Psychometric evaluation of the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire.

Aim: To replicate and extend previous psychometric findings for the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ).

Method: Using a cross-sectional design in two samples, including a total of 3366 children and adolescents (aged 2-17 years; 1399 with autism spectrum disorder) and a small case series, factor structure, measurement invariance, reliability, construct validity, screening and diagnostic efficiency, and detection of reliable change were examined for the ASDQ.

Results: Strong psychometric properties were observed, including replicable factor structure, strong measurement invariance, adequate-to-excellent scale and conditional reliability, strong convergent and discriminant validity, and good screening efficiency.

Remote monitoring of social attention in neurogenetic syndromes and idiopathic neurodevelopmental disability.

Social attention is a key aspect of neurodevelopment and is significantly altered in neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes and many individuals with idiopathic autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The primary aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of webcam-collected social attention measurements, including four new specific aspects of social attention, in three genetic syndromes (PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome-PHTS; Malan Syndrome-NFIX; and SYNGAP1-related disorder-SYNGAP1), a mixed group of other neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes (Other NDGS), and individuals with a range of idiopathic neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD). The secondary aim was to evaluate the construct validity of these social attention measurements, including evaluating known-groups validity across study groups and concurrent validity for separating ASD and non-ASD cases.

Effectiveness of a Novel Web-Based Intervention to Enhance Therapeutic Relationships and Treatment Outcomes in Adult Individual Psychotherapy: Randomized Controlled Trial and Analysis of Predictors of Dropouts.

Background: Routine process and outcome monitoring interventions added to psychotherapy are known to improve treatment outcomes, although they vary in format and effectiveness.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether a therapist-independent, internet-based routine process monitoring and feedback system could significantly reduce psychological distress and enhance the quality of the therapeutic relationship compared with a treatment-as-usual control group among individuals already engaged in individual psychotherapy.

Methods: We randomized 475 participants into either the intervention group, which received access to an internet-based routine process monitoring and feedback system in addition to psychotherapy, or the control group, which received only psychotherapy.

Extension and Further Replication of the Reliability, Criterion Validity, and Treatment Sensitivity of the PANSS10 and PANSS20 for Pediatric Trials.

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is a widely accepted outcome measure for pediatric schizophrenia trials; however, it has notable limitations. Psychometric investigations have shown a multifactorial structure and some items have limited utility assessing symptom severity in children. To address these issues, we developed and evaluated optimized 10- and 20-item PANSS short-forms (PANSS10 and PANSS20) using patient-level clinical trial data.

Patients' perspective on the therapeutic relationship and session quality: the central role of alliance.

In this study, we examined how four components of the therapeutic relationship-working alliance, real relationship, and positive and negative affective reactions of the patient toward their therapist-relate to each other and to the psychotherapy session outcome, from the patient's point of view. Our simple comprised 700 adult patients in individual psychotherapy who were recruited and participated online. They underwent a baseline evaluation of their most recent therapy session, which encompassed a series of validated self-report measures focused on specific elements of the therapeutic relationship.

Therapeutic relationship elements and therapy session outcomes: Protocol for a longitudinal study of the patient's perspective.

Background: There is a growing recognition of the key role of the therapeutic relationship in the outcomes of psychotherapy. However, current understanding of its specific components, their interplay and related patient-therapist dynamics is limited.

Objective: (a) To validate two self-report measures to assess subjective affective reactions of patients toward their psychotherapists during specific therapy sessions, and (b) to explore the relationships and dynamics among four elements of the therapeutic relationship: patient reactions toward the therapist, working alliance, alliance ruptures and repairs, and the real relationship.

Assessing the patient's affective perception of their psychotherapist: validation of the .

Background: Psychotherapists need effective tools to monitor changes in the patient's affective perception of the therapist and the therapeutic relationship during sessions to tailor therapeutic interventions and improve treatment outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the (SPARQ), a concise self-report measure designed for practical application in real-world psychotherapy settings.

Methods: Validation data was gathered from ( = 700) adult patients in individual psychotherapy.

Comparing Symptoms of Major Depression in Youth with Confirmed Versus Suspected Bipolar Disorder.

While numerous studies have compared symptoms of major depressive episodes (MDEs) associated with bipolar disorder (BD; i.e., bipolar depression) versus major depressive disorder (MDD; i.

Enhancing Psychotherapy Outcomes by Encouraging Patients to Regularly Self-Monitor, Reflect on, and Share Their Affective Responses Toward Their Therapist: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The quality of the therapeutic relationship is pivotal in determining psychotherapy outcomes. However, facilitating patients' self-awareness, reflection on, and sharing of their affective responses toward their therapist remains underexplored as a potential tool for enhancing this relationship and subsequent treatment outcomes.

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to examine whether and how the patients' regular self-monitoring and self-reflection (fostered by the systematic compilation of a brief postsession battery) on their affective reactions toward the psychotherapist impact the quality of the therapeutic relationship and treatment outcomes in individual psychotherapy.

Development and validation of an 8-item version of the Real Relationship Inventory-Client form.

Objective: To develop and validate a very brief version of the 24-item Real Relationship Inventory-Client (RRI-C) form.

Method: Two independent samples of individual psychotherapy patients (= 700, = 434) completed the RRI-C along with other measures. Psychometric scale shortening involved exploratory factor analysis, item response theory analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and multigroup CFA.

Psychometric Properties and Clinical Utility of CBCL and P-GBI Sleep Items in Children and Adolescents.

