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BackgroundGender and sex differences in the development of children and adolescents are commonly found in the psychiatric examination. Family and developmental history is an important part of the clinical diagnostic interview, the basic examination technique. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with diagnosis-specific markers in family and development history. However, it is unclear to what extent ADHD-specific signs and narratives differ between females and males. The aim of this study was to assess and to compare the family and developmental history profiles of female versus male adolescents with ADHD.MethodsData were collected using the clinical diagnostic interview technique from parents of female and male patients diagnosed with ADHD (ICD-10 F90.0, F90.1 and F98.8) between the ages of 12 and 17 years (n = 92). The two groups were matched in pairs for sex, IQ and ICD-10 diagnosis (F90.0, F90.1 and F98.8). Interview data were operationalized in three categories: 0 - physiological marker, 1 - subclinical marker, 2 - clinical marker. The two groups were compared with two-way ANOVA.ResultsInformation about female in comparison to male adolescents were reported in the parental interview with few differences.ConclusionOur study suggests that family and developmental history of the neurodevelopmental disorder ADHD is only poorly influenced by gender or sex.

IntroductionTuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is a multi-system genetic disorder with various TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TAND) that significantly impact the mental health and wellbeing of individuals with TSC and their caregivers. TAND represents the number one concern to families worldwide, yet is highly under-identified and under-treated. The clinician-administered TAND-Checklist (Lifetime version, TAND-L) has improved identification of TAND in clinical settings. However, many individuals with TSC and their caregivers still have difficulty accessing suitable support for diagnosis and evidence-informed interventions. The TANDem study is a community-based participatory research project with a broad range of TSC stakeholders aimed at reducing the TAND identification and treatment gap.ObjectivesParticipatory research identified three priority next steps: 1) development and validation of a self-report, quantified version of the TAND Checklist (TAND-SQ) and building the TAND-SQ into a smartphone application, 2) generation of consensus clinical recommendations for the identification and treatment of TAND, to be incorporated as a TAND toolkit on the app, and 3) establishment of a global TAND consortium through networking, capacity-building and public engagement activities.MethodsTANDem is a four-year project, and includes 24 consortium members from 10 countries representing all World Health Organization regions. Collaborators represent five stakeholder groups (family representatives, technology experts, clinical experts, non-profit organisations and researchers). Here we outline the project study protocol in detail, describing the scientific rationale, the project aims and objectives, the methods involved in participant recruitment, multi-site and multi-phase data collection, data analysis, ethical considerations including informed consent, data protection, privacy and confidentiality considerations related to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and the USA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The expected outcomes and potential impact on the TSC community, implementation and dissemination of results, as well as future scale-up and scale-out plans are also discussed.ConclusionsThe TANDem project has the potential to transform the global TSC community by empowering families living with TSC through an easily accessible digital solution to allow them to document their own TAND needs linked to an evidence-informed toolkit to enhance personalised healthcare, and by providing healthcare professionals with consensus clinical recommendations to prevent, identify and manage TAND manifestations.

Background: Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be made early in childhood, but also later in adolescence or adulthood. In the latter cases, concerns about an individual's behavior typically lead to consultation of a mental health professional (MHP). As part of the initial clinical examination by the MHP, a clinical diagnostic interview is performed, in order to obtain the patient's history, and may lead to the hypothesis of ASD. We were here interested to study family and developmental history as key parts of the patient's history. The aim of the study was to investigate empirical differences between adolescents with ASD and adolescent control persons in family and developmental history.Method: Clinical diagnostic interview items addressing family and developmental history were adopted from their regular use at several university hospitals and in leading textbooks. Parents of male adolescents with normal intelligence and an ASD diagnosis (n = 67) and parents of male adolescents without psychiatric diagnosis (n = 51) between the age of 12 and 17 years were investigated. Data were operationalized into three categories: 0 = normal behavior, 1 = minor pathological behavior, and 2 = major pathological behavior. Differences were analyzed by multiple t-test of two-way ANOVA.Results: Adolescents with ASD expressed a profile of items significantly differing from control persons. Comparison of significant items with the empirical ASD literature indicated robust accordance.Conclusions: Our findings support the importance and feasibility of the clinical diagnostic interview of family and developmental history for initiation of the diagnostic process of ASD in adolescents.