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The aim was to study the association between preschool behavioural problems and emotional symptoms in 10- to 12-year-old children. The study was based on the Aarhus Birth cohort, Denmark, and included 1,336 children. Based on the parent-administered preschool behaviour questionnaire (PBQ), we identified three not mutually exclusive preschool behavioural categories: anxious–fearful ( n = 146), hyperactive–distractible ( n = 98), and hostile–aggressive ( n = 170). Children without any known symptoms were considered well adjusted ( n = 1,000). Borderline emotional ( n = 105) and emotional difficulties ( n = 136) were measured at age 10–12 years with the parent-administered strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to adjust for potential confounding factors. We found that anxious–fearful behaviour and hostile–aggressive preschool behaviour were associated with twice the risk of school-age emotional difficulties. Comorbidity or confounding failed to explain these results. Hyperactive–distractible preschool behaviour was not associated with school-age emotional difficulties. Preschool anxious–fearful behaviour was associated with school-age emotional difficulties, suggesting internalizing symptom stability in some children from early childhood. Preschool hostile–aggressive behaviour was also associated with school-age emotional difficulties, which suggests transformation of one behavioural dimension into another through childhood, and the need to focus on both early internalizing difficulties and hostile–aggressive behaviour as risk factors for later internalizing difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Standardised diagnostic interviews are used increasingly in child and adolescent psychiatry; yet little is known about the attitudes towards such interviews among parents, children and staff members. In this study, we have aimed to assess (1) the K-SADS-PL's acceptability to parents and children (2) the usefulness of the interview as perceived by the staff. METHODS: Following the implementation of a semi-structured diagnostic interview in the standard assessment, parents, children, and staff were asked to fill in, anonymously, a brief questionnaire enquiring about their impression of the interview. RESULTS: Parental satisfaction with the parent interview was very high. Parental satisfaction with the child interview was high as well, although a small group of children were reported to be more sad/hyperactive or difficult immediately after the interview. However, these were found among the younger children only, and mainly children with conduct problems. Most children found that the interview was a good or fairly good way to talk about how they felt, but more than half the children found the interview boring to some extent, and a few felt worse after the interview than they did before. The staff found the interview to be useful in most cases, primarily for diagnostic purposes. CONCLUSIONS: Semi-structured diagnostic interviews are well accepted by parents and children, and have good face validity among staff members. To young children with many conduct difficulties the interview may seem overwhelming, and future work should focus on ways of making diagnostic interviews more engaging for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Involving parents in the treatment of youth referred for mental health problems is an important agenda. Parent involvement is associated with treatment retention, greater family participation, and positive outcomes. The main goal of the present study was to examine the role of youth and parent report of the youth's psychopathology and interpersonal problems on parent involvement in outpatient treatment of the youth. METHODS: Data were gathered from 63 referred youth in treatment in an outpatient clinic. Subjects reported the youth's interpersonal problems and problem syndromes. The direct account of the youth and parents was examined for association with two indices of parent involvement, namely, the mothers' behavioral involvement (BI) and personal emotional involvement (PEI) in the treatment process. RESULTS: Results showed that while direct reports of the youth and parents were not significant predictors of parent involvement, discrepancy scores predicted parent involvement. Further, there were twice as many scales of interpersonal problems that were related to parent involvement as the syndrome scales. CONCLUSION: The ability of discrepancy scores in predicting parent involvement underscores that it is not only a risk factor for later development of adverse outcomes, but also related with essential treatment processes. Clinicians may be able to address these issues and aid in treatment processes leading to desired outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the validity and reliability of the Danish version of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) in a child psychiatric population. Participants were 149 child psychiatric patients aged 8-13 and their parents. After diagnostic interview with the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, the children completed the CDI. A subgroup of 44 children repeated the CDI after 2 weeks. The psychometric properties of the Danish CDI were similar to those reported for the English version. CDI is moderately correlated with other measures for depressive disorder, but the instrument is not sufficiently reliable or valid to be used as a single diagnostic or screening measure in a child psychiatric population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prescription of antidepressants for children and adolescents is a controversial subject, and it has been documented that the practice has increased in the past decade in Denmark, the UK, and the USA. The aim of this study was to survey the indications for and use of antidepressants in child and adolescent psychiatry. Questionnaires were sent to all Danish child and adolescent psychiatric hospitals, out-patient clinics and privately practising psychiatrists treating children and adolescents under the age of 19 years (31 units in all). A 93.5 % response rate for the total of 382 questionnaires in the survey. The antidepressant serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most prominently used agents in treating children and adolescents. The extent of their use represents 8 % of the total sample of individuals under the age of 19 years receiving any kind of psychiatric treatment - 0.03 % of the reference population in Denmark. It is only a surprisingly minor group of children and adolescents that are being treated with antidepressants despite the fact that 10 % of youth under the age of 19 are afflicted with diseases like depression, OCD, anxiety disorder and eating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to assess the association of obstetric complications with risk for mental disorders resulting in hospitalization before the age of 15. Records from all births in Denmark from 1973 through 1993 were linked to records of all psychiatric hospitalizations. Diagnoses were grouped into seven broad categories. A reference population of 10% of births in Denmark from 1973 to 1990 was used for comparison. Obstetric complications were associated with the range of mental disorders occurring in childhood. The strongest predictors were a variable indicating the interaction of birth weight with speed of growth and the 5-minute Apgar score. There was no diagnostic group that stood out as different with respect to obstetric complications. