Background: Little is known about the predictive validity of hyperkinetic disorder (HKD) as defined by the Diagnostic Criteria for Research for mental and behavioral disorders of the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10; World Health Organization, 1993), particularly when the diagnosis is given to younger children.…

Bullying is an ongoing method of mistreating, dominating, hurting, frightening, and/or browbeating another person by an individual or group. Bullies use physical, verbal, and psychological methods to humiliate, embarrass, and overpower others. Bullying by boys and girls can happen at any age, but it peaks in the middle school/junior high school…

Background: Maturation of prefrontal circuits during adolescence contributes to the development of cognitive processes such as decision-making. Recent theories suggest that these neural changes also play a role in the shift from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to depression that often occurs during this developmental period. Cognitive models of…

Background: Psychophysiological measurement of processes related to social behavior may be valuable for research on individual differences and subgroups among children with autism spectrum disorders (Coleman, 1987; Dawson, Klinger, Panagiotides, Lewy, & Castelloe, 1995; Modahl et al., 1998). In particular, recent research and theory suggests that…

This study evaluated a 9-week Internet-based self-help program for people suffering from social phobia. After confirming the diagnosis with a structured clinical interview for the "DSM-IV" (SCID) by telephone, 26 participants were treated with a multimodal treatment package based on cognitive behavioural therapy plus weekly therapist…

Background: Research on children's emotional behaviour has been hampered by the lack of psychometric assessment scales. The present study reports on the construction and validation of a new self-report instrument to measure the emotional response styles of adolescents. Method: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out on the…

Recent research in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience has demonstrated reliable associations between temperament and individual differences in sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental cues and behavioral consequences. Temperament-influenced behavior patterns evident in infancy have also been found to predict behavioral tendencies in…

This study examined the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural therapy programme for 13 children treated for severe emotional or behaviour disorders in a hospital setting. Data were obtained from multiple informants at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and three months follow-up. Results indicated statistically significant improvement in the…

Background: Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), the most frequent known interstitial deletion identified in man, is associated with chromosomal microdeletions in the q11 band of chromosome 22. Individuals with VCFS are reported to have a characteristic behavioural phenotype with high rates of behavioural, psychiatric, neuropsychological and…

Despite the efficacy of cognitive behavioural treatment for anxiety disorders, more than 70% of individuals with anxiety disorders go untreated every year. This is partially due to obstacles to treatment including limited access to mental health services for rural residents, the expense of treatment and the inconvenience of attending weekly…

Background: The aim of the study was to examine the association between anxious/withdrawn behaviours at age 8 and the development of internalising disorders in adolescence and young adulthood (ages 16-21). Methods: Data were gathered over the course of a 21-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of over 1,000 New-Zealand-born young people. Over…

DBT and EMDR as primary treatment methods provide effective treatment for adolescents in the setting of group residential facilities. Regardless of the intensity of the pathology or the length of stay, these compatible treatment methods provide adolescents with significant decreases in the impact of traumatic memories and increased emotional…

There is increasing concern about the number of preschool children displaying problem behaviour. This study examines the relative contribution of potential risk factors, particularly those related to families, to problem behaviour in the lives of a sample of western Sydney three- to five-year-old children. Problem behaviour was assessed using the…

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with the development of numerous adult mental disorders. Women with a history of CSA were surveyed concerning their abuse experience and prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders. The 63 women in the low morbidity cluster had a mean of 1.02 disorders. The 11 women in the moderate morbidity cluster had a mean…

Background: Studies in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) document abnormalities in both memory and face-emotion processing. The current study used a novel face-memory task to test the hypothesis that adolescent MDD is associated with a deficit in memory for face-emotions. The study also examines the relationship between parental MDD and…