BACKGROUND: Web-based self-help (WASH) has been found to be effective in the treatment of child externalizing behavior disorders. However, research on the associations of caregivers\' use of WASH and symptom changes of child externalizing behaviors is lacking.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the longitudinal and reciprocal associations between the use of WASH by caregivers of children with externalizing behavior disorders and their children\'s externalizing behavior symptoms.
METHODS: Longitudinal data of 276 families from 2 intervention conditions of a randomized controlled trial (either unguided or supported by a therapist over the phone) were analyzed. Caregiver- and clinician-rated child externalizing behavior symptoms were assessed before (T1), in the middle (T2), and after the 6-month WASH intervention (T3). Additionally, 2 indicators of the caregivers\' use of the WASH intervention were considered: number of log-ins (frequency) and the percentage of completed material (intensity). Associations of caregivers\' use during early (T1-T2) and late (T2-T3) treatment with child externalizing behavior symptoms were analyzed using path analyses (structural equation modeling).
RESULTS: Frequency and intensity of use were higher during the first 3 months than during the next 3 months of the intervention period. The number of log-ins at early treatment was significantly but weakly associated with caregiver-reported child externalizing behavior symptoms in the long term (T3). Moreover, caregiver-reported child externalizing severity at T2 predicted the number of log-ins in the late treatment. The results were not replicated when considering the percentage of completed material as a measure of use or when considering clinician ratings of child externalizing behavior symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide the first, albeit weak, evidence for longitudinal associations between caregivers\' use of WASH and improvements in caregiver-rated child externalizing behavior symptoms. However, as the associations were rather weak and could not be replicated across different rater perspectives and operationalizations of use, further research is needed to better understand these relations and their interplay with other putative influence factors (eg, quality of the implementation of the interventions, changes in parenting behaviors).
BACKGROUND: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00013456; https://www.drks.de/DRKS00013456.
UNASSIGNED: RR2-10.1186/s12888-020-2481-0.

OBJECTIVE: To examine recent trends in clinical diagnoses of children and adolescents receiving treatment in publicly funded mental health treatment services in the United States.
METHODS: Data on children and adolescents (≤17 years) receiving treatment from publicly funded mental health treatment services recorded in Mental Health Client Level Data (MH-CLD) 2013-2021 (total number of records=13,684,154) were used to examine temporal trends in the proportion of different child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Trends were examined overall and in age, sex, racial/ethnic and service strata focusing on community-based programs.
RESULTS: The analyses revealed increases in the proportion with anxiety disorders from 9.6% in 2013 to 19.2% in 2021, AOR=2.17, 95% CI=1.85-2.55, p<0.001, trauma- and stressor-related disorders from 22.7% to 27.4%, AOR=1.31, 1.09-1.57, p=0.004, and depressive disorders from 13.4% to 17.0%, AOR=1.20, 1.03-1.41, p=0.04. During this same period, the proportion with bipolar disorders declined almost eight-fold from 10.0% to 1.3%; AOR=0.07, 0.06-0.09, p<0.001. The proportion with conduct disorders also declined from 9.7% to 4.4%; AOR=0.42, 0.32-0.55, p<0.001, and the proportion of oppositional-defiant disorder declined from 11.1% to 7.8%; AOR=0.79, 0.65-0.98, p=0.03. Trends varied across sex, age, and racial/ethnic strata.
CONCLUSIONS: The composition of childhood psychiatric diagnoses in patients within publicly funded mental health settings changed over the past decade. While some of the trends may reflect changes in diagnostic practices of clinicians, increases in anxiety and depressive disorders parallel trends in the prevalence of these conditions in the general population and highlight a growing need for identifying and treating these conditions in this age group.

BACKGROUND: Emotion regulation skills are linked to corticolimbic brain activity (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and limbic regions) and enable an individual to control their emotional experiences thus allowing healthy social functioning. Disruptions in emotion regulation skills are reported in neuropsychiatric disorders, including conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder (CD/ODD). Clinically recognized means to ameliorate emotion regulation deficits observed in CD/ODD include cognitive or dialectical behavioral skills therapy as implemented in the START-NOW program. However, the role of emotion regulation and its neural substrates in symptom severity and prognosis following treatment of adolescent CD/ODD has yet to be investigated.
METHODS: Cross-sectional data including fMRI responses during emotion regulation (N=114; average age=15years), repeated-measures assessments of symptom severity (pre-, post-treatment, long-term follow-up), and fMRI data collected prior to and following the START-NOW randomized controlled trial (n=44) for female adolescents with CD/ODD were analyzed using group comparisons and multiple regression.
RESULTS: First, behavioral and neural correlates of emotion regulation are disrupted in female adolescents with CD/ODD. Second, ODD symptom severity is negatively associated with dlPFC/precentral gyrus activity during regulation. Third, treatment-related symptom changes are predicted by pre-treatment ODD symptom severity and regulatory dlPFC/precentral activity. Additionally, pre-treatment dlPFC/precentral activity and ODD symptom severity predict long-term reductions in symptom severity following treatment for those participants that received the START NOW treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate the important role that emotion regulation skills play in the characteristics of CD/ODD and show that regulatory dlPFC/precentral activity is positively associated with treatment response in female adolescents with CD/ODD.