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of the continuum of reproductive casualty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on treatment of childhood and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder is reviewed. Most studies concerning treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder has been based on experience from adult patients. Only a few controlled trials using medication with obsessive-compulsive children have been produced. No controlled study has as yet documented the effect of behavioural therapy alone. The most effective treatment seems to be a combination of behavioural therapy and medication with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. In the treatment of children with OCD, it is important to consider the child's personality and comorbid disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operational diagnostic criteria for ADHD or HKD were not at hand in Denmark before 1994, when WHO's International Classification of Diseases -10 (ICD-10) was introduced. The criteria for ADHD/HKD were well known at our clinic, but when treating children with stimulants the criteria used clinically prior to 1994 were less specific than today. The aims of this paper are to examine the prevalence of ADHD in a historical cohort of children treated with stimulants during the period 1969-1989 and to reassess a wide range of comorbid disorders and sociodemographic characteristics in order to compare aspects of the given treatment with the modern recommendations. At our clinic 208 children (183 boys) were given stimulants during the period 1969-1989. Case records on these probands were reassessed retrospectively for DSM-IV criteria regarding ADHD and comorbid disorders as well as for characteristics of stimulant treatment. Sixty-five percent met full criteria for an ADHD diagnosis. Including Subthreshold ADHD as many as 81 % of the cohort were re-diagnosed with ADHD. Prevalence rates of conduct problems and anxiety disorder were similar to previous prospective ADHD studies. The use of stimulants during the period 1969-1989 were in accord with modern guidelines. This cohort is comparable to other clinically based ADHD cohorts as regards inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive symptoms, comorbidity, impairment, gender differences, intelligence and socio-economic status (SES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health anxiety (HA) is characterized by worry about being or becoming ill. The Whiteley Index (WI) is a valid and frequently used measure for HA in adults. We examined item response distribution, floor and ceiling effects, and construct validity of four different one-factor models of the WI (an 8-item model, the widely used WI-7, a revised 7-item version (WI-7-R), and a 6-item version (WI-6-R)) in a population-based sample of adolescents, using data from the 16-17-year follow-up of the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 (N = 2521, 16-17 years old). Females generally scored higher on all eight WI items compared to males. Construct validity was examined by confirmatory factor analysis and hypothesis testing. The WI-7-R and WI-6-R both showed acceptable fits. All four models showed good internal consistency. Hypothesis testing showed good discriminant validity, as the hypotheses on positive correlations with anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms, as well as a negative correlation with health-related quality of life, were met for both the WI-7-R and WI-6-R. We advocate for the use of the WI-6-R, which focuses on core HA symptoms and excludes items concerning physical symptoms. The overall testing supports that the WI-6-R possesses valid psychometric properties for use with adolescents in the general population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The rates of anxiety and depression increase across adolescence, many experience recurrence after treatment, yet longitudinal studies examining promotive factors are scarce. We prospectively examined the role of the promotive factors structured style, personal and social competencies, family functioning, and social resources in homotypic and heterotypic continuity and discontinuity of anxiety and depression across three years in a clinical sample. Participants were adolescents with anxiety or depressive disorders aged 13-18 years at T1 ( N = 717, 44% initial participation rate) and aged 16-21 years at T2 ( N = 549, 80% follow-up participation rate). At T1, diagnoses were collected from medical records and participants responded to questionnaires. At T2, semi-structured diagnostic interviews were conducted. Higher levels of all promotive factors were associated with reduced probability of anxiety or depression three years later. The promotive factors were not associated with homotypic continuity of anxiety, whereas personal competence beliefs, social competence, and, less strongly, family functioning were associated with reduced homotypic continuity of depression and heterotypic continuity from depression to anxiety. Analyses with interaction terms did not indicate moderation by the promotive factors. Our findings suggest that bolstering promotive factors may be vital for increasing treatment success and preventing recurrence of anxiety and depression in the transition toward adulthood.

Objective: The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS-IV) assesses ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents. The original United States norms comprise percentiles. Yet, no Nordic percentile norms exist, and only T-scores, which (often falsely) assume normally distributed data, are currently available. Here, we for the first time provide Danish percentile norms for children aged 6-9 based on parent/caregiver-reports, and illustrate the potential consequences of T-scores when derived based on the expected skewed distribution of an ADHD scale in the population., Materials and Methods: The sample comprised 1895 Danish schoolchildren (879 girls and 1016 boys) in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade from the general population. Their parents/caregivers completed the ADHD-RS-IV. Sex and age differences were investigated, percentiles were derived based on the observed score distributions, and for comparison, T-scores > 70 were estimated, which are expected to identify the top 2.3% under the assumption of normality., Results: Boys were rated to have higher ADHD-RS-IV scores than girls except on the impulsivity score. No age effects were found on the majority of scores. Sex-stratified and unisex percentiles (80, 90, 93, 98) were reported. The distribution of ADHD-RS-IV scores were highly skewed. T-score cutoffs identified a significantly higher proportion of and about twice as many children as having elevated ADHD symptoms than expected (4.3-5.2% vs . 2.3%)., Conclusions: ADHD-RS-IV (parent/caregiver-report) percentile norms for young Danish schoolchildren are now available for future reference. The use of percentiles is considered appropriate given the skewed score distribution and since T-scores appear to over-identify children as having clinically elevated ADHD symptoms.

Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting about 1% of children. The disorder is characterized by difficulties within three core symptoms: social interactions, communication, and restricted or repetitive behavior. There is currently no approved psychopharmacological treatment; however, it is hypothesized that ASD symptoms might be ameliorated by manipulating the endocannabinoid (eCB) system.This study aims to review the existing research on cannabinoids as a potential effective treatment for the core symptoms of ASD in children and adolescents., Methods: A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, APA PsychInfo, and Cochrane. The available literature was screened, and studies were included if: the study population consisted of children/adolescents, the treatment involved cannabinoids, and the outcome assessed was the impact on core ASD symptoms., Results: The search yielded five studies, two RCTs and three cohort studies. All the included studies reported an effect of the cannabinoid treatment; however, most of these effects were non-significant and not related to core symptoms. Only one study found a significant improvement on all three core symptoms. The risk of bias was rated as "high" or "very high" in four studies and as "low" in one study., Discussion: Although the included studies did not find substantial results regarding core ASD symptoms, they all reported that cannabinoid treatment had other positive effects. However, Long term outcome is unknown, and safety aspects are scarcely discussed., Conclusion: Based on this review, the effect of cannabinoid treatment on ASD core symptoms is not clear; therefore, further studies are required.

Objective: To provide an in-depth examination of whether pragmatic, expressive, receptive, and narrative language are associated with the social and academic functioning of children with ADHD., Method: Children with ADHD ( n  = 46) and neurotypical comparison (NC) children ( n  = 40) aged 7 to 11 years completed tasks measuring expressive, receptive, and narrative language, while parents rated pragmatic language and social- and academic functioning., Results: Children with ADHD differed significantly from NC children on pragmatic language, expressive language, receptive language, and narrative coherence. An examination of indirect effects revealed that a significant proportion of the association between ADHD and social functioning was shared with pragmatic language, while a significant proportion of the association between ADHD and academic difficulties was shared with pragmatic language as well as with expressive language., Conclusion: This preliminary study supports the clinical relevance of language in relation to the academic- and social functioning of children with ADHD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has proven effective for treating ADHD in adults, nonetheless previous studies have shown high rates of medication discontinuation., Objective: To assess drug survival and identify risk factors associated with discontinuation of ADHD medication., Methods: A nationwide registry-based cohort study in Danish adults who redeemed a prescription for ADHD medication for the first time between 2010 and 2015. All patients were followed for 5 years from the first redeemed prescription. Discontinuation was defined as a gap of 12 months between redemptions. Logistic regression analysis with odds ratio (OR) and Kaplan Meier analysis were used to examine risk factors (sex, age, socioeconomic status, substance use disorders, and comorbidities) associated with discontinuation., Results: Twenty three thousand nine-hundred and sixteen patients with ADHD were identified. The 5-year overall drug survival was 29% in women vs. 23.5% in men. The risk of medication discontinuation was significantly higher in men compared to women, OR 1.26 (95% CI 1.19-1.34, p < 0.001). Adults aged 31-50 years had a significantly decreased risk of medication discontinuation compared to adults aged 18-30 years, OR 0.57 (95% CI 0.53-0.61, p < 0.001). Switching ADHD medication two times or three times or more significantly decreased the risk of discontinuation; OR 0.53 (95% CI 0.49-0.56, p < 0.001) and OR 0.26 (95% CI 0.23-0.30, p < 0.001), respectively. Substance use disorders and certain comorbidities were associated with medication discontinuation. Eating disorders, OR 0.71 (95% CI 0.64-0.78, p < 0.001), intellectual disabilities, OR 0.65 (95% CI 0.59-0.73, p < 0.001) and sleep disorders, OR 0.42 (95% CI 0.37-0.49, p < 0.001) were associated with continuation of ADHD medication., Conclusions: The 5-year overall drug survival was longer in women compared to men. Women with ADHD; adults aged 31-50; and patients with comorbid eating disorder; intellectual disability; sleep disorder and medication switching were individually associated with continuation of ADHD medication. Various factors were associated with medication discontinuation. Discontinuation should be acknowledged as a common phenomenon in patients with ADHD and calls for increased attention from the treatment responsible prescriber or team. Moreover, our findings suggest that timely, frequent medication switching, or temporary regimens may indeed represent optimal management strategies for a significant proportion of the ADHD population., (© 2024 The Author(s). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

A recent study identified three distinct treatment-response trajectories in pediatric OCD where higher levels of contamination symptoms predicted a limited response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This study extends these findings by examining which specific symptoms characterize limited CBT response from baseline to 3-year follow-up, with an emphasis on contamination symptoms. The study sample comprised 269 pediatric patients with OCD, all receiving stepped-care treatment with manualized CBT. Differences in single item-reporting between the three trajectory groups were examined using linear mixed-effect modeling. Limited responders displayed a higher symptom load across all OCD symptom categories at 3-year follow-up, dominated by contamination symptoms. Five of these (obsessions about dirt and germs, about bodily fluids, about the feeling of contamination and compulsions regarding handwashing and showering) showed persistence from baseline to 3-year follow-up. The results indicate that presence of specific contamination symptoms may influence long-term symptom severity trajectories in young patients with OCD., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: This qualitative study aims to examine parental experiences of feasibility and relational changes from participating in the Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT) intervention., Methods: Thirteen parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (mean age 3.89 years) participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was performed, inspired by an abductive approach informed by the theories of the attachment system, the caregiving system and mentalisation., Results: Three overarching themes were identified: the struggle of fitting PACT into everyday life, the fruit of relational connection and the cascading relational effects of PACT. Parents were challenged regarding finding time for the intervention but adapted PACT to their individual needs and possibilities. All parents experienced relational improvement, and a cycle of positive relational change through PACT was identified., Conclusions: This study has several clinical implications. Therapists and clinics offering PACT interventions should encourage and support parents in their individual journey of implementing PACT into their everyday lives. Some of the parents described improvements in parental mentalisation, child attachment and mutual enjoyment in the parent-child relationship. Children with autism could benefit from parents increasing their sensitivity when caregiving, and clinicians may through interventions such as PACT facilitate this development.

