Recognition of face identity and emotion in expressive specific language impairment.

Objective: To study face and emotion recognition in children with mostly expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E).

Subjects And Methods: A test movie to study perception and recognition of faces and mimic-gestural expression was applied to 24 children diagnosed as suffering from SLI-E and an age-matched control group of normally developing children.

Results: Compared to a normal control group, the SLI-E children scored significantly worse in both the face and expression recognition tasks with a preponderant effect on emotion recognition.

[Max Isserlin--founder of child psychiatry in Munich].

The early days of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy at the beginning of the 20th century were governed by the schools of thought of that era and by personalities, who as physicians and researchers, recognized that disorders of mental development constituted a separate field. Among them was Max Isserlin, who established the first hospital for child psychiatry in Munich, the Heckscher Clinic, in 1929. Isserlin's landmark discoveries in psychiatry, above all those pertaining to aphasias, are still of topical interest today.

[Standards for expert assessment of credibility].

Expert judgment of the credibility of children's statements in cases of abuse is frequently requested of specialists in psychology and child and adolescent psychiatry, the latter being mandatory if psychopathology is present in the child. Assessment and judgment must meet standards of quality. Important innovations include a systematic procedure, avoidance of suggestive techniques for exploration and the application of a so-called criteria-based analysis of the child's statement.

High penetrance and pronounced variation in expressivity of GCH1 mutations in five families with dopa-responsive dystonia.

We performed a clinical and molecular genetic analysis in members of five families with dopa-responsive dystonia. Four mutations were detected in the gene GCH1 that codes for GTP cyclohydrolase I. Two of these mutations, a delG309 in exon 1 and a C544T transition in exon 5, have not been described before.

[Child and adolescent psychiatry and child and adolescent welfare: general interprofessional relations--results of a study].

Child and adolescent Psychiatry on the one hand and Social Welfare Services and Child Protection on the other share common fields. The theoretical orientation of the Social Sciences differs from that of Psychiatric Medicine, producing a potential of conflict in areas of mutual operation. This report is based on an analysis of the transferrals from Child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient treatment to foster care.

[Requests for compensation for immaterial damage: child and adolescent psychiatric legal assessment in conjunction with the revised legislation].

Child and adolescent psychiatry is concerned with many forensic questions. Among these, expert testimony about immaterial injury (pain, suffering) in conjunction with claims for compensation is being requested with increasing frequency. Until recently German law took the position that in cases of severe brain damage compensation (smart money) had to be granted only as a symbolic payment because the loss of cognition and lack of suffering excluded a feeling of satisfaction resulting from compensation.

The developmental approach to psychopathology in childhood and adolescence.

The task of developmental psychopathology is to integrate biological processes of maturation with psychological interactions and social influences. Attempts to explain behavioural maladaptation during childhood therefore require multi-level models. Examples are given in which structural lesions are obvious (fetal alcohol syndrome) or less clear (learning disabilities) and in which the expression of psychopathology varies with development.

[Periodic psychosis in adolescence].

In view of the fact that in the early part of this century Emil Kraepelin clearly described the relationship between psychotic episodes and the menstrual cycle it is surprising that the scientific elucidation of the phenomenon as a primary endocrine disorder came only decades later. Furthermore, the German literature has paid little attention to the problem, which was given the name "periodic psychosis of puberty" in 1963. In this article an overview of the literature is given, the symptoms and course of the disorder are described and two cases are reported.

[Anorectic reactions in low intelligence].

Six female in-patients suffering from anorectic reaction are described. Difficulties in diagnosis and differences between these patients and anorectic patients of normal intelligence are discussed. The main finding is that in all six cases there was an extremely close and symbiotic mother-child relationship and a weak or absent father.

[Inadequacy of the "hyperkinetic syndrome" diagnosis and practical consequences].

Hyperkinetic behavior has been defined and is easy to diagnose. It occurs in a "pure" form as a combination of the major symptoms of hyperkinetic syndrome. More frequently, however, the behavior is associated with additional behavior problems or is part of other psychopathological syndromes, e.

[Inpatient management of adolescent psychiatric patients. A single day study].

The distribution of disorders in a one-day sample of 1806 adolescents receiving inpatient psychiatric care and classified with the diagnostic system ICD-9 is described. Of the inpatient psychiatric facilities for adolescents in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin, 85% responded to our questionnaire. The main findings were: 1) More of the inpatients were male than female (1:0.

[EEG changes and seizures with clozapine medication in schizophrenic adolescents].

Clozapine is an effective antipsychotic agent with atypical neuroleptic and side effects. The risk of pathological changes in the EEG and of seizures is correlated to the dosage administered. With dosages of 300 mg/day or higher the EEG should be monitored regularly.

[Changes in diagnostic and therapeutic viewpoints: biological psychiatry aspects].

The beginnings of child als adolescent psychiatry were dominated by biological thinking. Due to its unidirectionality it was bound to fail. Instead, psychological and social conditions for the development of psychic disturbances gained recognition and preference.

[Psychological sequelae of child abuse].

During the past decade personality development of abused children has been studied by several investigators. A comparative overview of the results allows to name a number of symptoms which appear to be characteristic. The symptomatology expresses an ongoing conflict between resistance and resignation by restlessness, aggressivity and withdrawal on the one hand, and by low self esteem, pseudo-adult behavior and perfectionism on the other.

Psychological and ethical problems arising for physicians and parents from the prenatal diagnosis of malformations.

Early diagnosis of a malformation has positive effects for the parents. Transitory agitation is followed by acception of the fact and stabilization. Obstetrical departments use a scheme of steps, which starts with talking to the mother and relating the problems in stages and continues with presentation of the case at a staff conference with obstetrician, pediatrician, and pediatric surgeon, and ends with psychotherapeutic consultation if necessary.

Homicide of an aggressive adolescent boy with right temporal lesion: a case report.

The case is reported of a 14-year-old male who killed an 8-year-old child following an alleged insult. The subject had been known to be aggressive throughout his school career. He had suffered one nocturnal seizure at the age of 13, but he never was amnesic for any of his fights.