Bmc Psychiatry
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The effects of parental components in a trauma-focused cognitive behavioral based therapy for children exposed to interparental violence: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
Interparental violence is both common and harmful and impacts children's lives directly and indirectly. Direct effects refer to affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to interparental violence and psychosocial adjustment. Indirect effects refer to deteriorated parental availability and parent-child interaction. Standard Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be insufficient for children traumatized by exposure to interparental violence, given the pervasive impact of interparental violence on the family system. HORIZON is a trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy based group program with the added component of a preparatory parenting program aimed at improving parental availability; and the added component of parent-child sessions to improve parent-child interaction. ⋯ The current study will enhance our understanding of the efficacy interparental violence-related parental components added to trauma focused cognitive behavioral group program for children who have been exposed to IPV. It will illuminate mechanisms underlying change by considering multiple dimensions of child responses, parenting variables and identify selection criteria for participation in treatment.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of the video game Mindlight on anxiety symptoms in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In the clinical setting, a large proportion of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience anxiety symptoms. Because anxiety is an important cause of impairment for children with an ASD, it is necessary that effective anxiety interventions are implemented for these children. Recently, a serious game called Mindlight has been developed that is focused on decreasing anxiety in children. This approach is based on recent research suggesting that video games might be suitable as an intervention vehicle to enhance mental health in children. In the present study it will be investigated whether Mindlight is effective in decreasing (sub) clinical anxiety symptoms in children who are diagnosed with an ASD. ⋯ This paper aims to describe a study that will examine the effect of the serious game Mindlight on (sub) clinical anxiety symptoms of children with an ASD in the age of 8-16 years old. It is expected that children in the experimental condition will show lower levels of anxiety symptoms at 3-months follow-up, compared to children in the control condition. If Mindlight turns out to be effective, it could be an important contribution to the already existing interventions for anxiety in children with an ASD. Mindlight could then be implemented as an evidence-based treatment for anxiety symptoms in children with an ASD in mental health institutes and special education schools.
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Comparative Study
The characteristics and health needs of pregnant women with schizophrenia compared with bipolar disorder and affective psychoses.
Most women with psychotic disorders and bipolar disorders have children but their pregnancies are at risk of adverse psychiatric and fetal outcome. The extent of modifiable risk factors - both clinical and socio-demographic - is unclear as most studies have used administrative data or recruited from specialist tertiary referral clinics. We therefore aimed to investigate the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of an epidemiologically representative cohort of pregnant women with affective and non-affective severe mental illness. ⋯ A significant proportion of women, particularly those with non-affective psychoses, have modifiable risk factors requiring tailored care to optimize pregnancy outcomes. Mental health professionals need to be mindful of the possibility of pregnancy in women of childbearing age and prescribe and address modifiable risk factors accordingly.
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People with chronic health conditions are known to have a higher prevalence of depressive disorder. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a widely-used screening tool for depression which has not yet been validated for use on chronic care patients in South Africa. ⋯ The PHQ-9 is useful as a screening tool for depression among patients receiving treatment for chronic care in a public health facility.
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Diagnosis of life threatening childhood illness or injury can lead to significant distress reactions in parents, with many experiencing clinically significant levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms. These symptoms can have long-term adverse impacts on parent mental health, family functioning, and the adjustment of the ill child. Independent studies have found such reactions in several different illness groups. However, very little research has systematically compared the prevalence, impact and trajectories over time of post-traumatic stress symptoms in parents across different childhood illness groups with an acute life threat. The current study seeks to map the course of post-traumatic stress reactions in parents of children with various life threatening illnesses over an 18 month period, and identify factors that predict successful adaptation in families. ⋯ This study is one of the first to document the trajectory of post-traumatic stress responses in parents of very ill children, across illness groups. Given that it will also identify risk and resilience factors, and map the course of parent outcomes over an 18 monthperiod, it has the potential to inform novel strategies for intervention.