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Archive for January, 2011

 

Jared D. Michonski email and Carla Sharp email

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2010, 4:24doi:10.1186/1753-2000-4-24

 
Published: 3 September 2010

Abstract (provisional)

Background

In his developmental model of emerging psychopathy, Lynam proposed that the “fledgling psychopath” is most likely to be located within a subgroup of children elevated in both hyperactivity/inattention/impulsivity (HIA) and conduct problems (CP). This approach has garnered some empirical support. However, the extent to which Lynam’s model captures children who resemble psychopathy with regard to the core affective and interpersonal features remains unclear. Methods. In the present study, we investigated this issue within a large community sample of youth (N = 617). Four groups (non-HIA-CP, HIA-only, CP-only, and HIA-CP), defined on the basis of teacher reports of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), were compared with respect to parent-reported psychopathic-like traits and subjective emotional reactivity in response to unpleasant, emotionally-laden pictures from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS). Results. Results did not support Lynam’s model. HIA-CP children did not appear most psychopathic-like on dimensions of callous-unemotional and narcissistic personality, nor did they report reduced emotional reactivity to the IAPS relative to the other children. Post-hoc regression analyses revealed a significant moderation such that elevated HIA weakened the association between CP and emotional underarousal. Conclusions. Implications of these findings with regard to the development of psychopathy are discussed.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Source:  http://www.capmh.com/content/4/1/24

 

 



 

Children with autism may stare at geometric patterns when they are just 14 months old rather than look at kids playing around or doing yoga, say researchers in an article published in Archives of General Psychiatry. Children without autism prefer looking at other kids doing things, the authors added.

Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person’s life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person’s communication and social interaction skills. People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter. ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder and can sometimes be referred to as Autistic Spectrum Disorder. A person with an ASD typically has difficulty with social and communication skills. A person with ASD will typically also prefer to stick to a set of behaviors and will resist any major (and many minor) changes to daily activities. (Link: What is autism ?)

The authors write as background information in the article:

It is undeniable that early treatment can have a significant positive impact on the long-term outcome for children with an autism spectrum disorder. Early treatment, however, generally relies on the age at which a diagnosis can be made, thus pushing early identification research into a category of high public health priority.

The researchers explain that eye-tracking technology can help assess children at a very early age for level and types of functioning; it has potential as a method for characterizing the early features of autism.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/200188.php



 

By John M Grohol PsyD

I remain astounded that psychiatrists and pediatricians think it’s occasionally appropriate to prescribe adult atypical antipsychotic medications — like Risperdal — to children younger than age 5.

Last week, The New York Times covered the story of Kyle Warren, a boy who began risperidone (Risperdal) treatment at age 2. Yes, you read the right — age 2.

He was rescued from this unbelievable prescription by Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason through a treatment effort called the Early Childhood Supporters and Services program in Louisiana. Dr. Gleason helped wean young Kyle off of the medications from ages 3 to 5, and helped understand that Kyle’s tantrums came from his stressful and upsetting family situation — not a brain disorder, bipolar disorder, or autism.

Imagine that — a child responding to a family situation that is stressful and involves his two primary role models — his parents.

After carefully reviewing the limited amount of research in this area, Psych Central recommends that parents should never accept an atypical antipsychotic medication prescription for a child age 5 or younger. If your doctor makes such a prescription, you should (a) look for another doctor and (b) consider filing a complaint with your state’s medical board against the doctor.

There is an astonishing lack of empirical or clinical data that suggest prescribing these kinds of medications to such young children — age 5 or younger — results in any significant change in mood or behavior. Lacking such data, it our opinion that it is simply irresponsible and inappropriate for medical professionals to prescribe such medications to young children.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/09/07/antipsychotics-are-not-appropriate-for-a-2-year-old/



 

By Robin Hansen

Wendy Portillo, a Florida teacher was suspended from teaching for one year after it had been discovered that she subjected her kindergarten class to a survivor style lesson.  

In 2008 she allowed her kindergarten students to vote a child with autism out of their classroom. The boy, 5-year-old Alex Barton, was humiliated. Only a few classmates spoke up to defend little Alex.  The story made headlines.  Portillo was staunchly defended by her peers and many others who said Portillo simply made a mistake.  Others felt little Alex deserved such treatment.   For a while, it looked like Portillo might loose her credential but instead she only got a suspension.  However it looked like Alex Barton’s supporters had it right all along. 

