bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Prevalence and Associations of Psychiatric Disorder in Children in Kerala, South India
Authors: Hackett Richard , Hackett Latha , Bhakta Preeta , Gowers Simon
Published: September 2003

This study aimed to identify the prevalence and associations of childhood psychiatric disorder in Calicut District, South India. Among 1403 children aged 8 to 12 years selected by random cluster sampling, a projected prevalence of 9.4% (95% CI 7.9–10.8%) was found. Associations of disorder with male sex, the Muslim religion, lower social class, less parental education, school failure, and impaired reading and vocabulary were found, but not with malnutrition or perinatal problems. The similarity to associations of disorder in Western studies was noted. The discussion focuses on the validity of comparisons of prevalence across cultures.
Culture, Coping, and Context: Primary and Secondary Control among Thai and American Youth
Authors: McCarty Carolyn A. , Weisz John R. , Wanitromanee Kanchana , Eastman Karen L. , Suwanlert Somsong , Chaiyasit Wanchai , Band Eve Brotman
Published: September 2003

Do cultural values and traditions influence the development of coping styles ? To address this question, we compared self‐reports of coping by 6–14‐year‐olds in Thailand and the U.S. One hundred and forty‐one children were interviewed about six common stressors: separation from a friend, injection in a doctor's office, adult anger, peer animosity, school failure, and physical injury. Children's self‐reported coping methods were coded as overt or covert. Coping goals were coded as reflecting primary control (attempts to influence objective conditions), secondary control (attempts to adjust oneself to objective conditions), or relinquished control. Although findings revealed numerous cross‐national similarities, there were also multiple main and interaction effects involving culture, suggesting that sociocultural context may be critical to our understanding of child coping. Consistent with literature on Thai culture, Thai children reported more than twice as much covert coping as American children for stressors involving adult authority figures (i.e. adult anger, injection in doctor's office). Thai children also reported more secondary control goals than Americans when coping with separation, but American children were five times as likely as Thais to adopt secondary control goals for coping with injury. The findings support a model of coping development in which culture and stressor characteristics interact, with societal differences most likely to be found in situations where culture‐specific norms become salient.
Behaviour and Development of Stunted and Nonstunted Jamaican Children
Authors: Gardner Julie M. Meeks , Grantham‐McGregor Sally M. , Himes John , Chang Susan
Published: September 2003

In order to examine the mechanism whereby stunted children have poor developmental levels, we compared the behaviour of stunted (N = 78) and nonstunted (N= 26) children aged 12 to 24 months, and examined the relationship of their behaviour to their developmental levels. The effect of nutritional supplementation with or without psychosocial stimulation on the stunted children's behaviour was also examined. The children were observed at home during 4 days over a period of 6 months. The stunted children showed significantly more apathy, and less enthusiasm and variety in exploring, were less happy and more fussy. Caretakers’ vocalisations to them were less warm or instructive. Stunted children's activity level, exploratory and happy behaviours were predictive of change in developmental levels measured on the Griffiths Scales, from enrolment to 12 and 24 months later. Supplementation predicted mental age at 12 and 24 months after enrolment, however, it had no significant effect on behaviour.
Annotation: Psychopathology in Children with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Dykens Elisabeth M.
Published: September 2003

Recent advances are reviewed in understanding the heightened prevalence of psychopathology and maladaptive behavior among children with intellectual disability. Researchers have traditionally emphasized measurement and prevalence issues, using either psychiatric assessments or rating scales to identify the prevalence of various problems in children with intellectual disability. Yet the time is ripe to shift directions, and identify more precisely why children are at increased risk for psychopathology to begin with. Although several “biopsycho‐social” hypotheses are reviewed, a particularly promising line of work links psychopathology to genetic intellectual disability syndromes. Psychiatric vulnerabilities in several syndromes are reviewed, as are the advantages of phenotypic work for understanding psychopathology among children with intellectual disability more generally.
Practitioner Review: Treatment of Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Rapoport Judith L. , Inoff‐Germain Gale
Published: September 2003

This paper reviews the treatment of obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents. Focusing on clinical features of the disorder and its treatment particular to pediatric onset, diagnosis, assessment, and behavioral, pharmacological, as well as new investigative treatments are covered. Adaptation of cognitive‐behavioral therapy for children and adolescents, use of augmenting agents in drug treatment, and subtyping of OCD cases are developments relevant for current practice.
Sex Differences, Assortative Mating, and Cultural Transmission Effects on Adolescent Delinquency: A Twin Family Study
Authors: Taylor Jeanette , McGue Matt , Iacono William G.
Published: September 2003

