Affective Computing for Late-Life Mood and Cognitive Disorders

Affective computing (also referred to as artificial emotion intelligence or emotion AI) is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate emotion or other affective phenomena. With the rapid growth in the aging population around the world, affective computing has immense potential to benefit the treatment and care of late-life mood and cognitive disorders. For late-life depression, affective computing ranging from vocal biomarkers to facial expressions to social media behavioral analysis can be used to address inadequacies of current screening and diagnostic approaches, mitigate loneliness and isolation, provide more personalized treatment approaches, and detect risk of suicide. Similarly, for Alzheimer\u27s disease, eye movement analysis, vocal biomarkers, and driving and behavior can provide objective biomarkers for early identification and monitoring, allow more comprehensive understanding of daily life and disease fluctuations, and facilitate an understanding of behavioral and psychological symptoms such as agitation. To optimize the utility of affective computing while mitigating potential risks and ensure responsible development, ethical development of affective computing applications for late-life mood and cognitive disorders is needed

Screening for PTSD and functional impairment in trauma-exposed young children: evaluation of alternative CBCL-PTSD subscales

The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1.5–5 years) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subscale by Dehon & Scheeringa (2006) as a screener for PTSD in trauma-exposed young children has yielded inconsistent results so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to create and examine the validity of alternative CBCL-PTSD subscales and compare them to the existing CBCL-PTSD subscale based on the DSM-5 PTSD diagnostic criteria for children 6 years and younger. Further, the CBCL-PTSD subscales were examined regarding their usefulness in screening for posttraumatic stress-related functional impairment. The sample comprised 116 trauma-exposed young children (M$_{age}$ = 3.42 years, SD$_{age}$ = 1.21 years, female = 49.1%). The psychometric properties of the existing CBCL-PTSD subscale as well as the alternative subscales based on expert rating (CBCL-PTSD-17) and based on variable importance (CBCL-PTSD-6) were evaluated by means of receiver operating characteristic curves, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values. Area under the curves for all three investigated CBCL-PTSD subscales were good to excellent for PTSD and functional impairment. Further, all three CBCL-PTSD subscales showed high sensitivity for PTSD and functional impairment. Considering the length and the performance of the three investigated subscales, the CBCL-PTSD-6 appears to be a promising and clinically useful CBCL-PTSD subscale as a screener for PTSD and functional impairment due to the easiest and most practicable application. For purposes of discriminant validation of the CBCL-PTSD-6, young children without a history of trauma should be compared to young children with trauma history

Project Reach: Implementation of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Within Integrated Healthcare for Hurricane Harvey Affected Individuals

Project Reach was established to deliver evidence-based mental healthcare services to children and adults affected by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. Through Project Reach, an innovative multi-component assessment and treatment service is utilized to identify and treat in integrated healthcare settings both children and adults exhibiting significant behavioral health concerns in Houston. The aim is to provide sustainable, integrated mental health services through primary care and school-based settings to post-Harvey affected individuals whose emotional needs remain unmet. This paper describes the design and implementation of Project Reach as well as special considerations for implementation. The overall goal of Project Reach is to form a platform for expanding integrated services for those affected by Harvey that will maximize behavioral health outcomes while reducing cost and improving access

Intensive family exposure-based cognitive-behavioral treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa exhibits high comorbidity rates and shared features with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anxiety-based etiological models have proposed that fear of eating-related stimuli is the central mechanism around which avoidance of food and foodrelated rituals are performed. Building on this approach, exposure-based interventions have demonstrated promising results. Limited evidence in adolescents encourages the evaluation of exposure approaches in this population. Method: The current study presents a preliminary evaluation, in eight adolescents with anorexia nervosa, of an exposure-based CBT featuring an intensive format and parental involvement. Results: signifi cant improvements in physical and psychological outcomes were observed. Conclusions: this case series provides preliminary support for the effi cacy of intensive family exposure-based CBT for treating adolescents with severe anorexia nervosa.Psicologí

A Multicenter Examination and Strategic Revisions of the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale

Objective To examine the internal consistency and distribution of the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) scores to inform modification of the measure. Methods This cross-sectional study included 617 participants with a tic disorder (516 children and 101 adults), who completed an age-appropriate diagnostic interview and the YGTSS to evaluate tic symptom severity. The distributions of scores on YGTSS dimensions were evaluated for normality and skewness. For dimensions that were skewed across motor and phonic tics, a modified Delphi consensus process was used to revise selected anchor points. Results Children and adults had similar clinical characteristics, including tic symptom severity. All participants were examined together. Strong internal consistency was identified for the YGTSS Motor Tic score (α = 0.80), YGTSS Phonic Tic score (α = 0.87), and YGTSS Total Tic score (α = 0.82). The YGTSS Total Tic and Impairment scores exhibited relatively normal distributions. Several subscales and individual item scales departed from a normal distribution. Higher scores were more often used on the Motor Tic Number, Frequency, and Intensity dimensions and the Phonic Tic Frequency dimension. By contrast, lower scores were more often used on Motor Tic Complexity and Interference, and Phonic Tic Number, Intensity, Complexity, and Interference. Conclusions The YGTSS exhibits good internal consistency across children and adults. The parallel findings across Motor and Phonic Frequency, Complexity, and Interference dimensions prompted minor revisions to the anchor point description to promote use of the full range of scores in each dimension. Specific minor revisions to the YGTSS Phonic Tic Symptom Checklist were also proposed

Brief Report: Exposure and Response Prevention for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in a 12-year-old with Autism

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves exaggerated or excessive worry about threatening and non-threatening stimuli coupled with impairing rituals believed to reduce anxiety. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairment in social and communicative activities as well as restricted and repetitive behaviors. Approximately 2% of children with ASD are also diagnosed with OCD. Although there is extensive research demonstrating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for pediatric OCD, little is known about how effective these treatments are for children who have a dual diagnosis of OCD and ASD. This report describes a 12-year-old male with Autism who was treated successfully with cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention. This case study provides initial support that cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in symptom reduction for children with comorbid autism and OCD

Development And Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation of the Children\u27s Saving Inventory

This study reports on the development and initial psychometric properties of the Children\u27s Saving Inventory (CSI), a parent-rated measure designed to assess child hoarding behaviors. Subjects included 123 children and adolescents diagnosed with primary Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and their parents. Trained clinicians administered the Children\u27s Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), items assessing Family Accommodation and the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity index. Parents completed the CSI, Child Obsessive-Compulsive Impact Scale (COIS)-Parent Version and Child Behavior Checklist. Youth completed the COIS-Child Version, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory Child Version (OCI-CV), Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, and Children\u27s Depression Inventory-Short Form. A four factor solution was identified; factors were named Discarding, Clutter, Acquisition, and Distress/Impairment. Internal consistency for the CSI Total and factor scores were good. One-week test-retest reliability (n = 31) from a random subsample was excellent. Known groups validity was supported vis-à-vis higher CSI scores for those endorsing hoarding on the CY-BOCS Symptom Checklist. Convergent and discriminant validity was evidenced by weak relationships with OCI-CV Checking and Contamination factors but strong relationships with the OCI-CV Hoarding factor and with hoarding obsession/compulsions on the CY-BOCS. These findings provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the CSI for the assessment of hoarding behaviors among youth with OCD. Future studies are needed to extend these findings to non-OCD samples of youth