The severely impaired do profit most: short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change for a parent management training under routine care conditions for children with externalizing problem behavior

Short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change due to parent management training were investigated. Therapeutic change was defined as the change in outcome measures [externalizing problem behavior and parenting self-efficacy (PSE)] from before treatment to afterward. Three different types of predictors were analyzed: child variables (gender, age, and initial externalizing and internalizing behavior), parent variables (age, initial PSE and parental psychopathology) and socioeconomic status and other sociodemographic characteristics of the family (parental school education, employment, family status, language). The parent management training was part of the Prevention Program for Externalizing Problem Behavior, which was evaluated as an effectiveness trial under routine care conditions using a within-subject control group design. Between 78 and 270 families were included in the analysis, which investigated therapeutic change over two time intervals: (1) immediate change from the pre-treatment to the post-treatment assessments, and (2) long-term-change from pre-treatment to 1-year follow-up. Throughout several analyses, the only predictor of therapeutic change that was consistently significant over the two time periods for the externalizing problem behavior of the child was the initial externalizing problem behavior. More impaired children improved more. Similarly, the only predictor of therapeutic change for the two time periods in PSE was the initial level of PSE. Parents with less PSE gained more during the course of the training

Mental health problems of children and adolescents at special schools for emotional and behavioral disorders

Bisher liegen für Deutschland kaum belastbare Daten zur Verbreitung psychischer Auffälligkeiten und zur Inanspruchnahme von Versorgungsleistungen von Schüler*innen an Förderschulen mit dem Förderschwerpunkt emotionale-soziale Entwicklung (FSP EsE) vor. Die vorliegende Studie geht daher der Fragestellung nach, wie häufig die unterschiedlichen Formen psychischer Auffälligkeiten an Förderschulen mit dem FSP EsE vorkommen und wie sich die Versorgungssituation betroffener Schüler*innen darstellt. Hierzu schätzten Lehrkräfte an sieben Förderschulen mit dem FSP EsE das Verhalten ihrer 6 – 18 Jahre alten Schüler*innen (N = 745) mit Hilfe des Fragebogens DISYPS-III (Döpfner & Görtz-Dorten, 2017) ein. 60,5% der Schüler*innen wurden als auffällig bzw. sehr auffällig im Bereich Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/ Hyperaktivitätsstörung (ADHS) beschrieben. Auffälligkeiten im Bereich oppositioneller Störungen (OPP) lagen aus Sicht der Lehrkräfte bei 42% aller Schüler*innen, im Bereich der Störung des Sozialverhaltens (SSV) bei 25,9%, der Angststörung bei 6,5% und der Depression bei 15,0% vor. Bei einem beträchtlichen Anteil der Schüler*innen wurden Auffälligkeiten in mehreren Bereichen gesehen, z. B. wiesen 47,1% derjenigen, die als auffällig im Bereich ADHS eingeschätzt wurden, auch Auffälligkeiten in Bezug auf OPP/ SSV auf. Bei 20,7% traten Symptome der SSV gemeinsam mit depressiven Problemen auf. Demgegenüber steht eine sehr viel geringere Anzahl an Schüler*innen, die außerschulische Unterstützungsleistungen wie Psychotherapie, Jugendhilfe etc. erhalten. (DIPF/Orig.)So far, there are no reliable data on the prevalence of mental health problems and the use of care services of students at special schools for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Therefore, the current study investigates how often the different forms of mental disorders can be found at special schools for EBD and how the care situation of affected students can be described. As part of the PEARL research project, seven special schools for students with EBD (N = 745) were surveyed for mental health problems and the use of care services. Using the DISYPS-III questionnaire (Döpfner & Görtz-Dorten, 2017), teachers rated 60.5% of their 6 – 18 years old students to have severe problems in the area of ADHD. Symptoms of oppositional disorders (OPP) were present in 42% of all students, in the area of conduct disorder (CD) in 25.9%, anxiety disorder in 6.5%, and depression in 15.0%. A significant proportion of students were seen to have severe problems in multiple domains, e.g., 47.1% of those assessed as having symptoms of ADHD also had symptoms related to OPP/ SSV. In 20.7%, symptoms of SSV co-occurred with depressive problems. In contrast, there is a much smaller number of students who receive support services outside of school, such as psychotherapy, youth services, etc. (DIPF/Orig.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with and without affective dysregulation and their families

