Toddler anxiety disorders: a pilot study

Effects of Prenatal Social Stress and Maternal Dietary Fatty Acid Ratio on Infant Temperament: Does Race Matter?

BACKGROUND

Infant temperament predicts a range of developmental and behavioral outcomes throughout childhood. Both maternal fatty acid intake and psychosocial stress exposures during pregnancy may influence infant temperament. Furthermore, maternal race may modify prenatal diet and stress effects. The goals of this study are to examine the joint effects of prenatal diet and stress and the modifying effects of race on infant behavior.

METHODS

Analyses included N=255 mother-infant dyads, primarily minorities (21% Blacks; 42% Hispanics), enrolled in an urban pregnancy cohort. Maternal prenatal stress was indexed by a negative life events (NLEs) score on the Crisis in Family Systems-Revised survey. Prenatal total daily intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (n3, n6) were estimated from a food frequency questionnaire; n3:n6 ratios were calculated. Mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R), a measure of infant temperament, when the children were 6 months old. Three commonly used dimensions were derived: Orienting & Regulation, Extraversion, and Negative Affectivity. Associations among prenatal stress, maternal n3:n6 ratio, and race/ethnicity on infant temperament, controlling for maternal education and age and child sex, were examined.

RESULTS

Among Blacks, prenatal stress effects on infant Orienting & Regulation scores were modified by maternal n3:n6 ratios (p=0.03): As NLEs increased, lower n3:n6 ratios predicted lower infant Orienting & Regulation scores, whereas higher n3:n6 ratios attenuated the effect of prenatal stress. There were no main or interaction effects predicting Extraversion or Negative Affectivity.

CONCLUSIONS

An optimal PUFA ratio may protect the fetus from stress effects on infant behavior, particularly among Blacks. These findings may have implications for later neurodevelopment and social functioning predicted by early temperamental characteristics.

Treatment of anxiety and depression in the preschool period

OBJECTIVE

Empirical studies have established that clinical anxiety and depressive disorders may arise in preschool children as young as 3.0 years. Because empirical studies validating and characterizing these disorders in preschoolers are relatively recent, less work has been done on the development and testing of age-appropriate treatments.

METHOD

A comprehensive literature search yielded several small randomized controlled trials of psychotherapeutic treatments for preschool anxiety and depression. The literature also contained case series of behavioral and psychopharmacologic interventions for specific anxiety disorders. However, to date, no large-scale randomized controlled trials of treatment for any anxiety or depressive disorder specifically targeting preschool populations have been published.

RESULTS

Several age-adapted forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy have been developed and preliminarily tested in small randomized controlled trials and appear promising for different forms of preschool anxiety disorders. Notably, these adaptations centrally involve primary caregivers and use age-adjusted methodology such as cartoon-based materials and co-constructed drawing or narratives. Modified forms of parent child interaction therapy have been tested and appear promising for anxiety and depression. Although preventive interventions that target parenting have shown significant promise in anxiety, these methods have not been explored in early childhood depression. Studies of the impact of parental treatment on infants suggest that direct treatment of the youngest children may be necessary to affect long-term change.

CONCLUSIONS

Recommendations are made for the clinical treatment of these disorders when psychotherapy is the first line of intervention.

Patterns of anxiety symptoms in toddlers and preschool-age children: evidence of early differentiation

The degree to which young children's anxiety symptoms differentiate according to diagnostic groupings is under-studied, especially in children below the age of 4 years. Theoretical (confirmatory factor analysis, CFA) and statistical (exploratory factor analysis, EFA) analytical methods were employed to test the hypothesis that anxiety symptoms among 2-3-year-old children from a non-clinical, representative sample would differentiate in a manner consistent with current diagnostic nosology. Anxiety symptom items were selected from two norm-referenced parent-report scales of child behavior. CFA and EFA results suggested that anxiety symptoms aggregate in a manner consistent with generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, separation anxiety, and social phobia. Multi-dimensional models achieved good model fit and fit the data significantly better than undifferentiated models. Results from EFA and CFA methods were predominantly consistent and supported the grouping of early childhood anxiety symptoms into differentiated, diagnostic-specific categories.

Internalizing disorders in early childhood: a review of depressive and anxiety disorders

This article reviews the use of the broad category of internalizing disorders and data on young children using this definition. It also reviews the emerging support for more specific internalizing diagnoses in very young children. The current empiric database on nosology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders in young children is examined, and a clinical case example is included. Identification of recent advances in the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders in young children and areas in which future studies are needed also are explored.

Reliability and validity of the Fear Survey Schedule for Infants-Preschoolers

The aim of this research was to examine the reliability and validity of a new questionnaire to measure fears in young children. One hundred and thirty-three parents of children 18 months to 5 years of age completed the Fear Survey Schedule for Infants-Preschoolers (FSSIP). Parents and other caregivers were interviewed and completed questionnaires concerning child fearfulness, and child fearful behavior was observed. The FSSIP demonstrated high internal consistency, low-to-moderate test-retest correlations over an average of 6 months, and good convergent and discriminant validity. With further research, the FSSIP could aid in the investigation of the duration and consequences of fears in young children.

Clinical presentation of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in preschool children: the Preschoolers with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment Study (PATS)

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation of preschoolers diagnosed with moderate to severe attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) recruited for the multisite Preschool ADHD Treatment Study (PATS). The diagnosis and evaluation process will also be described.

METHOD

A comprehensive multidimensional, multi-informant assessment protocol was implemented including the semistructured PATS Diagnostic Interview. Parent and teacher-report measures were used to supplement information from interviews. Consensus agreement by a cross-site panel on each participant's diagnoses was required. Analyses were conducted to describe the sample and to test associations between ADHD severity and demographic and clinical variables.

RESULTS

The assessment protocol identified 303 preschoolers (3-5.5 years) with moderate to severe ADHD Hyperactive/Impulsive or Combined type. The majority of participants (n = 211, 69.6%) experienced co-morbid disorders, with oppositional defiant disorder, communication disorders, and anxiety disorders being the most common. Participants with co-morbid communication disorders were found to be more anxious and depressed. ADHD severity was found to correlate with more internalizing difficulties and lower functioning. Although boys and girls had similar symptom presentations, younger children had significantly higher ADHD severity.

CONCLUSIONS

Preschoolers with moderate to severe ADHD experience high co-morbidity and impairment, which have implications for both assessment and treatment.