The relationship between sleep difficulties and externalizing and internalizing problems in children and adolescents with mental illness.

Sleep difficulties are presumably a transdiagnostic factor in the complex aetiology of psychiatric disorders in youth. This study assessed the prevalence of sleep difficulties in children and adolescents seeking specialized psychiatric care, examined the relationships of internalizing and externalizing problems, and considered the moderating role of sex and age on these relationships. Parent-reported data on difficulties initiating sleep, difficulties maintaining sleep, early morning awakenings and daytime fatigue from a large sample of children and adolescents referred for specialized psychiatric care (n = 4638; < 18 years) were used to estimate prevalence rates.

Bringing the autistic lifeworld to supportive technology design: an enactive approach.

Supportive technologies for autistic individuals are promising in principle, yet their uptake remains limited. Critics argue that in current designs of supportive technologies, autism is mostly framed as a 'disorder' whose limitations can be pragmatically compensated for. To increase uptake, designers should get a better handle on how to incorporate the full richness of the autistic experience into the design process.

Study Protocol: Pegasus: psychotherapy incorporating horses for 'therapy-resistant' adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, a study with series of randomised, baseline controlled n-of-1 trials.

Background: For people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), daily life can be highly stressful with many unpredictable events that can evoke emotion dysregulation (ED): a strong difficulty with appropriately negative affect regulation. For some of the patients with ASD, treatment as usual does not prove to be effective for ED. They may be at risk of life-long impairment, development of other disorders and loss of motivation for most regular forms of therapy.

Effectiveness of a positive psychology and mindfulness-based app on mental health for parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder: study protocol of a pragmatic international randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) experience more stress than parents of typically developing children. In a cocreation process with experts and parents, a low-threshold application that uses exercises based on the principles of positive psychology and mindfulness was developed. This application, called "Adappt," aims at enhancing the ability to adapt of the parents and caregivers of children with NDDs and at supporting their mental health.

Treatment of multiple traumatized adolescents by enhancing regulation skills and reducing trauma related symptoms: rationale, study design, and methods of randomized controlled trial (the Mars-study).

Background: There is ongoing debate regarding the treatment of severe and multiple traumatized children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many clinicians favor a phase-based treatment approach (i.e.

Novel Insights into Somatic Comorbidities in Children and Adolescents Across Psychiatric Diagnoses: An Explorative Study.

Many children with psychiatric disorders display somatic symptoms, although these are frequently overlooked. As somatic morbidity early in life negatively influences long-term outcomes, it is relevant to assess comorbidity. However, studies of simultaneous psychiatric and somatic assessment in children are lacking.

The short and long-term effects of a lifestyle intervention in children with mental illnesses: a randomized controlled trial (Movementss study).

Background: A lifestyle including poor diet, physical inactivity, excessive gaming and inadequate sleep hygiene is frequently seen among Dutch children. These lifestyle behaviors can cause long-term health problems later in life. Unhealthy lifestyle and poor physical health are even more prevalent among children with mental illness (MI) such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and anxiety.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in adolescents with autism; Efficacy on ASD symptoms and stress.

Introduction: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a well-established and thoroughly researched treatment method for posttraumatic stress symptoms. When patients with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are treated with EMDR for their Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), they sometimes report a decrease in the core symptoms of ASD. This explorative pre-post-follow up design study is designed to investigate whether EMDR with a focus on daily experienced stress, is effective in reducing ASD symptoms and stress in adolescents with ASD.

Vitamin D status in children with a psychiatric diagnosis, autism spectrum disorders, or internalizing disorders.

Background And Objective: Multiple studies suggest that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have significantly lower vitamin D3 levels than typically developing children. However, whether vitamin D3 deficiency is more common in children with ASD than in children with other psychiatric disorders remains unclear. This study was conducted to explore the prevalence of vitamin D3 in children with a psychiatric diagnosis including children with ASD or with internalizing disorders (mood and anxiety disorders).

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) parent group training for young children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot study.

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is a promising intervention addressing core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with parent involvement as key component. Parent group-delivered PRT may be an effective treatment model, but currently the evidence is limited. Also, little attention has been paid to therapeutic involvement of multiple important contexts (e.

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) - Parent Group Training for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study on Perspectives of Parents.

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is considered to be an empirically supported parent-mediated treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but research on parental experiences is lacking. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of parents of young children with ASD who participated in a 14-week PRT with parent group training (PRT-PG). Semi-structured interviews (n = 12) were carried out, based on Grounded Theory principles.

[International Consensus Statement for the Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Adolescents with Concurrent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Substance Use Disorder].

International Consensus Statement for the Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Adolescents with Concurrent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Substance Use Disorder Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a risk factor for substance misuse and substance use disorder (SUD) in adolescence and (early) adulthood. ADHD and SUD also frequently co-occur in treatment-seeking adolescents, which complicates diagnosis and treatment and is associated with poor treatment outcomes. Research on the effect of treatment of childhood ADHD on the prevention of adolescent SUD is inconclusive, and studies on the diagnosis and treatment of adolescents with ADHD and SUD are scarce.