Now, in the latest case, a report from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found evidence that Portillo and two other teachers discriminated against a girl with a hearing impairment at Allapattah Flats K-8 School in Port St Lucie.

The teachers were supposed to wear a microphone whenever the girl was in their classroom, so she could hear them. But the girl claimed sometimes they did not wear it.

Allegations listed in the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights report:

  • “That one teacher never wore the microphone and screamed and yelled at the student to pay closer attention.”
  • One teacher  wore the microphone, but did not turn it on, and “laughed sarcastically in the face of the student”.
  • Federal investigators found, “The weight of the evidence establishes that the microphone was not being used by all three teachers consistently every day”.

The district has been ordered to provide re-training for Portillo and the other two teachers. However the mother has already removed her daughter from the school. 

One can only hope that these teachers get their credentials revoked,  especially Portillo.  However, like the school staffer who killed Cedric Price, they can easily get another credential in another state.  

For more info: click here.

Source:  http://www.examiner.com/special-education-in-national/teacher-who-kicked-5-year-old-autistic-out-of-class-now-refused-to-wear-mike-for-deaf-child



 

Sara Peterson

Article By: Reader’s Digest and Helen Signy

Most of us know the stereotype: the child with the flapping hands who avoids eye contact and throws a tantrum at the least provocation. In South Africa, one in every 110 people are estimated to have autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), ranging from mild to severe, with 23 affected babies born every day. ASDs are typified by difficulties with social interaction and communication, hypersensitive senses and repetitive behaviours. Social programmes tend to focus on children; adults with ASDs can be overlooked. Helen Signy speaks to three people about what life’s really like.

Sara Peterson, 28

Sara has overcome the physical symptoms of autism with a range of alternative therapies. She now works as a public servant in statistical analysis.

I went to a selective high school so clearly I’m not a dumb person. But people confused my social inability with an intellectual disability and I got teased.

Although it was very hurtful, I went along with it because there wasn’t much point in fighting it. I did very well in primary school, where I didn’t have to focus so much on the social side. At high school, because I was so far behind socially, my focus was on watching other kids and picking up social skills. It wasn’t until university that I was able to show my full capabilities.

Often in lessons I wouldn’t learn anything, I’d do my own thing. You get very good at masking the fact that you haven’t heard anything at all. It’s as if your brain has a lot of junk in it. To get anything from the outside world, to pick up what people are saying, to hear properly, is hard for me. I can hear, but I don’t necessarily understand. Trying to get a communication out is like trying to get a brick through a sieve. It’s a complex process to hear everything that someone is saying, understand and think about it, then turn that thought into a reply. Our brains don’t work as quickly in that whole process.

I have had weird ways of walking. Sometimes I’d skip around my house. Or I’d annoy the hell out of my partner by poking him and being stupid. It’s almost as if doing things like that relaxes the nervous system; it makes you feel less anxious. In other words, you selfmedicate. The urge to act like that is strong. I also hate being hugged. It’s too light a touch. It’s ticklish.

All my senses are affected [by autism]. When I read, I don’t see a white page, I see bits of colour. I’d read and drift off because I was too busy looking at the pretty colours behind the words. I don’t like the colours on my computer screen, particularly at work. Some days I log in and feel like going home. Noises hurt my ears. The most painful experience I’ve ever had in my life was four years ago when my brother came up behind me and made a very highpitched noise next to my ear. I’m distracted by sounds, plates crashing, the general noise of people talking.

I’m also very sensitive to the texture of food. It’s hard to cope with something that’s slimy. I’ve tried for many years to desensitise myself – for example, to teach myself to eat a grape. It’s the texture, the way it pops in your mouth, the way when you chew it disintegrates, it’s swallowing, it’s every part of eating it. I love the taste of strawberries, but eating one feels as if you are getting a mouthful of seeds. I used to gag all the time when I was eating. People think you are being precious.