The co-occurrence Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been associated to difficulties in regulating adverse states, elevated functional impairment, deficits in Executive Functions and high risk for psychopathology. Recent studies have shown that ODD is a negative predictor of a positive response to methylphenidate (MPH) treatment for ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents and that patients with a diagnosis of comorbid ADHD and ODD are less likely to respond favorably to pharmacological treatment with MPH. We conducted a naturalistic study to understand the clinical characteristics of drug-naïve children and adolescents with ADHD that influence the response to MPH by measuring the effect on attention. Specifically, we investigated whether a single dose of MPH differently affects the performance of 53 children and adolescents with ADHD with or without ODD comorbidity. In addition, participant characteristics such as symptom severity, functional impairment, and associated behavioral and emotional symptoms at baseline were examined to better understand what aspects affect the response to MPH. We found that a single dose of MPH improved the attention of children and adolescents with ADHD without ODD more than those with comorbid ADHD and ODD, resulting in reduced reaction times. Our findings indicated that children and adolescents with comorbid ADHD and ODD and those with ADHD alone did not exhibit differences in measures of attention prior to taking MPH, nor in demographic variables (age, intelligence quotient, gender), clinical characteristics related to symptom severity, and adaptive behaviors. However, we observed differences between the two groups in certain behavioral aspects, including the Dysregulation Profile and disruptive behaviors. Assessing symptoms in combination with the presence of ADHD can be beneficial in determining which individuals would derive the greatest benefits from treatment.

Our study compared oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in children with autism to ADHD-Combined presentation and ADHD-Inattentive presentation. Mothers of 2,400 children 3-17 years old with autism and/or ADHD completed the Pediatric Behavior Scale. ADHD-Combined was most strongly associated with ODD, with an ODD prevalence of 53% in children with ADHD-Combined only. When autism was added to ADHD-Combined, prevalence increased to 62% and the ODD score increased significantly. Autism+ADHD-Inattentive, Autism Only, and ADHD-Inattentive Only had ODD prevalences of 28%, 24% and 14%. In each diagnostic group, ODD had the same two factors (irritable/angry and oppositional/defiant); demographic differences between children with and without ODD were few; and correlations between ODD and conduct problems were large, correlations with depression were medium, and correlations with anxiety were small. However, ODD scores differed significantly between groups (Autism+ADHD-Combined > ADHD-Combined Only > Autism+ADHD-Inattentive and Autism Only > ADHD-Inattentive Only). The irritable/angry ODD component was greater in Autism+ADHD-Combined than in ADHD-Combined Only, whereas the oppositional/defiant component did not differ between the two groups. Autism was a significant independent risk factor for ODD, particularly the irritable/angry ODD component, but ADHD-Combined was the strongest risk factor. Therefore, the high co-occurrence of ADHD-Combined in autism (80% in our study) largely explains the high prevalence of ODD in autism. ADHD-Combined, autism, and ODD are highly comorbid (55-90%). Clinicians should assess all three disorders in referred children and provide evidence-based interventions to improve current functioning and outcomes for children with these disorders and reduce family and caretaker stress.

Interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) between mothers and children responds to the temporal similarity of brain signals in joint behavior between dyadic partners and is considered an important neural indicator of the formation of adaptive social interaction bonds. Parent-child interactions are particularly important for the development and maintenance of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in children, but the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms are unknown. Therefore, in the current study we measured INS between mothers and children in interactions by using simultaneous functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), and explored its association with ODD symptoms in children. Seventy-two mother-child dyads were recruited to participate in the study, including 35 children with ODD and 37 healthy children to be used as a control. Each mother-child dyad was measured for neural activity in frontal, parietal, and temporal lobe regions while completing free-play as well as positive, and negative topic discussion tasks. We used Phase-locked value to calculate the synchrony strength and then used the K-means algorithm and k-space based alignment tests to confirm the specific patterns of parent-child synchrony in different brain areas. The results showed that, in free-play (right MFG and bilateral SFG), positive (left TPJ and bilateral SFGdor), and negative (bilateral SFGmed, right ANG, and left MFG) topic discussions, the mother-child pairs showed different patterns of INS. These specific INS patterns were significantly lower in the ODD group compared to the control group and were negatively associated with ODD symptoms in children. Network analyses showed that these INS patterns were connected to different nodes in the ODD symptom network. Our findings suggest that ODD mother-child dyads exhibit lower neural synchrony across a wide range of parent-child interactions. Neural synchrony in the context of interpersonal interactions provides new insights into understanding the neural mechanisms of ODD and can be used as an indicator of neural and socio-environmental factors in the network of psychological disorder symptoms.

