Correction to: The interface between child/adolescent and adult mental health services: results from a European 28­country survey.

The original version of this article contained an error in Table 1. The correct table is presented below.

The interface between child/adolescent and adult mental health services: results from a European 28-country survey.

Transition-related discontinuity of care is a major socioeconomic and societal challenge for the EU. The current service configuration, with distinct Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) and Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS), is considered a weak link where the care pathway needs to be most robust. Our aim was to delineate transitional policies and care across Europe and to highlight current gaps in care provision at the service interface. An online mapping survey was conducted across all 28 European Countries using a bespoke instrument: The Standardized Assessment Tool for Mental Health Transition (SATMEHT). The survey was directed at expert(s) in each of the 28 EU countries. The response rate was 100%. Country experts commonly (12/28) reported that between 25 and 49% of CAMHS service users will need transitioning to AMHS. Estimates of the percentage of AMHS users aged under 30 years who had has previous contact with CAMHS were most commonly in the region 20-30% (33% on average).Written policies for managing the interface were available in only four countries and half (14/28) indicated that no transition support services were available. This is the first survey of CAMHS transitional policies and care carried out at a European level. Policymaking on transitional care clearly needs special attention and further elaboration. The Milestone Study on transition should provide much needed data on transition processes and outcomes that could form the basis for improving policy and practice in transitional care.

Quality of life of key caregivers of schizophrenia patients and association with kinship.

INTRODUCTION: Reports on the quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of schizophrenia patients are uncommon. Relations of different degree of kinship to caregivers' QOL are unexplored, but may be relevant. The purpose of this study was to assess the subjective QOL of caregivers of stable outpatients with diagnosis of schizophrenia compared with controls, and to assess factors associated with QOL in this population. METHODS: Responses of 138 schizophrenia outpatient' family caregivers to the Quality of Life, Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (QLESQSF) were compared with those of a sex- and age-matched control group. Patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and data were collected for kinship relationship and hospitalization. RESULTS: Group of caregivers had significantly lower QOL compared with controls (t=11.347; df=271; p=0.0001). Caregivers' QOL correlated significantly with their age and differed according to the degree of kinship and marriage status. ANCOVA, with age as covariate, performed to asses the differences in QOL according to kinship, showed that parents and own children had significantly lower QOL than patients' siblings who were also caregivers. CONCLUSION: QOL of the schizophrenia patients' caregivers is lower in comparisons to controls. It depends on the degree of kinship and caregivers' age. Parents and own children have lower QOL than siblings. Psycho-educational intervention programmes should target specific needs of the family as a whole, depending also on their age and kinship relationship.

Coparenting within the family system: review of literature.

Family systems theory which postulates that family-level processes affect children's development over and above any individual subsystem, has changed the emphasis in research on children and families. Previous research of child development in families focused on associations with individual parent-child relationships or on connections between the marital relationships and child adjustment. In contrast, researchers have recently articulated distinctive family group dynamic, coparenting, which uniquely predicts children's social and emotional adaptation, over and above the effects of parenting and marital processes. This article reviews the literature on recent coparenting research and studies linking this family relationship to important indicators of children's development and adjustment. The implications for clinical practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Outpatient treatment of children and adolescents with antipsychotic drugs in Croatia.

