[Diagnostic accuracy of language tests and parent rating for identifying language disorders]. / Diagnostische Zuverlässigkeit von Sprachtests und Elternrating bei Sprachentwicklungsstörungen.

BACKGROUND: Until now German language tests have been rarely evaluated for their diagnostic accuracy. The goal of the study was to determine whether frequently used German language instruments are valid measures for identifying developmental language disorders in 3-year-old children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The language test SETK 3-5 (including the short version SSV) and the parent questionnaire SBE-3-KT were administered to 88 children with and without language impairment. The procedure of the selection of children enabled an extrapolation to general population. A language sample rating was used as a gold standard. RESULTS: Depending on case definition 6-22% of children were classified as language impaired by SETK 3-5, 9% by SSV and 15% by SBE-3-KT. Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive values of SETK 3-5 for specified cut-offs were 35-93%, 86-97% and 41-58%, respectively. The corresponding values of SSV were 49%, 96%, 56% and of SBE-3-KT 92%, 93%, 59%. CONCLUSIONS: 3-year-old children with developmental language disorders can been identified with sufficient accuracy by means of SETK 3-5, an individual language test, as well as by SBE-3-KT, a parent questionnaire. However, the number of false positive classifications is relatively high. The hit rate of SSV, an individual short test, was too low for clinical use.

Auditory selective attention in adolescents with major depression: An event-related potential study.

BACKGROUND: Major depression (MD) is associated with deficits in selective attention. Previous studies in adults with MD using event-related potentials (ERPs) reported abnormalities in the neurophysiological correlates of auditory selective attention. However, it is yet unclear whether these findings can be generalized to MD in adolescence. Thus, the aim of the present ERP study was to explore the neural mechanisms of auditory selective attention in adolescents with MD. METHODS: 24 male and female unmedicated adolescents with MD and 21 control subjects were included in the study. ERPs were collected during an auditory oddball paradigm. RESULTS: Depressive adolescents tended to show a longer N100 latency to target and non-target tones. Moreover, MD subjects showed a prolonged latency of the P200 component to targets. Across groups, longer P200 latency was associated with a decreased tendency of disinhibited behavior as assessed by a behavioral questionnaire. LIMITATIONS: To be able to draw more precise conclusions about differences between the neural bases of selective attention in adolescents vs. adults with MD, future studies should include both age groups and apply the same experimental setting across all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides strong support for abnormalities in the neurophysiolgical bases of selective attention in adolecents with MD at early stages of auditory information processing. Absent group differences in later ERP components reflecting voluntary attentional processes stand in contrast to results reported in adults with MD and may suggest that adolescents with MD possess mechanisms to compensate for abnormalities in the early stages of selective attention.

Antidepressant effects of augmentative transcranial magnetic stimulation: randomised multicentre trial.

BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as a new treatment option for depression. Previous studies were performed with low sample sizes in single centres and reported heterogeneous results. AIMS: To investigate the efficacy of rTMS as augmentative treatment in depression. METHOD: In a randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled multicentre trial 127 patients with moderate to severe depressive episodes were randomly assigned to real or sham stimulation for 3 weeks in addition to simultaneously initiated antidepressant medication. RESULTS: We found no difference in the responder rates of the real and the sham treatment groups (31% in each) or in the decrease of the scores on the depression rating scales. CONCLUSIONS: The data do not support previous reports from smaller samples indicating an augmenting or accelerating antidepressant effect of rTMS. Further exploration of the possible efficacy of other stimulation protocols or within selected sub-populations of patients is necessary.