The twin study literature contains inconsistencies regarding both the estimates of genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influence on delinquency and sex differences in the etiological influences on delinquency. Additionally, little is known about assortative mating and cultural transmission effects on delinquency. The present study was aimed at examining the etiology of delinquency in adolescence and examining assortative mating and transmission effects. To this end, we applied the social homogamy structural equation model to self‐reported delinquency data from 486 families with 17‐year‐old male and female twins. We expected stronger shared environmental influences on delinquency among girls than boys and stronger environmental than genetic effects on adolescent delinquency in general. The results indicated nonsignificant sex differences in the estimates of genetic and environmental influences on delinquency. The best‐fitting model suggested that 18%, 56%, and 26% of the variance in delinquency among both boys and girls is associated with additive genetic, nonshared environmental, and shared environmental factors, respectively. This finding was consistent with our expectation that environmental factors play an important role in adolescent delinquency. Parental cultural effects accounted for a small part of the transmission of delinquency within families while assortative mating was, in part, accounted for by cultural and social background factors. Future work should focus on identifying important environmental factors related to delinquency.
Twenty Years' Research on Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Meta‐analytic Review of Cross‐sectional Studies
Authors: Hawker David S. J. , Boulton Michael J.
Published: September 2003

Cross‐sectional quantitative designs are often used to investigate whether peer victimization is positively related to psychosocial maladjustment. This paper presents a meta‐analytic review of cross‐sectional studies, published between 1978 and 1997, of the association of peer victimization with psychosocial maladjustment. Mean effect sizes were calculated for the association between peer victimization and each form of maladjustment (depression, loneliness, generalized and social anxiety, and global and social self‐worth) assessed. The results suggested that victimization is most strongly related to depression, and least strongly related to anxiety. There was no evidence that victimization is more strongly related to social than to psychological forms of maladjustment. Effect sizes were stronger when the same informants were used to assess both victimization and maladjustment than when different informants were used. There were some design limitations to the studies reviewed, but all together their results provide a strong background for more complex research into the course and treatment of victims' distress.
Applications of the Expressed Emotion Construct to Young Children with Externalizing Behavior: Stability and Prediction over Time
Authors: Peris Tara S. , Baker Bruce L.
Published: September 2003

We explored the utility of the Expressed Emotion (EE) construct with a community sample of young children (N= 91), studying the stability of EE scores over a 2‐year period and the extent to which EE was associated with simultaneous and subsequent disruptive behavior. As part of a longitudinal study, families were assessed when the child was in preschool, 1st grade, and 3rd grade. Maternal EE was measured at preschool and 1st grade using the Five Minute Speech Sample and behavior ratings were obtained using the Child Behavior Checklist. At 3rd grade, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to determine DSM‐IV diagnoses. The stability of the EE rating over the 2‐year period from preschool to 1st grade was statistically significant although modest. At 1st grade, EE ratings were significantly related to the extent of externalizing behavior problems. Regression analyses that controlled for maternal stress levels determined that preschool EE ratings predicted classification of ADHD over 4 years later, at 3rd grade. The relationships between EE and child problem behavior were almost exclusively determined by the EE criticism dimension; the emotional overinvolvement dimension was not related to child behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Psychopathology and Short‐term Emotion: The Balance of Affects
Authors: Jenkins Jennifer M. , Oatley Keith
Published: September 2003

In this study, the relationship between short‐term emotion expressions and dimensional ratings of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology was examined. Short‐term emotions, defined as facial or vocal displays of emotion generally lasting less than 10 seconds and elicited by a specific and proximal event, were observed during recess in 71 children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, who were between 4 and 8 years old. Internalizing and externalizing symptomatology was assessed through parent and teacher questionnaire. Sociometric ratings were obtained from peers on children's anger and aggression. It was hypothesized following Tomkins (1979) and others that one affect becomes predominant in the emotional experience of the individual. Different operationalizations of this concept were examined. Using regression analyses, externalizing symptomatology was found to be predicted by higher levels of anger, lower levels of happiness, and lower levels of sadness. Internalizing symptomatology was found to be predicted by higher levels of sadness and lower levels of anger. It was concluded on the basis of these data that the relationship between short‐term emotion and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology is best understood as the balance between different short‐term emotions. Results are discussed in the context of theories of emotion and their functions.
The Association of Reading Disability, Behavioral Disorders, and Language Impairment among Second‐grade Children
Authors: Tomblin J. Bruce , Zhang Xuyang , Buckwalter Paula , Catts Hugh
Published: September 2003

Children with language impairment (LI) have been shown to be at risk for reading disability (RD) and behavior disorder (BD). Previous research has not determined the specific pattern of these conditions associated with LI. This study sought to determine if the behavior disorder and reading problems represented different outcomes or if these conditions occurred together when found with LI. A group of 581 second‐grade children, including 164 children with LI, were examined for spoken language, reading, and behavior disorder. The data for each of these areas were examined as dimensional traits and as clinical categorical traits.