Background: Autism includes core symptoms affecting general and social development. Up to 60% of autistic adolescents experience co-occurring anxiety disorders negatively influencing educational, social, and general development together with quality of life. A manualised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) program 'Cool Kids - Autism Spectrum Adaptation (ASA)' has previously demonstrated efficacy in reducing anxiety in children with co-occurring autism. The current study investigates the feasibility of adapting this program for adolescents., Methods: Fifteen autistic adolescents, aged 14-17 years, with co-occurring anxiety disorders were enrolled in the study. Outcome measures collected from both adolescents and parents pre-, post-treatment and at 3-month follow-up included participant evaluation of the program, scores from a semi-structured anxiety interview, and questionnaires on anxiety symptoms, life interference, and quality of life., Results: 92% of the families who completed the program found it useful and would recommend it to other families in a similar situation. At follow-up, 55% no longer met the criteria for their primary anxiety diagnosis and 34% of adolescents were free of all anxiety diagnoses. Of the five adolescents who did not attend school before treatment three (60%) had returned to school after treatment., Conclusion: This study suggests that the adaptation of the program 'Cool Kids - ASA' into an adolescent version is feasible and has the potential to show good effects thus enhancing the possibility of education, development and independence in future life for this group. Larger RCTs studies are, however, needed to examine the efficacy of the adolescent version.

Objective: Children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are at risk for long-term adversity, but factors influencing long-term outcomes are unclear. A general factor of psychopathology, often referred to as the p factor, captures variance shared by all mental disorders and has predicted long-term outcomes in youth with anxiety and depressive disorders. The p factor has never been examined in relation to outcomes in pediatric OCD. Here, we examine whether the p factor predicts 4 important outcomes over both short and long durations in youth with OCD., Method: We used data from the Nordic Long-term OCD Treatment Study (NordLOTS), in which youth with OCD (N = 248, mean age = 12.83 years [SD = 2.72], 51.6% girls) received exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy. The p factor was estimated using parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist data at baseline and was examined in relation to clinician-rated OCD severity, clinician-rated psychosocial functioning, self-reported depressive symptoms, and self- and parent-reported quality of life directly after treatment and 1, 2, and 3 years after treatment., Results: The p factor was associated with acute treatment outcomes for OCD severity and psychosocial functioning, but not for depressive symptoms and quality of life. For the long-term outcomes, the p factor was significantly associated with all outcomes except OCD severity. The p factor outperformed traditional psychiatric comorbidity as a predictor of long-term outcomes., Conclusion: Youth with OCD who experience symptoms across multiple psychiatric domains have poorer long-term outcomes. Compared to traditional classification of psychiatric diagnoses, assessing psychopathology using a dimensional p factor approach may be advantageous for informing prognosis in pediatric OCD., (Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The question of whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a discrete category or a continuous dimension remains clinically relevant. We report the first examination of this question from the viewpoint of the relationship between ADHD traits and psychosocial quality of life (QoL), and whether the level of QoL declines markedly around a certain high ADHD trait range suggestive of a categorical boundary., Methods: Parents/caregivers of 1,967 schoolchildren aged 6 to 11 from the general population completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and the ADHD-Rating Scale IV. Piecewise linear and non-linear regression analyses were performed., Results: No evidence for a non-linear association or an abrupt change in the rate of decrease in QoL was observed in the high end of the ADHD traits continuum. Instead, the relationship was consistent with linearity., Conclusion: Psychosocial QoL gradually declines in a linear manner as ADHD trait levels increase providing further support for a dimensional model., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: PHT has received speaker’s fee from Medice and Shire within the last 3 years. ES-B has received speaker’s fee from Shire, QBTech, and Medice, has served as consultant to Neurotech Solutions, and has received research support from QBTech within the last 3 years. SDØ received the 2020 Lundbeck Foundation Young Investigator Prize. Furthermore, SDØ owns/has owned units of mutual funds with stock tickers DKIGI, IAIMWC, and WEKAFKI, and has owned units of exchange traded funds with stock tickers BATE, TRET, QDV5, QDVH, QDVE, SADM, IQQH, USPY, EXH2, 2B76, and EUNL. AV has received speaker’s fee from Medice, Takeda, and AGB-Pharma within the last 3 years. TWA and RL declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Objective: To examine relapse rates following remission in a 3-year follow-up study in pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in a first step, and either continued CBT or sertraline (randomized selection) in a second step., Method: Participants (N = 269) fulfilled DSM-IV OCD criteria with a mean severity on the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) of 24.6 (SD = 5.1) and were included in analyses according to intent-to-treat principles. CBT used manualized exposure and response prevention (ERP) during both steps 1 and 2, and step 2 sertraline medication used flexible dosing. The follow-up schedules were timed to 6, 12, 24, and 36 months following step 1 CBT. Remission was defined as a CY-BOCS score ≤10 and relapse as an elevated CY-BOCS score ≥16 in those who had remitted., Results: A good third of our patients were in stable and full remission at all examinations (n = 98, 36.4%). Further, some in remission following treatment (n = 36, 13.4%) had mild OCD at some examinations. Relapses during follow-up were not uncommon (n = 28, 10.4%), but in many patients these improved again (n = 10, 3.7%) and were in remission at the final 3-year follow-up. Furthermore, a considerable proportion (n = 50, 18.6%) of the patients were initial non-remitters to the treatment but achieved remission at some point during the follow-up. In addition, 11.5% (n = 31) had persistent OCD but reached remission by the last follow-up. Finally, a smaller segment of our sample (9.7%, n = 26), did not attain remission at any point during the study., Conclusion: Our outcome paints a more promising picture of pediatric OCD long-term outcome