Piloting behavioral family systems therapy to improve adherence among adolescents with HIV: a case series intervention study.

Adolescents with HIV are at high risk for suboptimal adherence but have been ignored by the literature. Treatment outcome and feasibility data for the first-known adaptation of Behavioral Family Systems Therapy (BFST) targeting adherence among adolescents with HIV are presented for four adolescents with suboptimal adherence. The intervention was delivered in an alternating home-based and telehealth format and a multi-method adherence assessment approach was used.

Parenting stress and its relationship to the behavior of children with Joubert syndrome.

This study describes the relationship between parenting stress and behavior in children with Joubert syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. Parents (N = 43) reported severely impaired child adaptive behaviors. Most children did not show maladaptive behaviors, but a subset of approximately 20% displayed significant problems in areas such as inattention, overactivity, social withdrawal, and atypical behaviors.

Utility of a CPT in diagnosing ADHD among a representative sample of high-risk children: a cautionary study.

Continuous performance tests (CPTs) are widely used in the assessment and study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although CPTs have reliably found differences between children with ADHD and normal controls, discriminating between children with ADHD and children with subclinical levels of behavioral or cognitive problems is a more clinically relevant and difficult endeavor. Additionally, most studies use convenience samples from clinical care settings that may not represent the ADHD population as a whole.

Verbal memory abilities of children with brain tumors.

Several critical neuroanatomical structures and pathways for memory performance are located in the third ventricle region. This led us to predict that verbal memory abilities would be more impaired in children treated for third ventricle tumors compared to those treated for cerebellar tumors. Archival data was obtained from 24 pediatric patients with third ventricle region tumors and 18 pediatric patients with cerebellar tumors.

Daytime behavior and sleep disturbance in childhood epilepsy.

The purpose of this research is to further explore the relationship between sleep disturbance and daytime behavior in children with epilepsy. Parent-rating questionnaires and child symptom self-report measures were employed to evaluate daytime behavior in 30 children with epilepsy and sleep-disordered symptoms. Overnight polysomnography was used to assess for nocturnal sleep problems such as obstructive sleep apnea, nocturnal seizures, periodic leg movements, and sleep fragmentation.

Sleep disturbance in children with epilepsy.

This study employed a validated pediatric sleep questionnaire to evaluate for sleep-disordered symptoms in children with epilepsy (n=14). Results were compared with those for age-matched children (n=14) with known obstructive sleep apnea. Subjects were enrolled from an outpatient epilepsy clinic and a pediatric sleep disorders clinic.

Posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociation, and sexual abuse history in epileptic and nonepileptic seizure patients.

Rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative symptoms, and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are believed to be higher among patients with nonepileptic seizures (NES) than those with epileptic seizures (ES). However, women have higher rates of CSA and sexual assault than men. Comparisons of seizure type controlling for gender may produce different results.