Examining Changes in Behavioral, Emotional, and Tic Symptoms in a Pediatric Sample in the First Year of the Pandemic.

Previous studies have documented worsening behavioral and emotional symptoms in children during the COVID-19 pandemic, although much focus has been on internalizing conditions with relatively short follow-up time. We examined a range of symptoms before and during the pandemic through mid-2021 in a primary care sample. Children 4-17 (n = 181) who completed emotional and behavioral assessments prior to the pandemic and then completed a follow-up assessment during the pandemic were included in our analyses.

Caregiver Satisfaction with Anxiety Treatment for Autistic Youth: A Mixed Methods Examination.

For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to best meet the specific needs of autistic youth with co-occurring anxiety and to continue to grow as a sustainable treatment option, it is important to incorporate caregiver perspectives and feedback. Data were drawn from a randomized controlled trial and included 148 caregivers of autistic youth (ages 7-13 years, M = 9.89, SD = 1.

Improving Identification of Tic Disorders in Children.

This study combines data from five studies in a quantitative modeling approach to improve identification of tics and tic disorders using two questionnaires (the Motor or Vocal Inventory of Tics and the Description of Tic Symptoms), administered to parents and children . Combining final diagnoses (positive or negative for tic disorder) with data from recently developed questionnaires implemented to assist in the identification of tics and tic disorders in children, we investigate methods for predicting positive diagnosis while also identifying which items in the questionnaires are most predictive. Logistic regression and random forest models are compared using various summary statistics.

Clinical characteristics of treatment-seeking youth with misophonia.

Objective: Misophonia is a psychiatric condition characterized by strong emotional and/or behavioral responses to auditory stimuli, leading to distress and functional impairment. Despite previous attempts to define and categorize this condition, misophonia is not currently included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases. The lack of formal diagnostic consensus presents challenges for research aimed at assessing and treating this clinical presentation.

Brief youth self-report screener for tics: Can a subscale of the Motor tic, Obsession and compulsion, and Vocal tic Evaluation Survey (MOVES) identify tic disorders in youth?

Tics are unwanted, repetitive movements and sounds that frequently present during childhood. They are typically brief and purposeless, but can create significant distress for individuals, and often co-occur with other neuropsychiatric conditions. Thus, early identification of tics is warranted.

Teacher Knowledge of Tourette Syndrome and Associated Factors.

Background: Tourette syndrome (TS) is associated with learning disabilities and educational impairment. Teacher knowledge about TS may have a positive impact on students with TS, but factors associated with teacher knowledge of TS are not known.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, teachers of youth with TS and of a community control group completed a Teacher Understanding of Tourette Syndrome Survey (TUTS), a pilot questionnaire enquiring about self-perceived understanding, teacher knowledge, and sources of information.

Clinical characteristics, impairment, and psychiatric morbidity in 102 youth with misophonia.

Background: There is little information on the clinical presentation, functional impact, and psychiatric characteristics of misophonia in youth, an increasingly recognized syndrome characterized by high emotional reactivity to certain sounds and associated visual stimuli.

Method: One-hundred-two youth (8-17 years-old) with misophonia and their parents were recruited and compared with 94 youth with anxiety disorders. Participants completed validated assessments of misophonia severity, quality of life, as well as psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses.

Idiographic Coping Outcomes in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-Occurring Anxiety: Results from the TAASD Study.

Versions of cognitive behavioral therapy (Coping Cat, CC; Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism, BIACA) have shown efficacy in treating anxiety among youth with autism spectrum disorder. Measures of efficacy have been primarily nomothetic symptom severity assessments. The current study examined idiographic coping outcomes in the Treatment of Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder study (N = 167).

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: An Empirical Approach to Defining Treatment Response and Remission in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Objective: A lack of universal definitions for response and remission in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has hampered the comparability of results across trials. To address this problem, we conducted an individual participant data diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis to evaluate the discriminative ability of the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) in determining response and remission. We also aimed to generate empirically derived cutoffs on the CY-BOCS for these outcomes.

Distinguishing and Managing Acute-Onset Complex Tic-like Behaviors in Adolescence.

Consistent with international reports, this group of Tourette syndrome (TS) experts has noticed a recent increase in adolescents presenting with tic-like symptoms that show a markedly atypical onset and course. These sudden-onset motor movements and vocalizations are often associated with significant impairment and disability, resulting in emergency department visits and hospitalizations for some affected youths.

Transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy for misophonia in youth: Methods for a clinical trial and four pilot cases.

Background: Misophonia is a condition marked by dysregulated emotions and behaviors in response to trigger sounds, often chewing, breathing, or coughing. Evidence suggests that misophonia develops in adolescence and the emotions and behaviors are a conditioned response to distress, resulting in social avoidance, stress, and family conflict. In addition, co-occurrence with other psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety, OCD, and Tourette syndrome is common.

