Faculty Bibliography

AIMS: The purpose of these analyses was to examine the persistence and predictors of elevated depressive symptoms in 884 women over their children's preschool years. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms in women with young children are surprisingly consistent throughout their children's preschool years. Of the 82.6% of women without elevated depressive symptoms at the initial assessment (study child was 11-42 months of age), 82.4% remained without symptoms over two follow-up assessments. Of 17.4% of women with elevated symptoms at baseline, 35.6% had elevated symptoms at one of the two follow-ups, and 27.4% had elevated symptoms at both follow-ups. Persistently elevated depressive symptoms were related to low education, high levels of anxiety, high parenting distress, and low levels of emotional support at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Women who report symptoms of depression when their children are young are highly likely to continue to report such symptoms. These results support the need to screen for elevated depressive symptoms at varying intervals depending on prior screening results and for screening in locations where women most at risk routinely visit, such as well-child clinics. Further, these results point to the need for a system to identify and manage this common treatable condition because these elevated symptoms continue throughout their children's preschool years for a substantial portion of women.

Objective: Increased incidence of schizophrenia is observed among some immigrant groups in Europe, with the offspring of immigrants, ie 'second-generation' immigrants particularly vulnerable. Few contemporary studies have evaluated the risk of schizophrenia among second-generation immigrants in other parts of the world. Methods: We studied the incidence of schizophrenia in relation to parental immigrant status in a population-based cohort of 88 829 offspring born in Jerusalem in 1964-1976. Parental countries of birth were obtained from birth certificates and grouped together as (1) Israel, (2) Other West Asia, (3) North Africa, and (4) Europe and industrialized countries. Cox proportional hazards methods were used in adjusting for sex, parents' ages, maternal education, social class, and birth order. Results: Linkage with Israel's Psychiatric Registry identified 637 people admitted to psychiatric care facilities with schizophrenia-related diagnoses, before 1998. Incidence of schizophrenia was not increased among second-generation immigrants in this birth cohort, neither overall nor by specific group. Conclusions: The difference in risk of schizophrenia among second-generation immigrants in Europe and in this Israeli birth cohort suggests that the nature of the immigration experience may be relevant to risk, including reasons for migration, the nature of entry, and subsequent position in the host country for immigrants and their offspring. Minority status may be of importance as, in later studies, immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia had increased risk of schizophrenia

With increased public awareness of the early signs and recent American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that all 18- and 24-month-olds be screened for autism spectrum disorders, there is an increasing need for diagnostic assessment of very young children. However, unique challenges exist in applying current diagnostic guidelines for autism spectrum disorders to children under the age of 2 years. In this article, we address challenges related to early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders in this age group. We provide a comprehensive review of findings from recent studies on the early development of children with autism spectrum disorders, summarizing current knowledge on early signs of autism spectrum disorders, the screening properties of early detection tools, and current best practice for diagnostic assessment of autism spectrum disorders before 2 years of age. We also outline principles of effective intervention for children under the age of 2 with suspected/confirmed autism spectrum disorders. It is hoped that ongoing studies will provide an even stronger foundation for evidence-based diagnostic and intervention approaches for this critically important age group

The authors examined a new assessment of behavioral regulation and contributions to achievement and teacher-rated classroom functioning in a sample (N = 343) of kindergarteners from 2 geographical sites in the United States. Behavioral regulation was measured with the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task, a structured observation requiring children to perform the opposite of a dominant response to 4 different oral commands. Results revealed considerable variability in HTKS scores. Evidence for construct validity was found in positive correlations with parent ratings of attentional focusing and inhibitory control and teacher ratings of classroom behavioral regulation. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that higher levels of behavioral regulation in the fall predicted stronger levels of achievement in the spring and better teacher-rated classroom self-regulation (all ps < .01) but not interpersonal skills. Evidence for domain specificity emerged, in which gains in behavioral regulation predicted gains in mathematics but not in language and literacy over the kindergarten year (p < .01) after site, child gender, and other background variables were controlled. Discussion focuses on the importance of behavioral regulation for successful adjustment to the demands of kindergarten

This study examined the relationship between having a family history of affective disorder and neuropsychological functioning and PANSS symptoms in schizophrenia patients falling into four exclusive family history groups (affective spectrum disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, both, or neither). Schizophrenia patients with a family history of affective illness had the best performance on IQ tests and executive function measures. Symptoms showed fewer family history group differences. Schizophrenia patients with a family history of affective disorder may be a distinct subtype in the group of schizophrenias and may be biologically more similar to patients with serious affective disorder

Enhanced brain reward function could contribute to resilience to trauma. Reward circuitry in active duty, resilient special forces (SF) soldiers was evaluated using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary incentive delay task. Findings in this group of resilient individuals revealed unique patterns of activation during expectation of reward in the subgenual prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens area, regions pivotal to reward processes.