to 11 years for psychiatric diagnoses and for minor physical anomalies. Mothers completed various child behavior questionnaires. Analysis of variance of the mean anomaly scores revealed that significant differences in the scores were due to the presence or absence of perinatal complications other than low birth weight and preterm delivery. Significant differences were also related to the presence or absence of at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The variables of perinatal complications and psychiatric diagnoses seemed to be acting independently of each other. The minor physical anomaly scores also correlated significantly with Conners Parent-Teacher Questionnaire scores for hyperactivity in both the full-term normal birth weight group and the preterm low birth weight group.

Relationship of maternal parenting behaviors to preschool children's temperament.

Mothers of 182 preschool nursery school children rated their own parenting responses on a "Parent's Report" questionnaire. At the same time the mothers responded to the "Behavior Style Questionnaire" (BSQ) from which scores were determined for nine categories of temperament. On the basis of category scores the children were grouped into one of five temperament clusters i.e. easy, difficult, slow to warm up, high intermediate, low intermediate. The children's membership in BSQ clusters was independent of sex, age, birth order, and mothers employment status but there was a significantly higher ratio of "easy" children from higher socioeconomic classes I and II. Mothers of children grouped in either the "difficult" or "slow to warmup"clusters were more likely to use "guilt inducing" and "temper-detachment" parenting styles than mothers of children grouped in the "easy" cluster.

Sexual behaviors in retarded children and adolescents.

Literature reports on the sexual behaviors of mildly retarded adolescents are reviewed. Retarded adolescents often participate in masturbation and homosexual exploratory behavior. The retarded adolescent's heterosexual interests are of great concern to parents. The retarded adolescent is vulnerable to suggestibility, poor judgment and a failure to foresee the consequences of his actions. Parents are usually acutely distressed by the retarded youth's sexual behaviors, and they may develop an attitude that these behaviors are "bad." There is a need to provide appropriate sex education for retardates and to counsel their families about the management of sexual behaviors which occur during the adolescent years.

Depression among incarcerated delinquents.

The authors examined the prevalence of depression among incarcerated delinquents and nonincarcerated, nondelinquent adolescents and reported a prevalence of 18% and 4%, respectively. The possible effect of incarceration on the development of depression was also studied. DSM-III diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorders were used. Of the 100 delinquents admitted consecutively to a detention center, 11 showed evidence of depression both during and before incarceration, while seven developed a depressive disorder in the center. With regard to specific symptoms, 100% of the depressed incarcerated adolescents were found to suffer from sleep difficulties, and 94% experienced disturbances of appetite. Psychomotor retardation or agitation were the symptoms least commonly observed.

Preterm birth, low birth weight, and hyperkinetic behavior in children.

We compared 54 children who were born either preterm or weighing less than 2,501 gm with 52 children born at term and weighing more than 2,500 gm. There were no significant differences in sex or racial distribution nor in socioeconomic status. After semistructured psychiatric interviews, four subjects from the preterm, low-birth-weight group and two subjects from the full-term, normal-birth-weight group were given a diagnosis of "hyperkinetic reaction" (not a significant difference). Scores on the Conners Parent-Teacher Questionnaire (PTQ) did not correlate with any birth-related variables, though subjects with psychiatric diagnoses tended to have greater PTQ scores.

Specific drug use and violence in delinquent boys.

Delinquent boys who had been committed to a training school were interviewed by a psychiatrist to determine drug abuse status. Crimes that were officially recorded were classified as person offenses or property offenses, and the number of offenses was determined from the juvenile record. Drug scores were given subjects for each of 13 drug categories according to the following scale: 0, no use of drug; 1 to 4 v, varying use frequencies increasing in stepwise fashion but not reaching abuse proportions; 5, use greater than 8 days per month and abuse as defined in DSM III. Subject's number of crimes against persons were correlated with subject's drug scores for each of 13 drug categories. Five drugs had significantly positive correlations: phencyclidine, barbiturates, cocaine, Valium, and amphetamines. Scores for alcohol, LSD, mescaline, volatile substances, codeine, marijuana, heroin, and morphine did not correlate significantly with the number of person offenses in the person offender group. Mean drug scores for 13 drug categories of all subjects who were violent person offenders were compared with drug scores of subjects who were property only offenders. The t tests for independent means revealed that drug scores were significantly higher in the person offending group for five drugs: marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and LSD. A high drug score for marijuana was the most predictive of all drug scores for membership in the person offending group.

Drug abuse and criminal behavior in delinquent boys committed to a training school.

To determine drug use or drug abuse status according to DSM-III criteria, the authors interviewed 109 delinquent boys who had been committed to a training school. They categorized each boy as an offender against a person or as an offender against property only. They found that person offenders were significantly older, came from larger communities, abused a greater number of drugs, had higher asocial index scores, and had lower full-scale IQ scores than property-only offenders. The IQ score and the number of drugs abused were the most important variables predicting whether a subject belonged to the person offender or property-only offender group.