Reading and spoken language were found to be strongly correlated (r= 68); RD was found in 52% of the children with LI and in only 9% of the controls. Scores of parent ratings for BD were also significantly correlated with spoken language scores (r= 29). Clinical levels of BD were found in 29% of the children with LI and 19% of the controls. An examination of the co‐occurrence of clinical levels of BD, RD, and LI showed BD in children with LI to be conditioned by the child's reading status. The data indicated that whereas RD was directly associated with BD, the association of LI with BD required the mediation of RD.
Good Test‐Retest Reliability for Standard and Advanced False‐Belief Tasks across a Wide Range of Abilities
Authors: Hughes Claire , Adlam Anna , Happé Francesca , Jackson Jan , Taylor Alan , Caspi Avshalom
Published: September 2003

Although tests of young children's understanding of mind have had a remarkable impact upon developmental and clinical psychological research over the past 20 years, very little is known about their reliability. Indeed, the only existing study of test‐retest reliability suggests unacceptably poor results for first‐order false‐belief tasks (Mayes, Klin, Tercyak, Cicchetti, & Cohen, 1996), although this may in part reflect the nonstandard (video‐based) procedures adopted by these authors. The present study had four major aims. The first was to re‐examine the reliability of false‐belief tasks, using more standard (puppet and storybook) procedures. The second was to assess whether the test‐retest reliability of false‐belief task performance is equivalent for children of contrasting ability levels. The third aim was to explore whether adopting an aggregate approach improves the reliability with which children's early mental‐state awareness can be measured. The fourth aim was to examine for the first time the test‐retest reliability of children's performances on more advanced theory‐of‐mind tasks. Our results suggest that most standard and advanced false‐belief tasks do in fact show good test‐retest reliability and internal consistency, with very strong test‐retest correlations between aggregate scores for children of all levels of ability.
Variable Expression of the Autism Broader Phenotype: Findings from Extended Pedigrees
Authors: Pickles A. , Starr E. , Kazak S. , Bolton P. , Papanikolaou K. , Bailey A. , Goodman R. , Rutter M.
Published: September 2003

Factors influencing the rate, form, and severity of phenotypic expression among relatives of autistic probands are examined. Family history data on 3095 first‐ and second‐degree relatives and cousins from 149 families with a child with autism and 36 families with a child with Down syndrome are studied. The results provide further evidence of an increased risk among autism relatives for the broadly defined autism phenotype. Of proband characteristics, severity of autism and obstetric optimality were confirmed as being related to familial loading for probands with speech. There was little variation in loading among probands lacking speech. The type of phenotypic profile reported in relatives appeared little influenced by characteristics of the relative or the proband, except for variation by degree of relative, parental status of relative, and perhaps proband's birth optimality score. Phenotypic rates among parents suggested reduced fitness for the severest and more communication‐related forms of expression but not for the more mild and social forms of expression. Patterns of expression within the families did not support a simple X‐linked nor an imprinted X‐linked mode of inheritance. The basis for sex differences in rates of expression is discussed.
The Long‐term Psychological Effects of a Disaster Experienced in Adolescence: I: The Incidence and Course of PTSD
Authors: Yule William , Bolton Derek , Udwin Orlee , Boyle Stephanie , O'Ryan Dominic , Nurrish Julie
Published: September 2003

Previous studies have shown that children and adolescents exposed to traumatic experience in a disaster can suffer from high levels of post‐traumatic stress. The present paper is the first a series reporting on the long‐term follow‐up of a group of young adults who as teenagers had survived a shipping disaster—the sinking of the “Jupiter” in Greek waters—between 5 and 8 years previously. The general methodology of the follow‐up study as a whole is described, and the incidence and long‐term course of Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is the first study of its kind on a relatively large, representative sample of survivors, using a standardised diagnostic interview, and comparing survivors with a community control group. Survivors of the Jupiter disaster (N= 217), and 87 young people as controls, were interviewed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Of the 217 survivors, 111 (51.7%) had developed PTSD at some time during the follow‐up period, compared with an incidence in the control group of 3.4% (N= 87). In the large majority of cases of PTSD in the survivors for whom time of onset was recorded, 90%(N= 110), onset was not delayed, being within 6 months of the disaster. About a third of those survivors who developed PTSD (30%,N= 111) recovered within a year of onset, through another third (34%,N= 111) were still suffering from the disorder at the time of follow‐up, between 5 and 8 years after the disaster. Issues relating to the generalisability of these findings are discussed.
The Long‐term Psychological Effects of a Disaster Experienced in Adolescence: II: General Psychopathology
Authors: Bolton Derek , O'Ryan Dominic , Udwin Orlee , Boyle Stephanie , Yule William
Published: September 2003

