Facial emotion recognition in adolescent depression: The role of childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia and empathy.

Introduction: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is crucial for effective social competency, and problems in this skill are linked depression during adolescence. In this study, we aimed to find the rates of FER accuracy for negative (fearful, sad, angry, disgusted), positive (happy, surprised), and neutral emotions, and the possible predictors of FER skill for most confusing emotions. Subjects and Methods: A total of 67 drug-naive adolescents with depression (11 boys, 56 girls; 11-17 years) were recruited for the study. The facial emotion recognition test, childhood trauma questionnaire and basic empathy, difficulty of emotion regulation, and Toronto alexithymia scales were used. Results: The analysis demonstrated that adolescents have more difficulties in recognizing negative emotions when compared the positive ones. The most confusing emotion is fear (39.8% of fear was recognized as surprise). Boys have lower fear recognition skill than girls and higher childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, and difficulty in describing feelings to predict lower fear recognition skill. For sadness recognition skill, emotional neglect, difficulty in describing feelings, and depression severity were the negative predictors. Emotional empathy has a positive effect on disgust recognition skill. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that impairment of FER skill for negative emotions is associated with childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia, and empathy symptoms in adolescent depression.

Electroencephalogram abnormalities in children have rotated error on block design performance: An university hospital child and adolescent psychiatry clinic sample.

OBJECTIVE: Neuropsychiatric assessment is essential part of child and adolescent psychiatry clinic practice, also provides important information about central nervous system dysfunctions. In studies conducted to date, it has been known that both the high frequency of psychiatric comorbidity in epileptic patients and that epilepsy comorbidity is quite common in neurodevelopmental disorders. In fact, considering the high comorbidity of epileptic abnormalities and psychiatric disorders, it has been very important to determine predictors for epileptic abnormalities in a clinical sample of child and adolescent psychiatry. In this retrospective study, we aim to determine possible predictive factors for epileptic abnormalities in a clinical sample of child and adolescent psychiatry according to Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) results. METHODS: We identified patients who had two or more rotation errors in the block design subtest of WISC-R by retrospectively scanning the system records of 2609 cases who were applied WISC-R with different prediagnoses at Gazi University Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic between January 2013 and December 2020 (n=71). After the first step identification, we selected the ones who had a previous electroencephalography (EEG) recording available for our own re-review (n=60). RESULTS: We found 15% EEG abnormalities and ADHD is the most common diagnosis in both normal and abnormal EEG groups. Due to correlation analysis, there was a positive-mild correlation between presence of EEG abnormality and WISC-R performance (r=0.56) in intellectual disability (ID) group and a positive-strong correlation between presence of EEG abnormality and WISC-R performance-verbal scores (r=0.74) in ID group. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that many different abnormal EEG patterns can be found in patients who have rotation errors in the block design test of WISC-R, suggesting diagnoses of ID, and having notable performance-verbal subtests scores difference and rotation errors in the block design subtest of WISC-R should be predicitive factors for epileptic abnormalities.

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy with organic psychosis: a pediatric case report.

BACKGROUND: Enteroviruses-associated acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) of childhood is rarely reported in the literature. Clinico-radiological features of ANE are well-recognized and bilateral thalamic nuclei are frequently affected by ANE. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are rarely seen. Thalamic damage can cause psychosis. CASE: Herein, we present a pediatric case of enterovirus-associated ANE presenting with psychosis related to thalamus damage in whom a favorable response to treatment was achieved. CONCLUSION: Thalamic damage occurs during the Enteroviruses-associated acute necrotizing encephalopathy and it can be related psychiatric sympthoms. Clinicians should be aware of uncommon presentations of ANE, and patients with thalamic damage should be followed for neuropsychiatric manifestations. Early recognition and appropriate treatment of ANE is important to obtain favorable outcomes.

Determination of Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Case Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on neuronal development is known, but its relationship with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder, has not yet been fully elucidated. To our knowledge, this is the first human study investigating serum VEGF levels in ADHD patients. In this study, it has been aimed to compare serum VEGF levels between a healthy control group and in ADHD patients to help determine the association between serum VEGF levels and ADHD. METHODS: This study sample included forty-four patients diagnosed with ADHD and 43 healthy volunteer controls between 7 to 14 years old. Blood samples were taken from patients and the healthy control group to assess their serum VEGF levels. VEGF levels were calculated by subjecting the optical densities of the samples to concentrations of known standards as provided in the ELISA kit and then performing a regression correlation analysis. RESULTS: The mean VEGF level of the children was 333.6 ± 209.8 in the ADHD group and 341.3 ± 201.8 in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in serum VEGF levels between the ADHD and control groups (U = 926.000, z = -0.170, p = 0.865). CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in serum VEGF levels for untreated ADHD cases and a healthy control group. This is the first human study investigating serum VEGF levels in ADHD patients, so there is a need to replicate these findings.

Parental attitudes in children with persistent developmental stuttering: a case-control study

Abstract Background Clinical experiences emphasize the possible role of parental attitudes and behaviours in shaping stuttering behaviors however, the number of studies in this area is still insufficient. Objective Our aims were to compare parental attitudes in children with and without stuttering and to determine the effect of parental attitudes on stuttering severity. Methods We used an age and gender matched case control design with 24 children with stuttering and 22 healthy school children. Demographic information form and Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI) were enrolled by the mothers. Results According to our results; there was a statistically significant difference in parental attitudes of children with and without stuttering. Our results showed that excessive maternal control of the child and the expectations of obedience from the child more frequently observed in parents of the children with stuttering. Also there was a significant positive correlation with the severity of stuttering and excessive maternal control of the child, the expectations of obedience from the child and marital conflict. Discussion In conclusion, there was an important difference in parental styles of study group and this difference was related to the severity of stuttering. Clinicans should address parental attitudes in this samples.