Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders When School Closures Were Lifted.

Human activities have been changing in conjunction with the status of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with school closures and activity cancellations becoming commonplace. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic likely also has had a detrimental impact on the behavioral problems of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). In Japan, the government issued a stay-at-home order causing children to stop participating in school activities following the first declaration of a state of emergency (April 7 to May 25, 2020).

The Association of Mental Health Problems With Preventive Behavior and Caregivers' Anxiety About COVID-19 in Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

We examined the association of mental health problems with preventive behavior and caregivers' anxiety in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and their caregivers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were obtained from 227 pairs of children with NDD and their caregivers in a clinic in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, from October 1 to December 31, 2020. During this period, the activities of children and caregivers were not strongly restricted by the public system.

Family resilience elements alleviate the relationship between maternal psychological distress and the severity of children's developmental disorders.

Background: Family resilience is the process through which family members withstand and rebound from adversity.

Aims: In this study, we examined the effects of family resilience on the psychological distress of mothers of children with developmental disorders (DD).

Methods And Procedures: A Family Resilience Elements Questionnaire was developed, which measured the degree to which mothers possess elements of family resilience.

Impaired Visuospatial Short-Term Memory in Children with ADHD.

Previous studies provide clear evidence that visuospatial memory performance in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is significantly lower than in typically developing children. In the present study, we investigated a major cause of their low performance using a spatial span test. Possibly, inattention resulting from lack of motivation or interest causes their low performance so that they do not correctly encode targets to be remembered.

An open-label extension long-term study of the safety and efficacy of aripiprazole for irritability in children and adolescents with autistic disorder in Japan.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of aripiprazole in treating irritability in pediatric patients (6-17 years) with autistic disorder (AD) in Japan.

Methods: In this open-label extension study, patients who had completed a previous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week study were enrolled and were flexibly dosed with aripiprazole (1-15 mg/day) until the new indication of irritability in pediatric autism spectrum disorder was approved in Japan.

Results: Seventy (81%) out of 86 enrolled patients completed week-48 assessments.

Increased Anterior Pelvic Angle Characterizes the Gait of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Background: Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently have motor problems. Previous studies have reported that the characteristic gait in children with ADHD is immature and that subjects demonstrate higher levels of variability in gait characteristics for the lower extremities than healthy controls. However, little is known about body movement during gait in children with ADHD.

Decision making processes based on social conventional rules in early adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorders.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by problems with reciprocal social interaction, repetitive behaviours/narrow interests, and impairments in the social cognition and emotional processing necessary for intention-based moral judgements. The aim of this study was to examine the information used by early adolescents with and without ASD when they judge story protagonists as good or bad. We predicted that adolescents with ASD would use protagonists' behaviour, while typically developing (TD) adolescents would use protagonists' characteristics when making the judgements.

Ventral striatum dysfunction in children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder: functional MRI study.

Background: Child maltreatment is a major risk factor for psychopathology, including reactive attachment disorder (RAD).

Aims: To examine whether neural activity during reward processing was altered in children and adolescents with RAD.

Method: Sixteen children and adolescents with RAD and 20 typically developing (TD) individuals performed tasks with high and low monetary rewards while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Advanced Test of Attention in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Japan for Evaluation of Methylphenidate and Atomoxetine Effects.

Objective: This study was conducted to validate the Advanced Test of Attention (ATA) of the visual attention version of Japanese children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to evaluate the efficacy of methylphenidate (OROS-MPH) and atomoxetine medications.

Methods: To assess pharmacotherapy efficacy, the visual version of ATA was administered to 42 children with ADHD. Results were assessed using discriminant analysis, ANOVA for indices of ATA before and after medication treatment, and correlation analysis between the improvement of indices of ATA and clinical symptoms during medication treatment.

Altered frontal pole development affects self-generated spatial working memory in ADHD.

Background: Spatial working memory (SWM) dysfunction is a feature of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous studies suggested that behavioral performance in self-generated SWM improves through development in children with and without ADHD. Nevertheless, developmental changes in the neural underpinnings of self-generated SWM are unknown.

Development and Evaluation of a Parenting Resilience Elements Questionnaire (PREQ) Measuring Resiliency in Rearing Children with Developmental Disorders.

We developed a parenting resilience elements questionnaire (PREQ) measuring the degree to which mothers possess elements that aid in adapting to challenges and difficulties related to children with developmental disorders (DD). A total of 424 parents of children with DD were recruited from five medical institutes. Psychometric properties of PREQ were evaluated using data of 363 mothers of children with DD.

