Physical activity and psychopathology: are long-term developmental trajectories of physical activity in children and adolescents associated with trajectories of general mental health problems and of attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms?

A medium-to-high level of physical activity (PA) may have at least a short-term positive effect on psychopathology in children and adolescents. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of PA in non-adult age groups on their general mental health problems and/or ADHD symptoms, using trajectories of concurrent development over a period of 10 years. This study employed data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) collected at three time points (baseline, Wave 1, Wave 2, over 10 years) from 17,640 children and adolescents. Using parent-reported data from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), different developmental trajectories of general mental health problems (SDQ-total) and ADHD symptoms (SDQ-H/I) were identified with latent class mixed models (LCMM) statistics. This was also applied to parent- and self-reported data of three levels of PA. The latter was assessed according to WHO recommendations. The joint probability of class membership for SDQ-total as well as ADHD symptoms with PA was calculated to generate the concurrent developmental trajectories between variables. Results showed a 4-class trajectory model for both SDQ-total and ADHD symptoms among boys and girls. The majority of children and adolescents showed "low general difficulties" and "low ADHD symptoms" over the period of 10 years. Three distinct trajectories in boys and four distinct trajectories in girls were found for PA. Most of the participants showed an "increasing-decreasing activity" trajectory. No statistically significant correlations were found between the different SDQ-total or ADHD symptom trajectories and the trajectories of PA in the two genders. Taken together, our findings did not indicate any significant relationship between waxing and waning PA course over 10 years and various classes of mental health problems for children and adolescents. In contrast to our cross-sectional findings, no steady long-term medium/high-level of PA was present, which could (at least partly) explain the non-significant findings.

Using item response theory to appraise key feature examinations for clinical reasoning.

BACKGROUND: Validation of examinations is usually based on classical test theory. In this study, we analysed a key feature examination according to item response theory and compared the results with those of a classical test theory approach. METHODS: Over the course of five years, 805 fourth-year undergraduate students took a key feature examination on general medicine consisting of 30 items. Analyses were run according to a classical test theory approach as well as using item response theory. Classical test theory analyses are reported as item difficulty, discriminatory power, and Cronbach's alpha while item response theory analyses are presented as item characteristics curves, item information curves and a test information function. RESULTS: According to classical test theory findings, the examination was labelled as easy. Analyses according to item response theory more specifically indicated that the examination was most suited to identify struggling students. Furthermore, the analysis allowed for adapting the examination to specific ability ranges by removing items, as well as comparing multiple samples with varying ability ranges. CONCLUSIONS: Item response theory analyses revealed results not yielded by classical test theory. Thus, both approaches should be routinely combined to increase the information yield of examination data.

Attitudes Towards Evidence-Based Practice of Professionals Working with Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Bangladesh.

Like in many lower-middle-income countries (LMIC), progress in implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been slow in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study examined professionals' attitudes towards evidence-based practice (EBP) for children and adolescents with ASD and explored how providers' demographic factors are related to attitudes to and adoption of EBPs in Bangladesh. The sample consisted of 150 mental health professionals and special teachers from the urban area of Dhaka. Attitudes were assessed by the Evidence-based Practice Attitude Scale-36. Findings indicated that professionals have favorable attitudes towards EBP. Their attitudes varied depending on service settings (public clinical, private clinical, and special school) and caseload per year. Professionals who work in private and special school settings claimed to be more willing to adopt an EBP when required and perceived a higher fit of EBPs and their work than those in public clinical settings. The number of different EBPs used also differed by service setting. Every type of intervention (except medication) was used by more professionals in special schools than in private and public clinical settings. Many professionals reported few barriers to the implementation of EBPs. These findings indicate conditions that are often conducive to the implementation of EBPs. However, these results do not reflect the situation in rural areas, in which poverty is more widespread and the number of specialized professionals is low.

Why Z-drugs are used even if doctors and nurses feel unable to judge their benefits and risks-a hospital survey.

