Children behavior problems

Richardson. Effects of prenatal mari- CS423 juana exposure on child behavior problems at age 10. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2000 22(3) 325-336. CS424... 

Wasserman GA, Liu X, Pine DS, et al Contribution of maternal smoking during pregnancy and lead exposure to early child behavior problems. Neurotoxicol Teratol 23 13-21, 2001... 

It s common that children who are poor have higher levels of depression and antisocial behavior.72 This is not a problem unique to America. In Australia, for example, the more often families experience low income, the higher the rate of child behavior problems at age 5.73 Comparable correlations are found nearly everywhere. Prenatal impacts may be one cause. Another cause may be the child s postnatal experience of maternal depression produced by poverty. Owing to social constraints, female children are more likely to remain in poverty than male children. Later, these female children become pregnant and the cycle of impacts begins again. 

Porges SW, Doussard-Roosevelt JA, Portales AL, Gteenspan SI. 1996. Infant regulation of the vagal brake predicts child behavior problems A psychobiological model of social behavior. Devel Psychobiol 29 697— 712. 

Another set of tools that could be utilized are brief rating scales. DSM-IV mandates that ADHD symptoms must be present in at least two settings. For children and adolescents, school is invariably one of the two settings. To get a sense of the comparative problems in school versus those at home, psychiatrists often use rating scales that can be completed by both parents and one or more teachers. The Conners Teacher Rating Scale, Conners Parent Rating Scale, and the Child Behavior Checklist are the most commonly nsed scales to evalnate the symptoms of ADHD. 

Eaves LJ, Silberg JL, Meyer JM, Maes HH, Simonoff E, Pickles A, Rntter M, Neale MC, Reynolds CA, Erikson MT, Heath AC, Loeber R, Trnett KR, Hewitt JK (1997) Genetics and developmental psychopathology. 2. The main effects of genes and environment on behavioral problems in the Virginia Twin Stndy of Adolescent Behavioral Development. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38 965-980... 

Nisonger Child Behavior 2 prosocial and 6 problem P, T Aman et al., 1996 Tasse et al.,... 

Preschoolers Child Behavior Checklist/ 2-3 100 items rated 0—2, 6 subscales social withdrawal, depressed, sleep problems, somatic problems, aggressive, destructive P Achenbach et ah, 1992... 

A final limitation of stimulant treatment alone has to do with its applicability to home behavior problems. Many pharmacotherapists limit the use of stimulants to school hours during the 9 months of the academic year, to avoid growth and appetite suppression, sleep disruption, and other undesirable side effects. This leaves parents to their own devices to manage impulsive, oppositional, and disruptive behavior in the afternoons and evenings, weekends, and summers. When no other treatment is provided, parents frequently resort to coercive, hostile, and overly punitive interactions with their children, which may exacerbate rather than improve the child s behavioral problems. This is a par-... 

Recently, Janssen Pharmaceutica launched several studies of risperidone in children with borderline IQ or MR and a diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder (usually oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder). To be admissible into the study, subjects needed to be 5 to 12 years old, inclusive, and score above 24 on the Conduct Problem subscale of the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form (NCBRF). One 6-week acute trial (n = 118) was conducted in the United States (Aman et al., in press), whereas the other n = 110) was based in Canada (Snyder et al., in press). The findings of the two studies were virtually identical, with... 

There have been numerous trials of use of the atypical antipsychotics in patients with developmental disabilities, but most of these trials were uncontrolled open-labeled studies or case reports (Aman and Madrid, 1999). Findings were reported for 86 adults and 1 child with prominent self-injury. The reports of adults assessed clozapine (1 report) and risperidone (4 reports). Improvement was observed for a majority of participants in all of these trials. The patients presented with a multitude of conditions, ranging from nonspecific MR and associated behavior problems, to pervasive developmental disorders (including autism), to various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and manic disorder. Self-injury appeared to respond to treatment regardless of concomitant condition. In the only clozapine report with a child (who had autistic disorder), a mean dose of 283 mg/day caused a transient reduction in self-injury. 

Comings, D.E., Coming, B.F., Tacket, T, and Li, S. (1990) The clon-idine patch and behavior problems. / Am Acad Child Adoles Psychiatry 29 661—66%. 

Johnson, T.C. (1993) Assessment of sexual behavior problems in preschool-aged and latency-aged children. In A., Yates, ed. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Philidelphia W.B. Saunders, pp. 431-449. 

Most of the studies that have been done with antidepressants are limited to TCAs and SSRIs, most likely reflecting the fact that these medications are widely used (511, 512). The good news is that these studies have not detected an obvious increased risk of major structural anomalies. The cautionary note is that most of these studies assess the child immediately after birth and thus are insensitive to detecting neurodevelopmental problems that may only emerge after longer periods of time (e.g., learning or behavioral problems). 

Over 50% of Americans who currently drink report having a close relative who abuses alcohol 25% are children of an alcoholic parent. Alcohol abuse can devastate families by causing separation, divorce, and domestic violence, as well child abuse and neglect. Six million children live with an alcohol-abusing parent, and this can result in problems at school such as low attendance, academic difficulties, attention deficit disorders, and behavioral problems. Each year in America, more than 100,000 people die from alcohol-related accidents (cars, falls, fires, drownings, burns), cancer, liver disease, and stroke. 

The scapegoat tries to win the alcoholic s attention by engaging in negative behavior. This child often does poorly in school, can have behavioral problems or attention deficit disorders that affect learn-... 

Women who smoke marijuana during pregnancy may have low birth-weight babies who are at risk for developmental difficulties and are more susceptible to disease. Like other drugs, THC also crosses the placental barrier and affects the embryo as it grows some studies indicate that this may increase a baby s risk of developing leukemia. THC also passes into breast milk, where research has shown that it can affect a child s motor development. Toddlers whose parents smoke marijuana have been found to be angrier and to have more behavioral problems than children whose parents do not use marijuana. 

Enhance positive responses. If the child has problems reacting to the consequences of his or her actions, or tends to act impulsively, behavioral interventions that enhance positive responses immediately may work best. For example, give the child... 

Kramer JR, Loney J, Ponto LB, Roberts MA, Grossman S. Predictors of adult height and weight in boys treated with methylphenidate for childhood behavior problems. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2000 39(4) 517-24. 

Risperidone was also effective and well tolerated in 118 children aged 5-12 years with subaverage intelligence and severely disruptive behavior in a 6-week, multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial (7). Risperidone produced significantly greater improvement than placebo on the conduct problem subscale of the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form from week 1 (respective reductions in score of 15 and 6). The most common adverse effects of risperidone (mean dose at end-point 1.16 mg/day) were headache and somnolence the extrapyramidal symptom profile of... 

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