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Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1% of the general population. The prevalence of ASD, or symptom complexes compatible with ASD, amongst young people residing within Secure Children's Homes (SCH's) remains ill understood. There are critical implications for the resourcing and understanding of the management of young people with social/communication difficulties. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of the prevalence of ASD within SCH's in the UK. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was completed with support workers for 113 adolescents admitted to two SCH's in England as a screen for ASD. The SCQ identified 15 (13.3%) young people with symptoms compatible with an ASD presentation; differences in gender, legal status and a history of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ordinal tasks are increasingly used to explore preferences for health states. This study aimed to determine the suitability of two ordinal preference elicitation tasks (discrete choice experiments (DCE) and best-worst scaling (BWS)) for use with children and young people to generate health state utility values. The study explored children's understanding, the relationship between their age and level of understanding, and how many tasks they felt they could complete. Methods: Children aged 11–16 years were recruited from a secondary school in South Yorkshire, UK. Participants were asked to 'think aloud' as they completed a computer-based survey that contained both DCE and BWS tasks relating to dental caries (tooth decay) health states. Health states involved descriptions of the impact of tooth decay on children's daily lives. One-to-one semi-structured interviews were then held with participants, with use of a topic guide. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results: A total of 33 children (12 male, 21 female) participated, comprising 5–6 children from each school year group. Children expressed a preference for BWS and demonstrated a better understanding of these tasks than DCE. There was no clear relationship between children's level of understanding and age. Children felt they could manage between 8 and 10 BWS tasks comfortably. Conclusion: This study suggests that BWS tasks are the most appropriate type of preference elicitation task to value health states for children and young people aged 11–16 years to complete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This first mixed-methods UK trial examined the feasibility and acceptability of a future definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate whether Family Focussed Treatment for Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder (FFT-A) UK version can improve family functioning and well-being as part of the management of Paediatric Bipolar Disorder (PBD). Method: The trial used a randomised, parallel group, non-blinded design where participants received FFT-A UK (16 sessions over 6 months) immediately or after 12 months (delayed arm). Measures of family functioning, well-being and quality of life of the young person and the main carer (most commonly a parent) were completed at baseline, 6 and 12-months in both arms. Primary outcome measures included rates of eligibility, consent and retention along with estimates of variability in the measures and assessment of the intervention delivery. Qualitative interviews allowed assessment of participants' views about FFT-A and the trial processes. Results: Twenty-seven of 36 young persons with PBD and their families consented; of these, 14 families were randomised to the immediate and 13 to the delayed arm. Two families from the immediate arm withdrew consent and discontinued participation. Quantitative measures were completed by 22 families (88%) at 6-months and 21 families (84%) at 12-months. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 participants (9 young people, 15 parents and 6 other family members). Nine families attended 3 post-trial focus groups. Conclusion: It was feasible to recruit and retain to this trial. The results highlighted that trial design and measures were acceptable to participants. A benefit in family relationships was reported by participants which they attributed to the intervention in qualitative interviews. Families recommended that future modifications include definitive trial(s) recruiting participants in the age range 15–25 years as it felt this was the age range with maximum need. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN59769322. Registered 20 January 2014, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN59769322 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there are nearly 2 million HIV positive children, many of whom are adolescents. The majority have perinatally acquired HIV. A key challenge for this population is communicating about HIV to meet emotional and practical needs. Despite evidence of its benefits, HIV communication in adolescents with HIV is rare. To enhance HIV communication, individuals’ beliefs may need to be taken into account. There is no measure of beliefs about HIV communication for adolescents living with HIV. A seven-item measure of HIV communication beliefs was developed and administered to 66 adolescents with HIV in the UK (39 female; aged 12-16 years). Data were explored using principal component analysis. Preliminary criterion-related validity was assessed by examining relationships between the measure and communication occurrence, frequency and intention. Preliminary construct validity was assessed by examining relationships between the measure and HIV stigma, HIV disclosure cognition and affect, quality of life and self-perception. Two factors were revealed: communication self-efficacy and normative beliefs; and communication attitudes. The full scale and its subscales were internally consistent. The total score showed statistically significant positive relationships with HIV communication intention, HIV disclosure cognitions and affect, and HIV stigma but not with other variables. Preliminary evidence of the measure’s good psychometric properties suggests it may be helpful in outlining relationships between HIV communication beliefs and other constructs. It may also be useful in testing interventions that aim to enhance HIV communication in this population. Further work needs to be done to establish the scale’s psychometric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to compare the level and pattern of cognitive deficits in patients with early-onset psychoses with an age, gender and IQ matched control group. In order to ensure a representative sample of patients with psychoses, participants with an IQ of less than 70 were included. Forty-eight patients with an onset of psychoses before the age of 16, and 47 age, gender and IQ matched controls without psychoses were recruited. Psychotic symptomatology was assessed using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment to obtain DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnoses. Positive and negative symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale. Levels of cognitive function were measured using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. A pattern of specific impairments was not found, with few significant differences between the two cohorts. However both cohort groups performed lower than age derived norms. Therefore it appears that there are global cognitive deficits rather than specific deficits in early-onset psychoses when compared to normative data, in-line with conclusions of early-onset schizophrenia research, but patients did not have greater deficit than controls when matched on IQ, gender and age, even after excluding participants with IQ less than 70. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was to assess outcome in a population-based cohort of adolescents with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) diagnosed in the UK's northern region over a 10-year period. Among a population of 3.09 million, 55 of 676 patients (8%) diagnosed with HL were aged 13–19. Seven had nodular lymphocyte-predominant HL, 48 classical HL (cHL). Of the latter, 36 were 16 years. Application of the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group (SNLG) prognostic index meant 21 patients were considered high risk (index 0.5). They received PVACEBOP multi-agent chemotherapy as primary therapy. Standard risk patients (SNLG index <0.5) were treated with standard ChlVPP or ABVD chemotherapy±radiotherapy. Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group indexing is not valid for patients under 16. Twelve patients therefore received UKCCSG protocols (n=8), ABVD plus radiotherapy (n=2), or PVACEBOP (n=2). Forty-six patients with cHL (96%) achieved complete remission. Seven patients relapsed but all entered complete remission after salvage therapy. Five patients died: three of HL, one in an accident and one of disseminated varicella complicating cystic fibrosis. Five- and 10-year overall survival was 93 and 86%, respectively; disease-specific survival was 95 and 92%. The data suggest that older adolescents with high-risk HL require intensive protocols as primary therapy to secure optimal outcome.British Journal of Cancer (2007) 97, 29–36. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6603809 www.bjcancer.com Published online 29 May 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]