Experimental studies on the infectivity of Anguillicola crassus third-stage larvae (Nematoda) from paratenic hosts

Speech, language, and communication disorders are prominent reasons for referrals to a child development center. From 1984 to 1988, 1,090 preschool children were referred to our child development center, which serves the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Of all referrals, 432 (41%) were primarily due to speech, language, and communication problems. After exclusion of those with IQ < 50 and those with non-language-related disabilities, 323 children remained. The children were classified into different subtypes of developmental language disorders and autistic spectrum disorders. The main developmental language disorder subtypes were combined expressive-receptive (49%) and expressive (44%). Central processing deficits were less common, occurring in 20 (7%) of the children. Parents of children with developmental language disorders had educational levels similar to those of parents of children referred to the child development center for other causes. However, parents of children with infantile autism had higher educational levels than parents of children with developmental language disorder or parents of children referred for other causes (P < .001). Our results reflect the distribution of language and related problems in an unselected population of preschool children referred to a child development center.     

Searching for an environmental effect of parental alcoholism on offspring alcohol use disorder: A genetically informed study of children of alcoholics.

The children-of-twins design was used to isolate a potentially causal environmental impact of having an alcoholic parent on offspring alcohol use disorder, by an examination of whether the children of alcoholics were at a higher risk for alcohol use disorders than were the children of nonalcoholic parents, even after correlated familial factors were controlled. Participants were 1,224 male and female twins from 836 twin pairs selected from the Australian Twin Registry, 2,334 of the twins' 18-39-year-old offspring, and 983 spouses of the twins. Lifetime histories of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) alcohol use disorders were obtained by structured, psychiatric, telephone interviews conducted individually with each of the family members. Comparisons of the offspring of twins who were discordant for alcoholism indicated that there was no longer a statistically significant difference between the children of alcoholics and the children of nonalcoholics after genetic and family environmental factors correlated with having an alcoholic parent were controlled. The results of this study suggest that the direct causal effect of being exposed to an alcoholic parent on offspring alcohol use disorder is modest at best. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speech-language idiopathic disorder prevalence in children from one to eleven years of age

OBJECTIVE: The study of the epidemiological aspect of speech-language idiopathic disorders. The profile relates to the prevalence rate among children from 1 to 11 years old. METHOD: The subjects were assessed with regard to speech, language and myofunctional oral aspects. After diagnosis, the subjects were classified according to their principal disorder. Then the disorders were placed in separate age groups. The prevalence rates were applied. RESULTS: The sample for this study included 2,980 children, 125 with primary communicative disorders (prevalence rate = 4.19). The highest general prevalence related to the 3 to 8 year old age-group. The critical phase was that from 4 to 5 years of age. The most prevalent idiopathic speech-language disorders were: articulatory disorders; then oral language delays and myofunctional and neurovegetative disturbances. DISCUSSION: It is important to note that the communication disorder prevalence rate is very significant during childhood. It is a serious problem in Brazil, because although we have more critical cases there are no national preventive programs for these pathologies. It is, therefore, expected that this problem will increase rapidly in the near future if there isn't governmental action.     

Adaptation of stuttering frequency during repeated readings: associated changes in acoustic parameters of perceptually fluent speech

This study is part of a series investigating the hypothesis that stuttering adaptation is a result of motor learning. Previous investigations indicate that nonspeech motor learning typically is associated with an increase in speed of performance. Previous investigations of stuttering, on the other hand, indicate that improvements in fluency during most fluency-enhancing conditions or after stuttering treatment tend to be associated with decreased speech rate, increased duration of specific acoustic segments, and decreased vowel duration variability. The present acoustic findings, obtained from 8 individuals who stutter, reveal that speech adjustments occurring during adaptation differ from those reported for other fluency-enhancing conditions or stuttering treatment. Instead, the observed changes are consistent with those occurring during skill improvements for nonspeech motor tasks and, thus, with a motor learning hypothesis of stuttering adaptation. During the last of 6 repeated readings, a statistically significant increase in articulation rate was observed, together with a decrease in word duration, vowel duration, and consonant-vowel (CV) transition extent. Other adjustments showing relatively consistent trends across individual subjects included decreased CV transition rate and duration, and increased variability of both CV transition extent and vowel duration.     