To the best of the authors\' knowledge, this article is the first of its kind in Albania and neighboring countries to investigate the transformative synergistic intervention approach through cognitive behavioral therapy, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), and heavy metal detoxification on a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and dyslexia. The limited mental health awareness in Albania, particularly regarding PCIT and similar treatments, highlights the importance of the applicability and adaptability of such interventions. This study suggests that the rapid management of comorbidities in ADHD, such as ODD and dyslexia, is better achieved by a combined intervention approach and by investigating the biological aspects. Further research with a large sample size is needed to assess the long-term sustainability and scalability of such an approach.

This paper by Nobakht, Steinsbekk & Wichstrom (2023) is a model of good science in the study of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Their approach illustrates a thoughtful research design, statistical modeling sufficient to empirically evaluate developmental processes, and a full consideration of the theoretical implications of their work. This contrasts with a broad history of research on ODD and CD that far too often has only reified biased assumptions about these phenomena rather than rigorously scrutinizing them. Their demonstration of a unidirectional developmental flow of influence from ODD to interparental aggression, and thence to CD highlights a set of complicated developmental processes involving these disorders and their environment. It expands on evidence of the toll that ODD exerts on parents and provides guidance for more specific intervention. Standards in developmental psychopathology research should include testing bidirectional processes and employing designs that could falsify rather than reify existing beliefs. Examining key mechanisms in such processes will more rapidly generate improvements in assessment and treatment.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is impaired in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, population-based examination of indicators of sleep insufficiency and bedtime irregularity is limited. This investigation examined associations between ADHD, weeknight sleep insufficiency, and bedtime irregularity in a nationally-representative child sample, and indicators of these sleep outcomes in ADHD.
METHODS: Parents of children aged 3-17 years with ADHD (n = 7671) were surveyed through the 2020-2021 National Survey of Children\'s Health. Inverse probability of treatment weighting generated a weighted matched control sample (n = 51,572). Weighted generalized linear models were performed without and with age-stratification to examine associations between ADHD and sleep, adjusting for sociodemographics in the full sample, and between nineteen sociodemographic and clinical variables and sleep in ADHD.
RESULTS: Having ADHD was associated with increased odds of sleep insufficiency and bedtime irregularity relative to controls, even after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In ADHD, older age was associated with lower sleep insufficiency and greater bedtime irregularity. Black race, increased poverty, higher ADHD severity, depression, and increased screen time were associated with greater sleep insufficiency and bedtime irregularity. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were associated with greater sleep insufficiency. Behavioral/conduct problems, female sex, and absence of both ADHD medication use and ASD diagnosis were associated with poorer bedtime irregularity. Age-stratified results are reported in text.
CONCLUSIONS: Children with ADHD face heightened risk for insufficient sleep and irregular bedtimes. Findings suggest intervention targets (e.g., Black race, poverty, depression, screen time) to improve both sleep insufficiency and bedtime irregularity. Results highlight ACEs and behavioral/conduct problems as targets to improve sleep insufficiency and bedtime regularity, respectively. Age-stratified findings are discussed.

Existing research shows that children\'s responses to rewards and punishments are essential for understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and callous-unemotional traits. The present study developed the Contingency Response Rating Scale (CRRS) to fulfill the need for a reliable and valid measure of children\'s contingency response style that is brief, easy to use in applied settings, and provides additional information to existing clinical measures. We examined the psychometric properties of the CRRS in a sample of 196 children (ages 5-12), most of whom were referred to evaluate attention and behavior problems in an outpatient clinic. Using principal axis factoring, we identified five factors: (a) punishment ineffectiveness, (b) reward ineffectiveness, (c) punishment dysregulation, (d) reward dysregulation, and (e) contingency insensitivity. The subscales based on these factors showed acceptable test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and scale intercorrelations varied from low to moderate. The subscales also captured significant variance not explained by child or parent demographics and were associated with measures of psychopathology and impairment. The results provide preliminary evidence that the CRRS may be a helpful tool for assessing reward and punishment sensitivity in children with attention and behavior problems.