Children and adolescents exposed to trauma can suffer major adverse psychological effects including not only post‐traumatic stress but also other psychological disorders. This study investigates the long‐term course of general psychopathology following trauma in adolescence using a standardised diagnostic interview and comparisons with a matched control group. Young people (N= 216) who as teenagers had survived a shipping disaster—the sinking of the “Jupiter” in Greek waters—between 5 and 8 years previously and 87 young people as matched controls were interviewed. The survivors showed raised rates of diagnosis in a range of anxiety and affective disorders during the follow‐up period. The highest rates were among the survivors who had developed Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and those survivors who had not were generally similar to the controls. Onset of anxiety and affective disorders varied between being indefinitely close to the disaster to years later. Differences in rates of disorder between the survivor and control groups had lessened by the time of follow‐up but were still apparent, due to continuing distress among the survivors still suffering from PTSD, and to a lesser extent among those who had recovered from PTSD. Generalisability of the findings are discussed.
Visual Behaviour of ADHD Children During an Attention Test: An Almost Forgotten Variable
Authors: Börger Norbert , Meere Jaap van der
Published: September 2003

The goal of this study was to examine whether looking away behaviour of ADHD children interferes with their test performance. ADHD and normal children carried out two continuous performance tests (CPTs): one with a regular interstimulus interval (ISI), and the other with an irregular ISI. Children were instructed to push a response button when a target stimulus was presented on the monitor. The children's visual behaviour was recorded and scored offline. A micro‐analysis of the visual behaviour indicated that ADHD children timed their looking away behaviour in the regular CPT: i.e. they looked away from the monitor and back in the interval between two succeeding stimuli. As a result they did not miss stimuli. Timing of looking away was less possible in the CPT with the irregular ISI. In this condition, looking away interfered with the ADHD children's task accuracy. In sum, looking away behaviour had a negative effect on the accuracy of test performance of ADHD children when stimuli were unpredictable. Looking away behaviour was not associated with the slower reaction times of the ADHD children. Hence, the often reported slowness of ADHD children is not to be explained by their visual behaviour.
Annotation: MRI Neuroimaging of Childhood Psychiatric Disorders: A Selective Review
Authors: Eliez Stephan , Reiss Allan L.
Published: September 2003

Over the past 10 years, innovations in physics and computer science have promoted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an essential tool for investigating the biological substrates of psychiatric disorders. Requiring no radiation exposure, MRI is now the preferred imaging technique for pediatric populations. However, the rapid technical advances in MRI pulse sequences, data processing, and analysis have made it increasingly complex for clinicians to compare and critically evaluate MRI research studies. This paper selectively reviews MRI research on five psychiatric conditions occurring in childhood or adolescence: ADHD, autism, childhood‐onset schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, and early‐onset depression. The selection of papers reviewed was based on four criteria: the originality of the idea underlying the paper, the quality of the sample and methodologies used, the presence of controversial findings in the paper, and whether the paper was a clear illustration of specific methodological strengths or weaknesses. The tlwo goals of this review paper are to update clinicians on morphometric brain imaging in child psychiatry and the methodological issues pertaining to image acquisition and analysis, and to promote critical reading of future MRI studies.
Emanuel Miller Lecture From Pogroms to “Ethnic Cleansing”: Meeting the Needs of War Affected Children
Authors: Yule William
Published: September 2003

Children are both the direct and indirect targets during wars. They are directly affected by violence aimed at them and their families; they are indirectly affected by the distress caused to their families; they may be internally displaced or find themselves crossing borders as asylum seekers. Their experiences during and immediately after war militate against their developing in a safe, secure, and predictable environment. Their human rights are compromised and their mental health put at risk.

Whether in the country at and after war, or in the country that offers refuge, children's mental health needs have to be properly assessed and met. In many cases, children may only require a sense of safety and support via their family and school. In other cases, they require more complicated psychosocial interventions that address the various stress reactions they manifest.

This paper addresses these issues against the context of a major community‐based programme in Mostar in Bosnia during the recent civil war there. It argues that we have reasonably good screening measures to identify children at high risk of developing mental health problems. It presents an hierarchical model of support and intervention whereby psychosocial help is delivered primarily through schools with only a small proportion of more complex needs being met by specially trained mental health professionals. There is a strong need to evaluate various methods of delivering help and to develop new ways of reaching needy children in a nonstigmatising way.
Practitioner Review: Preconditions and Outcome of Inpatient Treatment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Authors: Blanz Bernhard , Schmidt Martin H.
Published: September 2003

