ABSTRACT
To compare children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a healthy control group in terms of chronotype characteristics and miRNA-142-3p/miRNA-378 levels. 50 children with ADHD and 44 healthy children were included in the study. Childhood Chronotype Questionnaire was used to identify the chronotype preferences of children. Serum miR-142-3p and miR- 378 levels were determined. Preference for nighttime was higher in children with ADHD. Additionally, a night preference was found to be associated with attention deficit in both groups. While a significant correlation was found between the psychopathology rate in mothers and the presence of ADHD, there was no such correlation in fathers. In the comparison between children with ADHD and the control group, no significant difference was found between miRNA levels. Both the miR-142-3p and miR-378 values of the children with ADHD that have immediate relatives with a psychiatric disorder were lower, compared to control group. We found that shift to night preference in the circadian rhythm was higher and this preference was associated with attention deficit in the children with ADHD. In addition, the presence of psychopathology in the family and the mother's psychopathology affected the miR-142-3p and miR378 levels.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/genetics , Circadian Rhythm/genetics , MicroRNAs/blood , Adolescent , Adult , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/blood , Case-Control Studies , Child , Fathers/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Mothers/psychology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Reporting from Turkey's frontier with the civil war in Syria, we examined the demographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnoses and treatments for the Syrian refugee patients who have presented to Gaziantep University, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic through 2016 and the first half of 2017 retrospectively, having aimed to understand the special characteristics and needs of this novel patient group. Within a year and a half, we evaluated 51 children and adolescents and 25 (51%) had come from refugee camps, where primary healthcare services are available. Twenty-eight patients (54.9%) had special educational needs. Among our patients, there were only 15 (29.4%) girls. After our experience with refugee patients, we conclude that the role of primary healthcare services in reaching psychiatric treatment should be investigated for child refugees that special educational needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey needs urgent attention and that more research is needed to establish whether gender may be a factor in negligence of internalising symptoms by refugee families.