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Abstract: Accumulating research suggests a moderating role for the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 gene (CRHR1) in the association between childhood adversity and adult depression. The present study aims to replicate recent findings using different genetic variants and measures of early adversity assessed both prospectively and retrospectively. Data were collected in the context of an ongoing epidemiological cohort study following the outcome of early risk factors from birth into adulthood. 300 participants (137 males, 163 females) were genotyped for four CRHR1 SNPs (rs7209436, rs110402, rs242924, and rs17689882) and completed the Beck Depression Inventory at ages 19, 22 and 23 years. Childhood adversity was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and by a standardized parent interview yielding an index of family adversity. Our results indicate that CRHR1 and childhood adversity interacted to predict depressive symptoms in young adults. Specifically, we found that the impact of childhood maltreatment on adult depressive symptoms was significantly higher in individuals (i) with two copies of the CRHR1 TAT haplotype, and (ii) homozygous for the G allele of rs17689882. The interaction was demonstrated for exposure to childhood maltreatment as assessed by retrospective self-report, but not to prospectively ascertain objective family adversity. The present study partially replicates recent findings of a CRHR1 by childhood adversity interaction with regard to adult depression highlighting the subjective characteristics of the environmental pathogen that is operative in this interaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study presents the evaluation of a computer-based learning program for children with developmental dyscalculia and focuses on factors affecting individual responsiveness. The adaptive training program Calcularis 2.0 has been developed according to current neuro-cognitive theory of numerical cognition. It aims to automatize number representations, supports the formation and access to the mental number line and trains arithmetic operations as well as arithmetic fact knowledge in expanding number ranges. Sixty-seven children with developmental dyscalculia from second to fifth grade (mean age 8.96 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups (Calcularis group, waiting control group). Training duration comprised a minimum of 42 training sessions à 20 min within a maximum period of 13 weeks. Compared to the waiting control group, children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in arithmetic operations and number line estimation. These improvements were shown to be stable after a 3-months post training interval. In addition, this study examines which predictors accounted for training improvements. Results indicate that this self-directed training was especially beneficial for children with low math anxiety scores and without an additional reading and/or spelling disorder. In conclusion, Calcularis 2.0 supports children with developmental dyscalculia to improve their arithmetical abilities and their mental number line representation. However, it is relevant to further adapt the setting to the individual circumstances., (Copyright © 2020 Kohn, Rauscher, Kucian, Käser, Wyschkon, Esser and von Aster.)

Early adversity has been related to brain structure alterations and to an increased risk of psychiatric disorders. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a key region for emotional processing, with structural alterations being described in several mental disorders. However, little is known about how its cortical thickness (CT) is affected by the long-term impact of life stress (LS) at different developmental stages. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of LS during infancy, childhood, and adolescence on CT alterations in the OFC and on psychopathology in 190 adults of an ongoing prospective cohort study. Chronic stressful life events were assessed in regular intervals. Participants rated depressive symptoms at the ages of 22 and 23 years. Morphometric data were collected at the participants' age of 25 years. Chronic LS during infancy was associated with reduced CT in the right OFC and increased depressive symptoms. Moreover, the impact of chronic LS during infancy on OFC thickness was partially mediated by depressive symptoms in adulthood, suggesting an interplay of early LS, psychopathology, and CT alterations. Our findings highlight the long-term impact of early LS on an affective core brain structure and psychopathology later in life., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (= negative math priming effect ).We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.

Objective: The study examines the 5-year course of children with dyslexia with regard to their sex. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of dyslexia on the performance in reading and spelling skills and school-related success., Method: A group of 995 6- to 16-year-olds were examined at the initial assessment. Part of the initial sample was then re-examined after 43 and 63 months. The diagnosis of dyslexia was based on the double discrepancy criterion using a standard deviation of 1.5. Though they had no intellectual deficits, the children showed a considerable discrepancy between their reading or writing abilities and (1) their nonverbal intelligence and (2) the mean of their grade norm., Results: Nearly 70 % of those examined had a persisting diagnosis of dyslexia over a period of 63 months. The 5-year course was not influenced by sex. Despite average intelligence, the performance in writing and spelling of children suffering from dyslexia was one standard deviation below a control group without dyslexia with average intelligence and 0.5 standard deviations below a group of children suffering from intellectual deficits. Furthermore, the school-related success of the dyslexics was significantly lower than those of children with average intelligence. Dyslexics showed similar school-related success rates to children suffering from intellectual deficits., Conclusions: Dyslexia represents a considerable developmental risk. The adverse impact of dyslexia on school-related success supports the importance of early diagnostics and intervention. It also underlines the need for reliable and general accepted diagnostic criteria. It is important to define such criteria in light of the prevalence rates.