Inpatient care is expensive and should ideally be provided for children and adolescents with the most serious psychiatric disorders. However, only little is known about inpatient treatment, e.g. the factors influencing hospital admission, the content of care in the hospital, the appropriate norms for the duration of inpatient stays, the inpatient arrangements that result in the best outcomes, or connection with necessary aftercare services. There are many methodological problems with existing research. However, it can cautiously be concluded that psychiatric hospitalisation of children and adolescents is often beneficial, particularly if special aspects of treatment are fulfilled (e.g. good therapeutic alliance, treatment with a cognitive‐based problem‐solving skills training package, or planned discharge) and aftercare services are available. The continuum‐of‐care model is promising because it provides opportunities to achieve better integration between inpatient interventions and aftercare services.
The Treatment of Childhood Social Phobia: The Effectiveness of a Social Skills Training‐based, Cognitive‐behavioural Intervention, with and without Parental Involvement
Authors: Spence Susan H. , Donovan Caroline , Brechman‐Toussaint Margaret
Published: September 2003

Fifty children aged 7–14 years with a principal diagnosis of social phobia were randomly assigned to either child‐focused cognitive‐behaviour therapy (CBT), CBT plus parent involvement, or a wait list control (WLC). The integrated CBT program involved intensive social skills training combined with graded exposure and cognitive challenging. At post‐treatment, significantly fewer children in the treatment conditions retained a clinical diagnosis of social phobia compared to the WLC condition. In comparison to the WLC, children in both CBT interventions showed significantly greater reductions in children's social and general anxiety and a significant increase in parental ratings of child social skills performance. At 12‐month follow‐up, both treatment groups retained their improvement. There was a trend towards superior results when parents were involved in treatment, but this effect was not statistically significant.
Family Therapy for Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: The Results of a Controlled Comparison of Two Family Interventions
Authors: Eisler Ivan , Dare Christopher , Hodes Matthew , Russell Gerald , Dodge Elizabeth , Le Grange Daniel
Published: September 2003

This paper reports the results of a randomised treatment trial of two forms of outpatient family intervention for anorexia nervosa. Forty adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa were randomly assigned to “conjoint family therapy” (CFT) or to “separated family therapy” (SFT) using a stratified design controlling for levels of critical comments using the Expressed Emotion index. The design required therapists to undertake both forms of treatment and the distinctiveness of the two therapies was ensured by separate supervisors conducting live supervision of the treatments. Measures were undertaken on admission to the study, at 3 months, at 6 months and at the end of treatment. Considerable improvement in nutritional and psychological state occurred across both treatment groups. On global measure of outcome, the two forms of therapy were associated with equivalent end of treatment results. However, for those patients with high levels of maternal criticism towards the patient, the SFT was shown to be superior to the CFT. When individual status measures were explored, there were further differences between the treatments. Symptomatic change was more marked in the SFT whereas there was considerably more psychological change in the CFT group. There were significant changes in family measures of Expressed Emotion. Critical comments between parents and patient were significantly reduced and that between parents was also diminished. Warmth between parents increased.
Effects of Early Maternal Depression on Patterns of Infant‐Mother Attachment: A Meta‐analytic Investigation
Authors: Martins Carla , Gaffan E. A.
Published: September 2003

We analysed results from seven American and British studies that compared groups of mothers with and without clinically diagnosed depression, and assessed the attachment category of their infants (under 3 years) using the Strange Situation. The samples were predominantly middle‐income and free of risk factors other than maternal depression. Meta‐analysis using loglinear modelling and standardised residuals showed that the effect of depression on the distribution of infants' attachment was statistically heterogeneous. However, after removing one outlier study, the effect of depression was homogeneous across the remaining six studies. Infants of depressed mothers showed significantly reduced likelihood of secure (B) attachment and marginally raised likelihood of avoidant (A) and disorganised (D) attachment. The first two effects varied considerably in magnitude between studies, whereas the increase in disorganised attachment, from 17% to 28% on average, was consistent.
Maternal Depressive Symptoms Affect Infant Cognitive Development in Barbados
Authors: Galler Janina R. , Harrison Robert H. , Ramsey Frank , Forde Victor , Butler Samantha C.
Published: September 2003

This longitudinal study is part of a series examining the relationships between maternal mood, feeding practices, and infant growth and development during the first 6 months of life in 226 well‐nourished mother‐infant dyads in Barbados. In this report, we assessed maternal moods (General Adjustment and Morale Scale and Zung Depression and Anxiety Scales), feeding practices (scales describing breast‐feeding and other practices associated with infant feeding in this setting), and infant cognitive development (Griffiths Mental Development Scales). Multivariate analyses, with and without controlling for background variables, established significant relationships between maternal moods and infant cognitive development. Infants of mothers with mild‐moderate depression had lower Griffiths scores than infants of mothers without depression. Maternal depressive symptoms and lack of trust at 7 weeks predicted lower infant social and performance scores at 3 months. Maternal moods at 6 months were associated with lower scores in motor development at the same age. Although no independent relationships emerged between feeding practices and infant cognitive development, the combination of diminished infant feeding intensity and maternal depression predicted delays in infant social development. These findings demonstrate the need to carefully monitor maternal moods during the postpartum period, in order to maximize the benefits of breast‐feeding and related health programs to infant cognitive development.
Insecure and Disorganised Attachment in Children with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Relationship with Social Interaction and Heart Rate
Authors: Willemsen‐Swinkels Sophie H. N. , Bakermans‐Kranenburg Marian J. , Buitelaar Jan K. , IJzendoorn Marinus H. van , Engeland Herman van
Published: September 2003

