Clinical Correlates of Alcohol Abuse among Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients in Israel.

Background: Recent epidemiological studies have reported a world-wide increase in the rates of alcohol use among adolescents. Research has shown a strong link between alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorders. This study explored the clinical and demographic correlates of adolescents with a history of alcohol abuse (AA) compared to adolescents with no history of alcohol abuse (NAA) among a group of adolescent psychiatric inpatients in Israel.

Clinical correlates of cannabis use among adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the clinical correlates of adolescents with cannabis use and no additional drug use (CU) compared to adolescents with no drug use (NDU) among a group of adolescent psychiatric inpatients in Israel.

Methods: Two hundred and thirty-six patients consecutively admitted to an adolescent inpatient unit at a university-affiliated mental health center in Israel during a 3-year period were screened. Individuals with polydrug use were excluded from the study.

Can computerized cognitive tests assist in the clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder?

A group of 34 children and adolescents suspected of having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were referred for a computerized evaluation that included sustained attention, working memory, planning, and set-shifting. Although only sustained attention had reasonable specificity, all tests had questionable contribution to the diagnostic evaluation.

Positive effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on attention in ADHD Subjects: a randomized controlled pilot study.

Objectives: Repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) affects dopaminergic secretion in the prefrontal cortex. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had been suggested to involve dopaminergic prefrontal abnormalities.

Methods: In this crossover double-blind randomized, sham-controlled pilot study, patients diagnosed as having adult ADHD received either a single session of high-frequency rTMS directed to the right prefrontal cortex (real rTMS) or a single session of sham rTMS.

Understanding and knowledge of psychiatric treatment among adolescents and adults.

We evaluated the level of adolescent psychiatric patients' knowledge and understanding of their treatment in light of their competency to participate in decision-making processes related to their receiving treatment, and compared the adolescents' levels of understanding and knowledge to those of adult psychiatric patients. The study group consisted of 30 adolescents and 30 adults who were randomly selected from the inpatients of our mental health center. Consenting participants were interviewed and their objective knowledge of psychiatric treatments was evaluated by a specially designed questionnaire.

Reasons for referral for electroconvulsive therapy: a comparison between adolescents and adults.

Objective: In order to improve our understanding of the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescent patients, we aimed to evaluate the reasons for referral for ECT in different age groups.

Method: We compared the reasons for adolescent and adult referrals by a retrospective file review of 13 consecutive adolescents and 56 consecutive adults treated in our ECT unit during a 5-year period.

Results: There was a significant association between age group and reason for referral.

Cognition in young schizophrenia outpatients: comparison of first-episode with multiepisode patients.

Cognitive impairments are recognized as a central feature of schizophrenia (SZ), largely independent of other symptoms, and a major cause of poor functioning. Studies indicate cognitive deterioration in the first years after the onset of SZ. These studies, however, have been criticized for using a small sample size, for having limited monitoring of confounding variables, and for the inclusion of cohorts of different ages.

Comparison of symptoms and treatments of adults and adolescents with borderline personality disorder.

The purpose of this paper was to characterize adolescent borderline personality disorder (BPD) and compare it to adult BPD. A retrospective chart review of 20 adolescent and 20 adult BPD patients was conducted. The retrieved data included demographics, history features, symptoms, observations made during hospitalization and treatments.

Learned irrelevance is disrupted in first-episode but not chronic schizophrenia patients.

Learned irrelevance (LIrr) is a pre-exposure effect in which uncorrelated presentations of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) retard subsequent CS-US association. LIrr is closely related to the phenomenon of latent inhibition (LI). LI refers to the retarding effects of inconsequential stimulus pre-exposure on subsequent conditioning to that stimulus, and is considered to reflect the organism's capacity to ignore irrelevant stimuli.

Gender differences in electroconvulsive therapy: a retrospective chart review.

Background: There is a growing interest in gender differences of different psychiatric disorders, especially major depression. We sought a possible gender difference related to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Methods: This retrospective study compared 20 male and 23 female depressed adult patients treated by ECT.

Use of topical application of lidocaine-prilocaine cream to reduce injection-site pain of depot antipsychotics.

This study took place in Israel and examined the use of a local topical anesthetic cream to ameliorate the pain at the injection site caused by depot antipsychotic medications. Fifteen consecutive outpatients who had schizophrenia and who were under treatment with depot antipsychotic medications were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. The patients received either lidocaine-prilocaine cream or a placebo one hour before the injection.

Hyperglycemia from olanzapine treatment in adolescents.

The increasing use of olanzapine for treating adolescent patients has brought with it greater awareness of the recognized side effects of this medication, especially weight gain. Of the reports of glucose dysregulation related to olanzapine therapy, only a few pertain to adolescents. We present five cases: two youths who consequently suffered from overt diabetes and three who responded with glucose dysregulation.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescent schizophrenia patients.

Objective: The co-occurrence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adult patients with schizophrenia has been increasingly recognized. However, the rate of OCD comorbidity in adolescent schizophrenia patients has yet to be systematically evaluated.

Method: The rate of DSM-IV OCD was evaluated in 50 adolescent inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Olanzapine, risperidone and haloperidol in the treatment of adolescent patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the drug response and side effects of adolescents with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine, risperidone, and haloperidol.

Methods: Forty-three patients were treated with olanzapine (n = 19), risperidone (n = 17) and haloperidol (n = 7) for 8 weeks in an open clinical trial. Clinical improvement was evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and side effects with the Udvalg for Kliniske Undersogelser (UKU) Side Effect Rating Scale.

Weight gain associated with olanzapine and risperidone in adolescent patients: a comparative prospective study.

Objective: To evaluate weight gain associated with olanzapine, risperidone, and haloperidol treatment and its clinical risk factors in adolescent patients.

Method: The study was conducted at three adolescent psychiatric departments in two mental health centers in the Tel Aviv area. All patients were Jewish Israelis.

Injections of depot antipsychotic medications in patients suffering from schizophrenia: do they hurt?

Introduction: Long-acting depot injections of antipsychotic medications are an important way to monitor treatment noncompliance in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Pain and discomfort at the injection site may result in patients' refusal of depot injections. The present study is a pilot study that attempts a systematic characterization of injection site pain.

Electroconvulsive therapy in adolescents: similarities to and differences from adults.

Objective: Information on the indications, technique, and effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescent patients is scarce. The recommendations for the use of ECT in this age group are similar to those in adults. This study compares the experience with ECT in the two age groups in the same community psychiatric institution, which adheres to the accepted protocols for diagnosis and treatment.

Stability of diagnosis: a 20-year retrospective cohort study of Israeli psychiatric adolescent inpatients.

Outcome according to diagnosis and stability of diagnosis were investigated in a follow-back study of 351 adolescents with various psychiatric disorders hospitalized in a closed psychiatric ward. The duration of follow-back was 15-19 years. All diagnoses were based on the ICD-9.

Aggression and sexual offense in Asperger's syndrome.

Asperger's Syndrome is one of the diagnostic subcategories of pervasive developmental disorders. It is characterized by a defect in reciprocal social interaction, lack of empathy for others and poor non-verbal communication. Antisocial acts, including aggression and sexual offense, are not considered to be common in this disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder with and without tics in an epidemiological sample of adolescents.

Objective: This study was undertaken to discriminate subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescents.

Method: Forty individuals with obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders were ascertained from an epidemiological sample of 861 adolescents. Interviews were conducted by child psychiatrists using semistructured diagnostic interviews, including a clinician-rated Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.