17 research outputs found
Findings From A Specialized Child Psychiatry Unit For Care of Refugee Children in Istanbul
Objective: Turkey is the leading refugee hosting country
in the world by hosting more than 3,5 million people
whom almost half of them are children under age 18.
We aimed to investigate psychiatric disorders that seen
among kids applied to 'Migrant Children Outpatient
Treatment Unit' of Marmara University Pendik Training
and Research Hospital which is speacilized to provide
psychiatric care for refugee children. Method: We investigated
follow up files of 41 children applied to 'Migrant
Child Outpatient Treatment Unit' between May 2017 to
November 2017 retrospectively. Socio-demographical
data and diagnoses of children according to DSM-5 classification
system were analyzed. Results: Of the 41 children
16 (30,3 %) were girl and 25 (69,7 %) were boy. The
average age and time after resettlement were 9.4+4
years and 30.2+15 months respectively. Seventy five percent
of parents stated that a person close to them has
died, while 87.9 % reported that their children have
witnessed to clashes during war. 45 % children stated to
have seen a dead or injured person in Syria. Of the children
13 (31.7 %) were diagnosed with anxiety disorders,
13 (31.7 %) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
10 (24.4 %) with major depressive disorder, 9 (22.0 %)
with post-traumatic stress disorder, 8 with (19.5 %)
speech disorders, 7 (17.1 %) with enuresis and 4 (9.8 %)
with autism spectrum di-sorder. Discussion: Our findings
indicating that refugee children suffer from a wide
range of psychiatric disorders which may deteriorate
their social and academical functionality and entegration
to the new culture years after ressetlement
Psychiatric evaluation of sexual abuse cases: A clinical representative sample from Turkey
Objective This study investigated the characteristics of forensic childhood sexual abuse cases referred for psychiatric evaluation in a university hospital.Material and methods The files of childhood sexual abuse cases referred from the Court to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic between January 2006 and January 2010 were examined retrospectively. The information about demographic variables and characteristics of sexual abuse, as well as diagnostic and treatment processes was reviewed.Results A total of 83 sexual abuse cases were evaluated. The majority of them (69%) were girls. The mean age of the children and adolescents was 11.01 ± 3.9 years. The majority (73.5%) of the suspected perpetrators were familiar people, intrafamilial cases constituting 31.1%. The most common type of sexual abuse encountered was genital contact without penetration, representing 44.6% of the cases. All of the strangers were reported to legal authorities within 3 months whereas the ratio was 77% when offenders were familiar people (p Child sexual abuse Child psychiatry Forensic psychiatry
Gender dysphoria and attention problems: possible clue for biological underpinnings
OBJECTIVES: Development of gender identity is a complicated process. Several biological, familial, environmental, and cognitive factors thought to play role during this process. When a person has a persistent discomfort with his/her assigned gender and exhibits cross-gender identification, gender dysphoria is to be considered. In this study, we aimed to determine the rates of psychiatric diagnoses in youth presenting with gender dysphoria and compare them with a control group in terms of family functioning, emotional, and behavioural problems. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 20 cases with gender dysphoria and 40 controls (5–17 years of age). The instruments included were Sociodemographic Form, Family Assessment Device (FAD), Child Behavior Checklist, and Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children Present-Lifetime Version. RESULTS: Ninety per cent of the cases with gender dysphoria had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (75%) was the leading comorbidity, followed by major depressive disorder (25%). Gender dysphoria group had significantly higher scores in communication, roles, affective involvement, and general family functioning subscales of FAD and in all Child Behavior Checklist subscales. High Child Behavior Checklist attention subscale score was significantly associated with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria in binary logistic regression analysis (odds ratio: 0.82; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results pointed out a possible biological background for gender dysphoria, along with psychosocial/psychodynamic explanations. The individuals with gender dysphoria will benefit from an integrative approach where all possible contributing factors are considered. Therefore, in addition to psychosocial and psychodynamic evaluation, assessment and interventions regarding ADHD will help to improve well-being and quality of life of these individuals