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Introduction: Nowadays children and adolescents are exposed to cyber victimization.This modern form of aggressive behavior has a negative impact on the psychological of victims,self esteem, and social interaction Objectives: To investigate the relation between cybervictimization and depression in tunisian preadolescents and adolescents Methods: The Arabic validated version of the "cyberbullying assessment instrument" was distributed through social media groups of preadolescent and adolescents in Tunisia.The participants were also invited to answer items about social and demographic characteristics.The participation was voluntary,without confidential data. Results: Fifty four preadolescent and adolescent aged between 9 and 16 years old have participated. The average age was 12.4 years old. 64% of participants were girls.More than 80% of children have their own smartphone and a personal count on social media.Among those respondents,12 (22.2%) reported being cyberbullied at least once in the year.the children most likely to be bullied were girl aged between 9 and 12 years old with a poor socioeconomic level.low self esteem, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms are associated with cyber victimization. Conclusions: The level of cyber victimization among preadolescents and adolescents is underestimated. Psychiatric disorder associated to this phenomena have to be considered in order to develop strategies and intervention to reduce the cyberbullying among vulnerable population. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical high risk (CHR) youth are known to exhibit cognitive deficits at similar levels to their more severally ill counter parts. Cognitive training (CT) programs offer a promising method for early intervention and the prevention of further cognitive decline in this vulnerable population. However, there are few structured CT intervention programs addressing the needs of CHR youth in LMICs of the Middle East., Methods: We conducted a study in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Razi University Hospital. Patients were assessed by trained raters with the "Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States" to confirm their CHR status. Cognitive Training (CT) was combined with the Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Remediation (CT-NEAR) as part of a social rehabilitation program. We enrolled 25 CHR patients and examined several domains of cognitive functioning and evaluated daily functioning prior to starting the intervention and after completion., Results: There were 20 patients who completed the study. The CT-NEAR group (n = 10) completed an average number 28.33 sessions over 12 weeks, which were matched for therapist time with the TAU group (n = 10). We found statistically significant improvements in CT-NEAR versus TAU in several cognitive domains; such as cognitive flexibility, memory-short and long-term, and verbal fluency. Also, CT-NEAR versus TAU patients improved in global functioning., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that cognitive remediation versus TAU for Tunisian CHR youth is feasible and effective especially in improving cognitive functioning when delivered in a social rehabilitation context (Bridging Group) and extends to global level of functioning., (© 2024 The Author(s). Early Intervention in Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Introduction: The therapeutic farm "GAIA" in Sidi Thabet is a non-profit organization created in 2009, situated in the North-Western suburbs of the capital Tunis/Tunisia. Its main aims are the day-care for and the socio-professional integration of children and young adults between age 6 and 30 with diverse types of disability through multiple activities, such as pet assisted therapy and horticulture., Aim: to assess the potential benefits of therapeutic on-farm management., Methods: We conducted a prospective study including 50 children and young adults aged 7 to 30 years with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders. Study participants were evaluated before inclusion and after 10 months of care using a self-established questionnaire collecting socio-demographic and clinical variables, an evaluation of competences, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)., Results: Mean sub scores (externalization/internalization) of CBCL decreased significantly (p<0.002). Competences were significantly improved in the following domains: understanding of verbal language, gross and fine motor skills, body hygiene, spatial and temporal orientation, preschool and school learning achievements and social integration., Conclusions: These positive initial results should encourage the further development of this initiative with support of the community.

In order to improve the learning outcomes, skills, sense of belonging and well-being of their students, faculties around the world have chosen to implement mentoring programs for their learners. Given the complexity of implementing this approach, our objectives in this review are, on the one hand, to discuss and support the principles and recommendations of a mentoring project in an academic setting and, on the other hand, to present the vision of the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis regarding this mentoring approach.