Analyzing COVID-19-related stress in children with affective dysregulation (AD) seems especially interesting, as these children typically show heightened reactivity to potential stressors and an increased use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Children in out-of-home care often show similar characteristics to those with AD. Since COVID-19 has led to interruptions in psychotherapy for children with mental health problems and to potentially reduced resources to implement treatment strategies in daily life in families or in out-of-home care, these children might show a particularly strong increase in stress levels. In this study, 512 families of children without AD and 269 families of children with AD reported on COVID-19-related stress. The sample comprised screened community, clinical, and out-of-home care samples. Sociodemographic factors, characteristics of child and caregiver before the pandemic, and perceived change in external conditions due to the pandemic were examined as potential risk or protective factors. Interestingly, only small differences emerged between families of children with and without AD or between subsamples: families of children with AD and families in out-of-home care were affected slightly more, but in few domains. Improvements and deteriorations in treatment-related effects balanced each other out. Overall, the most stable and strongest risk factor for COVID-19-related stress was perceived negative change in external conditions—particularly family conditions and leisure options. Additionally, caregiver characteristics emerged as risk factors across most models. Actions to support families during the pandemic should, therefore, facilitate external conditions and focus on caregiver characteristic to reduce familial COVID-19-related stress. Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), ADOPT Online: DRKS00014963 registered 27 June 2018, ADOPT Treatment: DRKS00013317 registered 27 September 2018, ADOPT Institution: DRKS00014581 registered 04 July 2018

Evolutionarily Conserved Herpesviral Protein Interaction Networks

Herpesviruses constitute a family of large DNA viruses widely spread in vertebrates and causing a variety of different diseases. They possess dsDNA genomes ranging from 120 to 240 kbp encoding between 70 to 170 open reading frames. We previously reported the protein interaction networks of two herpesviruses, varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). In this study, we systematically tested three additional herpesvirus species, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), murine cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, for protein interactions in order to be able to perform a comparative analysis of all three herpesvirus subfamilies. We identified 735 interactions by genome-wide yeast-two-hybrid screens (Y2H), and, together with the interactomes of VZV and KSHV, included a total of 1,007 intraviral protein interactions in the analysis. Whereas a large number of interactions have not been reported previously, we were able to identify a core set of highly conserved protein interactions, like the interaction between HSV-1 UL33 with the nuclear egress proteins UL31/UL34. Interactions were conserved between orthologous proteins despite generally low sequence similarity, suggesting that function may be more conserved than sequence. By combining interactomes of different species we were able to systematically address the low coverage of the Y2H system and to extract biologically relevant interactions which were not evident from single species

Effects of a modular teacher coaching program on child attention problems and disruptive behavior and on teachers' self-efficacy and stress

Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity and oppositional defiant disorder are associated with a multitude of psychosocial developmental risks, e.g. academic underachievement. Various cognitive behavioral interventions have proven to be effective in reducing problem behavior in school settings. Drawing on this previous work and on our parent-focused preventive and therapeutic programs, we developed the school-based coaching for elementary school teachers of children with attention deficits or disruptive behavior problems (SCEP). Based on functional behavior assessment, SCEP addresses teachers of children with severe externalizing behavior problems in an individualized modular manner. It consists of a one-day training course and fortnightly one-to-one or team-coaching sessions. We analyzed the effects of SCEP in a within-subject control group design (N = 60), with student attention problems and rule-breaking behavior during class as the primary outcome measure. SCEP was found to reduce problem behavior during lessons, with small to medium effect sizes (d = 0.42-0.6). After the intervention, teachers reported changes in their use of praise and felt more confident managing the class (d = 0.58). The results of SCEP are discussed in light of multi-tiered preventive approaches that suggest extensive individualized interventions based on functional behavior analysis for children with severe problem behavior

School-Based Interventions for ADHD and Attention Problems: A Review

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or related subclinical attention problems are often impaired in their school performance. These problems represent a great challenge for teachers. The implementation of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the following right of inclusion for each person results in a greater need for effective strategies dealing with behavior problems in general education settings. This article presents an overview of evaluated prevention and intervention strategies, which are class-, teacher-and student-oriented. Current research for prevention and intervention in schools mostly provides single case studies, which makes a generalization of the results difficult. In regard of the quality of the studies only interdependent group-oriented contingency management procedures are evidence-based methods (class-oriented). Methodological issues and future directions will be discussed