Interoceptive awareness in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

ADHD is considered a disorder of self-regulation. Recent research has shown that awareness of bodily states, referred to as interoceptive awareness, crucially contributes to self-regulatory processes. Impaired self-regulation in ADHD has been explained in terms of arousal regulation deficits in ADHD (the state regulation deficit (SRD) account). There is now ample support for the SRD account, however the exact reason for arousal regulation difficulties is not yet known. The SRD account explicitly refers to the ability to monitor one's momentary bodily state as a prerequisite for effective state regulation. However, surprisingly, no study to date has tested the ability to become aware of bodily signals, i.e. interoceptive awareness, in ADHD. In the current study, we therefore compared interoceptive awareness between 24 adults with ADHD and 23 controls by means of both an objective (heartbeat perception task) and subjective measure (questionnaire) of interoceptive awareness. Results revealed a strikingly similar performance for both groups on both measures, suggesting preserved interoceptive awareness in adult ADHD

Impaired processing of task-irrelevant salient information in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder : evidence from event-related potentials

A

Illness-related parental stress and quality of life in children with kidney diseases.

This cross-sectional study investigated quality of life (QoL) and illness-related parental stress in children with kidney diseases by (1) comparing mean levels of these two variables between several kidney disease categories; (2) exploring correlations between QoL and parental stress; and (3) describing which disease category reports lowest QoL and highest parental stress. We included 295 patients with a kidney disease (0-18 years) and their parents, followed at 6 reference centers for pediatric nephrology. Children's QoL was assessed by the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales, and illness-related stress by the Pediatric Inventory for Parents. All patients were divided into 5 kidney disease categories according to the multidisciplinary care program criteria prescribed by the Belgian authorities: (1) structural kidney diseases, (2) tubulopathies and metabolic diseases, (3) nephrotic syndrome, (4) acquired diseases with proteinuria and hypertension, and (5) kidney transplantation. Child self-reports showed no differences in QoL between kidney disease categories, in contrast to parent proxy reports. Parents of transplant patients reported lower QoL in their child and more parental stress compared with the 4 non-transplant categories. QoL and parental stress were negatively correlated. Lowest QoL and highest parental stress scores were mainly found in transplant patients. This study showed lower QoL and higher parental stress in pediatric transplant patients compared with non-transplants, based on parent reports. Higher parental stress is associated with worse QoL in the child. These results highlight the importance of multidisciplinary care for children with kidney diseases, with special attention to transplant patients and their parents. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information

Illness-related parental stress and quality of life in children with chronic kidney diseases : a multicentric Belgian study

Objectives Monitoring the psychological well-being of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is seen as standard care in pediatric nephrology, as many studies have shown that CKD has a great psychological impact. This multi-centric cross-sectional study investigated quality of life (QoL) and illness-related parental stress in this population by 1/ comparing mean levels of these two variables between several CKD categories, and 2/ exploring their correlation. Methods We recruited children with CKD and their parents, followed at the 6 Belgian reference centers for pediatric nephrology. Childrens’ QoL was assessed by the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scales, parental stress was measured by the Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP). All patients were divided in categories based on their CKD diagnosis: 1/congenital diseases 2/ tubulopathies and metabolic diseases, 3/ nephrotic syndromes, 4/ acquired diseases with proteinuria and hypertension, and 5/ kidney transplantations. Results In total we included 295 children (176 boys; M age= 11.8, SD = 3.7) and 285 parents. Fifty-seven children (19%) had a transplant. There were no significant differences in QoL between CKD categories as reported by children (p>.05). In contrast, there were significant differences between CKD categories in QoL (F(4, 220) = 3.46, p<.01)) and stress (F(4,269) = 2.92, p<.05), reported by parents, with transplant patients having lower QoL (t(220) = - 3.31; p = .001) and higher parental stress (t(269) = 2.30; p = .02). Finally, there were significant negative correlations (p < .001) between QoL and parental stress. Conclusions This multi-centric study showed lower levels of QoL and higher levels of parental stress in transplanted children, compared to children without a transplant, when based on parents’ reports. Higher parental stress is associated with worse QoL in the child. These results highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary team with special attention for the parent