Stomach problems are an under- recognised part of autism. For whatever reasons, the gastrointestinal tract develops problems that contribute to the symptoms. You think the pain is normal. Until recently, I didn’t know what bloating meant, I thought everyone had it. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome after I’d had a couple of viruses. I started biomedical treatments – supplements, diet, homeopathic remedies. I am now better. The treatment has changed my life.

I love my job. I do statistical analysis – it’s a repetitive task, very technical and specific. I met my partner, James, on the first day. He’s been amazing. James and I were married earlier this year. For me the greatest challenge was feeling overwhelmed by all the frantic activity and not having time to stop and be quiet – something I’m sure I have in common with most brides!

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Wendy Lawson

Wendy Lawson, 58

Wendy was diagnosed as having an intellectual disability as an infant, and sent away to college as a teenager. She attempted suicide and was treated as a schizophrenic for 25 years before she was finally found to have highfunctioning autism. A mother of four children, now adults, including two sons with ASD, she is a freelance writer, poet and lecturer, and recently obtained a PhD.

When I’m around other people, it’s like watching a video – it’s all going on in front of me, I can look – but not touch. I can’t connect to it. It’s similar to being in a large crowd, a sea of faces, but for me it happens in my family home.

Our brains are configured to work with single attention. One thing captures all that attention. Then, something else comes along and either distracts or overwhelms you. When you’re talking to someone, you may notice his or her body language, or clothes, the shine on their shoes, a speck on the wall – any one of these captures your attention so there may be no available attention for speech. We are single-channel people.

Listening and talking is really hard to do. People try to get you to look at them when you’re talking and that’s a nightmare. I hear better when I put my ear to you rather than my eye.

We’re very literal. People talk in metaphors all the time. Someone will say, “I will just be a minute”, and the minute’s gone and they haven’t come back and I’m getting quite angry, it feels as if I’ve been lied to. If you’re autistic, you take things literally. Sometimes, I have to sit and think about what these things mean. For children with autism this is a nightmare. I’ve written a book and made a concise dictionary of metaphors, but if you introduce an unknown metaphor I find it hard.

Source:  http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/parenting/features/661151.html?p=2



 

Brian Thompson, Ph.D. Updated: Sep 3rd 2010

Sometimes the most effective way to manage distress is to stop struggling against what’s painful. It doesn’t necessarily make it go away; however, we at least let go of the additional stress we cause ourselves when we struggle against something we can’t get rid of. Chronic pain is a great example of this.

Chronic pain is pain that persists for months and years, and it can be a complicated and frustrating condition. Those who struggle with pain know that medical treatments have limited use in helping to manage it. Although pain had traditionally been treated as a physical problem, we now know that psychological and environmental conditions influence the experience of pain. Pain can be exacerbated by stress, too much activity, too little activity, and a whole host of other factors. Additionally, it is common for people with chronic pain to struggle with anxiety and depression.

Recently, a new psychological treatment was added to the list of pain treatments. Division 12 of the American Psychological Association, the main organization for psychologists, evaluates psychological treatments that are shown to be effective for certain conditions. They require several high quality research studies in order for a treatment to make their list of what they call “empirically supported treatments.” (Click on these links to see the list of treatments and the list of disorders.)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a relatively newer treatment with an expanding research base, was recently added to the list as a treatment for chronic pain. In fact, a new category of pain was created for ACT: “chronic or persistent pain.” This is unique in that the four other accepted pain treatments are listed for specific types of pain (e.g., headache, fibromyalgia), while ACT was recognized as being useful in treating a broad range of pain conditions.

Read in Full:  http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=39475&cn=81



 

Article Date: 03 Sep 2010 – 2:00 PDT

Psychological migraine treatment gives sufferers a confidence boost in their ability to self-manage their symptoms.

For severe migraine sufferers, psychological treatments build on the benefits of drug therapy, according to a new study by Elizabeth Seng and Dr. Kenneth Holroyd from Ohio University in the US. Their comparison of the effects of various treatment combinations for severe migraine – drug therapy with or without behavioral management – shows that those patients receiving the behavioral management program alongside drug therapy are significantly more confident in their ability to use behavioral skills to effectively self-manage migraines. And surprisingly, the increase in confidence in self-management abilities is greatest among those who feel that they have very little control over their condition before treatment starts. Seng’s and Holroyd’s findings are published online in Springer’s journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199823.php



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How to turn a workplace hell into a workplace heaven

We spend nearly a third of our life at work (including time thinking about or worrying about work). A wonderful workplace can enrich our lives, provide a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and a source for friendships and social connections. A terrible workplace can become a living hell, leading to stress, depression, and dissatisfaction.