Depressive symptoms have been related to anxious rejection sensitivity, but little is known about relations with angry rejection sensitivity and justice sensitivity. We measured rejection sensitivity, justice sensitivity, and depressive symptoms in 1,665 9-to-21-year olds at two points of measurement. Participants with high T1 levels of depressive symptoms reported higher anxious and angry rejection sensitivity and higher justice sensitivity than controls at T1 and T2. T1 rejection, but not justice sensitivity predicted T2 depressive symptoms; high victim justice sensitivity, however, added to the stabilization of depressive symptoms. T1 depressive symptoms positively predicted T2 anxious and angry rejection and victim justice sensitivity. Hence, sensitivity toward negative social cues may be cause and consequence of depressive symptoms and requires consideration in cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression.

Objective: This study assesses the short-term and intermediate effects of preschool training stimulating phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence for children at risk of developing dyslexia. Moreover, we examined whether training reduced the frequency of subsequent dyslexic problems., Method: 25 children at risk of developing dyslexia were trained with Hören, Lauschen, Lernen 1 und 2 (Küspert & Schneider, 2008; Plume & Schneider, 2004) by their kindergarten teachers and were compared with 60 untrained at-risk children., Results: The training revealed a significant short-term effect: The phonological awareness of trained at-risk children increased significantly over that of untrained at-risk children. However, there were no differences in phonological awareness, spelling, and reading ability between the first-graders in the training and control group. Furthermore, reading problems were reduced in the training group., Conclusions: In the future, phonological awareness as well as additional predictors should be included when identifying children vulnerable to developing dyslexia. Moreover, in order to prevent dyslexia, additional prerequisite deficits need to be identified, alleviated, and their effects evaluated.

Calcularis is a computer-based training program which focuses on basic numerical skills, spatial representation of numbers and arithmetic operations. The program includes a user model allowing flexible adaptation to the child's individual knowledge and learning profile. The study design to evaluate the training comprises three conditions (Calcularis group, waiting control group, spelling training group). One hundred and thirty-eight children from second to fifth grade participated in the study. Training duration comprised a minimum of 24 training sessions of 20 min within a time period of 6-8 weeks. Compared to the group without training (waiting control group) and the group with an alternative training (spelling training group), the children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in subtraction and number line estimation with medium to large effect sizes. Therefore, Calcularis can be used effectively to support children in arithmetic performance and spatial number representation.

Converging evidence emphasizes the role of an interaction between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype, environmental adversity, and sex in the pathophysiology of aggression. The present study aimed to clarify the impact of this interaction on neural activity in aggression-related brain systems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 125 healthy adults from a high-risk community sample followed since birth. DNA was genotyped for the MAOA-VNTR (variable number of tandem repeats). Exposure to childhood life stress (CLS) between the ages of 4 and 11 years was assessed using a standardized parent interview, aggression by the Youth/Young Adult Self-Report between the ages of 15 and 25 years, and the VIRA-R (Vragenlijst Instrumentele En Reactieve Agressie) at the age of 15 years. Significant interactions were obtained between MAOA genotype, CLS, and sex relating to amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) response, respectively. Activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during emotional face-matching increased with the level of CLS in male MAOA-L, while decreasing in male MAOA-H, with the reverse pattern present in females. Findings in the opposite direction in the ACC during a flanker NoGo task suggested that increased emotional activity coincided with decreased inhibitory control. Moreover, increasing amygdala activity was associated with higher Y(A)SR aggression in male MAOA-L and female MAOA-H carriers. Likewise, a significant association between amygdala activity and reactive aggression was detected in female MAOA-H carriers. The results point to a moderating role of sex in the MAOA× CLS interaction for intermediate phenotypes of emotional and inhibitory processing, suggesting a possible mechanism in conferring susceptibility to violence-related disorders., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background:   Recently, first evidence has been reported for a gene-parenting interaction (G × E) with regard to adolescent alcohol use. The present investigation set out to extend this research using the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158) Met polymorphism as a genetic susceptibility factor. Moreover, the current study examined whether a potential G×E would be consistent with one of two models of gene-environment interplay (genetic vulnerability vs. differential susceptibility)., Methods:   Data were collected as part of an ongoing epidemiological cohort study following the outcome of early risk factors from birth into adulthood. Two hundred and eighty-five participants (130 males, 155 females) were genotyped for the COMT Val(158) Met polymorphism and were administered an alcohol interview, providing measures of current frequency and amount of drinking at ages 15 and 19 years. Information on three dimensions of perceived parenting behavior was obtained from the 15-year-olds., Results:   Adolescents homozygous for the Met allele showed higher drinking activity at age 19 years when their parents had engaged in less supervision or were less involved, while their drinking activity was reduced under conditions of favorable parenting. No such relationship was found in individuals carrying the Val allele., Conclusions:   The present findings correspond with the pattern of results predicted by the differential susceptibility hypothesis, suggesting that environmental variation would have a greater impact in individuals carrying a genetic susceptibility such that, in this group, exposure to negative environmental conditions would result in more adverse outcomes and the experience of favorable conditions would lead to more positive outcomes., (© 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Psychotherapeutic interventions require empirical as well as scientific assessment. Specifically, the proven efficacy of psychotherapy for children and adolescents is essential. Thus, studies examining treatment efficacy and meta-analyses are necessary to compare effect sizes of individual therapeutic interventions between treatment groups and waiting control groups. Assessment of 138 primary studies from 1993-2009 documented the efficacy of psychotherapy for children and adolescents. Furthermore, behavioural therapy outperformed non-behavioural interventions, as 90% of behavioural interventions showed larger effect sizes compared to non-behavioural psychotherapy. Analysis of moderator variables demonstrated an improved treatment efficacy for individual therapy, inclusion of the family, treatment of internalised disorders, and in clinical samples. Stability of psychotherapeutic treatment effects over time was demonstrated.

