Manic symptoms in youth: dimensions, latent classes, and associations with parental psychopathology.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to define the latent structure of parent-reported manic symptoms and their association with functional impairment and familial risk in a community sample of Brazilian children.

Method: We screened for manic symptoms in a community sample of 2,512 children 6 to 12 years of age. Parents of children with "episodes of going abnormally high" completed a detailed mania section (n = 479; 19.

Phonemic verbal fluency is associated with pediatric anxiety disorders: evidence from a community study.

Background: Anxiety disorders typically begin in childhood and adolescence and predict risk for many problems throughout life. Although some neuropsychological correlates have been described, more research is needed, particularly in adolescents. This study compares neurocognitive characteristics of anxious adolescents with and without comorbidity to externalizing disorders to those of typically developing comparison (TDC) adolescents and adolescents with externalizing disorders alone.

Associations between child disciplinary practices and bullying behavior in adolescents.

Objective: to investigate associations between different types of child disciplinary practices and children and adolescents' bullying behavior in a Brazilian sample.

Methods: cross-sectional study, with a school-based sample of 10- to 15-year-old children and adolescents. Child disciplinary practices were assessed using two main subtypes: power-assertive and punitive (psychological aggression, corporal punishment, deprivation of privileges, and penalty tasks) and inductive (explaining, rewarding, and monitoring).

Correlation between n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids consumption and BDNF peripheral levels in adolescents.

Background: Although several studies have reported an association between mental disorders and serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), this association is still poorly understood. The study of factors associated with both BDNF levels and mental disorders, such as n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), may help to elucidate the mechanisms mediating the relationship between the two variables. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate whether the intake n-3 PUFAs correlates with serum levels of BDNF.

Association between internalizing disorders and day-to-day activities of low energetic expenditure.

The objective of this study is to compare energetic expenditure in day-to-day activities among subjects with internalizing disorders (depression and anxiety), externalizing disorders (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) and healthy children and adolescents without any psychiatric diagnosis. One hundred and five (n = 105) students from a community sample were evaluated throughout a structured psychiatric interview and categorized into three groups: internalizing (n = 54), externalizing (n = 12) and typically developing controls (TDC, n = 39). Energetic expenditure was evaluated using 3-day physical activity record.

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) in Brazilian samples of different age groups: findings from confirmatory factor analysis.

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is internationally accepted as a key tool for the assessment of childhood abuse and neglect experiences. However, there are relative few psychometric studies available and some authors have proposed two different factor solutions. We examined the dimensional structure and internal consistency of the Brazilian version of the CTQ.

ADHD prevalence estimates across three decades: an updated systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Background: Previous studies have identified significant variability in attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prevalence estimates worldwide, largely explained by methodological procedures. However, increasing rates of ADHD diagnosis and treatment throughout the past few decades have fuelled concerns about whether the true prevalence of the disorder has increased over time.

Methods: We updated the two most comprehensive systematic reviews on ADHD prevalence available in the literature.

Pediatric anxiety disorders: from neuroscience to evidence-based clinical practice.

The objective of this narrative review of the literature is to describe the epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders. We aim to guide clinicians in understanding the biology of anxiety disorders and to provide general guidelines for the proper diagnoses and treatment of these conditions early in life. Anxiety disorders are prevalent, associated with a number of negative life outcomes, and currently under-recognized and under-treated.

Psychometrics properties of early trauma inventory self report - short form (ETISR-SR) for the Brazilian context.

This study aims to translate and validate Early Trauma Inventory Self Report -Short Form (ETISR-SF) to Brazilian Portuguese. 253 adult subjects answered the ETISR-SF, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST). The instrument showed good internal consistency (0.

Latent class analysis of reading, decoding, and writing performance using the Academic Performance Test: concurrent and discriminating validity.

Aim: To explore and validate the best returned latent class solution for reading and writing subtests from the Academic Performance Test (TDE).

Sample: A total of 1,945 children (6-14 years of age), who answered the TDE, the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA), and had an estimated intelligence quotient (IQ) higher than 70, came from public schools in São Paulo (35 schools) and Porto Alegre (22 schools) that participated in the 'High Risk Cohort Study for Childhood Psychiatric Disorders' project. They were on average 9.

Dimensions of oppositionality in a Brazilian community sample: testing the DSM-5 proposal and etiological links.

Objective: Investigating dimensions of oppositional symptoms may help to explain heterogeneity of etiology and outcomes for mental disorders across development and provide further empirical justification for the DSM-5-proposed modifications of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). However, dimensions of oppositionality have not previously been tested in samples outside Europe or the United States. In this study, we used a large Brazilian community sample to compare the fit of different models for dimensions of oppositional symptoms; to examine the association of psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms with dimensions of oppositionality; and to examine the associations between dimensions of oppositionality and parental history of mental disorders.

Specificity of basic information processing and inhibitory control in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Both inhibitory-based executive functioning (IB-EF) and basic information processing (BIP) deficits are found in clinic-referred attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) samples. However, it remains to be determined whether: (1) such deficits occur in non-referred samples of ADHD; (2) they are specific to ADHD; (3) the co-morbidity between ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) has additive or interactive effects; and (4) IB-EF deficits are primary in ADHD or are due to BIP deficits.