than previous studies have done. However, both relapse rates and the presence of initial non-remitters and persistent OCD show that treatments need improvement, particularly for those who respond slowly, partially, or not at all. The lack of a general psychiatric interview at follow-up is a marked limitation., Clinical Trial Registration Information: Nordic Long-term Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) Treatment Study; https://www.isrctn.com; ISRCTN66385119., (Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and chronic pain are prevalent and associated. We examined the prevalence and distribution of chronic pain in adolescents and young adults with ADHD using 9-years longitudinal data (from T1:2009-2011 to T3:2018-2019) with three time points from a clinical health survey compared to two age-matched reference population-based samples. Mixed-effect logistic regression and binary linear regression were used to estimate the probability for chronic and multisite pain at each time point and to compare the prevalence of chronic pain with the reference populations. The prevalence of chronic and multisite pain was high in those with ADHD, especially in female young adults, with highly prevalent chronic pain at 9 years of follow-up (75.9%) compared to 45.7% in females in the reference population. The probability of having pain was only statistically significant for chronic pain in males at 3 years of follow-up (41.9%, p = 0.021). Those with ADHD were at higher risk of reporting single-site and multisite pain compared to the general population at all measurement points. Longitudinal studies should be tailored to further understand the complex sex differences of comorbid chronic pain and ADHD in adolescents, exploring predictive factors of pain assessing long-term associations with bodyweight, psychiatric comorbidities, and possible mechanisms of stimulant use effects on pain., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Given diverse symptom expression and high rates of comorbid conditions, the present study explored underlying commonalities among OCD-affected children and adolescents to better conceptualize disorder presentation and associated features. Data from 830 OCD-affected participants presenting to OCD specialty centers was aggregated. Dependent mixture modeling was used to examine latent clusters based on their age- and gender adjusted symptom severity (as measured by the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale; CY-BOCS), symptom type (as measured by factor scores calculated from the CY-BOCS symptom checklist), and comorbid diagnoses (as assessed via diagnostic interviews). Fit statistics favored a four-cluster model with groups distinguished primarily by symptom expression and comorbidity type. Fit indices for 3-7 cluster models were only marginally different and characteristics of the clusters remained largely stable between solutions with small clusters of distinct presentations added in more complex models. Rather than identifying a single classification system, the findings support the utility of integrating dimensional, developmental, and transdiagnostic information in the conceptualization of OCD-affected children and adolescents. Identified clusters point to the centrality of contamination concerns to OCD, relationships between broader symptom expression and higher levels of comorbidity, and the potential for complex/neurodevelopmental presentations., (© 2024. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Adolescents with ADHD often struggle on many areas of their lives and have a high risk of adverse outcomes and negative life trajectories. Multimodal treatment including psychosocial interventions is recommended but evidence regarding effect of such interventions is still limited., Materials and Methods: This study was a follow-up study of adolescents participating in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a group intervention based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Participants were adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and still impaired by their symptoms after standard treatment including psychoeducation and medication. All participants were interviewed by telephone one year after inclusion, and outcome measures included both quantitative and qualitative measures., Results: There were 100 adolescents included in the study. We found no significant differences between treatment and control group on measures of ADHD-symptoms, self-efficacy, overall problems, global psychosocial functioning, or symptom severity at one-year follow-up. Still, participants in the intervention group reported on positive gains and that they learned a lot about ADHD and themselves., Conclusions: The intervention delivered in this trial failed to show a treatment effect on symptom level when added to standard care. Participants did however report on positive gains and felt they learned a lot. More research is needed to explore how the programme and delivery of treatment might be improved, and which patients might benefit the most from this type of interventions.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine switch from first-line methylphenidate (MPH) to lisdexamfetamine (LDX) in school-aged children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: This is a retrospective observational study based on systematic review of patient records of all children (7-13 years) diagnosed with ADHD and referred to a Danish specialized outpatient clinic. The study included 394 children switching from MPH to LDX as either second-line or third-line treatment (atomoxetine [ATX] as second-line treatment) during the study period from April 1, 2013, to November 5, 2019. Results: One in five children switched from MPH to LDX at some point during the study period. The most frequent reasons for switching to LDX were adverse effects (AEs; 70.0% for MPH, 68.3% for ATX) and lack of efficiency (52.0% for MPH, 72.7% for ATX). Top five AEs of LDX were decreased appetite (62.4%), insomnia (28.7%), irritability/aggression (26.1%), weight decrease (21.1%), and mood swings (13.9%). MPH and LDX had similar AE profiles, yet most AEs were less frequent after switching to LDX. At the end of the study period, the majority were prescribed LDX as second-line rather than third-line treatment (86.1% in 2019). However, the likelihood of LDX as second-line treatment decreased with the number of psychiatric comorbidities, ADHD symptom severity as assessed by parents, and if AEs were a reason for MPH discontinuation. Among children observed for at least 1 year after initiation of LDX, 41.3% continued LDX treatment for a year or longer. LDX continuation was less likely if AEs were a reason for MPH discontinuation. Similarly to MPH and ATX, the most frequent reasons for LDX discontinuation were AEs (74.4%) and lack of efficiency (34.7%). Implications: The findings support LDX as an important option in the personalized treatment of children with ADHD and may support prescribers in the clinical decision-making on switching medication.

