Establishing performance standards for child development: learnings from the ECDI2030.

Background: Standards of early childhood development (ECD) are needed to determine whether children living in different contexts are developmentally on track. The Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) is a population-level measure intended to be used in household surveys to collect globally comparable data on one of the indicators chosen to monitor progress toward target 4.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals: The proportion of children aged 24-59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being.

Psychological Tests in Arabic: A Review of Methodological Practices and Recommendations for Future Use.

Mental health research among Arabic speakers is increasing, and with it the need to assess psychopathology of Arabic-speaking populations, including natives, refugees, and immigrants. However, major challenges include the unavailability of appropriate Arabic tools, and the difficulty of judging whether available tools are appropriate. Critical judgment of psychometric tools is important, because they are used for high stake decisions such as clinical outcomes and diagnoses.

The Brief International Cognitive Assessment in Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS): Validation in Arabic and Lebanese Normative Values.

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is often associated with cognitive deficits. Accurate evaluation of the MS patients' cognitive performance is essential for diagnosis and treatment recommendation. The Brief International Cognitive Assessment in Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS), widely used cognitive testing battery, examines processing speed, verbal and visuospatial learning, and memory.

Self-Compassion Explains Less Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals.

Objectives: Healthcare professionals are prone to experience burnout-a psychological syndrome resulting from chronic stressors at work. Some individual differences, like self-compassion-the non-judgmental observation of one's own pain and failure, while understanding that these are part of being human-can protect against burnout.

Methods: We administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Stressful Life Events Scale to a sample of healthcare professionals (medical residents, nurses, and physicians) in Lebanon ( = 93).

Development, psychometric properties, and pilot norms of the first Arabic indigenous memory test: The Verbal Memory Arabic Test (VMAT).

Background: Tests of verbal memory (list learning) are particularly useful for clinicians and researchers globally, yet there are no psychometrically robust tests that are built indigenously for Arabic-speaking populations, which comprise more than 370 million.

Objective: To develop a verbal memory Arabic test using a systematic procedure of item selection and then provide evidence of validity and reliability in an Arabic-speaking sample in Lebanon.

Method: In study 1, we conducted a word prototypicality study (n = 77), and identified 932 words across 7 semantic categories.

Factors associated with motor dexterity on the grooved pegboard test in a Lebanese sample.

The Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) is a cognitive test used to assess patients' manual dexterity, rapid visual-motor coordination and psychomotor speed. Studies have shown that performance on the GPT is associated to cognitive functions and examinee's demographics; however, none of which involved Arab populations. The present study aims to explore motor dexterity as measured by the GPT and its relationship to intellectual abilities, age, gender and education in a sample of Lebanese individuals.

The Arab Region's Contribution to Global Mental Health Research (2009-2018): A Bibliometric Analysis.

Mental health research output in the Arab region is increasing, yet little is known about its recent landscape. This study provides a bibliometric analysis of mental health research in all 22 Arab countries over the past decade. We used 760 journals and numerous keywords to search for articles published between 2009 and 2018 by individuals affiliated with institutions located in the Arab region.

Neuropsychological Findings in Hamamy Syndrome: A Clinical Case Report.

This study, reports for the first time, the neuropsychological profile of a child with Hamamy syndrome-a rare genetic disorder with only five published cases (Buget, Canbolat, Akgul, & Kucukay, 2015). The patient was seen for a neuropsychological evaluation at ages 6 and 7, at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. Procedures included an extended clinical interview with the parent, behavioral observations, formal tests, and a series of parental rating scales.

Contextual challenges and solutions to undertaking a household adolescent mental health survey in a developing country.

Recent epidemiological evidence for Lebanese adults along with the increased efforts for policy and service planning have demonstrated the importance of screening for rates of psychiatric disorders in the adolescent population. In response to this need, the Beirut Epidemiological Investigation of the Psychological Status of Youth was conducted in a community sample to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and their correlates among adolescents. The main aim of this report is to provide a synthesis of the research process and challenges faced in completing the first population-based mental health survey among children and adolescents in Lebanon.

Rey Figure Test with recognition trial: normative data for Lebanese adults.

Objective: This study aimed to provide normative data for four trials of the Rey figure Test - a complex design used to assess visuoconstructional abilities, aspects of visual memory, and aspects of executive functioning. Despite its frequent clinical and research use in the Arab region, published studies regarding the measures' adaptation or normative data remain absent.

Method: We administered the Rey figure on a convenience sample of Lebanese (n = 254) aged 30 years to 99.

Correlates of bullying and its relationship with psychiatric disorders in Lebanese adolescents.