Background: Referring to the prevalence rates of learning disorders in the research literature, the numbers of mathematics disorder and reading/spelling disorder are often reported to be identical. However, the correlation between intelligence level and reading/spelling skills is much weaker than between intelligence and arithmetic skills. If the same definition criterion is applied to both disorders, a lower prevalence rate for mathematics disorder should be expected., Objective: Are there differences in the prevalence estimates for learning disorders depending on the definition criterion?, Method: A large representative sample of German students (N=1970) was used to review the hypothesis., Results: Depending on the definition criterion, we could show a prevalence range of mathematics disorder between 0.1% and 8.1% in the same sample. Using the same definition criterion for both learning disorders, there are two to three times as many students with reading/spelling disorder than those with mathematics disorder., Discussion: Whenever children with reading/spelling disorder are compared to children with mathematics disorder, the same definition criterion has to be applied.

Objectives: Are there any differences (organic, psychosocial, psychopathological, cognitive or educational, respectively differences in the motor or neurological development) between infants who later on at the age of 8 years suffer from a hyperactive disorder and those who later on at the same age are undisturbed? Are there specific harbingers for hyperactive disorders in the group concerned?, Methods: With regard to their developmental risk load at the age of 3 months, 26 primary school children with hyperactive disorders were compared with 241 healthy children, 25 children with emotional disturbances, and 30 children with socially disruptive behaviour, all of the same age., Results: Identified as the most important predictors for the onset of hyperactive disorders were a reduced birth weight, the mother's origin from a shattered family, early contact impairments on the part of the child, and the mother's neglect of the infant., Conclusions: Altogether, however, the prediction of later hyperactivity in primary school children on the basis of salient features in the infant children remains unsatisfactory and unspecific.

Objectives: The prospective longitudinal Mannheim Study of Children at Risk followed the development of children from the age of 2 years up to the age of 8 years. Are there differences between the developmental risk load in toddlers (psychopathology, cognition, motor or neurological development, and educational differences) who suffer from a hyperactive disorder at age 8 and that of undisturbed children of the same age? Are there specific harbingers of hyperkinetic disorders for the group concerned?, Methods: In terms of their developmental risk load at the age of 2 years, 26 primary school children with hyperkinetic disorders were compared to 241 healthy primary school children, as well as to 25 children of the same age with emotional disturbances and 30 children of the same age with socially disruptive behavior., Results: A significant combination of predictors of later hyperkinetic disorders at primary school age proved to be increased fidgetiness and irritability, as well as a reduced language comprehension, at the age of two., Conclusions: The predictive value of symptoms in early childhood for later hyperkinetic disorder in children of primary school age is higher than that of symptoms assessed in infancy, which although expected is without relevant specificity.

The study provides an overview of current cognitive-behavioral interventions to treat school-refusal in children and adolescents. First of all we define the problem area and describe the standard of knowledge about prevalence, course and risk factors. The main focus of our work is presented by psychotherapeutic treatments of school phobia and school anxiety. Apart from general treatment principles we give a survey of the most important behavioral therapeutic as well as cognitive-behavioral therapeutic treatments. In addition, we provide a detailed description of current research about efficacy. After all we characterize diagnostic, treatment planning and implementation.