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Background/Aim: Negative postoperative changes in children are frequent and have been described for decades. However, there is currently no theoretical framework, nor any consensual operational criteria for identifying them. This study aims at characterizing the many dimensions involved in postoperative behavioral disturbances in early childhood, using a qualitative analysis applied for the first time to these symptoms. Method: Fifty‐seven parents of preschool children (1‐5 years old; 38 boys), who underwent general anesthesia, were interviewed 10 days after surgery. Semi‐structured interviews investigated behavioral disturbances classically described in preschool children. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts allied both deductive and inductive reasoning, and inductive coding was carried out using constant comparison method with dedicated qualitative software. Results: Parents reported both positive and negative postoperative changes. Negative changes were classified in four main categories: (a) Externalizing and (b) Internalizing problems behaviors, (c) Feeding sleeping disruption and (d) Somatic problems, each comprising different sub‐categories. Importantly within these categories, the symptoms distribution changed in 5 years old children, compared to younger children. Finally, our method allowed defining whether these (negative or positive) changes were significant or not, that is, the importance of postoperative behavioral changes. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the heterogeneity of postoperative disturbances in preschool children. These results are of primary importance for the definition and measurement of postoperative behavioral disturbances.

We performed a cross-sectional study in 450 nonreferred preschool children aged 4 to 6 years to assess the association between hyperactivity/inattention with adiposity and lifestyle characteristics. Measurements included scores of hyperactivity/inattention, adiposity, objectively measured physical activity, television viewing, and eating habits. Higher scores of hyperactivity/inattention were associated with lower percentage body fat, higher levels of physical activity, and less time spent in sedentary activity (all P ≤ .01). However, higher scores of hyperactivity/inattention were also associated with more television viewing and less healthy eating habits (all P ≤ .04). Except for some selected eating habits ( P ≥ .07), those relationships remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, and sociodemographic confounders. To conclude, higher scores of hyperactivity/inattention are linked to different lifestyle characteristics that may in part contribute to a future development of overweight/obesity. Precise mechanisms explaining these associations and possible preventive approaches should be further investigated.

Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently report that their children have a poor sense of time. Several studies looking at the perception of time mentioned a form of temporal myopia. The present study investigates the sense of time in children with ADHD. Twenty-two French-speaking Swiss children with ADHD and 22 controls between the ages of 6 and 13 years were tested using a conventional time knowledge questionnaire and two Piagetian time conservation tasks. Parents were asked to complete the “It’s about time” questionnaire. Better performance was observed in matched control group children than in children with ADHD on a conventional time knowledge questionnaire. For children under 10 years of age, the two Piagetian time conservation tasks were able to differentiate children with and without ADHD. Parents of ADHD children reported more frequently that their children had time-related difficulties in daily activities. This study suggests that children with ADHD take longer to develop several time-related abilities.

Resume L'objectif de cette etude est d'examiner les frequences de consommation d'alcool et de cannabis ainsi que les prevalences d'abus et de dependance associees chez des adolescents tout-venant et delinquants. Quatre-vingt-deux adolescents de sexe masculin (36 delinquants et 42 tout-venant ; âge moyen = 16,10 ± 1,02) ont ete interroges lors d'un entretien structure a l'aide de la version francaise du MINI ( Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview ). Les resultats indiquent que la majorite des adolescents sans distinction consomment des boissons alcoolisees (91,5 %), avec une prevalence d'abus et de dependance a l'alcool atteignant respectivement 37,3 et 13,3 % des consommateurs. En revanche, la proportion de consommateurs de cannabis est significativement plus elevee dans le groupe delinquant (94,4 vs 65,2 % chez les tout-venant). Globalement, la prevalence d'abus ou de dependance au cannabis chez les adolescents consommateurs est elevee (64,1 %). Toutefois, les adolescents consommateurs du groupe delinquant presentent de maniere statistiquement significative plus de diagnostics d'abus ou de dependance au cannabis que leurs homologues tout-venant (79,4 vs 46,7 %). Ces resultats montrent la gravite potentielle des conduites de consommation d'alcool et de cannabis adoptees par les adolescents. Cette etude souligne la necessite d'evaluer la gravite des conduites de consommation a l'adolescence et de promouvoir des actions preventives et therapeutiques.

Current explanatory models for binge eating in binge eating disorder (BED) mostly rely on models for bulimia nervosa (BN), although research indicates different antecedents for binge eating in BED. This study investigates antecedents and maintaining factors in terms of positive mood, negative mood and tension in a sample of 22 women with BED using ecological momentary assessment over a 1-week. Values for negative mood were higher and those for positive mood lower during binge days compared with non-binge days. During binge days, negative mood and tension both strongly and significantly increased and positive mood strongly and significantly decreased at the first binge episode, followed by a slight though significant, and longer lasting decrease (negative mood, tension) or increase (positive mood) during a 4-h observation period following binge eating. Binge eating in BED seems to be triggered by an immediate breakdown of emotion regulation. There are no indications of an accumulation of negative mood triggering binge eating followed by immediate reinforcing mechanisms in terms of substantial and stable improvement of mood as observed in BN. These differences implicate a further specification of etiological models and could serve as a basis for developing new treatment approaches for BED.