BACKGROUND: Many patients receive Z-drugs for hospital-associated sleep problems, in spite of well-known risks. The aim of this study was to learn more about the attractiveness of Z-drugs, seen from the doctors' and nurses' perspective. METHODS: Using a standardized questionnaire, doctors (63/116) and nurses (73/243) in a German general hospital were surveyed about the risks and benefits of Z-drugs, compared with benzodiazepines. RESULT: "Reduced time to get to sleep" was perceived by doctors (51%) and nurses (53%) to be a strong benefit of Z-drugs; "confusion" and "falls" were perceived by ca. 10% of doctors and ca. 15% of nurses to be a frequent problem. Compared with benzodiazepines, respondents more often answered "unable to judge" for Z-drugs; e.g. for doctors, 18% (benzodiazepines) vs. 45% (Z-drugs) were unable to judge "improved daytime functioning" and 12% (benzodiazepines) vs. 37% (Z-drugs) were unable to judge "falls." CONCLUSION: Z-drugs seem to be attractive because experiential knowledge overemphasizes their benefits and fails to take risks such as drug-related falls and confusion into account. Difficulties to judge a drug's risk-benefit ratio do not prevent doctors and nurses from using them. Interventions for reducing Z-drug usage should incorporate local quality assurance data about relevant patient risks.

Risk for psychotherapy drop-out in survival analysis: The influence of general change mechanisms and symptom severity.

Dropping out of psychotherapeutic treatment (i.e., the patient ending treatment unilaterally) poses a problem for patients, therapists, and the health care sector. Previous research showed that changes in symptom severity and general change mechanisms (GCMs), such as interpersonal experiences, intrapersonal experiences, and problem actuation, might be related to drop-out. We investigated the relationship of these predictors and drop-out in a sample of 724 patients (21.1% drop-out) receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy in routine care from a German outpatient clinic. Survival analysis was used to account for the longitudinal nature of the data created by routine outcome monitoring and to deal with the time varying predictors, GCMs, and changes in symptom severity. As outcome, we predicted the risk of dropping out. Results showed that patient- and therapist-rated interpersonal experiences, which include alliance, significantly predicted the risk for drop-out. Contrary to previous research, intrapersonal experiences and symptom severity change did not predict drop-out. Overall, GCMs and symptom severity change accounted for 3.8% of explained variance in the outcome. These results entail that it is important to monitor interpersonal experiences over the course of treatment to identify patients at risk for drop-out. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Early developments in general change mechanisms predict reliable improvement in addition to early symptom trajectories in cognitive behavioral therapy.

General change mechanisms (GCMs) have been shown to predict treatment outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Early changes in GCMs (early-change-GCMs) and in symptom severity were also linked to treatment outcome, but evidence is still limited. We investigated whether early-change-GCMs from patients' and therapists' perspectives in addition to early changes in symptom severity predict treatment outcome. Data from a university-based outpatient clinic was analyzed (N = 911 completers). Most treatments were provided by therapists in CBT training. Outcomes were symptom severity and life satisfaction. Continuous post-treatment scores and categories of reliable improvement (improved vs. not improved) were investigated. Some patient-rated early-change-GCMs and early changes in symptom severity proved to be predictors for continuous outcomes (p < .05) in symptom severity and life satisfaction. In addition, some patient-rated early-change-GCMs predicted reliable improvement in life satisfaction. By contrast, therapist-rated early-change-GCMs and early symptom severity change predicted reliable improvement in symptom severity. Early-change-GCMs explained between two and four percent additional variance in outcomes. Thus, it is important to consider early changes in GCMs in addition to early changes in symptom severity in routine monitoring.

General change mechanisms in the early treatment phase and their associations with the outcome of cognitive behavioural therapy in patients with different levels of motivational incongruence.

Early general change mechanisms (GCMs) have been shown to be associated with psychotherapy outcome but it remains unclear which specific patients benefit from which GCM. This study explored whether the patients' characteristic motivational incongruence moderates the effect of GCMs in the early treatment phase on the outcome. Three early GCMs (interpersonal experiences, intrapersonal experiences, and problem actuation) were evaluated after five therapy-preparing sessions by patients and therapists. On the basis of previous work, we assumed that the association between intrapersonal experiences and outcome is moderated by incongruence. A total of 524 patients completing outpatient cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) were investigated. The patient-reported outcome measure was psychological symptom severity. The patients' motivational incongruence was assessed with the incongruence questionnaire short form at baseline. Results showed that therapists' ratings of all three early GCMs and patients' ratings of early problem actuation were not associated with CBT outcome. By contrast, positive patients' ratings of early interpersonal and early intrapersonal experiences were beneficial for CBT outcome (both p < .05). Only the association between patients' ratings of early intrapersonal experiences and CBT outcome was moderated by incongruence (p < .05). The higher the patients' baseline incongruence was, the more beneficial early intrapersonal experiences in the patients' perspective were for a good outcome. These findings entail that increasing early intrapersonal experiences from the patients' perspective is particularly important in patients with motivational incongruence but working on early interpersonal experiences in the patients' perspective is important in patients with all levels of incongruence to reach a good CBT outcome.

