Validation of the Chinese Version of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is an essential semi-structured diagnostic tool for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to validate the Chinese version of the ADI-R in Taiwan.

Methods: The Chinese version of the ADI-R was translated and back-translated by professional translators and was approved by the original authors.

Remission in children and adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder via an effective and tolerable titration scheme for osmotic release oral system methylphenidate.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal dose of osmotic release oral system methylphenidate (OROS-MPH) using a dosage forced-titration scheme to achieve symptomatic remission in children with attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We also evaluated the efficacy and safety of, and patient and parent satisfaction with, the change in therapy from immediate-release methylphenidate (IR-MPH) to OROS-MPH over 10 weeks.

Method: We recruited 521 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years with an American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.

Naturalistic exploration of the effect of osmotic release oral system-methylphenidate on remission rate and functional improvement in Taiwanese children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

Aim: To determine the differences in the remission rate, recovery rate, functional improvement, and treatment adherence related to treatment with short-acting immediate-release methylphenidate (IR-MPH) and long-acting osmotic-release oral system-methylphenidate (OROS-MPH) in a naturalistic setting among Taiwanese children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: A total of 757 children with ADHD, aged 6-18 years, was evaluated using the following in order determine functional improvement and treatment adherence: the Chinese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV scale (SNAP-IV-C), Clinical Global Impression-ADHD-Severity (CGI-S) to measure remission and recovery rates, the Chinese version of the Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents (CSAICA), and caregiver's satisfaction rate, treatment adherence, and frequency of adverse effects.

Results: According to the SNAP-IV-C scores, the remission rate was 30.

Body weight statuses and their sociodemographic correlates among adolescents in southern Taiwan: results using two sets of cutoff references.

Purpose: To examine the differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity based on the cutoff references established by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC), the prevalence of underweight on the IOTF reference, and the sociodemographic correlates of body weight statuses in Taiwanese adolescents.

Methods: Overweight and obesity in 10,371 Taiwanese adolescents were determined by the IOTF and WGOC cutoff references for body mass index (BMI). Underweight was determined by the IOTF.

The relationships between body mass index and television viewing, internet use and cellular phone use: the moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics and exercise.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and television viewing, Internet use and cellular phone use and the moderators for these relationships in adolescents.

Method: The relationship between BMI and the time spent on three kinds of sedentary activities and the moderators for these relationships were analyzed among 9,278 Taiwanese adolescents. The different relationships between BMI and various Internet and cellular phone-related activities were analyzed.

The associations between aggressive behaviors and internet addiction and online activities in adolescents.

Purpose: To evaluate (a) the association between Internet addiction and aggressive behaviors, as well as the moderating effects of gender, school, and depression on this association; and (b) to evaluate the association between Internet activities and aggressive behaviors.

Methods: A total of 9405 adolescents were recruited into this study and completed the questionnaires. Their aggressive behaviors, with or without Internet addiction, Internet activities, demographic data, with or without depression, self-esteem, family function, and the watching of violent TV were assessed.

Concern over weight and dieting in Taiwanese adolescents: correlations of gender, age, weight, and multidimensional characteristics.

The aims of this study were to compare the levels of concern over weight and dieting (COWD) among adolescents with different body weight status, gender, and age, and to examine the associations of COWD with multidimensional characteristics. Nine thousand eighty-seven adolescents completed the questionnaires. The levels of COWD were compared among the groups with different body weight status, gender, and age.

Relationship between psychosocial adjustment and executive function in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in remission: the mediating and moderating effects of insight.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to examine the relationships between executive function and psychosocial adjustment, and the mediating and moderating effects of insight on the association between executive function and psychosocial adjustment in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in clinical remission.

Methods: The level of psychosocial adjustment was assessed in 96 subjects with bipolar disorder and 96 subjects with schizophrenia who were in remitted state. The association between executive function and psychosocial adjustment and the mediating and moderating effects of insight were examined by multiple regression analysis models and the Goodman test.

Symptoms of problematic cellular phone use, functional impairment and its association with depression among adolescents in Southern Taiwan.

The aims of this study were: (1) to examine the prevalence of symptoms of problematic cellular phone use (CPU); (2) to examine the associations between the symptoms of problematic CPU, functional impairment caused by CPU and the characteristics of CPU; (3) to establish the optimal cut-off point of the number of symptoms for functional impairment caused by CPU; and (4) to examine the association between problematic CPU and depression in adolescents. A total of 10,191 adolescent students in Southern Taiwan were recruited into this study. Participants' self-reported symptoms of problematic CPU and functional impairments caused by CPU were collected.