This study on children with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD; N= 32), children with developmental language disorder (N= 22), and normally developing children (N= 28) sought to answer questions concerning attachment and autistic behaviour. We could replicate the finding that children with a PDD are able to develop secure attachment relationships to their primary caregiver. Children withPDDwho had an insecure attachment showed fewer social initiatives and responses than children with PDD who had a secure attachment, even when the insecurely and securely attached PDD children were matched on chronological and mental age. Children with both a PDD and mental retardation were more often classified as disorganised. Three findings suggested that a disorganised attachment does not merely reflect the presence of “autistic” behaviour: (1) children with PDD did not reveal higher rates of a disorganised attachment than matched comparison children; (2) having a PDD diagnosis and having a disorganised attachment were found to be associated with opposite effects on an ethological measure of level of behavioural organisation; and (3) a disorganised attachment but not a PDD diagnosis was associated with an increase in heart rate during parting with the caregiver and a decrease in heart rate during reunion.
Atypical Interference of Local Detail on Global Processing in High‐functioning Autism and Asperger's Disorder
Authors: Rinehart Nicole J. , Bradshaw John L. , Moss Simon A. , Brereton Avril V. , Tonge Bruce J.
Published: September 2003

This study explored the claim that individuals with autism and Asperger's disorder tend to process locally rather than holistically. Participants observed a large or “global” number composed of smaller or “local” numbers. The response was contingent upon the identification of either the large stimulus or the small stimuli. Relative to age, sex, and IQ matched controls, global processing in children and adolescents with autism (N= 12) and Asperger's disorder (N= 12) was more vulnerable when the local stimuli were incongruent. The autism group made more global errors than their matched control group, regardless of whether there was local incongruence. In contrast, the Asperger's disorder group made a similar number of global errors as their respective control group. These results were discussed in relation to an “absence of global precedence” notion, “weak central coherence” theory, and right‐hemisphere dysfunction. The neurobiological significance of these findings were discussed in the context of a fronto‐striatal model of dysfunction.
Educational, Psychosocial, and Sexual Outcomes of Girls with Conduct Problems in Early Adolescence
Authors: Fergusson David M. , Woodward Lianne J.
Published: September 2003

This paper examines the extent to which conduct problems at age 13 are associated with a range of educational, psychosocial, and sexual outcomes at age 18 in a birth cohort of 488 young women. Signi?cant associations were found between early adolescent conduct problems and later risks of educational failure, juvenile crime, substance abuse, mental health problems, and adverse sexual outcomes by late adolescence. These elevated risks were explained, in part, by social, family, and personal disadvantages associated with adjustment at age 13. In addition, there was evidence of a causal chain process in which early adolescent conduct problems were associated with a series of adolescent risk‐taking behaviours, including delinquent peer affiliations, early‐onset sexual behaviour, substance use, and school problems that were, in turn, associated with increased risks of later adverse outcomes.
Predictors of Functional Impairment in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Ezpeleta Lourdes , Granero Roser , Osa Nuria de la , Guillamón Noemí
Published: September 2003

The goal of this study was to investigate the variables that best predict functional impairment in children and adolescents. Two hundred and eight psychiatric and 129 pediatric children aged 7 to 17 years were assessed with measures of psychopathology, functional impairment, temperament, marital discord, educational style, coping, developmental milestones, stressful life events, medical history, school information, and family history of psychopathology. Multiple regression models adjusted by psychopathology were estimated. The global model, which included all the signi?cant variables in partial models, revealed the following predictors of impairment: receiving review lessons, chronic disease or handicap, the presence of problems the child interpreted as stressful, late onset and long duration of psychopathological problems. These indicators could be useful for the proper identification of children with severe difficulties, in order to provide them with adequate psychological services.
Sleep and Alertness in Children with ADHD
Authors: Lecendreux Michel , Konofal Eric , Bouvard Manuel , Falissard Bruno , Mouren‐Siméoni Marie‐Christine
Published: September 2003