Executive functional deficits (EFDs) play an important role in functional impairment in adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). More knowledge of executive function (EF) profiles and informant discrepancies will guide clinicians and provide tailored treatment advice. The objectives of this study were to use teacher, parent, and self-reported EF ratings to describe (a) problem profiles and (b) the correlation and agreement between informants. This study included 100 adolescents aged 14-18 years with ADHD still experiencing clinically impairing symptoms despite standard treatment including medication. EFs were measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Agreement between informants was quantified using Pearson correlation and informant discrepancies were analyzed using paired samples t-test. Overall, the results indicated considerable EFDs in the study population. Correlation and agreement varied between the informants. Agreement was highest between adolescents and their parents, especially for female participants, and lowest between male participants and their teachers. Teachers reported the highest level of EFDs, whereas adolescents generally self-reported EFDs at a lower level than both parents and teachers. Identifying and tailoring treatment for EFDs might improve future prognosis for adolescents with ADHD, however, self-awareness of these difficulties is a challenge that needs to be considered when planning interventions.

Functional impairment rating scales are few in numbers and have mainly been examined in clinical populations. The Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Parent report (WFIRS-P) is a case in point. We tested the psychometric properties of the WFIRS-P in the largest general population study to date and for the first time examined the factor structure of the scale in a general population setting. Participants were 2,027 schoolchildren aged 6 to 11. Parents/caregivers completed the WFIRS-P and criterion measures of quality of life, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and behavioral/emotional symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis and convergent/divergent validity analyses supported a six-factor structure: family, life skills, self-concept, social activities, and the separation of the school domain into two smaller domains covering school learning and school behavior. Children with and without a history of referral differed significantly on all six domains supporting the external validity. In conclusion, the WFIRS-P was found to generate valid scores in a general population sample., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: PHT has received speaker’s fee from Medice and Shire within the last 3 years. AV has received speaker’s fee from Medice, Takeda, and AGB-Pharma within the last 3 years. TWA and RL declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be more stress-vulnerable, and thereby, it has been suggested, prone to develop functional somatic symptoms (FSS) compared to their peers. In this paper, using data from 160 children aged 3-7 years with ADHD from the D'SNAPP study, a randomized controlled trial testing a parent training intervention, we addressed a number of questions about the role of FSS in ADHD. First, are FSS levels higher in an ADHD sample than in the children of the general population. Second, do FSS levels predict psychopathology and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in ADHD samples. Third, does FSS levels moderate the effect of parent training on ADHD symptoms. We found that preschoolers with ADHD experienced more severe FSS than a general population-based sample (18.80% vs. 2.11%). Severe FSS were associated with increased psychopathology and impaired daily function and lower HRQoL. Level of baseline FSS did not moderate the effect of parent training on ADHD. FSS in preschool children with ADHD is associated with impaired daily functioning, but further research is warranted to determine the clinical impact of FSS in children with ADHD., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Family accommodation (FA) involves the actions taken by family members, particularly parents, to accommodate a child´s obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, reducing distress or impairment. This behavior may maintain compulsive and avoidant behavior, preventing corrective learning or habituation. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and factors influencing FA in a large Scandinavian sample of children with OCD. We assessed 238 children using standardized diagnostic interviews, OCD symptom severity assessments and questionnaires evaluating functional impairment and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. FA was measured using the Family Accommodation Scale, a 12-item clinician-rated interview. Our results confirmed a high frequency of accommodation, with approximately 70% of primary caregivers reporting some accommodation daily and 98% at least once per week. FA was associated with increased OCD symptom severity, contamination/cleaning symptoms, internalizing and externalizing behavior, and functional impairment. Linear regression analysis showed that high levels of FA are specifically associated with lower age, higher OCD symptom severity, parent-reported impairment, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms. A path analysis revealed that FA partially mediated the relationship between OCD severity, externalizing symptoms, and child's age, highlighting the role of FA in the progression of OCD and related symptoms. The findings emphasize the importance of evaluating FA before initiating treatment and specifically addressing it during the therapeutic process., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Aim: Motor symptoms primarily assessed by clinical rating are documented across the schizophrenia spectrum, but no studies have examined the longitudinal course of these symptoms in adolescents using tests that control for the natural maturational process. The aim is therefore to compare fine and gross motor function using age-adjusted tests in adolescents with schizophrenia and controls across a 2-year period, and examine if clinical correlates contribute to changes in motor function in adolescents with schizophrenia., Method: Motor function assessed by two age-adjusted tests was compared in 25 adolescents with schizophrenia and age- and sex-matched controls over a 2-year period using t-tests, Cohen's D and χ 2 tests. Linear mixed models with a random intercept at patient level were used to assess changes between baseline and follow-up. The latter approach was adopted to assess the association between changes and potential predictors as age, sex, complications during labour/delivery, childhood motor function, symptoms severity, executive function and antipsychotics., Result: All measures of motor function but one significantly differentiated adolescents with