Depression and its association with self-esteem, family, peer and school factors in a population of 9586 adolescents in southern Taiwan.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to gain insight into the prevalence of depression and its association with self-esteem, family, peer and school factors in a large-scale representative Taiwanese adolescent population.

Methods: A total of 12,210 adolescent students were recruited into the present study. Subjects with a score >28 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies' Depression Scale were defined as having significant depression; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Adolescent Family and Social Life Questionnaire and Family C-APGAR Index were applied to assess subjects' self-esteem, family, peer and school factors.

Insight into alcohol-related problems and its associations with severity of alcohol consumption, mental health status, race, and level of acculturation in southern Taiwanese indigenous people with alcoholism.

Objective: While not well known in the West, Taiwan has a substantial indigenous population, and this population has rapidly developed alcohol problems. This study examined the level of insight into alcohol-related problems and its associations with the severity of alcohol consumption, mental health status, race, and the level of acculturation among indigenous populations with alcohol problems in southern Taiwan.

Methods: A total of 332 indigenes, whose total Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score was equal to 8 or higher, were interviewed.

Quality of life and its association with insight, adverse effects of medication and use of atypical antipsychotics in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in remission.

Objective: The present study aimed: (i) to compare the level of quality of life (QOL) among subjects with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia who were in remission and healthy control subjects and (ii) to examine the association of QOL with insight, adverse effects of medication and use of atypical antipsychotics among subjects with BD and schizophrenia who were in remission by controlling other confounding factors.

Methods: The QOL on the four domains of the World Health Organization Questionnaire on Quality of Life: Short Form - Taiwan version (WHOQOL-BREF) were compared between 96 subjects with BD in remission, 96 subjects with schizophrenia in remission and 106 healthy control subjects. The association between the four QOL domains and subjects' insight, adverse effects of medication and use of atypical antipsychotics were examined using multiple regression analyses in the subjects with BD and schizophrenia in remission.

Relationship between insight and neurocognition in patients with bipolar I disorder in remission.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between insight and neurocognition in a population of patients with bipolar I disorder who were in a remitted state. Using the Schedule of Assessment of Insight (SAI) and its expanded version, we evaluated 96 patients with bipolar I disorder in remission to determine their level of insight. We also evaluated their neurocognitive function included in the domains of executive function, attention, and memory.

Psychopathology of aboriginal and non-aboriginal adolescents living in the mountainous region of southern Taiwan.

The aim of this study was to examine the hypothesis that Taiwanese aboriginal adolescents feature more severe psychopathology than non-aboriginal adolescents who live in the same mountainous region of southern Taiwan, and to test the hypothesis by controlling other individual and environ-mental factors. In this study, a total of 251 aboriginal and 79 non-aboriginal Taiwanese adolescents were enrolled. Their psychopathology was measured by the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised Scale; demographic and family characteristics, and their affinity with their peer group and with their school were also assessed.

Relationships among mental health status, social context, and demographic characteristics in Taiwanese aboriginal adolescents: a structural equation model.

The purposes of this study were to examine the relationships among mental health status, demographic characteristics, and social contexts, including family conflict and support, connectedness to school, and affiliation with peers who exhibit delinquent behavior and who use substances, among Taiwanese aboriginal adolescents. A total of 251 aboriginal junior high school students in an isolated mountainous area of southern Taiwan were recruited, and the relationships among mental health status, demographic characteristics, and social contexts among them were examined using a structural equation model (SEM). The SEM revealed that family conflict and support had direct influences on mental health status and connectedness to school.

Comparisons of substance use disorders and correlates between aboriginal and non-aboriginal adolescents living in a mountain region in southern Taiwan.

The purposes of this study were to examine the differences in prevalence of lifetime substance use disorders (SUDs), age at initial substance use, and knowledge and attitudes toward substance use between aboriginal and non-aboriginal adolescents living in a mountain region of southern Taiwan, and to separately examine the correlates of SUDs among the two groups. A total of 251 aboriginal and 79 non-aboriginal adolescents were recruited into this study. The results revealed that although the prevalence of SUDs was high in both aboriginal and non-aboriginal adolescents, no difference in the prevalence of SUDs between the two groups was found.