Paediatric headache trajectories - a reappraisal after nine years.

Background The long-term consequences of paediatric headache can involve functional disabilities and mental health problems in adulthood. Objective To analyse the predictive power of paediatric headache trajectory classes for headache and related outcomes in adulthood. Methods In a previous study, a population-based sample (N = 3227, 9-14 years of age at first assessment) was followed across four annual assessment points, and sex-specific headache trajectory classes were identified (girls: "no pain", "moderate pain", "increasing pain", "high pain"; boys: "no pain", "moderate pain"). These trajectory classes were used to predict headache frequency, functional disability, depression, quality of life and self-efficacy nine years later (N = 994). Negative binomial regression analyses and pairwise comparisons were computed. Results Women showing an elevated trajectory ("increasing pain" or "high pain") had a higher adult headache frequency and a poorer outcome on associated variables (functional disability, depression, quality of life, and self-efficacy) than women having a lower-level trajectory. Men of the "no pain" and "moderate pain" trajectory classes differed significantly from one another in their headache frequency and related variables. Conclusion Belonging to an elevated paediatric headache trajectory class involves a considerable risk for headache and headache-related problems in adulthood.

Transitive reasoning distorts induction in causal chains.

A probabilistic causal chain A→B→C may intuitively appear to be transitive: If A probabilistically causes B, and B probabilistically causes C, A probabilistically causes C. However, probabilistic causal relations can only guaranteed to be transitive if the so-called Markov condition holds. In two experiments, we examined how people make probabilistic judgments about indirect relationships A→C in causal chains A→B→C that violate the Markov condition. We hypothesized that participants would make transitive inferences in accordance with the Markov condition although they were presented with counterevidence showing intransitive data. For instance, participants were successively presented with data entailing positive dependencies A→B and B→C. At the same time, the data entailed that A and C were statistically independent. The results of two experiments show that transitive reasoning via a mediating event B influenced and distorted the induction of the indirect relation between A and C. Participants' judgments were affected by an interaction of transitive, causal-model-based inferences and the observed data. Our findings support the idea that people tend to chain individual causal relations into mental causal chains that obey the Markov condition and thus allow for transitive reasoning, even if the observed data entail that such inferences are not warranted.

[The AWMF-Guidelines for Hyperkinetic Disorders in therapeutic practice- knowledge, familiarity, utilization, and attitude of psychotherapists and physicians]. / AWMF-Leitlinie zu Hyperkinetischen Störungen in der Praxis.

OBJECTIVE: The AWMF-Guidelines for Hyperkinetic Disorders (ADHD) provide psychotherapists and physicians with guidance concerning diagnostics and treatment for one of the most common disorders in children and adolescents. To date, however, it is unclear how these guidelines are being applied by practicing therapists (both physicians and psychotherapists) and what they consider to be its pros and cons. This study proposes (1) to analyze the differences between the estimation of ADHD-guidelines by users and nonusers, their corresponding attitudes, experiences, and evaluations of context factors; and (2) to analyze whether users and nonusers differ in their therapeutic practice. METHODS: 71 therapists participated in a nonrepresentative online survey. RESULTS: The hypothesis was confirmed that, on average, users had a more positive attitude toward and experience with guideline-driven treatment than did nonusers. The results also show a small positive effect of guideline use on treatment quality. However, the methods employed by users and nonusers only moderately corresponded with the recommendations of the guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: It was shown that the ADHD guideline is only rarely being used, even under advantageous conditions, and that a practice-oriented form of the guideline does not exist until now.

Attitudes Toward and Usage of Evidence-Based Mental Health Practices for Autistic Youth in Bangladesh and Germany: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.

The implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for autistic youth is a critical concern worldwide. Research examining factors facilitating the implementation of EBPs found that providers' attitudes are an important factor. In this study, we evaluated cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward and use of EBPs. We tested socio-demographic factors as predictors of attitudes, and attitudes as predictors of EBPs use among mental health professionals working with autistic youth in Bangladesh and Germany. We used purposeful sampling. Two-hundred-ninety-two professionals who worked in a clinical setting responded to the survey and fulfilled the inclusion criteria (101 in Bangladesh, 191 in Germany). Participants were asked to respond to nine subscales of the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale-36 (EBPAS-36), to indicate which of nine types of treatments they used, and to provide sociodemographic data. Measurement invariance across countries could be established for four subscales of the EBPAS-36. Comparative analyses of attitudes showed that professionals in both countries were open to using EBPs, but German practitioners were more likely to use EBPs when they appealed to them. By contrast, Bangladeshi professionals claimed to be more likely to adopt an EBP when required and to be more willing to learn EBPs to enhance job security. The relationship between caseload and attitudes varied between countries. A broader variety of EBPs was used in Germany. The findings highlight the importance of considering country-specific factors when implementing EBPs. Directions for conducting comparative studies on mental health professionals' attitudes towards EBP including methodological considerations are discussed.

Reference Values for the German Version of the Quality of Life after Brain Injury in Children and Adolescents (QOLIBRI-KID/ADO) from a General Population Sample.

Assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been limited in children and adolescents due to a lack of disease-specific instruments. To fill this gap, the Quality of Life after Traumatic Brain Injury for Children and Adolescents (QOLIBRI-KID/ADO) Questionnaire was developed for the German-speaking population. Reference values from a comparable general population are essential for comprehending the impact of TBI on health and well-being. This study examines the validity of the German QOLIBRI-KID/ADO in a general pediatric population in Germany and provides reference values for use in clinical practice. Overall, 1997 children and adolescents aged 8-17 years from the general population and 300 from the TBI population participated in this study. The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity. A measurement invariance (MI) approach was used to assess the comparability of the HRQoL construct between both samples. Reference values were determined by percentile-based stratification according to factors that significantly influenced HRQoL in regression analyses. The QOLIBRI-KID/ADO demonstrated strong psychometric properties. The HRQoL construct was measured largely equivalently in both samples, and reference values could be provided. The QOLIBRI-KID/ADO was considered reliable and valid for assessing HRQoL in a general German-speaking pediatric population, allowing for clinically meaningful comparisons between general and TBI populations.

How are psychodynamic conflicts associated with personality functioning? A network analysis.

Personality functioning and psychodynamic conflicts are central constructs in psychoanalytic theories of psychopathology as well as in many psychodynamic treatment models. Although there has been a longstanding conceptual discussion on how they relate to each other, empirical evidence on this question is still scarce. In this study, we explore the associations between psychodynamic conflicts and levels of structural integration (which can be used synonymously with personality functioning) by means of a partial correlation network analysis in a sample of N = 220 outpatients interviewed and rated according to Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2). We examined network centrality, bridge centrality, clustering, and network stability. The network analysis resulted in separate clusters for levels of structural integration and conflicts, supporting the assumption of distinct psychodynamic constructs. The greatest association between the two clusters was found between the individuation vs. dependency conflict (C1) and the structural capacity to attach to internal objects. In general, C1 showed significantly greater connections with structural dimensions compared to the other five OPD conflicts included. C1 was also more central in the network compared to most other conflicts, whereas the structural dimensions did not differ in centrality. All structural dimensions were found to be strongly interconnected. C1 showed exclusively negative edges to the other conflicts, suggesting that a profound C1 decreases the probability of other psychodynamic conflicts. We discuss clinical as well as conceptual implications of our findings for psychodynamic diagnosis and treatment.

Influence of Sociodemographic, Premorbid, and Injury-Related Factors on Post-Traumatic Stress, Anxiety, and Depression after Traumatic Brain Injury.

