Development of a brief, clinically relevant, scale for measuring attachment disorders.

A 17-item questionnaire for reactive attachment disorders (RAD) was developed and administered to 182 Scottish children living in foster care. The RAD questionnaire had a good test-retest reliability with an intra-class correlation (ICC) of 0.78 and inter-rater reliability with an ICC of 0.

A comparative study of Greek children in long-term residential group care and in two-parent families: II. Possible mediating mechanisms.

Forty-one children reared in group care were compared with 41 age- and sex-matched family care children according to interview, questionnaire, and observation measures of behavioural and scholastic functioning. Individual differences in outcome within the group care sample were examined in relation to a range of possible risk/protective indicators. The strongest predictor of outcome proved to be the reason for admission into residential care, with the implication that the outcome was best for children who had experienced stable, harmonious family relationships in their early years.

A comparative study of Greek children in long-term residential group care and in two-parent families: I. Social, emotional, and behavioural differences.

The social, behavioural, and school adjustment of 41 9-year-old children in long-term residential group care in Greece was compared with that of children of the same sex and age brought up in two-parent families. Observational, interview, and questionnaire measures were employed. Observations in school classrooms showed that compared with their classmates, the group care children were more inattentive, participated less often in the classroom activities, were more likely to be passive, and tended to be involved in alternative and nonproductive activities.

'Dyschronia' in a patient with Tourette's syndrome presenting as maternal neglect.

We report an unusual and unsuspected cause of maternal neglect in a patient with Tourette's syndrome. An important cause of the behaviour appears to have been a form of dyscalculia characterised by a complete inability to appreciate the passage of time. To our knowledge this is the first case of its kind to be reported.

Recurrence of unexpected infant death.

Families which had experienced two or more unexpected infant deaths were the subject of detailed confidential enquiries, including necropsy examination. Cases were derived from two main sources: first, deaths occurring during a nationwide programme of support for families with a subsequent baby (8 families) plus 2 families from a series of confidential enquiries in Sheffield, and second, direct referrals from paediatricians (17 families). Fifty-seven deaths were studied.