Week 10: Childhood disorders

Question 1

What characterises externalising disorders?

Answer 1

more outward‐directed behaviours, such as aggressiveness, non‐compliance, overactivity and impulsiveness

Question 2

What characterises internalising disorders?

Answer 2

moreinward‐focused experiences andbehaviours, such asdepression, social withdrawal and anxiety

Question 3

What features are common with ADHD?

Answer 3

difficulty controlling activity in situations that call for sitting still or being quiet
activities and movement seem haphazard
symptoms are present in two or more settings

Question 4

What social factors are common with ADHD?

Answer 4

difficulty getting along with peers
often miss social cues
overly friendly and talkative
overestimate ability to navigate social situations with peers

Question 5

Common features of inattentive ADHD include?

Answer 5

difficulties with focused attention or speed of information processing perhaps associated with problems involving dopamine and the prefrontal cortex

Question 6

How much more likely is ADHD in Boys

Answer 6

ADHD is three times more common in boys than girls

Question 7

ADHD often has what comorbid disorders?

Answer 7

conduct disorder, anxiety, depression, learning disorders, oppositional defiant disorder

Question 8

How does childhood depression differ from adult depression?

Answer 8

children show more guilt but lower rates of early-morning wakefulness, early-morning depression, loss of appetite and weight loss

Question 9

Comment on likelihood of depression if child’s parent has depression

Answer 9

A child with a depressed parent has four times the risk of developing depression as a child

Question 10

Describe the interaction between genetics and environment in development of depression.

Answer 10

Individuals with a short allele of the serotonin transport gene and had experienced significant interpersonal stressful life events were more likely to have a major depressive disorder episode

Question 11

Discuss study relating to cortisol awakening response and depression

Answer 11

Cortisol taken first thing in the morning prospectively predicted the onset of a major depressive episode up to two and a half years later.

Question 12

What are the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder?

Answer 12

repeated and excessive distress when separated
excessive worry that something bad will happen to an attachment figure
refusal or reluctance to go to school, work or elsewhere
refusal or reluctance to sleep away from home
nightmares about separation from attachment figure
repeated physical complaints when separated from attachment figure

Question 13

What is specific learning disorder?

Answer 13

a condition in which a person shows a problem in a specific area of academia, language, speech or motor skills that is not due to an intellectual disability or deficient educational opportunities.

Question 14

What level of intelligence does a child with a specific learning disorder generally have?

Answer 14

usually of average or above-average intelligence

Question 15

What disorders were combined from the DSM-IV-TR into Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Answer 15

Autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and childhood disintegrative disorder

Question 16

When was ASD included in the DSM?

Answer 16

1980 – third edition of the DSM

Question 17

When do the gaze / eye contact deficits start to manifest?

Answer 17

Between two and 24 months old

Question 18

What sort of impairments do we find in Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Answer 18

communication deficits
deficits in social or emotional reciprocity
reduced sharing of interests and emotions
deficits in nonverbal behaviours such as eye contact, facial expression, body language
deficits in development of peer relationships appropriate to developmental level.

Question 19

What sort of treatments have shown results in treating ASD?

Answer 19

behavioural treatment, drug treatment such as antipsychotics or opioid receptor antagonists

Question 20

What considerations are given when considering an intellectual disability diagnosis?

Answer 20

(1) deficits in intellectual functioning
(2) deficits in adaptive functioning
(3) an onset during development (i.e., as a child).

Question 21

What is the most common genetic abnormality in Downs Syndrome?

Answer 21

an extra copy (three instead of two) of chromosome 21.

Question 22

What is another common genetic abnormality leading to intellectual disability?

Answer 22

Fragile X Syndrome, involving a mutation in the fMRI gene on the X chromosome.

Question 23

What are some other causes of intellectual disabilities?

Answer 23

infectious diseases, environmental hazards

Question 24

What treatments are used with intellectual disability?

Answer 24

residential treatment programs for live in assistance
behavioural treatments such as early intervention programs
cognitive treatments
computer assisted learning

Question 25

What is the main difference between Intermittent Explosive Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder?

Answer 25

IED is impulsive and non pre-planned

Question 26

What is the difference between ODD and Conduct Disorder?

Answer 26

ODD is a milder/earlier manifestation of CD, lacking extreme physical aggressiveness

Question 27

How common is CD?

Answer 27

2.1% of children and adolescents in Australia

Question 28

How much more likely is CD in boys than girls?

Answer 28

Nearly twice as likely in males than females

Question 29

What regions of the brain appear to be involved with CD?

Answer 29

reduced activation in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex

Question 30

A combination of what genetic and environmental factors predict CD?

Answer 30

a combination of childhood maltreatment and presence of low MAOA enzyme, which metabolises a number of neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine