Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern that typically onsets during early adolescence. Adolescents (N = 980, ages 12–19 years) admitted for acute, residential psychiatric treatment completed baseline clinical interviews assessing mental disorders and questionnaires measuring demographics, early life adversity, and symptom severity. Prevalence rates of NSSI for lifetime (thoughts: 78%; behaviors: 72%), past year (thoughts: 74%; behaviors: 65%), and past month (thoughts: 68%; behaviors: 51%) were high. Although effect sizes were modest, the presence of a lifetime depressive disorder, sexual abuse, and comorbidity (i.e., three or more current disorders) were significant correlates of experiencing NSSI thoughts and behaviors. Furthermore, lifetime depressive disorder, current anxiety disorder, and comorbidity were associated with a greater odds of persistent NSSI thoughts and/or behaviors. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether targeting these factors reduces the persistence of NSSI thoughts and behaviors.

Research has shown a connection between negative parenting practices and child conduct problems. One of the most commonly used measures to assess parenting practices is the Alabama parenting questionnaire (APQ). The current study aimed to culturally adapt and assess the psychometric properties of a short version of the APQ for use in Arabic cultures, using a sample of 251 Qatari parents of children ages 4–12. An exploratory factor analysis proposed a five-model solution that corresponds to the original proposed model in the full version of the APQ. The five constructs of the APQ correlated in the expected direction with the Conduct Problem Subscale from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. This study provides support for the utility of the 15-item short version of the APQ in Arabic cultures. More studies are needed to validate the performance of the short version of APQ in clinical settings.

Parental behavior ratings of hyperactive boys and girls aged 6–11 years seen for evaluation in a general outpatient child psychiatry clinic and in a specialty “attention deficit disorder” (ADD) program were analyzed. The pattern of comorbidity in the two groups showed no significant differences. Most of the associated internalizing and externalizing behavioral scales in hyperactive boys and in hyperactive girls were elevated and in clinical ranges except for the “somatic complaints” scale. Comorbidity in both hyperactive boys and girls was related to the severity of the hyperactivity itself.

Prospective observations of the defense styles of normal individuals suggest that the quality of the childhood family environment may influence the maturity of defense styles used in adulthood. In this study, 106 female adolescent psychiatric patients completed the Defense Style Questionnaire, and the Family Environment Scale (FES). Positive family characteristics such as cohesion and expressiveness, as measured by the FES, were correlated with the report of Mature Defenses. Negative family characteristics such as conflict were correlated with the report of Immature Defenses. Similar although weaker correlations were found after controlling for the effects of depression and defensiveness on the self-report measures.

The present study was designed to determine the weight-based stigmatization of Mexican overweight (OW) and non-OW children by their mothers and peers, who rated both boys and girls with varying physical characteristics. Four hundred and thirty-two fifth and sixth graders and 342 mothers participated in the study. Children were administered a questionnaire displaying six drawings. Participants’ responses were numbered in order of preference from 1 to 6 (most to least well liked). Participants were divided into categories based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and current body mass index. The majority of children chose the child in a wheelchair as the preferred friend. Boys and girls, Indian and non-Indian, with and without risk of OW chose the obese peer as the least-preferred friend. Non-OW girls and their mothers liked the obese child less than non-OW boys and their mothers. Agreement correlations between mothers and children were rho = 0.19 (P = 0.0001), rho = 0.17 (P = 0.001), and rho = 0.13 (P = 0.02) for the healthy child, child with missing arm, and obese child, respectively. There was a strong correlation between Indian mothers and non-OW daughters (rho = 0.54, P = 0.009) on choosing the drawing of the obese child as the least preferred friend. These data suggest an influential effect of the negative attitude of mothers toward the obese child, which are projected to their children.

Recent studies have shown an increasing incidence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children diagnosed in specialized services. This study aims to describe children with ADHD in Finnish specialized healthcare by reporting the demographic characteristics, time trends in diagnosis, psychiatric comorbidity, and the validity of register-based diagnoses. All the singletons born in Finland between 1991 and 2005 and diagnosed with ADHD by 2011 were identified and their psychiatric comorbidity data was obtained from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR). Parents of 69 patients were interviewed via telephone for a diagnostic validation. A total of 10,409 children were identified with ADHD, with a male: female ratio of 5.3:1 and a psychiatric comorbidity rate of 76.7 %. Of the validation sample 88 % met the diagnostic criteria of ADHD for DSM-IV. There is an increasing trend of ADHD diagnosis among both males and females. Psychiatric comorbidity is common and includes a wide range of disorders among children with ADHD. There was an increase of ADHD diagnoses especially among boys. More attention is needed to detect ADHD among girls in health services. Diagnoses in the FHDR show diagnostic validity and their sociodemographic patterns are in line with previous studies.

Attachment security may be a mechanism by which exposure to early life adversity affects subsequent generations. We used a prospective cohort design to examine this possibility in a convenience sample of 124 women (age = 23–45 years, M = 32.32 [SD = 4.83] years; 57.3% White, 22.6% Asian) who provided self-reports of attachment style during pregnancy using the Attachment Style Questionnaire, of whom 96 (age = 28–50 years, M = 36.67 [SD = 4.90] years; 60.4% White, 19.8% Asian) were reassessed when their child was preschool-age (M = 4.38 [SD = 1.29] years). Women self-reported on their own childhood maltreatment severity and their child’s current emotional and behavioral problems using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 1.5–5, respectively. Maternal childhood maltreatment severity was associated with less secure, and more avoidant and anxious attachment. Mediation analyses revealed further that less secure maternal attachment, but not avoidant or anxious attachment, mediated the associations between maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring emotional and behavioral problems. These findings suggest that improving maternal attachment security, which can be identified even prior to the child’s birth, is an important target to consider for intervention efforts aimed at minimizing adverse intergenerational effects of early life adversity.

Although youth and adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) endorse elevated incidence of exposure to traumatic life events during childhood, the existing literature on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and OCD is mixed and studies focusing on pediatric OCD are limited. The present study examines the relationship between ACEs and OCD onset, symptom severity, negative cognitive patterns, comorbidity, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) response in 142 children and adolescents with OCD. ACEs were ascertained from parent reports. Most parents reported child exposure to ACEs. Out of the parents who reported ACEs, 50% reported ACE exposure prior to OCD diagnosis and 50% reported ACE exposure after OCD diagnosis. No significant associations between ACEs and comorbidity or CBT response were found, suggesting that CBT for pediatric OCD is effective regardless of ACE exposure. Family financial problems were associated with increased obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and negative thinking. Implications for research and practice are discussed.