The American journal of psychiatry
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Comparative Study
Sudden death and use of stimulant medications in youths.
The authors sought to determine whether a significant association exists between the use of stimulants and the rare event of sudden unexplained death in children and adolescents. ⋯ This case-control study provides support for an association between the use of stimulants and sudden unexplained death among children and adolescents. Although sudden unexplained death is a rare event, this finding should be considered in the context of other data about the risk and benefit of stimulants in medical treatment.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Institutional rearing and psychiatric disorders in Romanian preschool children.
There is increasing interest in the relations between adverse early experiences and subsequent psychiatric disorders. Institutional rearing is considered an adverse caregiving environment, but few studies have systematically examined its effects. This study aimed to determine whether removing young children from institutional care and placing them with foster families would reduce psychiatric morbidity at 54 months of age. ⋯ Institutional rearing was associated with substantial psychiatric morbidity. Removing young children from institutions and placing them in families significantly reduced internalizing disorders, although girls were significantly more responsive to this intervention than boys.
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This case study presents an overview of the conceptualization and treatment of two veterans of the Iraq War who presented for combat-related treatment at a Veterans Administration Medical Center. In addition to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of reexperiencing, arousal, and avoidance, the veterans exhibited compulsive checking behaviors that appear to be influenced by theater-specific combat duties and traumatic events. These cases represent what the authors believe to be an increasingly common expression of PTSD in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. ⋯ The unique nature of the conflict in the Middle East represents role challenges for soldiers that affect symptom presentation. Variations in symptom presentation can in turn complicate efforts to identify and appropriately address PTSD-related health concerns in this population. Thus, clinicians and researchers must remain cognizant of how theater-specific duties influence the manifestation and treatment of PTSD in order to provide optimal care to a new generation of veterans.