Search

Objective: To understand the associations between adolescent family physical maltreatment and psychiatric morbidity or psychological problems. Methods: questionnaire survey on 489 secondary school students in Form 2 from 10 schools in Hong Kong. Questions regarding three forms of family physical maltreatment were measured: corporal punishment within the past 6 months, beaten without any reason within the past 6 months, or ever been beaten to injury. Main Result: Corporal punishment was not associated with the psychological variables after Bonfertoni adjustment was made. Those who experienced the two other forms of physical maltreatment had significant and strong associations with positive Achenbach CBCL outcome (OR from 3.26 to 3.27), drug abuse problems (OR from 2.60 to 20.38), self-injurious behaviors (OR from 3.34 to 8.47) and poor perceived parental support. In addition, those who had ever been beaten to injury scored significantly lower in the 'physical appearance' and 'behavioral conduct' subscales of the Hatter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Conclusions: In Hong Kong, some forms of family physical maltreatment (beaten for no reason and beaten to injury) were associated with a number of psychiatric/psychological problems. Further studies should be carried out to clarify whether the relationships are causal in nature. Keywords: Physical abuse; Self-injurious behavior; Psychiatric morbidity; Self-esteem; Perceived social support; Adolescent; Chinese

Chinese adolescents from Hong Kong with anorexia nervosa were studied for clinical and psychosocial characteristics.

This paper reports on the results of a study (n = 113 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that examined the effects of the children's perception of the social support (PSS) they receive from their mothers, fathers, teachers, and friends on their sense of competence and hope. PSS explained 13% of the children's overall sense of competence and 4% of their sense of hope. In the perspective of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the amount of maternal support, both in terms of importance and availability, was higher than that of their paternal support. However, the results of a multiple regression analysis have shown that paternal support accounted for 3% of the variance in the children's overall sense of competence and 5% in the variance of their physical competence. PSS from teachers had significantly explained 5%, 4%, and 4% of the variance in the children's overall, social, and physical competence, respectively. The PSS from friends significantly explained 7% of the variance in the children's cognitive competence and 4% of the variance in hope. Theoretical and clinical implications of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability and validity of the Chinese Self-Report Family Inventory (C-SFI) were examined in three studies. In Study 1, data based on 361 adolescents showed that the C-SFI was temporally stable and internally consistent and there was support for its concurrent and construct validities. In Study 2, data analyzed from a clinical group and a nonclinical group (N = 281 and 451, respectively) showed that the C-SFI scores were able to discriminate these two groups. With data pertaining to 3649 secondary school students, Study 3 gives support for the internal consistency, concurrent valid#y, and construct validity of the C-SFI in different adolescent samples. These studies strongly suggest that the C-SFI possesses good psychometric properties in different Chinese adolescent samples.

Introduction Aggression is a major concern in psychiatric inpatient care. Variations in study designs, settings, populations and data collection methods render comparisons of the prevalence of aggressive behavior in high-risk settings difficult. We proposed to estimate the pooled prevalence of aggression among inpatients with schizophrenia in China. Methods Reports on aggressive behaviour involving physical contact or risks of interpersonal violence, in schizophrenia in Chinese general psychiatric wards were retrieved by using computer-assisted searches and manual searches of the reference lists of the relevant literature. Statistical analyses were conducted using the Comprehensive Meta- Analysis V2 software. Potential sources of heterogeneity were analyzed with Cochrane's Q analysis. Results The search yielded 19 eligible studies involving a total of 3,941 schizophrenia patients. The prevalence of aggressive behavior in psychiatric wards ranged between 15.3% and 53.2%. The pooled prevalence of aggression was 35.4% (95% CI: 29.7%, 41.4%). The most commonly reported significant risk factors for aggression were positive psychotic symptoms: hostility or suspiciousness, 78.9% (15 studies); delusions, 63.2% (12 studies); disorganized behavior, 26.3% (5 studies); and auditory hallucinations, 10.5% (2 studies); together with: past history of aggression, 42.1% (8 studies); and involuntary admission, 10.5% (2 studies). Conclusions Aggressive behaviour is common in Chinese inpatients with schizophrenia. The prevalence figures indicate the need to identify reliable clinical and illness predictors for aggression in inpatient psychiatric wards and to test investigations aimed at reducing aggressive episodes and their adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Prospective memory refers to the ability to remember to do something in the future. To date, little is known about prospective memory deficits in bipolar disorder ( BD) in remission (euthymia). This study examined the nature and correlates of prospective memory in these patients. Methods Forty-seven euthymic BD patients and 47 matched healthy controls formed the study sample. Socio-demographic and basic clinical characteristics, prospective memory ( Cambridge Prospective Memory Test [ CAMPROMPT]), retrospective memory (immediate Logical Memory subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scales-Revised [ WMS- R]), IQ ( Raven's Progressive Matrices) and executive functioning ( Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) were measured in all participants; patients' symptoms were rated with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the 11-item Young Mania Rating Scale. Results Patients performed significantly worse on time-based prospective memory compared to controls. Multivariate analyses revealed that patients' lower score on Raven's Progressive Matrices significantly contributed to poor performance on time-based prospective memory, whereas lower scores on WMS- R Logical Memory subtest contributed to poor performance on event-based prospective memory; in controls, lower education level and older age significantly contributed to poor performance on time-based and event-based prospective memory, respectively. Discussion Prospective memory deficits persist in remitted BD patients suggesting that prospective memory impairment constitutes a trait deficit in BD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Little is known about the prescription patterns of adjunctive antidepressants in Asian schizophrenia patients. This study aimed to examine trends in the use of antidepressants and their demographic and clinical correlates in the treatment of schizophrenia in Asia between 2001 and 2009. Methods A total of 6,761 hospitalized schizophrenia patients in nine Asian countries and territories were examined: 2,399 in 2001, 2,136 in 2004 and 2,226 in 2009. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. Results The proportion of antidepressant prescription was 6.8% in the whole sample; 5.3% in 2001, 6.5% in 2004 and 8.7% in 2009. There were wide inter-country variations at each survey ranging from 0.9% in Hong Kong to 15.3% in Singapore in 2001; from 1.9% in Korea to 15.4% in Singapore in 2004; and from 2.7% in Japan to 22.0% in Singapore in 2009. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the whole sample revealed that patients on antidepressants were younger, more likely to receive benzodiazepines and have significant extrapyramidal side-effects and less likely to have significant positive symptoms. Discussion Unlike findings in Western countries, adjunctive antidepressant prescription for schizophrenia was not common in Asia. The frequency of antidepressant prescription varied among countries and territories, suggesting that a host of clinical and socio-cultural factors played a role in determining antidepressant use in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]