Partial trisomy 7p associated with familial 7p;22q translocation

A newly described partial trisomy of the short arm of chromosome number 7 is reported in a familial translocation between 7 and 22. The unbalanced translocation was found in one family member, the propositus, and the balanced form in 5 other members. The possibility of this translocation being a rare telomeric attachment previously undescribed in humans is discussed. Prominent clinical features include general mental and motor retardation, microbrachycephaly, and cardiac and oral abnormalities.     

Psychopathology in the offspring of anxiety disorders patients.

Children of patients with an anxiety disorders diagnosis were assessed with a battery of self-report inventories and a semistructured interview schedule. The performance of these children was compared with that of children of patients with a diagnosis of dysthymic disorder, children of normal parents, and normal school children. Children of anxiety disorders patients were found to be more anxious and fearful; to report more school difficulties, more worries about family members and themselves, and more somatic complaints; and to spend more time engaged in solitary activities than children in either of the two normal groups. In addition, they were found to be more than 7 times as likely to meet criteria for an anxiety disorder than the two normal groups and to be twice as likely to have an anxiety disorder than the children of dysthymics. The resultant implications for familial factors in anxiety disorders are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A seminar/case-based approach to teaching removable partial dentures to predoctoral students

OBJECTIVE: To explore potential long term consequences of second trimester amniocentesis. DESIGN: Children exposed to second trimester amniocentesis have been followed prospectively from birth to school age and compared with children whose mothers declined the test. SETTING: The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. SAMPLE: Eighty-six children exposed to amniocentesis and 44 children whose mothers declined the test. INTERVENTIONS: Second trimester amniocentesis for the late maternal age indication. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Standardised tests of intelligence, academic achievement, speech articulation, visual-perceptual-motor ability and fine motor coordination were administered. Parents reported on child behaviour using standardised measures of behaviour problems, social competence, hyperactivity and temperament. Physical growth was also measured, and parents reported on child health. RESULTS: Group differences were not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Second trimester amniocentesis does not appear to compromise child development, behaviour, growth or health.     

Specific language impairment: preliminary investigation of factors associated with family history and with patterns of language performance

To examine patterns that might suggest etiologic subgroups of specific language impairment (SLI), information, including history of speech-language-learning (SLLD) problems in family members, was obtained on 53 children with SLI aged 4 to 9 1/2 years. The results led to the generation of a number of hypotheses for future research. In particular, the findings suggested that family history is related to pattern of language performance. In comparison with children who had both expressive and receptive language deficits, children with deficits in only expressive language had a higher proportion of affected family members (.47 vs. .22), of affected mothers (.57 vs. .17), and of affected siblings (.53 vs. .27). These and other findings are discussed in terms of their consistency with other data, hypotheses relative to explanations of SLI, and their implications for further research.     

Articulation in children with Down's syndrome. A pilot study

The articulation of children with Down's syndrome (trisomie 21, T21) in comparison to a group of age-matched normal probands was investigated in a clinical study, using digital sonagraphics (recording of frequency, amplitude and time of the speech signal), with peripheral factors taken into consideration. The T21-Group (n = 10) revealed a higher variability as well as a longer articulation of the test word "Tasse" than the Control Group (n = 10). There was no clear-cut dependence of speed and quality of articulation on all of the peripheral factors evaluated (Angle Class, overbite, oral motor ability, hearing disorder, logopedics, Castillo-Morales stimulating plate treatment). The results of our investigation show differing patterns of articulation in T21 children compared with normal probands, using a reproducible method. A clear-cut influence of various influencing peripheral factors as reported in the literature could not be found for the T21-Group. Thus, central factors seem to have a great impact on articulation in T21 patients.     

Verbal interaction in families of normal and expressive-language-delayed children.