Psychopathological symptoms are common sequelae after traumatic brain injury (TBI), leading to increased personal and societal burden. Previous studies on factors influencing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) after TBI have produced inconclusive results, partly due to methodological limitations. The current study investigated the influence of commonly proposed factors on the clinical impairment, occurrence, frequency, and intensity of symptoms of PTSD, GAD, and MDD after TBI. The study sample comprised 2069 individuals (65% males). Associations between psychopathological outcomes and sociodemographic, premorbid, and injury-related factors were analyzed using logistic regression, standard, and zero-inflated negative binomial models. Overall, individuals experienced moderate levels of PTSD, GAD, and MDD. Outcomes correlated with early psychiatric assessments across domains. The clinical impairment, occurrence, frequency, and intensity of all outcomes were associated with the educational level, premorbid psychiatric history, injury cause, and functional recovery. Distinct associations were found for injury severity, LOC, and clinical care pathways with PTSD; age and LOC:sex with GAD; and living situation with MDD, respectively. The use of suitable statistical models supported the identification of factors associated with the multifactorial etiology of psychopathology after TBI. Future research may apply these models to reduce personal and societal burden.

Effectiveness of interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in high-income vs. lower middle-income countries: An overview of systematic reviews and research papers from LMIC.

Background: There is a multitude of systematic reviews of interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, most reviews seem to be based on research conducted in High-Income Countries (HIC). Thus, summary findings may not directly apply to Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Therefore, we conducted a Meta-Review analyzing systematic reviews on the effectiveness of interventions for target outcomes in children and adolescents with ASD to find out whether there are differences in effectiveness between HIC and LMIC and which interventions can be considered evidence-based in LMIC. Methods: Electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane database of systematic reviews) were searched for reviews on interventions for ASD in children and adolescents from January 2011 through December 2021, which included studies not coming from HIC. Systematic reviews with qualitative and quantitative syntheses of findings were included. Two investigators independently assessed studies against predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria and extracted relevant data including quality and evidence assessments. Evidence for different types of interventions in HIC vs. LMIC was planned to be compared, but none of the reviews assessed potential differences. Therefore, a narrative review of the studies from LMIC was conducted including an assessment of quality and evidence. Results: Thirty-five reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Eleven considered findings from HIC and LMIC. Sixty-nine percent included studies with various research designs; 63% provided a qualitative synthesis of findings; 77% percent assessed the quality of studies; 43% systematically assessed the level of evidence across studies. No review compared evidence from HIC and LMIC. A review of the studies from LMIC found some promising results, but the evidence was not sufficient due to a small number of studies, sometimes poor quality, and small sample sizes. Conclusion: Systematic reviews on interventions for children and adolescents with ASD did not look for potential differences in the effectiveness of interventions in HIC and LMIC. Overall, there is very little evidence from LMIC. None of the interventions can be considered evidence-based in LMIC. Hence, additional research and mutually agreed methodological standards are needed to provide a more secure basis for evidence-based treatments in LMIC trying to establish evidence-based practices.

Robotic Anxiety-Parents' Perception of Robot-Assisted Pediatric Surgery.

In contrast to many other countries, robot-assisted (RA) pediatric surgery is not yet very common in Germany. Although the first pediatric RA intervention was published in 2001, RA pediatric surgery is still perceived as a "new technology". As a consequence, little is known about parents' perception of this operation method. In this study, we analyzed parents' intention to let their child undergo RA and laparoscopic (LA) surgery. Two subsamples (online and at the University Medical Center Goettingen) received a questionnaire addressing attitude towards RA and LA pediatric surgery with the help of a case example. Results showed that parents had a higher intention to consent to LA surgery. Perceiving more benefits, assuming a positive attitude of the social environment, and feeling less anxiety increased intention. A mediation analysis indicated that the type of surgery affected intentions through assumed attitude of the social environment. Exploratory analyses showed that the perception of risks and anxiety reduced intention for only RA surgery. These findings should be considered in preoperational discussions with parents. Anxiety and perceived risks should especially be addressed in order to encounter hesitancy.

Physical activity and the development of general mental health problems or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents: A cross-lagged panel analysis of long-term follow-up epidemiological data.