schizophrenia from controls with large effect sizes at 2-year follow-up. The overall scores did not change during follow-up, whereas two resembling motor areas of the tests significantly improved in adolescents with schizophrenia. The severity of schizophrenia, sex and IQ revealed association with the changes., Conclusion: The finding of both stability and improvements from diagnosis to follow-up in adolescents with schizophrenia and the differences between adolescents with and without schizophrenia argue in favour of the neurodevelopment hypothesis and highlights the need for assessing motor function., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Mind My Mind (MMM) cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) manualized treatment is effective in the management of common emotional and behavioral mental health problems in youth, yet not all individuals respond satisfactorily to treatment. This study explored potential effect modifiers, i.e., baseline factors associated with a differential treatment effect. We conducted secondary effect modifier analyses with MMM trial data, which involved randomization of 396 youths aged 6-16 years to either MMM CBT treatment (9-13 sessions) or management as usual in local community settings. We examined sociodemographic- (sex, age, family composition, ethnicity, parental education, and income) and clinical variables (mental disorders and duration of mental health problems) as potential effect modifiers of the a) change in parent-rated impact of mental health problems measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) or b) response (reduction of ≥1 on SDQ-impact). In intention-to-treat analyses, superior treatment (net) benefits from the MMM intervention were found among youths who met criteria for any mental disorder at baseline (-1.25 [95%CI: -1.67;-0.82]) compared to youths that did not meet diagnostic criteria (-0.22 [95%CI:-1.09;0.65]). Comorbidity vs no comorbidity (-1.84 [95%CI:-2.58;-1.10] vs -0.72 [95%CI:-1.15;-0.29]) and longer duration of untreated mental health problems, i.e., more vs less than 6 months (-1.16 [95%CI:-1.55;-0.78] vs 0.43 [95%CI:-1.01;1.86]) were also associated with superior treatment benefits. The sociodemographic factors were not associated with differential treatment effects in the intention-to-treat analyses. These findings suggest that community-based programs like the MMM are well-suited for youths with substantial mental health problems. Clinical Trials Identifier: NCT03535805., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Dr Jeppesen reported received grants from the TrygFonden and Lundbeckfonden. Dr Christensen reported receiving support from core grant OCAY-18–774-OFIL from the Oak Foundation for the Section for Biostatistics and Evidence-Based Research, the Parker Institute, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital. Dr Plessen reported receiving grants from TrygFonden during the conduct of the study. Dr Bilenberg reported receiving grants from Novo Nordisk A/G and TrygFonden other project outside the submitted work. Dr Thomsen reported receiving personal fees from TrygFonden for attending steering committee meetings during the conduct of the study, speakers’ fees from Medice and Shire plc, and textbook royalties from FADL's Forlag outside the submitted work. Prof Thastum reported receiving funding from the TrygFonden and honoraria fromDafolo A/S within the last 3 years. Mr Neumer reported receiving personal fees from TrygFonden via Psykiatrifonden outside the submitted work. Dr Pagsberg reported receiving funding from the TrygFonden, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Læge Sofus Carl Emil Friis og hustru Olga Doris Friis’ scholarship, and the Capital Region Mental Health Services Research Fund. Dr Correll reported receiving personal fees from Alkermes plc, Allergan plc, Angelini Pharma, Gedeon Richter, Gerson Lehrman Group, Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc, Janssen Pharmaceutica/Johnson&Johnson, LB Pharma International BV,H Lundbeck A/S, MedAvante-ProPhase, Medscape, Neurocrine Biosciences, Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Inc, Pfizer, Inc, Recordati, Rovi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Axsome Therapeutics, Inc, Indivior, Merck&Co, Mylan NV, MedInCell, and Karuna Therapeutics and grants from Janssen Pharmaceutica, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Berlin Institute of Health, the National Institute of Mental Health, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Thrasher Foundation outside the submitted work; receiving royalties from UpToDate; and holding stock options in LB Pharma. No other disclosures were reported., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The first aim of this study was to explore whether children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subclinical autistic traits can be differentiated from children with OCD without these traits based on clinical OCD-related characteristics, distinct OCD symptom patterns, and type of comorbidity. The second aim was to investigate whether autistic traits predict immediate and long-term outcome of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in pediatric OCD.The participants in this study were a total of 257 children and adolescents aged 7-17 years, recruited from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden as a part of the Nordic long-term OCD treatment study (NordLOTS). Inclusion criteria were an OCD diagnosis based on DSM-IV criteria and a Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) total severity score of 16 or higher. No children with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum were included. An Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) cut-off score of ≥ 17 was used to define the group of OCD patients with autistic traits and all participants were treated with 14 weekly sessions of manualized CBT.Comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and tic disorders, subclinical internalizing and externalizing symptoms, lower insight into OCD symptoms, more indecisiveness and pervasive slowness, and ordering/arranging OCD symptoms were found to be significantly associated with having OCD with autistic traits. No difference was found between the groups on treatment outcomes.Results suggest that children and adolescents with OCD and autistic traits portray a different clinical profile than those without these traits, but that CBT is equally effective for those with and without autistic traits., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of body dysmorphic symptoms in a sample of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder, possible clinical correlates and whether BDD symptoms predict poorer treatment outcomes after cognitive behavioral therapy. The study included 269 children and adolescents with OCD, aged 7-17 years, from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, who were treated with 14 