In recent years clinicians report a great deal of concern about definition, diagnostic assessment, and treatment modalities when dealing with what might be called out-of-control sexual behavior. Many terms have been used to describe the phenomenon of problematic sexual behavior. Many of these concepts overlap, some are no longer popular, and some…

An existing database was used to compare problem gamblers (N = 138) who presented for treatment of their gambling problem to two other groups: alcohol and/or drug addiction clients who also had a gambling problem (N = 280) or who did not have a gambling problem (N = 2178). Clients with gambling as their primary problem were more likely to be…

We used data from a school-based study of 496 adolescent girls to identify qualitatively distinct substance use and substance abuse developmental trajectory groups and tested whether the problematic groups differed from the non-problematic groups on baseline and outcome validation variables. Results identified four substance use groups (late…

The diagnosis of autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), particularly in young children has become a top priority in the fields of mental health and education. Core symptoms include rituals and stereotypies, social skills deficits, and problems in communication. Considerable overlap exists in symptoms for…

This simulation study sought to compare four different computerized adaptive testing (CAT) content-balancing procedures designed for use in a multidimensional assessment with respect to measurement precision, symptom severity classification, validity of clinical diagnostic recommendations, and sensitivity to atypical responding. The four…

PTSD in children and adolescents differs from the adult disease. Therapeutic approaches involve both psychotherapy and psychopharmacotherapy. Objectives: The current paper aims at reviewing studies on psychopharmacological treatment of childhood and adolescent PTSD. Additionally, developmental frameworks for PTSD diagnosis and research along with…

Although effective in treating a range of childhood psychiatric conditions, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have been implicated in the induction of an "activation syndrome" (characterized by symptoms of irritability, restlessness, emotional labiality, etc.) that may represent an intermediary state change that fosters…

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) presents heterogeneously and can be difficult to assess in youth. This review focuses on research-supported assessment approaches for OCD in childhood. Content areas include pre-visit screening, diagnostic establishment, differential diagnosis, assessment of comorbid psychiatric conditions, tracking symptom…

Background: Effective communication is essential to the practice of high-quality medicine. There are methodological challenges in communication skills training. This study was performed in order to assess the educational benefits of communication skills training by video feedback method versus traditional formats such as lectures on clinical…

Background: Autism is a global disorder, but relatively little is known about its presentation and occurrence in many developing countries, including Libya. Aims: 1.) To estimate the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders in children referred to Al-Khadra hospital (KH). 2.) To increase the awareness among pediatrician and primary health care…

We studied the interrelationship between the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (ADOS-G), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and DSM-IV clinical diagnosis, in a Greek sample of 77 children and adolescents, referred for the assessment of a possible pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and presenting a wide range of…

Infants, toddlers and preschoolers are a high risk group for exposure to trauma. Young children are also vulnerable to experiencing adverse outcomes as they are undergoing a rapid developmental period, have limited coping skills and are strongly dependent on their primary caregiver to protect them physically and emotionally. However, although…

Studying attention in the context of emotional stimuli may aid in differentiating pediatric bipolar disorder (BD) from severe mood dysregulation (SMD). SMD is characterized by chronic irritability, arousal, and hyper-reactivity; SMD youth frequently receive a BD diagnosis although they do not meet DSM-IV criteria for BD because they lack manic…

The SCAN-3 is a battery of tasks used for the screening and diagnosis of auditory processing disorder. It is available in two versions, one for children (the SCAN-3: C) and one for adolescents and adults (the SCAN-3: A); the latter version of the SCAN-3 is reviewed in this article, although it is very similar to the child version. The primary…

The neurosurgical goal when treating children with spina bifida (predominantly myelomeningocele) is to maintain stable neurological functioning throughout the patient's life time. Unfortunately, few long-term outcome studies are available to help direct the neurosurgical care of a child born with myelomeningocele and often treatment relies more…