Hearing impairment (HI) is a prevalent neurosensory condition globally, impacting 5% of the population, with over 50% of congenital cases attributed to genetic etiologies. In Tunisia, HI underdiagnosis prevails, primarily due to limited access to comprehensive clinical tools, particularly for syndromic deafness (SD), characterized by clinical and genetic heterogeneity. This study aimed to uncover the SD spectrum through a 14-year investigation of a Tunisian cohort encompassing over 700 patients from four referral centers (2007-2021). Employing Sanger sequencing, Targeted Panel Gene Sequencing, and Whole Exome Sequencing, genetic analysis in 30 SD patients identified diagnoses such as Usher syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, cranio-facial-hand-deafness syndrome, and H syndrome. This latter is a rare genodermatosis characterized by HI, hyperpigmentation, hypertrichosis, and systemic manifestations. A meta-analysis integrating our findings with existing data revealed that nearly 50% of Tunisian SD cases corresponded to rare inherited metabolic disorders. Distinguishing between non-syndromic and syndromic HI poses a challenge, where the age of onset and progression of features significantly impact accurate diagnoses. Despite advancements in local genetic characterization capabilities, certain ultra-rare forms of SD remain underdiagnosed. This research contributes critical insights to inform molecular diagnosis approaches for SD in Tunisia and the broader North-African region, thereby facilitating informed decision-making in clinical practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Mkaouar, Riahi, Marrakchi, Mezzi, Romdhane, Boujemaa, Dallali, Sayeb, Lahbib, Jaouadi, Boudabbous, Zekri, Chargui, Messaoud, Elyounsi, Kraoua, Zaouak, Turki, Mokni, Boucher, Petit, Giraudet, Mbarek, Besbes, Halayem, Zainine, Turki, Tounsi, Bonnet, Mrad, Abdelhak, Trabelsi and Charfeddine.)

Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The present study examined performance in Theory of Mind (ToM) in a group of 31 Arabic-speaking verbal children (7-12 years-old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with neurotypical controls (NT) matched for age and for cognitive abilities. An innovative task in a digital format named "The Tunisian Social Situations Instrument" (TSSI) was used and allowed us to study four different subdomains of ToM: attribution of intention and epistemic ToM (cognitive ToM), affective ToM, and detection of faux pas (advanced ToM). Our study showed impairments in ToM in children with ASD, similar to those reported in the literature. Our findings additionally suggested that affective and advanced ToM, specifically the detection of faux pas, might be more challenging for ASD children than other components of ToM. Future studies with larger number of children may lead us to specify which subdomains are the most impaired in order to develop specific tools targeting these specific impairments., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Jelili, Halayem, Rajhi, Abbes, Mansour, Ouanes, Taamallah, Ennaifer, Ben Yahia, Ghazzei, Nabli, Hajri, Fakhfakh, Mrabet and Bouden.)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with neurocognitive impairment, including executive dysfunctioning and social cognition (SC) deficits. Cognitive remediation (CR) is a behavioral training-based intervention aiming to improve cognitive processes. Its first use in psychiatry interested patients with schizophrenia, in whom promising results have been shown. Integrated CR programs targeting both social and non-social cognition have demonstrated to be effective in improving both cognitive domains and functional outcomes. CR studies in children and adolescents with ASD are still new, those regarding CR approaches combining social and executive functioning remediation are scares. One study examining the efficacy of cognitive enhancement therapy (CET) for improving cognitive abilities in ADS adults, showed significant differential increases in neurocognitive function and large social-cognitive improvements. Therefore, taking into account the overlap between ASD and schizophrenia, and considering the close link between executive functions (EF) and SC, we suggest that integrative approach in ASD could result in better outcomes. The present perspective aimed to highlight cognitive remediation (CR) programs contributions in ASD (especially in children and adolescents), and to discuss the value of combining social and non-social programs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hajri, Abbes, Yahia, Jelili, Halayem, Mrabet and Bouden.)