BACKGROUND: A large increase in the use of atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) in the Western developed countries has been reported. Patterns of antipsychotic therapy and the extent of use of AAPs for youth outside of the developed world are lacking. AIMS: To evaluate patterns of antipsychotic treatment of pediatric outpatients in Croatia, including the rate of AAP use. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of outpatient visits to child psychiatrists by persons aged 18 and younger that included prescription of antipsychotics. Antipsychotic treatment data were identified by frequency, medication class, subclass and drug entity and were analyzed in relation to age group, gender and psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: Overall, 1.3% (106/7953) of pediatric outpatients received antipsychotic therapy during the study period. Antipsychotic treatment was significantly more common in boys and in adolescents. AAPs (80.1%) were significantly more often prescribed than typical antipsychotics (19.9%) (t = 7.76; P < 0.01). In all diagnostic categories (behavior disorders, pervasive developmental disorders and mental retardation, psychotic disorders, mood and tic disorders), the treatment with AAPs was more frequent than typical antipsychotics (χ(2) = 9.92, df = 4, P < 0.05). AAPs were used as monotherapy in 62.2% of outpatients. Off-label prescribing was found in 52.9% of young patients who had received AAPs. CONCLUSIONS: AAPs comprise most of the antipsychotic medications prescribed to pediatric outpatients in Croatia in all diagnostic categories, reflecting trends in other countries. Unfortunately, such practice occurs in the absence of supporting data about long-term safety and in spite of the lack of evidence regarding their efficacy in some indications.

Outpatient treatment of children and adolescents with antidepressants in Croatia.

OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed to determine the prevalence and patterns of antidepressants prescription in outpatient setting in Croatia. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of outpatient visits to child psychiatrists by persons aged 18 and younger that included prescription of antidepressants during the year 2010. Antidepressant prescription data were identified by medication class, drug entity and were analyzed in relation to age group, gender, psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: Antidepressants were prescribed to 139 youths (0.24‰), significantly more to adolescents than pre-adolescents and for the treatment of depressive disorders in females, and mixed disorders of emotions and conduct in males. Sertraline was the most prescribed antidepressant for the treatment of major depressive disorder, followed by fluvoxamine and tianeptine. Fluvoxamine was the most prescribed antidepressant for the treatment of anxiety disorders and mixed disorders of emotions and conduct. Off-label prescribing of antidepressants was found in 85.6% of young patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study found considerably lower prevalence and higher off-label rate of antidepressant prescriptions to young people in Croatia to that in other European Countries and in the United States. Selective serotonine reuptake inhibitors comprise most of the antidepressant medications prescribed to young people, reflecting trends in the developed countries.

Misdiagnosis and exacerbation of unusual obsessive-compulsive disorder presentation with risperidone and clozapine in an adolescent girl - A case report.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogenous disorder with different clinical presentations. The most common symptoms are those that involve contamination, possible harm, ordering/symmetry, aggressive/sexual/religious concerns and hoarding. A variety of less common symptoms have been described. Unusual OCD symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment with possible serious side effects. In this report we present a case of an adolescent girl in which unusual OCD presentation and symptoms were misinterpreted to represent psychosis and exacerbation of OCD symptoms with risperidone and clozapine treatment. We discuss the possible pathophysiological mechanisms of OCD symptom exacerbation, clinical implications, and successful management of this case, with fluvoxamine therapy. This case may represent the first report of musical obsessions successfully managed with fluvoxamine therapy.

Suicidal obsessions as dose dependent side-effect of clozapine.

OBJECTIVE: Although numerous reports suggest that different atypical antipsychotics can exacerbate or induce (de novo) obsessive-compulsive symptoms, there is no report of the development of ego-dystonic, suicidal obsessions during treatment with these medications. Here, the authors report the first case of clozapine-induced suicidal obsessions. METHOD: The authors report a case of a patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder and who developed suicidal obsessions in the weeks after the dose of clozapine was increased from 150 mg/day to 300 mg/day. RESULTS: Symptoms quickly resolved after the treatment with clozapine was changed to the treatment with quetiapine and sodium valproate. Suicidal obsessions decreased promptly, within a few days, and disappeared completely when the dose of clozapine was 100 mg/day, quetiapine 600 mg/day, and sodium valproate 900 mg/day, 16 days after the initiation of changes in the medications. CONCLUSION: The case report emphasizes the crucial need of differentiation between genuine suicidal desires and ego-dystonic suicidal obsessions. The authors suggest that in similar cases a change in antipsychotic medications to those with stronger antidopaminergic properties and lower 5HT2 receptor affinity should be considered, but also assume that the use of sodium valproate in treatment of obsessive-compulsive symptoms deserves further study.