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Background: There is no study to date that has examined the association between history of abuse and adaptive functioning deficits in youth with co-occurring and psychotic disorders or mood disorders. Method: This study used a retrospective chart review of 98 youth under the age of 18 (Mean age = 16.06 years) with co-occurring intellectual impairment (Mean IQ = 63.9) and psychotic disorders, mood disorders, or other psychiatric disorders. Using multimediation models in the path analytic framework, this study examined the relationships between psychiatric diagnosis (based on DSM-IV criteria), cognitive functioning (Full Scale IQ Scores), adaptive functioning (Socialization, Communication, Motor Skills, Daily Living Skills), and the presence of the history of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse/neglect. Results: A very high incidence of all three forms of abuse was present in the study sample, with more than three-quarters of the youth having experienced at least one form of abuse and more than half having experienced two or the three forms of abuse. A history of sexual abuse was significantly and directly associated with an increased incidence of mood disorders. Mood disorders were the strongest predictors of adaptive functioning deficits. Youth with schizophrenia spectrum disorder scored significantly lower in communication skills than those with bipolar disorder. Conclusion: Results are discussed in terms of the need for treatment studies and further investigations of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adaptive functioning in youth with intellectual impairment and psychiatric disorders.

Objective Neuropsychologists labor over scoring the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), a measure of visuospatial functioning and nonverbal memory. Compelling arguments suggest that pathognomonic signs of the RCFT are observable to the "naked eye." Standard scoring systems are insensitive to lateralizing temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and alternative "qualitative" scoring systems are ineffective and time-consuming. Method: We examined accuracy of TLE lateralization using subjective classifications and standard scoring. Participants were 84 TLE patients (53 female; mean age=36yrs) and 46 controls (27 female; mean age = 27.5). The former were classified as right (n = 41) or left (n = 43) TLE by neurologists using EEG and MRI studies. RCFT were scored using standard scoring with cut-offs of z ≤ –2 classified as impaired and were rated as "characteristic" of RTLE (Ugly) or LTLE (Not Ugly) performance by neuropsychologists. Accuracy of seizure lateralization for both methods was examined. Results: Neuropsychologists' ratings accuracy were at or below chance. Standard scoring criteria showed chance or slightly better lateralization prediction. Standard scoring predicted RTLE laterality more accurately than subjective ratings for copy trials; standard scoring was no better at lateralizing RTLE with delays. Subjective ratings were better at distinguishing TLE patients from controls. Conclusion: Findings highlight concerns regarding the usefulness of the RCFT in TLE lateralization, regardless of scoring approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexpected traumatic events, including life-threatening medical conditions, brain injuries, and pandemics, can be catalysts for patients and clinicians to consider existential issues, including meaning in life. The existential–humanistic and relational perspectives on therapeutic interventions emphasize creating meaning, taking responsibility for one's own life and self-narratives, choosing and actualizing ways of being in the world that are consistent with values, and expanding the capacity for agency, commitment, and action. Myriad factors have made the COVID-19 pandemic upsetting and potentially traumatic for individuals, including the novel experience of self and other as possibly infectious and dangerous, a sense that anyone is vulnerable, and protracted uncertainty about the duration of the crisis and its consequences. The vignettes included in this article explore risk and reliance factors relevant to patients with preexisting medical conditions during COVID-19 and highlight the benefits of exploring values, priorities, and assumptions, asking open-ended questions about meaning in life and posttraumatic growth, learning for each emotion, and interpretation of dreams. The existential–humanistic and relational approaches offer unique insights into how practitioners might help their patients to reflect on the unanticipated changes and anxieties ignited by COVID-19, while reinforcing the potential to live with greater purpose and intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]