[Sexual violence against minors in a Tunisian population: study of 53 psychiatric expert reports]. / Violence sexuelle sur mineurs dans une population tunisienne: étude de 53 expertises psychiatriques.

In Tunis, the reported cases of children who are victims of sexual abuse have increased in recent years. Child psychiatrists are asked to perform a psychiatric evaluation and treat patients. The purpose of this study was to describe the socio-familial and clinical profile of children who were victims of sexual violence and to describe data concerning the circumstances and nature of sexual abuse. We conducted a descriptive and analytic, retrospective study of children examined by child psychiatrists practising at the Hédi CHAKER hospital in Sfax following sexual violence. The study covered the period from January 2011 to October 2017. Child psychiatrists evaluated 53 child sexual abuse cases during the study period. The victims were girls in 64.2% of cases, with an average age of 10 years and primary school students in 46.2% of cases. Intra-family conflict was reported in 16.6% of cases. Intra-familial abuse was reported in 25% of cases, touching and anal penetration were the most frequent types of violence observed (63.5% of cases and 26.9% of cases respectively). More than half of children who were victims had a psychiatric disorder (post-traumatic stress in 32.7% of cases). This study shows that child sexual abuse is a complex problem with serious consequences. Measures must be taken to ensure children have adequate treatment.

Anxiety and Problematic Internet Use in Tunisian students.

BACKGROUND: The timing of this study coincides with the growing rate of penetration of Internet service across the country.  However, it is predictable that any new technology may be associated with a variety of human responses, sometimes harmfull. The young students seem to be especially vulnerable. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to evaluate Problematic Internet Use among medical undergraduate students and to investigate for associated anxious symptoms. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 120 students enrolled in undergraduate medical studies at the University of Medicine of Sfax- Tunisia. The self-administered Young's 8-item questionnaire was used in this survey. The state and trait anxiety inventory was administered to screen for anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: The results showed that 21.7% of the students have Problematic Internet Use (PIU).The rate of the PIU is greater in male students than infemale students (p=0.035). Anxiety trait was significantly associated in students with PIU compared to those without PIU (p=0.002). Anxiety state was significantly associated in students with PIU compared to those without PIU ( p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Problematic Internet Use is frequent in our students population. Asking students about the characteristics of their Internet usage will help to determine the threats to which they might be exposed. Such association with other psychopathologic problems, especially anxiety, should be sought.

Impulsivity in adolescents with major depressive disorder: A comparative tunisian study.

BACKGROUND: The association between impulsivity and depressive disorders in adolescence has been little studied at the literature and in our country, yet impulsivity is a major risk factor for suicide. Thus we aimed on this study to evaluate impulsivity in 25 adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder MDD compared to a control sample and to analyze the correlations between impulsivity and clinical features of MDD. METHODS: Employing a matched case-control design, participants included 25 adolescents with MDD and 75 controls. We have administered the Barratt Impulsivity Scale BIS-11 for the two groups to evaluate impulsivity. Semi structured interviews according DSM 5 criteria were conducted for adolescents with MDD. The Child Depressive Inventory CDI was used to measure depressive symptoms in the control sample. RESULTS: Adolescents with MDD were more impulsive compared to controls according to the BIS-11 in its three domains: motor (24.96±6.26 against 20.6±4.84; p=0.000), attentional (20.88±5.03 against 16.64±3.2; p=0.000) and non planning (28.2±7.26 against 24.44±4.32; p=0.02). Impulsivity was not correlated with clinical features of MDD (suicide attempts, psychiatric comorbidities, antidepressant medication …). CONCLUSION: Adolescents with MDD seem to be more impulsive than control subjects regardless their clinical features. Whether it is a specific characteristic or a symptom among others of MDD, impulsivity predicts health-related behaviors and associated damage that need to be detected and prevented in time.