Objective: Sleep is crucial to overall health, playing a complex role in a wide range of mental health concerns in children and adults. Nevertheless, clinicians may not routinely assess sleep problems due to lack of awareness or limitations such as cost or time. Scoring sleep-related items embedded on broader scales may help clinicians get more out of tools they are already using.

Categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder: A multi-method investigation.

Background: A key question for any psychopathological diagnosis is whether the condition is continuous or discontinuous with typical variation. The primary objective of this study was to use a multi-method approach to examine the broad latent categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method: Data were aggregated across seven independent samples of participants with ASD, other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), and non-ASD/NDD controls (aggregate s = 512-16,755; ages 1.

Scoping Review: Evidence-Based Assessment of Reactive Aggression in Children.

Objective: Severe reactive aggression poses a major mental health challenge for many families. A lack of validated instrumentation for assessing young children may present a barrier to more effective clinical assessment and treatment. This scoping review evaluates tools currently used in clinical research to assess aggressive behavior, and identifies gaps in the evidence base for their use in children under the age of 12 years.

Examining Behavioral Approach and Inhibition to Further Characterize Youth With Impulsive Aggression.

Objective: Impulsive aggression in youth is a significant clinical and public health concern, spanning multiple diagnostic categories and causing significant psychosocial impairment. To advance its assessment and treatment, recent research has focused on developing an empirically derived nosology that can distinguish impulsive aggression from other common childhood problems. The current study is a secondary analysis examining the associations between this empirically defined form of impulsive aggression, other psychiatric symptom dimensions, and behavioral approach and inhibition motivation of youth.

Development and Initial Validation of the in-Session Patient Affective Reactions Questionnaire (SPARQ) and the Rift In-Session Questionnaire (RISQ).

This article discusses the development and preliminary validation of a self-report inventory of the patient's perception of, and affective reaction to, their therapist during a psychotherapy session. First, we wrote a pool of 131 items, reviewed them based on subject matter experts' review, and then collected validation data from a clinical sample of adult patients in individual therapy ( = 701). We used exploratory factor analysis and item response theory graded response models to select items, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the factor structure, and -fold cross-validation to verify model robustness.

Erotic Feelings Towards Patients in the Psychotherapy Session: Investigating Their Relationship With the Characteristics of the Therapist, the Patient, and the Treatment.

Experiencing erotic feelings towards a patient is a fairly common occurrence, not pathological per se, during phases of psychotherapy. This study aims to analyze associations between, on the one hand, the presence in therapists of romantic attraction (RA), sexual attraction (SA), or flirting behavior (FB) toward patients and, on the other hand, a series of characteristics of therapist, patient, and treatment. Between April and June 2022, 547 psychotherapists completed an online survey investigating their affective and behavioral responses toward their most recently treated patient.

Adequacy of Children's Psychopharmacology Services: Variations by Race and Clinical Characteristics.

Objective: An expert consensus approach was used to determine the adequacy of children's psychopharmacology and to examine whether adequacy varied by demographic or clinical characteristics.

Methods: Data were from the baseline interview of 601 children, ages 6-12 years, who had visited one of nine outpatient mental health clinics and participated in the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms study. Children and parents were interviewed with the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia and the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents to assess the child's psychiatric symptoms and lifetime mental health services use, respectively.

The stability and persistence of symptoms in childhood-onset ADHD.

The course of childhood-onset attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) varies across individuals; some will experience persistent symptoms while others' symptoms fluctuate or remit. We describe the longitudinal course of ADHD symptoms and associated clinical characteristics in adolescents with childhood-onset ADHD. Participants (aged 6-12 at baseline) from the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms (LAMS) study who met DSM criteria for ADHD prior to age 12 were evaluated annually with the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for eight years.

Advancing the Actionability of Mental Health Information: Identifying Online, Evidence-Based Mental Health Resources.

To improve the dissemination and actionability of mental health research, many mental health professionals have developed online informational resources to increase the general public's awareness of mental health difficulties and available treatments. Yet, limited information exists on the quality and scope of these resources. This study aimed to explore the scope and quantity of online, free, evidence-based mental health resources.

Reorienting Latent Variable Modeling for Supervised Learning.

Despite its potentials benefits, using prediction targets generated based on latent variable (LV) modeling is not a common practice in supervised learning, a dominating framework for developing prediction models. In supervised learning, it is typically assumed that the outcome to be predicted is clear and readily available, and therefore validating outcomes before predicting them is a foreign concept and an unnecessary step. The usual goal of LV modeling is inference, and therefore using it in supervised learning and in the prediction context requires a major conceptual shift.

Comparing self-reported quality of life in youth with bipolar versus other disorders.

Objectives: This study benchmarks quality of life (QoL) of youth with bipolar disorder (BD) against healthy youth, youth with chronic medical conditions, and youth with other psychiatric disorders. The relative impacts of depressive, (hypo)manic, mixed, and externalizing symptoms on QoL are tested for youth with BD.

Method: In total, 657 youth completed the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for Children (KSADS), the KSADS depression and mania scales, the Parent General Behavior Inventory (PGBI), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Editorial: Adding Measures of Emotion Dysregulation to Our Toolkits.

Emotion dysregulation is at the heart of our work with families. Learning to recognize and regulate emotions is among the most important developmental tasks. Culturally inappropriate displays of emotion are a major driver of clinical referrals for externalizing problems, but ineffective and maladaptive emotion regulation also contributes to internalizing problems; in fact, emotion dysregulation is central to most psychopathology.