Objective: To evaluate sleep and alertness and to investigate the presence of possible underlying sleep/wake disorders in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: After 3 nights of adaptation in a room reserved for sleep studies in the department of child psychiatry, children underwent polysomnography (PSG) followed by the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) and reaction time tests (RT) during the daytime. Thirty boys diagnosed as having ADHD (DSM‐IV), aged between 5 and 10 years, and 22 ageand sex‐matched controls participated in the study. All children were medication‐free and showed no clinical signs of sleep and alertness problems. Results: No significant differences in sleep variables were found between boys with ADHD and controls. The mean latency period was shorter in children with ADHD. Significant differences were found for MSLT 1, 2 and 3 (p < .05). Mean reaction time was longer in children with ADHD, with significant differences in all tests (p < .05). Number and duration of sleep onsets measured by the MSLT correlated significantly with the hyperactivity‐impulsivity and inattentive‐passivity ndices of the CTRS and CPRS. Conclusion: Children with ADHD were more sleepy during the day, as shown by the MSLT, and they had longer reaction times. These differences are not due to alteration in the quality of nocturnal sleep. The number of daytime sleep onsets and the rapidity of sleep‐onsets measured as MSLT were found to be pertinent physiological indices to discriminate between ADHD subtypes. These results suggest that children with ADHD have a deficit in alertness. Whether this deficit is primary or not requires further studies.
Parents' and Partners' Life Course and Family Experiences: Links with Parent‐Child Relationships in Different Family Settings
Authors: Dunn Judy , Davies Lisa C. , O'Connor Thomas G. , Sturgess Wendy
Published: September 2003

Life course and current family factors associated with individual differences in parent‐child relationships were investigated in a sample of 467 children from 192 families, including stepfather, single‐parent, stepmother, and complex stepfamilies ; informants were fathers, mothers, and children. Both positive and negative dimensions of father‐child and mother‐child relationships were linked to earlier life course experiences of parent and of partner, to current family factors, and to the quality of partner's relationship with the child. The pattern of associations between the adults' life course experiences meant that children were at risk for a “double dose” of less affectionate relationships in families in which parents had experienced early adversities. The significance of biological relatedness, family setting, and child‐partner relationships was highlighted.
Risk Factors for Long‐term Psychological Effects of a Disaster Experienced in Adolescence: Predictors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Udwin Orlee , Boyle Stephanie , Yule William , Bolton Derek , O'Ryan Dominic
Published: September 2003

This paper examines risk factors for the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and its severity and chronicity, in a group of 217 young adults who survived a shipping disaster in adolescence. The survivors were followed up 5 to 8 years after the disaster. Risk factors examined fell into three main categories: pre‐disaster child and family vulnerability factors, including childhood psychopathology; objective and subjective disaster‐related experiences; and post‐disaster factors, including results from screening questionnaires administered 5 months post‐disaster, coping mechanisms adopted subsequently, life events, and availability of social supports. Developing PTSD following the disaster was significantly associated with being female, with pre‐disaster factors of learning and psychological difficulties in the child and violence in the home, with severity of exposure to the disaster, survivors' subjective appraisal of the experience, adjustment in the early post‐disaster period, and life events and social supports subsequently. When all these factors were considered together, measures of the degree of exposure to the disaster and of subjective appraisal of life threat, and ratings of anxiety obtained 5 months post‐disaster, best predicted whether survivors developed PTSD. For those survivors who developed PTSD, its duration and severity were best predicted not by objective and subjective disaster‐related factors, but by pre‐disaster vulnerability factors of social, physical, and psychological difficulties in childhood together with ratings of depression obtained 5 months post‐disaster, and whether survivors received post‐disaster support at school. The implications of these findings are considered for targeting assessment and intervention efforts at survivors most at risk of developing difficulties in adjustment following similar traumatic experiences.
Judgements about Emotional Events in Children and Adolescents with Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder and Controls
Authors: Dalgleish Tim , Moradi Ali , Taghavi Reza , Neshat‐Doost Hamid , Yule William , Canterbury Rachel
Published: September 2003

Research with clinically anxious adults has revealed that they estimate future negative events as far more likely to occur, relative to healthy controls. In addition, anxious adults estimate that such events are more likely to happen to themselves than to others. Previous research with anxious children and adolescents, in contrast, has revealed no increased probability estimates for negative events, relative to controls, and the events were rated as more likely to happen to others than to the self. The present study followed up these discrepant findings by investigating probability judgements concerning future negative events generated by children and adolescents who had actually experienced an extreme negative event and who met criteria for a diagnosis of Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Control groups comprised a group of healthy participants, and a group of healthy participants whose parents had experienced a trauma and who met criteria for PTSD. The results revealed no overall differences between the clinical group and the controls. However, children and adolescents with PTSD estimated all negative events as significantly more likely to happen to others than to themselves, with this other‐referent bias being strongest for events matched to their trauma. In contrast, the two control groups exhibited an other‐referent bias for physically threatening events but not for socially threatening ones. Developmental analyses indicated that the strength of the relationship between anxiety and elevated judgements about future negative events declined with age in the control participants but that there was no significant relationship in the groups who had been exposed to trauma. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature on information processing biases and PTSD.
The Association between Direct and Relational Bullying and Behaviour Problems among Primary School Children
Authors: Wolke Dieter , Woods Sarah , Bloomfield Linda , Karstadt Lyn
Published: September 2003