Background: Several empathy assessment tests have been proposed worldwide but none of them took into account cultural variations that seem to affect empathic manifestations. The aim of this study was to create and validate an empathy assessment questionnaire for school-aged Tunisian children entitled "Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children" (TESC)., Methods: An evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted. The questionnaire was administered to parents of 197 neuro-typical children and 31 children with autism without associated intellectual deficits, aged between 7 and 12 years. Validation steps included: face validity, content validity, construct validity, and reliability study. A ROC curve analysis was used to investigate the diagnostic performance of the TESC., Results: Face validity was verified with an expert panel. Content validity was examined, and 11 items were removed as irrelevant or not assessable by parents. Exploratory factor analysis extracted four domains that explained 43% of the total variance. All these domains were significantly correlated with the total score ( p < 10 -3 ) and are, respectively: empathic behaviors, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and a combined affective and cognitive domain. The reliability study showed a satisfactory level of internal consistency of the TESC, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.615.The diagnostic performance of the TESC in relation to autism was evaluated by the ROC curve with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.3 and 62.1%, respectively, for a total score of 16., Conclusion: A 15-item questionnaire assessing empathy in a multidimensional and culturally adapted way was obtained. The psychometric qualities of the TESC were satisfactory., Competing Interests: AN is employed by Next Gen Corp. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ben Youssef, Halayem, Ghazzai, Jelili, Ben Mansour, Rajhi, Taamallah, Ennaifer, Hajri, Abbes, Fakhfakh, Nabli and Bouden.)

Background: Facial expressions transmit information about emotional state, facilitating communication and regulation in interpersonal relationships. Their acute recognition is essential in social adaptation and lacks among children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. The aim of our study was to validate the "Recognition of Facial Emotions: Tunisian Test for Children" among Tunisian children in order to assess facial emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among neurotypical children from the general population. The final version of or test consisted of a static subtest of 114 photographs and a dynamic subtest of 36 videos expressing the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise), presented by actors of different ages and genders. The test items were coded according to Ekman's "Facial Action Coding System" method. The validation study focused on the validity of the content, the validity of the construct and the reliability. Results: We included 116 neurotypical children, from 7 to 12 years old. Our population was made up of 54 boys and 62 girls. The reliability's study showed good internal consistency for each subtest: the Cronbach coefficient was 0.88 for the static subtest and 0.85 for the dynamic subtest. The study of the internal structure through the exploratory factor analysis of the items of emotions and those of intensity showed that the distribution of the items in sub-domains was similar to their theoretical distribution. Age was significantly correlated to the mean of the overall score for both subtests ( p < 10 -3 ). Gender was no significantly correlated to the overall score ( p = 0.15). High intensity photographs were better recognized. The emotion of happiness was the most recognized in both subtests. A significant difference between the overall score of the static and dynamic subtest, in favor of the dynamic one, was identified ( p < 10 -3 ). Conclusion: This work provides clinicians with a reliable tool to assess recognition of facial emotions in typically developing children., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Taamallah, Halayem, Rajhi, Ghazzai, Moussa, Touati, Ayadi, Ouanes, Abbes, Hajri, Jelili, Fakhfakh and Bouden.)

A multitude of research on facial emotion recognition (FER) in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been published since several years. However, these studies have mainly used static high intensity stimuli, including adult and/or children facial emotions. This current study investigated FER in children with ASD using an innovative task, composed of a combination of static (114 pictures) and dynamic (36 videos) subtests, including children, adolescent, and adult male and female faces, with high, medium, and low intensity of basic facial emotions, and neutral expression. The ASD group consisted of 45 Tunisian verbal children, and the control group consisted of 117 tunisian typically developing children. Both groups were aged 7-12 years. After adjusting for sex, age, mental age, and school grade, the ASD group scored lower than controls on all tests except for the recognition of happiness and fear in the static subtest, and the recognition of happiness, fear, and sadness in the dynamic subtest ( p ≥ 0.05). In the ASD group, the total score of both the static and the dynamic subtest were positively correlated with the school grade ( p < 0.001), but not with age, or mental age. Children with ASD performed better in recognizing facial emotions in children than in adults and adolescents on videos and photos ( p < 0.001). Impairments in FER would have negative impact on the child's social development. Thus, the creation of new intervention instruments aiming to improve emotion recognition strategies at an early stage to individuals with ASD seems fundamental., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Jelili, Halayem, Taamallah, Ennaifer, Rajhi, Moussa, Ghazzei, Nabli, Ouanes, Abbes, Hajri, Fakhfakh and Bouden.)