Behavioral activation and inhibition in compulsive buying and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Compulsive buying (CB) is characterized by intrusive thoughts and behaviors related to the purchase of items, whereas obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) seems to arise from misattributed anxiety to a neutral stimulus resulting in the avoidance of the feared stimuli. Examining the triggers for the behaviors may provide useful information to possible shared etiology.

Methods: A total of 528 participants (age: mean = 20.

Knowledge and competency standards for specialized cognitive behavior therapy for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Although exposure-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy have demonstrated efficacy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the lack of clinicians effectively trained in these treatments significantly limit effective intervention options for affected youth. This is very unfortunate since child onset is reported by 50% of adults with OCD. To ameliorate this serious global issue the 14 nation International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Accreditation Task Force (ATF) of The Canadian Institute for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (CIOCD) has developed knowledge and competency standards recommended for specialized treatments for OCD through the lifespan.

Urge Intolerance and Impairment Among Youth with Tourette's and Chronic Tic Disorders.

Individuals with Tourette's Disorder and Persistent Tic Disorders (TD) often experience premonitory urges-aversive sensations that precede tics and are relieved by tic expression. Given its role in the neurobehavioral model of TD, understanding factors that influence premonitory urges and associated relief can advance understanding of urge phenomenology and optimize treatments for individuals with TD. This study examined whether the novel construct of urge intolerance-difficulty tolerating premonitory urges-predicted tic severity and tic-related disability.

The Influence of Hair Pulling Styles in the Treatment of Trichotillomania.

This report investigated the improvement in Automatic and Focused styles of hair pulling among youth with trichotillomania (TTM). Youth with TTM (N = 40) participated in a clinical trial that compared habit reversal training (HRT) to treatment-as-usual (TAU). Participants completed a baseline assessment to characterize hair pulling severity, self-reported hair pulling styles, and co-occurring psychiatric conditions.

Anxiety Symptoms Differ in Youth With and Without Tic Disorders.

We compared anxiety symptoms in youth with and without tic disorders by comparing scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) in youth with tic disorders to those in a concurrent community control group and in a group of treatment-seeking anxious youth from the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS). Data from 176 youth with tic disorders, 93 control subjects, and 488 CAMS participants were included. Compared to youth with tic disorders, controls had lower total MASC scores (p < 0.

Indicators of Social Competence and Social Participation Among US Children With Tourette Syndrome.

Children with Tourette syndrome often have behavioral and social difficulties, which may be associated with co-occurring mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. This study investigated social competence, including behavioral problems and social skills, and social activities between children with and without Tourette syndrome using a nationally representative sample. In the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, parents reported on health care provider diagnosis of Tourette syndrome, co-occurring mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders, and indicators of social competence.

Accommodation of Anxiety in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from the TAASD Study.

: Accommodation, or the ways in which families modify their routines and expectations in response to a child's anxiety, is common and interferes with anxiety treatment outcomes. However, little research has examined family accommodation among youth with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety. The current study aimed to (a) identify pre-treatment correlates of accommodation, (b) examine changes in accommodation after treatment, and (c) assess relationships between accommodation and post-treatment anxiety severity.

Tic Disorders are Associated With Lower Child and Parent Quality of Life and Worse Family Functioning.

Objective: Chronic tic disorders occur in approximately 3% of children. Neuropsychiatric symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression are common. We evaluated the impact of tic disorders and comorbid symptoms on individual and parent quality of life and family functioning.

The Impact of Comorbidity on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Response in Youth with Anxiety and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The impact of externalizing comorbidity on treatment outcome was examined in 104 youth ages 7-16 (M = 11.09 years) with autism spectrum disorder and primary anxiety/obsessive compulsive disorder who completed modular cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety/OCD. Three comorbidity profiles were utilized for group comparisons: participants with oppositional defiant or conduct disorder with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ODD; CD; ADHD; group EXT, n = 25); those without ODD/CD and only ADHD (group ADHD, n = 46); and those without externalizing comorbidity (NO-EXT, n = 33).

Measuring Treatment Response in Pediatric Trichotillomania: A Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials.

In clinical trials of pediatric trichotillomania (TTM), three instruments are typically employed to rate TTM severity: (1) the Massachusetts General Hospital Hair Pulling Scale (MGH-HPS), (2) the National Institute of Mental Health Trichotillomania Severity Scale (NIMH-TSS), and (3) the Trichotillomania Scale for Children (TSC). These instruments lack standardized definitions of treatment response, which lead researchers to determine their own definitions of response and potentially inflate results. We performed a meta-analysis to provide empirically determined accuracy measures for percentage reduction cut points in these three instruments.

Cognitive Behavioral Treatments for Anxiety in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Anxiety is common among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often interfering with adaptive functioning. Psychological therapies are commonly used to treat school-aged youth with ASD; their efficacy has not been established.

Objective: To compare the relative efficacy of 2 cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs and treatment as usual (TAU) to assess treatment outcomes on maladaptive and interfering anxiety in children with ASD.