Method: We assessed 704 subjects (age 6-12 years) from a non-referred sample using the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) and classified them into five groups: typical developing controls (TDC; n = 378), Fear disorders (n = 90), Distress disorders (n = 57), ADHD (n = 100), ODD/CD (n = 40) and ADHD+ODD/CD (n = 39).

Victims and bully-victims but not bullies are groups associated with anxiety symptomatology among Brazilian children and adolescents.

School bullying is frequent and is associated with a broad spectrum of psychiatric problems. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of bullying behaviors in a large sample of Brazilian children and adolescents and to investigate the association between bullying behaviors and DSM-IV anxiety symptomatology. This cross-sectional study involved completion of a questionnaire about bullying behaviors and their frequency and the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) that is a self-report screening tool for childhood anxiety disorders by 2,355 students.

Cognitive-behavioral group therapy for youths with anxiety disorders in the community: effectiveness in low and middle income countries.

Background: Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is established as a first line treatment for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, there is little evidence about the effectiveness of CBT protocols in cases identified in the community in low and middle income countries (LaMICs).

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of group CBT protocol for youths with anxiety disorders identified in a community sample in LaMICs.

Method: A total of 14 sessions of group CBT for youths and 2 concurrent sessions for parents based on Kendall's Coping Cat program were offered.

Cross-cultural adaptation and preliminary psychometric properties of the Affective Reactivity Index in Brazilian Youth: implications for DSM-5 measured irritability.

Objective: To describe the cross-cultural adaptation of the Affective Reactivity Index (ARI) to Brazilian Portuguese and to investigate preliminary psychometric properties of the adapted version.

Methods: Cross-cultural adaptation was based on the investigation of the theoretical and operational equivalences of the original ARI in the Brazilian context, followed by a process of translation, back-translation, and review by a committee of experts. Data analysis was carried out in a community sample of 133 schoolchildren aged 8 to 17 years to investigate the following characteristics of the ARI: 1) factor structure; 2) internal consistency; 3) construct validity comparing differential relationships between irritability and anxiety dimensions and impairment; and 4) item response theory (IRT) parameters.

Associations between parenting behavior and anxiety in a rodent model and a clinical sample: relationship to peripheral BDNF levels.

Adverse early-life environment is associated with anxiety-like behaviors and disorders. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is sensitive to this environment and could be a marker of underlying brain changes. We aimed at evaluating the development of anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model of early adversity, as well as the possible association with BDNF levels.

Sensitivity and specificity of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): a community-based study.

The aim of this cross-sectional community-based study was to examine the sensitivity and specificity of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) to the diagnosis of anxiety disorders (AD). Participants were 119 students aged 9-18. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed by a psychiatrist throughout a structural clinical interview (K-SADS-PL).

Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Research version (YQOL-R): psychometric properties in a community sample.

Objective: To test some psychometric properties of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Research (YQOL-R) in a community sample of Brazilian adolescents.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional community study conducted in six schools of the catchment area of a family health unit. From an original population of 2,754 students from 10 to 17 years old, we randomly selected 419 to answer the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the YQOL-R.

Threat bias in attention orienting: evidence of specificity in a large community-based study.

Background: Preliminary research implicates threat-related attention biases in paediatric anxiety disorders. However, major questions exist concerning diagnostic specificity, effects of symptom-severity levels, and threat-stimulus exposure durations in attention paradigms. This study examines these issues in a large, community school-based sample.

Anxiety disorders in adolescence are associated with impaired facial expression recognition to negative valence.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to test the ability of adolescents with a current anxiety diagnosis to recognize facial affective expressions, compared to those without an anxiety disorder.

Methods: Forty cases and 27 controls were selected from a larger cross sectional community sample of adolescents, aged from 10 to 17 years old. Adolescent's facial recognition of six human emotions (sadness, anger, disgust, happy, surprise and fear) and neutral faces was assessed through a facial labeling test using Ekman's Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA).

[Guidelines of the Brazilian Medical Association for the treatment of social anxiety disorder].

Introduction: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is the most common anxiety disorder, usually with no remission, and is commonly associated with significant functional and psychosocial impairment. The Brazilian Medical Association (BMA), with the project named Diretrizes (Guidelines, in English), seeks to develop consensus for the diagnosis and treatment of common diseases. The aim of this article is to present the most important findings of the guidelines on the treatment of SAD, serving as a reference for the general practitioner and specialist.

Evidence of association between Val66Met polymorphism at BDNF gene and anxiety disorders in a community sample of children and adolescents.

Different lines of evidence support BDNF as a candidate gene in mood and anxiety modulation. More recently, the Met allele of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism has been implicated in anxiety in animal models and anxiety-traits in humans. The aim of this study is to evaluate the a priori hypothesis that the association between anxiety disorders and Val66Met polymorphism at the BDNF gene would be replicated in a community sample of children and adolescents.