The prevalence of direct and relational bullying and their differential relationship to behaviour problems in young primary school children was investigated. Individual interviews were conducted with 1982 children aged 6–9 years (mean age 7.6 years) and 1639 parents completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire regarding behaviour problems of their children. Of the 1639 children with both data sets, 4.3% were direct bullies, 39.8% victims, and 10.2% both bullied and were victimised frequently (bully/victims). The rates for relational bullying were 1.1% bullies, 37.9% victims, and 5.9% bully/victims. All children involved in direct bullying had significantly increased total behaviour problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems, and peer problem scores, and lower prosocial behaviour scores compared to those not involved in bullying (neutrals). Findings were similar for relational bullying involvement and behaviour problems for bully/victims and victims but less pronounced. Relational bullies had the lowest behaviour problem scores while being rated the least prosocially inclined children, consistent with the concept of a cool manipulator. Overall, direct bully/victims and children who were involved in both direct and relational bullying behaviour had the highest rates of behaviour problems. No relationship between victimisation and increased emotional problems were found. Those involved in bullying behaviour who show externalising and hyperactivity problems in primary school may be at increased risk for persistent conduct problems. Different interventions may be needed for those involved in relational bullying only, both direct and relational bullying, and those with additional behaviour problems.
The Developmental Sequelae of Nonorganic Failure to Thrive
Authors: Boddy Janet , Skuse David , Andrews Bernice
Published: September 2003

The developmental sequelae of infant failure to thrive (FTT) were examined in an unreferred group of 6‐year‐olds with a history of severe nonorganic growth retardation, sampled from a 1‐year birth cohort in an inner‐city area of South London. Children who failed to thrive in infancy (weight below the third centile for at least 3 months) and their pairwise matched comparisons were originally studied at 15 months, and 42 cases and 42 controls (89.5% of the sample) were followed up. At 6 years, previously growth‐retarded children were considerably smaller than matched comparisons, in terms of body mass index (BMI), and height and weight for age z scores. History of FTT explained substantial variance in weight and BMI at 6 years, with maternal height also contributing to variation in height for age. Child cognitive functioning at 6 years was examined using the McCarthy Scales: cases had more limited quantitative and memory skills than comparisons, but there was no intergroup variation in general cognitive performance. In contrast to analyses of physical development, failure to thrive did not account for cognitive functioning; maternal IQ was the sole significant predictor of performance on all indices of child cognitive abilities. At 15 months, earlier growth faltering was linked to limitations in mental development, but these findings were not confirmed by the follow‐up data: the timing of FTT was not related to cognitive abilities at 6 years. Results correspond to past research indicating that nonorganic failure to thrive is associated with persistent limitations in physical stature. There was little evidence of cognitive disadvantage for case group children at school age, suggesting that the adverse effects of early malnutrition on cognitive functioning appear to diminish over time.
The Mother‐Child Relationship Following In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF): Infant Attachment, Responsivity, and Maternal Sensitivity
Authors: Gibson Frances L. , Ungerer Judy A. , McMahon Catherine A. , Leslie Garth I. , Saunders Douglas M.
Published: September 2003

Infant attachment and mother‐child interaction were evaluated for 65 primiparous women and their singleton infants conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and a control group of 61 women and their infants conceived naturally. The sample was enrolled during pregnancy as part of a longitudinal study. At 12 months postpartum, security of infant attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation procedure, and mother‐child interaction was assessed in a free play context using the Emotional Availability Scales. IVF children demonstrated predominantly secure attachment relationships with their mothers (64.6% IVF, 55.9% controls), and there were no significant between‐group differences in the proportion of IVF compared to control group children classified in any of the secure or insecure attachment groups. Furthermore, there were no significant group differences on maternal (sensitivity, structuring, hostility) or child (responsivity, involving) dimensions of interaction during play. The majority of IVF mothers (86%) were sensitive and their infants responsive (91%). Contrary to expectation, mother's ratings of greater anticipated infant difficultness assessed during pregnancy and higher ratings of infant temperament and behaviour difficulty assessed at 4 and 12 months postpartum were associated with secure attachment relationships and more optimal mother‐child interaction in both the IVF and control groups.