Developmental expressive language disorder (ELD) is a condition characterized by a delay in the development of expressive language compared with receptive language and IQ. Conditions that might contribute to the origins or maintenance of ELD are poorly understood. Unusual verbal interactions between parents and ELD children might be implicated in the origins of ELD or might represent parental reactivity to the child's limited expressive skills. We compared verbal interactions in the homes of 28-month-old ELD children, and 17-month-old normal children matched on expressive ability with the ELD children. We analyzed frequencies of major pragmatic categories of parent and child verbal behavior as well as sequential relations involving those categories. Pragmatic interactions in the ELD families were substantially similar to those in the families of the normal younger children and different from those in the older normal children. A measure of the structural complexity of maternal speech (MLU) did not differ across the groups. These results indicate that pragmatic language interactions in the families of ELD children are determined largely by the children's level of expressive ability rather than by their age or receptive abilities. In this regard, the child directed speech of parents of ELD children cannot be considered deviant and cannot be implicated in the etiology of ELD. The sensitivity of parents to their child's level of expressive ability suggests the need for refinement in current hypotheses concerning child directed speech. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discourse about adoption in adoptive families.

40 families with adopted children aged 13–19 yrs engaged in semistructured discussions. Family members tended to confirm and avoid disagreeing with one another's assertions about adoption issues. Three types of correlational analysis showed that (a) feelings expressed in open family discussion corresponded with privately expressed feelings, more so in adoptees than in their parents; (b) mothers and fathers tended to acknowledge disadvantages of adoption more than did adoptees, and concordance between parents was high; and (c) acknowledgement vs rejection of differences was not a unidimensional continuum among parents, whereas among children it was a strong unitary dimension of variance. Children whose families reported more problems had low self-esteem scores and expressed greater interest in their biological roots. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special talents in Geschwind's and Galaburda's theory of cerebral lateralization: an examination in a female population

Geschwind and Galaburda (1985) proposed that delayed growth of posterior left hemisphere sites in male dyslexics are associated with markers of anomalous dominance (AD) and special cognitive talents. We found that talent in a female population was related to the strength of nonright-handedness, and was elevated in right-handed individuals with histories of familial left-handedness. Subjects reporting a history of dyslexia tended to be musically talented. While immune disorders were not related to talent for the whole population, they did co-occur with talents in a group of 10 individuals reporting 7 or more AD markers.     

Speech characteristics associated with the Furlow palatoplasty as compared with other surgical techniques

Reported here are the results of a retrospective study of the speech outcome for 63 cleft subjects who had Furlow repairs compared with 20 subjects who had other procedures. The two groups of children were similar in cleft type, sex, and race. The same two surgeons repaired the palates in both groups, and the same two speech pathologists with high reliability examined the children at least 5 years postoperatively using the Pittsburgh Weighted Values for Speech Symptoms Associated with VPI (velopharyngeal incompetence). Subjects who had had Furlow repairs were superior on measures of hypernasality, articulation, and total speech scores; and fewer pharyngeal flaps were required by Furlow subjects. These findings suggest the need for randomized, double-blind investigations comparing outcome of the Furlow procedure with the intravelar veloplasty, the V-Y pushback, and other specified procedures.     

MCMI-II personality traits and symptom traits in parents of children with selective mutism: A case-control study.

The etiology of selective mutism (SM) in children is unknown but is regarded as multifactorial. SM is frequently associated with social anxiety and language disorder or delay. The present study addresses SM and social anxiety as a familial phenomenon by comparing self-reported personality traits and symptom traits (Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory; T. Millon, 1987) in parents of 50 SM children with control parents. Personality and symptom traits reflecting social anxiety are also explored separately in the parents of SM children with and without a comorbid communication disorder. The results confirm SM and social anxiety as a familial phenomenon. Assessment and treatment planning should take this into account. The family data also suggest different family transmissions of SM and social anxiety in the SM group with and without a comorbid communication disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifiers of predominantly Spanish-speaking children with language impairment