Understanding the contextual determinants of bullying behavior is pivotal for effective interventions. This paper describes the prevalence of bullying, its socio-demographic correlates and factors influencing its relationship with psychiatric disorders among a population-based sample of adolescents from Beirut recruited through a two-stage cluster sampling design. Recruited participants (n = 510) and their parents completed a battery of questionnaires and interviews including the Development and Wellbeing Assessment (DAWBA) and the Peer-Relations Questionnaire (PRQ).

A mixed-methods study of personality conceptions in the Levant: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank.

Personality taxonomies are investigated using either etic-style studies that test whether Western-developed models fit in a new culture, or emic-style studies that derive personality dimensions from a local culture, using a psycholexical approach. Recent studies have incorporated strengths from both approaches. We combine the 2 approaches in the first study of personality descriptors in spoken Arabic.

Arab-Levantine personality structure: A psycholexical study of modern standard Arabic in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank.

Objective: The debate of whether personality traits are universal or culture-specific has been informed by psycholexical (or lexical) studies conducted in tens of languages and cultures. We contribute to this debate through a series of studies in which we investigated personality descriptors in Modern Standard Arabic, the variety of Arabic that is presumably common to about 26 countries and native to more than 200 million people.

Method: We identified an appropriate source of personality descriptors, extracted them, and systematically reduced them to 167 personality traits that are common, are not redundant with each other, and are familiar and commonly understood in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank (Palestinian territories).

Prevalence and correlates of ADHD among adolescents in a Beirut community sample: results from the BEI-PSY Study.

Background: This study aims to investigate the prevalence, correlates and treatment seeking behavior related to ADHD among adolescents from Lebanon.

Methods: Five hundred and ten adolescents were recruited through multistage stratified cluster sampling of households in Beirut, and separately interviewed along with one parent/legal guardian, using the DAWBA. All adolescents completed the PRQ and the SDQ; the parent/legal guardian also completed the SDQ and provided basic demographic information, including attitudes towards seeking mental health services.

Psychiatric disorders among adolescents from Lebanon: prevalence, correlates, and treatment gap.

Purpose: Adolescence is a critical age for the development of psychiatric disorders. Although Lebanon, a low-to-middle income country, has suffered from decades of war and political instability, the burden of psychiatric disorders among adolescents in Lebanon remains unclear. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among adolescents in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and to study the correlates and treatment seeking behavior associated with these disorders.

Adaptation and initial validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 Questionnaire (GAD-7) in an Arabic speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample.

The Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 (GAD-7) are short screening measures used in medical and community settings to assess depression and anxiety severity. The aim of this study is to translate the screening tools into Arabic and evaluate their psychometric properties in an Arabic-speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample. The patients completed the questionnaires, among others, prior to being evaluated by a clinical psychiatrist or psychologist.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D predicts cognitive performance in adults.

Background: Vitamin D is an endogenous hormone known to regulate calcium levels in the body and plays a role in cognitive performance. Studies have shown an association between vitamin D deficiency and cognitive impairment in older adults. Lebanon has a high 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency prevalence across all age groups.

The Arabic Mood and Feelings Questionnaire: psychometrics and validity in a clinical sample.

The purpose of this study was to provide clinicians in the Arab World with a child and adolescent depression screening tool. Child and parent versions of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (CMFQ and PMFQ respectively) were translated to Arabic and administered along with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to 30 children and adolescents and with mood disorders and 76 children and adolescents with other psychiatric disorders seeking treatment at a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. DSM-IV diagnoses were generated through clinical interviews by a psychiatrist blinded to self-reports.

Validation of an Arabic multi-informant psychiatric diagnostic interview for children and adolescents: development and Well Being Assessment-Arabic (DAWBA-Arabic).

Background: Countries in the Arab region lack a valid Arabic psychiatric diagnostic interview for children and adolescents. We set out to establish the diagnostic validity of the Arabic version of the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA-Arabic), a multi-informant structured interview for predicting DSM-IV-TR diagnoses.

Methods: The DAWBA was translated, updated, and administered to 45 participants (child and adolescent psychiatric outpatients and their parents) as part of a clinic registry.

Reliability and validity of the Arabic Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) in a clinical sample.

This study aimed at investigating the reliability and validity of the Arabic Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) as a first child and adolescent anxiety screening tool in the Arab World. The English parent (SCARED-P) and child (SCARED-C) versions were translated into Arabic and administered along with the Arabic Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to 77 parents and 67 children attending a Psychiatry clinic. DSM-IV-TR diagnoses were made by a psychiatrist without knowledge of the scale scores.