[Parenting resilience for rearing a child with autism spectrum disorder: a qualitative study].

Objective: Resilience is defined as the dynamic process of positive adaptation despite the experience of adversity. The aims of this study were to apply the concept of resilience to the mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which we call "parenting resilience" for rearing a child with ASD, and to explain the construct of parenting resilience.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 23 mothers of adults with ASD to collect data on rearing these children from infancy to adulthood.

Effects of methylphenidate in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a near-infrared spectroscopy study with CANTAB®.

Background: A wide range of evidence supports the methylphenidate (MPH)-induced enhancement of prefrontal cortex (PFC) functioning and improvements in behavioral symptoms in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although working memory (WM) has been hypothesized to be impaired in patients with ADHD, no pharmacological studies have examined visuospatial WM (VSWM) with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Study Aim: The present study was designed to investigate the acute effects of MPH on neuropsychological performance and hemodynamic activation in children with ADHD during VSWM tasks.

Distinguishing between autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by using behavioral checklists, cognitive assessments, and neuropsychological test battery.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) share many common symptoms, including attention deficit, behavioral problems, and difficulties with social skills. The aim of this study was to distinguish between ASD and ADHD by identifying the characteristic features of both the disorders, by using multidimensional assessments, including screening behavioral checklists, cognitive assessments, and comprehensive neurological battery. After screening for comorbid disorders, we carefully selected age-, sex-, IQ-, and socio-economic status-matched children with typical development (TD).

Quetiapine responsive catatonia in an autistic patient with comorbid bipolar disorder and idiopathic basal ganglia calcification.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) has been linked with the manifestation of catatonia in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC) is characterized by movement disorders and various neuropsychiatric disturbances including mood disorder.

Case: We present a patient with ASD and IBGC who developed catatonia presenting with prominent dystonic feature caused by comorbid BD, which was treated effectively with quetiapine.

Effectiveness and tolerability of switching to aripiprazole from risperidone in subjects with autism spectrum disorders: a prospective open-label study.

Background: Subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often exhibit behavioral symptoms such as aggressiveness and irritability. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy and the tolerability of aripiprazole switched from risperidone in children and adolescents with ASD.

Methods: This prospective, 12-week, open-label study included 9 male subjects with ASD (age range, 9-22 years; mean ± SD age, 14.

Spatial short-term memory in children with nonverbal learning disabilities: impairment in encoding spatial configuration.

The authors investigated whether impaired spatial short-term memory exhibited by children with nonverbal learning disabilities is due to a problem in the encoding process. Children with or without nonverbal learning disabilities performed a simple spatial test that required them to remember 3, 5, or 7 spatial items presented simultaneously in random positions (i.e.

Switching to aripiprazole in subjects with pervasive developmental disorders showing tolerability issues with risperidone.

Background: Subjects with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) often exhibit behavioral symptoms such as aggressiveness and irritability, which are targets of psychopharmacologic intervention. This retrospective study was designed to examine children and adolescents with PDD experiencing tolerability issues with risperidone treatment, and thereby assess the efficacy and tolerability of switching to aripiprazole.

Methods: This naturalistic study included 23 subjects with PDD (16 males, 7 females, age range 9-24 years, mean age 15.

Focal EEG abnormalities might reflect neuropathological characteristics of pervasive developmental disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Neurophysiological characteristics in electroencephalograms (EEG) were investigated for patients with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). This study examined 64 PDD children and 22 AD/HD children with no history of epilepsy or progressive neurological or psychiatric disorder. We used multivariate analysis to compare EEG abnormalities, clinical symptoms, and intelligence levels between PDD and AD/AD patient groups.

[Retrospective analysis of pervasive developmental disorder patients initially diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder].

We retrospectively analyzed 66 patients with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) whose respective diagnoses had been changed from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and compared their clinical characteristics with those in patients whose diagnoses was not altered (n = 135). Of 52 patients, 41 (79%) had language delay or hyperactivity at initial examination. Of the 47 patients treated with methylphenidate, 41 patients (87%) responded favorably.

Increased urine phenylethylamine after methylphenidate treatment in children with ADHD.

The urine levels of beta-phenylethylamine, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl glycol, homovanillic acid, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were measured to clarify the neurochemical mechanism in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. beta-Phenylethylamine levels were significantly lower in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder individuals (n = 37) than in controls (n = 21). The 22 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated with methylphenidate, and they were further divided into methylphenidate responders (n = 18) and nonresponders (n = 4).