Studies have shown that physical activity (PA) can provide a helpful, low-risk, and cost-effective intervention for children and adolescents suffering from mental health problems. This longitudinal study aimed to assess whether PA prevents the development of mental health problems, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. Data were analyzed from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) collected from more than 15.000 children and adolescents at three different time points over a period of more than 10 years. Parents scored the PA of the study participants on three frequency levels according to WHO recommendations, and mental health problems were assessed by means of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The total problem score (SDQ-Total) and the hyperactivity/inattention symptoms sub-scale (SDQ-H/I) were used in an autoregressive cross-lagged model to examine their relationship with PA. The results showed that PA of boys and girls at preschool age was inversely associated with the occurrence of mental health problems and, in particular, ADHD symptoms about 6 years later. Higher levels of PA were associated with better general mental health and fewer ADHD symptoms at the next time point (Wave 1). These effects were not observed from preadolescence (Wave 1) to adolescence (Wave 2), neither for girls nor for boys. These findings indicate that medium-to-high PA may be a supportive factor for good mental health in children in preschool and elementary school. Future studies will have to show whether PA may be a helpful add-on for interventional programs for improving general mental health and alleviating ADHD symptoms among children and adolescents.

Measurement invariance of six language versions of the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 in civilians after traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is frequently associated with neuropsychiatric impairments such as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can be screened using self-report instruments such as the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). The current study aims to inspect the factorial validity and cross-linguistic equivalence of the PCL-5 in individuals after TBI with differential severity. Data for six language groups (n ≥ 200; Dutch, English, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish) were extracted from the CENTER-TBI study database. Factorial validity of PTSD was evaluated using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and compared between four concurrent structural models. A multi-group CFA approach was utilized to investigate the measurement invariance (MI) of the PCL-5 across languages. All structural models showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit with small between-model variation. The original DSM-5 model for PTSD provided solid evidence of MI across the language groups. The current study underlines the validity of the clinical DSM-5 conceptualization of PTSD and demonstrates the comparability of PCL-5 symptom scores between language versions in individuals after TBI. Future studies should apply MI methods to other sociodemographic (e.g., age, gender) and injury-related (e.g., TBI severity) characteristics to improve the monitoring and clinical care of individuals suffering from PTSD symptoms after TBI.

PACT: A protocol for assessment, mechanism-based case formulation and treatment planning.

BACKGROUND: Proponents of clinical case formulations argue that the causes and mechanisms contributing to and maintaining a patient's problems should be analysed and integrated into a case conceptualization, on which treatment planning ought to be based. Empirical evidence shows that an individualized treatment based on a case formulation is at least sometimes better than a standardized evidence-based treatment. METHODS: We argue that it is likely to improve decisions when two conditions hold: (a) knowing about the mechanisms underlying the patient's problems makes a difference for treatment, and (b) the case formulation is based on valid knowledge about mechanisms of psychopathology. RESULTS: We propose a protocol for assessment, case formulation and treatment planning (PACT), which incorporates transdiagnostic accounts of psychopathology. PACT describes a 5-step decision making process, which aims to help clinicians to decide when to resort to evidence-based treatments and when to construct a case formulation to individualize the treatment. CONCLUSION: We show how PACT works in practice by discussing treatment planning for a clinical case involving symptoms of social anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Physical Activity Improves Mental Health in Children and Adolescents Irrespective of the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)-A Multi-Wave Analysis Using Data from the KiGGS Study.

Physical activity (PA) may have positive effects on mental health in children and adolescents. This post hoc study aimed to further investigate the relationship between different frequency levels of PA and general mental health as well as specific hyperactivity/inattention symptoms in children and adolescents. METHODS: The analyses were based on data drawn from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study, a regularly conducted large-scale, epidemiological investigation of somatic and mental health of children and adolescents in Germany. Parents were asked about their children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) records and answered questionnaires concerning any mental health problem behavior of the children and adolescents using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The overall problem score as well as the hyperactivity/inattention symptoms subscale (SDQ-H/I) were entered as outcomes in a regression model controlling for parental socio-economic status and participants' sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Cross-sectional analyses were conducted at three time points of the KiGGS study (baseline, wave 1, and wave 2) using general linear models (GLM). This was performed for different age groups (4-5, 6-9, 10-17 years). RESULTS: Significant negative relationships were found between PA and general mental health problems. For the relationship between PA and SDQ-H/I, different patterns emerged at the three time points. There was no interaction between PA frequency levels and diagnosis of ADHD (ADHD vs. non-ADHD controls) regarding the SDQ total score. CONCLUSION: This study underlines the importance of a high frequency level of PA for a good mental health status among children and adolescents, irrespective of the diagnosis of ADHD.