weekly sessions of manualized, exposure-based CBT. Twenty-one patients (7.8%) had BDD symptoms. BDD symptoms were associated with older age (p = 0.003) and a higher prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders (p = 0.025). In addition, patients with BDD symptoms endorsed a greater number of OCD symptoms than did those without BDD symptoms. Having symptoms of BDD did not affect the CBT outcome on OCD. The results of the study suggest that CBT for OCD is equally effective for those with and without comorbid BDD symptoms., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Knowledge on adverse events in psychotherapy for youth with OCD is sparse. No official guidelines exist for defining or monitoring adverse events in psychotherapy. Recent recommendations call for more qualitative and quantitative assessment of adverse events in psychotherapy trials. This mixed methods study aims to expand knowledge on adverse events in psychotherapy for youth with OCD., Methods: This is an analysis plan for a convergent mixed methods study within a randomized clinical trial (the TECTO trial). We include at least 128 youth aged 8-17 years with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants are randomized to either family-based cognitive behavioral therapy (FCBT) or family-based psychoeducation and relaxation training (FPRT). Adverse events are monitored quantitatively with the Negative Effects Questionnaire. Furthermore, we assess psychiatric symptoms, global functioning, quality of life, and family factors to investigate predictors for adverse events. We conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews with all youths and their parents on their experience of adverse events in FCBT or FPRT. For the mixed methods analysis, we will merge 1) a qualitative content analysis with descriptive statistics comparing the types, frequencies, and severity of adverse events; 2) a qualitative content analysis of the perceived causes for adverse events with prediction models for adverse events; and 3) a thematic analysis of the participants' treatment evaluation with a correlational analysis of adverse events and OCD severity., Discussion: The in-depth mixed methods analysis can inform 1) safer and more effective psychotherapy for OCD; 2) instruments and guidelines for monitoring adverse events; and 3) patient information on potential adverse events. The main limitation is risk of missing data., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03595098. Registered on July 23, 2018., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The present study aimed to: (a) identify latent class trajectories of OCD-related functional impairment, before, during and over three years after stepped-care treatment in children and adolescents with OCD; (b) describe these classes according to pretreatment characteristics; (c) identify predictors of trajectory class membership and (d) examine the relationship of functional impairment trajectory classes with OCD symptom severity trajectory classes. The sample consisted of 266 children and adolescents (aged 7-17 years) with OCD, participating in the Nordic long-term OCD treatment study. Latent class growth analysis was conducted using Child Obsessive-Compulsive Impact Scale-Revised (COIS-R) data from children and parents on seven assessment points over a three-year period. A 3-class solution was identified. The largest class (70.7%) initiated treatment with lower functional impairment and obtained moderate reduction which was maintained over time. The second class (24.4%) initiated with higher functional impairment which rapidly diminished over time. The third and smallest class (4.9%), initiated with moderate functional impairment which remained stable over time. The classes differed on measures of OCD severity and comorbid symptoms. Most participants improved with treatment and maintained low levels of impairment. However, a subgroup distinguished by higher levels of ADHD symptoms, remained at pretreatment levels of impairment throughout., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. Thomsen has served on the Advisory Board for the Tryg Foundation and has received speaking honoraria from Medice and Shire within the last three years. Dr. Storch has received research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the International OCD Foundation, the Ream Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He has received royalties from Elsevier Publications, Springer Publications, American Psychological Association, Wiley, Inc, and Lawrence Erlbaum. He has served on the Speaker's Bureau and Scientific Advisory Board for the International OCD Foundation. He is a consultant for Biohaven and Brainsway. He has received research support from the McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair. Dr. Lidewij Wolters receives royalties from Springer Media for co-authorship of a Dutch treatment protocol for pediatric OCD. All other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programs adapted to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) effectively reduce anxiety when run in university clinics. Forty-nine children aged 8-14 years participated in a waitlist controlled study in a general child psychiatric hospital setting. Post-treatment 30% of the children were free of their primary anxiety diagnoses and 5% were free of all anxiety diagnoses. No statistically significant difference between the two trial conditions were found on primary outcomes. However, statistically significant differences were found on secondary outcomes indicating clinically meaningful treatment responses. Together with high program satisfaction this study shows the CBT program to be feasible and potentially efficacious in treating anxiety in children with ASD in a general child psychiatric hospital setting., (© 2020. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: We examined whether neuropsychological function in ADHD can be improved by the New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP), that combines standard parenting strategies with self-regulatory skills training, or predict ADHD and quality of life (QoL) treatment effects., Method: Participants were 93 medication-naive preschool children with ADHD (3-7 years) randomized to either NFPP ( n = 49) or treatment as usual (TAU; n = 44) in a recent randomized trial. Laboratory measures of executive function, reaction time variability, and delay of gratification were collected along with parent ratings of ADHD and QoL at baseline and post treatment. Ratings were collected again at 3-month follow-up., Results: NFPP did not improve neuropsychological function (compared to TAU), and baseline neuropsychological function did not predict treatment-related ADHD or QoL effects., Conclusion: Although NFPP includes a neuropsychological training element and has been shown to improve several clinical outcomes, it did not improve the neuropsychological functions it targets.