Parental Expressed Emotion, Parenting Stress, and Behavioral Problems of Young Children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome and Idiopathic Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This study examined the associations of parents' expressed emotion (EE) and parenting stress, with behavioral problems of children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, idiopathic autism (iASD) and typically developing (TD) children. Parents of children aged 3-8 years completed the five-minute-speech-sample (FMSS), parental stress index and children behavioral checklist. Parents' FMSS-EE-criticism was higher among parents of children with 22q11DS and iASD compared to parents of TD children. FMSS-EE scores predicted children's behavioral problems, above and beyond parenting stress. The associations between FMSS-EE, parenting stress and children's behavioral problems were consistent across 22q11DS, iASD and TD children. These findings highlight the need for targeting parents' EE and parenting stress as integral elements in the screening and prevention of behavioral problems of young children with 22q11DS and iASD.

Children's Friendship Training Program for Israeli elementary school age children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The present study examined whether the effectiveness of the Children's Friendship Training (CFT) in children with ADHD is maintained following treatment endpoint and whether it is effective in a different culture outside the USA. Parent reports of social skills, behavioral problems, conflict, and children's social knowledge were collected at baseline, pre-treatment (week-12), post-treatment (week-24) and follow-up (week-36) (treatment group: N = 25, waitlist: N = 20). Relative to waitlist, children's social knowledge, social skills and conflict resolution were improved at post-treatment and improvement was maintained at follow-up.

Psychiatric disorders and autism in young children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome compared to children with idiopathic autism.

BACKGROUND: The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a neurogenetic condition characterized by high rates of psychiatric disorders. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess psychiatric disorders in young children with 22q11DS using a structured psychiatric diagnostic interview, and one of few studies to use the complete gold standard diagnostic evaluation to examine the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children with 22q11DS and compare it to a matched control group with iASD. METHODS: We identified the psychiatric disorders and autistic phenotype of young children with 22q11DS (age 3-8 years) and compared them with those of age and sex-matched children with idiopathic autism (iASD). We used the gold standard psychiatric and ASD assessments including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and a clinical examination by a child psychiatrist. RESULTS: Eighty-four percent of the children with 22q11DS had at least one psychiatric disorder, including anxiety disorders and ADHD, and 16% met strict criteria for ASD. Children with 22q11DS and ASD symptoms had less severe overall ASD symptoms than those with iASD. Children with 22q11DS, regardless of ASD diagnosis, were characterized by repetitive restricted behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the need to screen for psychiatric disorders in 22q11DS and treat them already in preschool years.