No bilingual advantage in children's attentional disengagement: Congruency and sequential congruency effects in a large sample of monolingual and bilingual children.

According to recent accounts, bilingualism in childhood confers an advantage in a specific domain of executive functioning termed attentional disengagement. The current study tested this hypothesis in 492 children (245 boys; Mage = 10.98 years) from Canada, China, and Lebanon by testing for an association between language status and measures of attentional disengagement. Across the entire sample, monolinguals responded more quickly and accurately than bilinguals on a measure of attentional disengagement but differed in age, socioeconomic status, and general cognitive ability. Differences between monolinguals and bilinguals disappeared when the influence of these confounding variables was controlled using a matched samples analysis (ns = 105). Bayesian analyses further confirmed that the evidence was more likely under the null hypothesis than under the alternative hypothesis. In sum, there was little evidence of an association between language status and attentional disengagement in children.

Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents in Lebanon Study (PALS): a national household survey.

INTRODUCTION: Psychiatric disorders are among the leading causes of disability in children and adolescents globally. In Lebanon, a country that has endured a prolonged history of conflict and economic and political uncertainty, mental health surveys in children and adolescents have been limited to specific disorders or specific settings or cities. PALS (Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents in Lebanon Study) is the first study to screen a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents for psychiatric disorders and estimate the national prevalence of children and adolescents at risk of having a psychiatric disorder. METHODS: A nationally representative household sample of 1517 children and adolescents (aged 5 years 0 months to 17 years 11 months) was recruited through a multi-stage stratified proportionate sampling technique between February 2018 and November 2018. Parents and adolescents completed a battery of self-reported scales including the Strengths and Feelings Questionnaire (SDQ), Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ), Screen for Child Anxiety and Emotional Related Disorders (SCARED), the Peer Relations Questionnaire (PRQ), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), Child Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES), and a demographic/clinical information questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to examine the correlates of screening positive for psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: About a third of children and adolescents (32.7%, n = 497) screened positive for at least one psychiatric disorder, of whom only 5% (n = 25) reported ever seeking professional mental health help. Academic performance, having a chronic physical illness, higher parental GHQ scores, and involvement in bullying were associated with a higher odds of screening positive for a psychiatric disorder. Higher family income was negatively associated with screening positive for a psychiatric disorder. CONCLUSION: This first national study shows a high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in Lebanese children and adolescents and an alarming treatment gap. School-based primary prevention programs or screening in primary care settings are key for early detection and management of psychiatric symptoms, and prevention of psychiatric disorders.

Validation of the Arabic Version of the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU).

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a highly stressful environment for parents. The Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) has been validated and used in several languages aside Arabic. This study aimed at translating the scale to Arabic (A-PSS: NICU) and validating it using a cohort of parents of infants admitted to the NICU. Between August 2015 and May 2017, the reliability and construct validity of the A-PSS: NICU were tested on 207 mothers and fathers in two tertiary care hospitals within Greater Beirut. Participants answered the A-PSS: NICU questionnaire, and were interviewed by a clinical psychologist who used the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). An exploratory factor analysis revealed that the A-PSS: NICU is composed of four factors. The A-PSS: NICU overall reliability was excellent (Cronbach's alpha .92). The A-PSS: NICU scores correlated positively and significantly with those of the HAM-A (r = .24, p < .0001). The A-PSS: NICU is a valid and reliable measure of parents' stress in the NICU. Using this scale may prove to be beneficial to Arabic-speaking parents as it assists health professionals in identifying potential stressors that can be addressed during the infants' stay within the NICU.

SAFE START: AN EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM IN A TERTIARY HEALTHCARE SETTING-A CRITICAL REVIEW.

Early childhood mental health programs are vital for the current and future mental health and brain development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Founded in 2014, Safe Start is the only early childhood mental health program in Beirut, Lebanon. It aims at being the prototype of such services at the national level. A retrospective analysis of the outcomes of the first year of operations has resulted in important findings about the age of the participants, their diagnoses, previous therapies that the participants have undergone, types of referrals recommended, and the number of participants who were lost to follow-up. This first analysis pointed at the need for more in-depth research to encompass the gaps and benefits of such services. It shows the pivotal importance of designing awareness strategies about the importance of early childhood mental health services and care; to move from a diagnostic seeking behavior to commitment to psychotherapy and follow-up interventions.

Psychological first aid training for Lebanese field workers in the emergency context of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon required a fast and efficient comprehensive rescue strategy. Professionals working in emergency response were neither prepared to provide psychological first aid nor prepared to screen for mental health disorders in child refugees. This article examines the efficacy of a national training program in psychological first aid (PFA) to enhance the readiness of mental health field workers in the Syrian refugee response. Participant (N = 109) were recruited from Lebanese ministries and nongovernmental organizations. They received a 2.5-day training on PFA and on screening for mental health disorders in children. Their knowledge and perceived readiness were assessed before the training, immediately after the training, and 1 month after the training using 2 evaluation forms. Evaluation Form A was a multiple choice questionnaire composed of 20 questions and created on the basis of the content of the training, and Evaluation Form B was a Likert-type scale of 20 items created based on the core components of PFA. The data of 60 participants were analyzed. The results showed a significant increase in knowledge and readiness, specifically on the components related to the principles and techniques of PFA.

Intellectual developmental disorders: towards a new name, definition and framework for "mental retardation/intellectual disability" in ICD-11.

Although "intellectual disability" has widely replaced the term "mental retardation", the debate as to whether this entity should be conceptualized as a health condition or as a disability has intensified as the revision of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) advances. Defining intellectual disability as a health condition is central to retaining it in ICD, with significant implications for health policy and access to health services. This paper presents the consensus reached to date by the WHO ICD Working Group on the Classification of Intellectual Disabilities. Literature reviews were conducted and a mixed qualitative approach was followed in a series of meetings to produce consensus-based recommendations combining prior expert knowledge and available evidence. The Working Group proposes replacing mental retardation with intellectual developmental disorders, defined as "a group of developmental conditions characterized by significant impairment of cognitive functions, which are associated with limitations of learning, adaptive behaviour and skills". The Working Group further advises that intellectual developmental disorders be incorporated in the larger grouping (parent category) of neurodevelopmental disorders, that current subcategories based on clinical severity (i.e., mild, moderate, severe, profound) be continued, and that problem behaviours be removed from the core classification structure of intellectual developmental disorders and instead described as associated features.