The purpose of this study was to identify a set of measures that would discriminate 31 predominantly Spanish-speaking children with normal language (NL children) from 31 children with language impairment (LI children). The LI children were identified as such by experienced, bilingual (Spanish/English), ASHA-certified, speech-language pathologists who were currently seeing the children in their caseloads. Children ranged in age from 5 to 7 years and were matched for age, gender, and school. Additionally, nonverbal cognitive measures assured that they did not differ significantly intellectually. Measures of vocabulary, novel bound-morpheme learning skills, and language form were randomly administered to all children. Further, parents responded to questions about their perceptions of their children's speech and language skills and family history of speech and language problems. A stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that 4 measures discriminated the groups of children with a sensitivity of 91.3% and a specificity of 100% (p < .0001): parental report of the child's speech and language skills, number of errors per T-unit, mean length per T-unit, and family history of speech and language problems. A second discriminant analysis indicated that the sensitivity and specificity could be maintained when only the first 2 measures were included. Confirmatory discriminant analyses of the 2- and 4-measure models indicated that the discriminant accuracy was stable on an independent sample.     

Mild hearing loss in children with communication disorders

The prevalence of MHL in 202, 1 to 6 year-old children with communication disorders who visited our clinic in 1991 was investigated. 1) 31% of the subjects had MHL bilaterally. The prevalence of MHL was 44% at age 1 year, 20% at age 2 years, 36% at age 3 years, 24% at age 4 years, 39% at age 5 years, 33% at age 6 years. 2) 88% of children with MHL had OME, 10% had mild sensorineural hearing loss, and 2% had cerminous plug. 3) The prevalence of MHL in children with mental retardation and autistic disorders was 9%, that with stuttering was 9%, that of OME accompanied by moderate and severe hearing disorders was 6%. 4) The primary causes in 191, except for those with stuttering, were as follows; the prevalence of MHL was 30%, that of mental retardation and autistic disorders was 24%, and that of articulation disorders was 28%. 5) On the other hand, the prevalence of MHL in children with retarded language development and articulation disorders was 30%, which was significantly higher than that of the other communication disorders. Accordingly, the results of this study suggest that MHL in early childhood greatly influences communication disorders.     

Copulatory behavior of sexually inexperienced male guinea pigs paired with synchronized estrus females

OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of children in the United States with parents incarcerated in jail and to describe the characteristics of these parents and their criminal histories. SETTING: Inmates of local jails accounting for 36.5% of the incarcerated population of the US in 1989. PARTICIPANTS: Personal interviews with 5675 inmates randomly selected from 393,553 inmates of 3312 local jails in 1989. RESULTS: 44,263 (36%) inmates had children younger than the age of 15. Fathers outnumbered mothers 10-fold; the majority were in their 20s or 30s, unmarried, and poorly educated. The vast majority of parents had a record of prior offenses, and substance abuse accounted for one third of the incarcerations. Substance abuse was reported by 84% of inmates and 95% had sought prior treatment for alcohol, drug, or other mental health problems. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 1 of 50 children in the US has a parent in jail. Parental imprisonment is not rare, is often chronic, and is strongly associated with other psychosocial and health problems in the family. Screening for parental imprisonment potentially should be included as part of a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment.     

Psychopathology in children and adolescents with developmental disorders

Children and adolescents with developmental disorders suffer from a wide range of psychopathology. However, there are no published studies examining this subject exclusively in this population using recent diagnostic criteria. The primary purpose of this paper is to report on the diagnosis encountered in a clinical setting using DSM-III-R. The medical records of all individuals assessed in a specialized program during a 1-year period were reviewed looking at their demographic features, diagnoses, and target behaviors. Our sample consisted of 233 subjects and contained significantly more boys than girls. The most common psychiatric diagnoses were oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Pica, organic mental disorder NOS, and Autistic Disorder were more often encountered in individuals with low intellectual functioning. Depressive disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and developmental speech/language disorders were diagnosed more in high functioning subjects. The most common symptom was impulsivity. This retrospective study highlights the need for more rigorous examination of current diagnostic concepts and criteria in children and adolescents with developmental disorders. Prospective studies should be conducted with standardized instruments in clinics and community samples to provide more information on psychiatric disorders in this population.