A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Videoconference vs. Face-to-Face Delivery of Behavior Therapy for Youths With Tourette Syndrome in the Time of COVID-19.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of online remote behavior therapy, compared with face-to-face therapy in reducing tics and co-occurring disorders associated with the tics in a sample of youths with Tourette Syndrome.

Design: A randomized controlled trial. TS patients were randomized to receive face-to-face or online remote behavior therapy.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents with Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Emotional/Behavioral Symptoms and Parental Stress.

The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional and behavioral symptoms in minors with neuropsychiatric disorders and on parental stress through a standardized neuropsychological assessment, comparing the data collected before the pandemic with those collected during the lock-down. Another goal of our study was to analyze the relationship between parental stress and behavioral/emotional symptoms in children. Our study was conducted on 383 families of patients who had already been referred at the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the University Hospital of Salerno for different neuropsychiatric conditions.

Barriers and incentives for Italian paediatricians to become smoking cessation promoters: a GARD-Italy Demonstration Project.

Background: Paediatricians rarely devote any time to screening and treatment for parental tobacco use. The present project is part of a Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD)-Italy Demonstration Project, aimed to increase the skills of primary care physicians and paediatricians as "promoter of smoking cessation". The aims of this study were: (I) to identify latent classes of barriers and incentives for smoking cessation counseling among paediatricians using latent class analysis (LCA); (II) to investigate risk factors for inclusion into the identified classes.

Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Status as Refractory, Generalized Hypertonic Posturing: Report of Two Adolescents.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) or dissociative seizures are found under the umbrella headings of functional/dissociative neurological disorders (FND) in psychiatric classifications (DSM-5; ICD-11). PNES are not characterized by any specific ictal or postictal EEG abnormalities. Patients with PNES can present with motor or non-motor symptoms, frequently associated with a change in the level of consciousness.

Facial Emotion Recognition in Children and Adolescents with Specific Learning Disorder.

Background: Some recent studies suggest that children and adolescents with different neurodevelopmental disorders perform worse in emotions recognition through facial expressions (ER) compared with typically developing peers. This impairment is also described in children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), compromising their scholastic achievement, social functioning, and quality of life. The purpose of our study is to evaluate ER skills in children and adolescents with SLD compared to a control group without learning disorders, and correlate them with intelligence and executive functions.