Depression in Children and Adolescents Involved in the Child Welfare System.

Child maltreatment presents a significant public health challenge and is strongly associated with development of depression during childhood and adolescence. Not all abused or neglected children are in the child welfare system, but most children in the foster care system have a history of maltreatment. Involvement with the child welfare system presents an additional risk for psychopathology.

Awareness of treatment needs and length of stay amongst psychiatric inpatients.

Introduction: Inpatient psychiatric units experience significant pressure from third party payers to keep length of stay (LOS) to a minimum despite having to treat more severely ill patients. However, there is a paucity of empiric data for guiding treatment decisions that maximize therapeutic outcome while minimizing LOS. We therefore endeavored to begin utilizing a newly created psychometric instrument that assesses patient psychological factors, which we propose will allow for LOS prediction and individualization of therapeutic outcome.

Autism: the role of cholesterol in treatment.

Cholesterol is essential for neuroactive steroid production, growth of myelin membranes, and normal embryonic and fetal development. It also modulates the oxytocin receptor, ligand activity and G-protein coupling of the serotonin-1A receptor. A deficit of cholesterol may perturb these biological mechanisms and thereby contribute to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), as observed in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) and some subjects with ASDs in the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE).

Manic symptoms and behavioral dysregulation in youth with velocardiofacial syndrome (22q11.2 deletion syndrome).

Mania and bipolar disorder have been reported in adolescents and adults with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS; also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome). Children with VCFS have a high prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which may constitute a risk factor for the eventual development of bipolar disorder in this population.

Autistic spectrum disorders in velo-cardio facial syndrome (22q11.2 deletion).

The extent to which the phenotype of children comorbid for velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) differs from that of VCFS-only has not been studied. The sample consisted of 41 children (20 females) with VCFS, ranging in age from 6.5 years to 15.

Abnormalities of cholesterol metabolism in autism spectrum disorders.

Although Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), a genetic condition of impaired cholesterol biosynthesis, is associated with autism [Tierney et al., 2001; Am J Med Genet 98:191-200.], the incidence of SLOS and other sterol disorders among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is unknown.

The potential risks of commonly prescribed antipsychotics: during pregnancy and lactation.

Chlorpromazine, haloperidol, fluphenazine, clozapine, risperidone, quetiapine, olanzapine, ziprasidone, and aripiprazole are antipsychotics commonly used in psychiatric medicine. Approximately one third of pregnant women with psychotic symptoms use antipsychotics at least once. This review will discuss the effects of antipsychotic use during pregnancy and lactation on the fetus and infant.

Effects of chlordiazepoxide (Librium) during pregnancy and lactation.

The decision to use psychotropic drugs during pregnancy and lactation must depend upon considerations of teratogenicity, effects on fetal and neonatal behavior and development, and a concern for the health and safety of the mother. Pregnancy itself can exacerbate anxiety symptoms, as well as alter the pharmacokinetics of antianxiety drugs; it thus presents a special problem to the clinician treating anxiety disorder in women. Since almost all psychotropic drugs cross the placenta, the use of medications during pregnancy and lactation requires critical attention to the timing of exposure, dosage, duration of use, and fetal susceptibility.

Development of quantitative reasoning and gender biases.

One hundred twenty-seven 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children were presented large or small samples of own-gender enhancing or other-gender enhancing observations. Children read arguments based on the observations, rated argument intelligence, judged the number of other children to whom the observations could be generalized, and provided verbal justifications for their judgments. Own-gender reasoning biases declined with age; these declines were, however, partially accounted for by declines in the strength of self-reported gender affiliations.