It is important for businesses, large and small, to try to make the workplace as positive and as productive an environment as possible. Here are several suggestions on how to make your place of work better.

Promote Regular Team-Building Activities. The best places to work (think Google, Cisco and Whole Foods Market) have a shared commitment to the organization’s purpose. At these companies, employees (who are often referred to as “team members”) believe in the company and what they are doing and they support one another.

To get that shared sense of purpose, it is important to focus on ways to build it. Some organizations have the resources to put on regular, consultant-assisted team building programs. But even small organizations that lack those resources can create team-building activities that can accomplish tasks while building that shared purpose and commitment.

For example, consider having all employees contribute to the creation of a company brochure or website. Such promotional materials for the company allow each member to focus on the organization’s mission and purpose, and to focus on the “positives” associated with the company.

We have gotten the same effect by having all of our team members contribute to the writing of an annual report. It offers the opportunity for everyone to reflect on their personal accomplishments and learn about and celebrate the accomplishments of others, and turns an onerous task of “reporting,” (formerly done by the executive team) into one of celebration and teamwork (Hint: This can be done on a wiki website!).

Create a Culture of Mutual Respect. A core value of every organization should be one of mutual respect and civility. Of course, this is easier said than done, but a starting point is to simply promote this value. Company leaders play a critical part in creating an atmosphere of respect and stopping instances of employee-to-employee (or supervisory) abuse.

My daughter’s elementary school has done a wonderful job of this. They regularly discuss the value of mutual respect at assemblies. There are prominent signs that say: “No-Bully Zone,” and a zero tolerance policy for bullying. [Note: Not simply a schoolyard phenomenon, workplace bullying is on the rise and an oft-ignored workplace problem].

Read in Full:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201009/how-create-better-workplace



 

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 2, 2010

Researchers have discovered a particular form of meditation known as mindfulness meditation appears to improve the outlook of male teenagers.

The technique, based on the processes of learning to become more aware of our ongoing experiences, was found to increase well-being in adolescent boys.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed 155 boys from two independent UK schools, Tonbridge and Hampton, before and after a four-week crash course in mindfulness.

After the trial period, the 14- and 15-year-old boys were found to have increased wellbeing, defined as the combination of feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, interest and affection) and functioning well.

Professor Felicia Huppert at the University of Cambridge said: “More and more we are realizing the importance of supporting the overall mental health of children. Our study demonstrates that this type of training improves wellbeing in adolescents and that the more they practice, the greater the benefits.

“Importantly, many of the students genuinely enjoyed the exercises and said they intended to continue them – a good sign that many children would be receptive to this type of intervention.

“Another significant aspect of this study is that adolescents who suffered from higher levels of anxiety were the ones who benefited most from the training.”

For the experiment, students in six classes were trained in mindful awareness – mindfulness. Mindfulness is a ‘way of paying attention. It means consciously bringing awareness to our experience, in the present moment, without making judgements about it.’

Students in the five control classes attended their normal religious studies lessons.

The training consisted of four 40-minute classes, one per week, which presented the principles and practice of mindfulness.

The classes covered the concepts of awareness and acceptance, and taught the schoolboys such things as how to practice bodily awareness by noticing where they were in contact with their chairs or the floor, paying attention to their breathing, and noticing all the sensations involved in walking.

The students were also asked to practice outside the classroom and were encouraged to listen to a CD or mp3 file for eight minutes a day. These exercises are intended to improve concentration and reduce stress.

All participants completed a short series of online questionnaires before and after the mindfulness project. The questionnaires measured the effect of the training on changes in mindful awareness, resilience (the ability to modify responses to changing situations) and psychological well-being.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/02/meditation-improves-attitude-of-teenage-boys/17608.html



 

New research confirms that psychedelic drugs are promising treatments for depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia

Moheb Costandi writes the Neurophilosophy blog