Pivotal Response Treatment with and without robot-assistance for children with autism: a randomized controlled trial.

Pivotal response treatment (PRT) is a promising intervention focused on improving social communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since robots potentially appeal to children with ASD and may contribute to their motivation for social interaction, this exploratory randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted comparing PRT (PRT and robot-assisted PRT) with treatment-as-usual (TAU). Seventy-three children (PRT: n = 25; PRT + robot: n = 25; TAU: n = 23) with ASD, aged 3-8 years were assessed at baseline, after 10 and 20 weeks of intervention, and at 3-month follow-up.

Pivotal Response Treatment for School-Aged Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is promising for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but more methodologically robust designed studies are needed. In this randomized controlled trial, forty-four children with ASD, aged 9-15 years, were randomly allocated to PRT (n = 22) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; n = 22). Measurements were obtained after 12- and 20-weeks treatment, and 2-month follow-up.

Self-initiations in young children with autism during Pivotal Response Treatment with and without robot assistance.

The initiation of social interaction is often defined as a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder. Optimizing these self-initiations is therefore a key component of Pivotal Response Treatment, an established intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder. However, little is known about the development of self-initiations during intervention and whether this development can be facilitated by robot assistance within Pivotal Response Treatment.

International Consensus Statement for the Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Adolescents with Concurrent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Substance Use Disorder.

Background: Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a risk factor for substance misuse and substance use disorder (SUD) in adolescence and (early) adulthood. ADHD and SUD also frequently co-occur in treatment-seeking adolescents, which complicates diagnosis and treatment and is associated with poor treatment outcomes. Research on the effect of treatment of childhood ADHD on the prevention of adolescent SUD is inconclusive, and studies on the diagnosis and treatment of adolescents with ADHD and SUD are scarce.

Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder.

The aim of this study is to present a robot-assisted therapy protocol for children with ASD based on the current state-of-the-art in both ASD intervention research and robotics research, and critically evaluate its adherence and acceptability based on child as well as parent ratings. The robot-assisted therapy was designed based on motivational components of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), a highly promising and feasible intervention focused at training "pivotal" (key) areas such as motivation for social interaction and self-initiations, with the goal of establishing collateral gains in untargeted areas of functioning and development, affected by autism spectrum disorders. Overall, children (3-8 y) could adhere to the robot-assisted therapy protocol (Mean percentage of treatment adherence 85.

Intensive home treatment for adolescents in psychiatric crisis.

Background: Adolescents with acute psychiatric disorders are typically treated with long-term clinical admission. However, long term admission may be associated with a variety of negative outcomes. This pilot study presents a new model of care, that is, the combined application of intensive home treatment and the possibility of short term stay at a psychiatric high & intensive care.

The effect of patients' feedback on treatment outcome in a child and adolescent psychiatric sample: a randomized controlled trial.

The systematic use of feedback from patients on treatment progress and treatment satisfaction is a promising method to increase treatment effectiveness. The extent to which this also applies to the treatment of children with severe psychiatric problems is not clear. We conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to study the effect of adding Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) to care as usual in a child psychiatric sample.

Medical comorbidities in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders: a systematic review.

Somatic disorders occur more often in adult psychiatric patients than in the general adult population. However, in child and adolescent psychiatry this association is unclear, mainly due to a lack of integration of existing data. To address this issue, we here present a systematic review on medical comorbidity in the two major developmental disorders autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and formulate clinical recommendations.

Sleep Disturbance as a Precursor of Severe Regression in Kleefstra Syndrome Suggests a Need for Firm and Rapid Pharmacological Treatment.

Intellectual disability is frequently accompanied by psychiatric symptoms that require pharmacological interventions. Treatment guidelines often provide a general treatment approach for these symptoms in intellectual disability. However, this may not always be the best strategy, as illustrated here in Kleefstra syndrome.

Adaptive and maladaptive functioning in Kleefstra syndrome compared to other rare genetic disorders with intellectual disabilities.

Detailed neurobehavioural profiles are of major value for specific clinical management, but have remained underexposed in the population with intellectual disabilities (ID). This was traditionally classified based on IQ level only. Rapid advances in genetics enable etiology based stratification in the majority of patients, which reduces clinical heterogeneity.

Self-regulation and quality of life in high-functioning young adults with autism.

Autism is generally associated with poor functional outcome but little is known about predictors of quality of life, especially during early adulthood. This study was conducted to assess subjective quality of life during early adulthood in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and its relation with self-regulating abilities. Individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder who progressed into post-secondary higher education ( N = 75) were compared to a typical peer control group ( N = 28) based on behavioral self-report questionnaires.