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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate social functioning and its relation to associated psychiatric symptoms and disorders in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa. METHODS: Thirty-two adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa aged between 12 and 18 years were compared to a control group of 30 adolescent girls without any psychiatric disorder. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was applied to determine comorbid psychiatric disorders in the anorexia nervosa group and to rule out any psychiatric disorder in the control group. Submissive Acts Scale, Shyness Scale and Social Comparison Scale were used to assess social functioning. RESULTS: Submissive behaviours and negative social comparisons were significantly higher in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and were more associated with the comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms, rather than the severity of anorexia nervosa symptoms. CONCLUSION: The results of this study would guide us to develop more effective treatment strategies for adolescents with anorexia nervosa who have comorbid psychiatric symptoms. Treatment strategies in this age group should consider social functioning and its relation to accompanying psychiatric symptoms and aim to improve social communication and coping skills.

Introduction: It is known that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) display social difficulties like social responsiveness and high levels of autistic behaviors such as rigidity, narrow interests of food and weight; however it is not clear whether they have comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or it is about acute phase of illness. In this study it is aimed to investigate autistic traits and social responsiveness in adolescents with AN. Methods: Study group was consisted of 39 female AN patients aged between 12-18 years. Control group was consisted of 34 female adolescents who did not have any psychiatric disorder. K-SADS-PL was applied to all participants in order to detect the psychiatric disorders. Autism traits and social responsiveness were evaluated using Social Responsiveness Scale. All adolescents of the study were administered The Eating Attitude Test, Beck Depression Inventory, Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders, Maudsley Obsesive Compulsive Inventory. Results: Results of the study indicated that adolescents with AN had higher symptoms of depression, anxiety and autism-like symptom clusters; and lower social responsiveness. Psychiatric comorbidities were not associated with these difficulties. Conclusion: The results show that AN patients have an impairment of social responsiveness, the impairment seems to be associated with AN regardless of psychiatric comorbidities. Despite these two disorders are considered unrelated, they have several traits in common. These results suggest that there may be a common pathogenesis between ASD and AN.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age ChildrenPresent and Lifetime Version, DSM-5 November 2016 -Turkish Adaptation (K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T). METHOD: A total of 150 children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were assessed with K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T. The degree of agreement between the DSM-5 criteria diagnoses and the K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T diagnoses were considered as the measure of consensus validity. In addition, concurrent validity was examined by analyzing the correlation between the diagnoses on K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T and relevant scales. Interrater reliabilities were assessed on randomly selected 20 participants. Likewise, randomly selected 20 other participants were interviewed with K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T three weeks after the first interview to evaluate test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The consistency of diagnoses was almost perfect for eating disorders, selective mutism and autism spectrum disorder (κ=0.92-1.0), substantial for elimination disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, depressive disorders, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (κ=0.67-0.80). Interrater reliability was perfect for selective mutism (κ=1.0), substantial for oppositional defiant disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depressive disorders and social anxiety disorder (κ=0.63-0.73). Test-retest reliability was almost perfect for autism spectrum disorder (κ=0.82), substantial for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, depressive disorders and generalized anxiety disorder (κ=0.62-0.78). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the K-SADS-PL-DSM-5-T is an effective instrument for diagnosing major childhood psychiatric disorders including selective mutism, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and autism spectrum disorder which have recently been added to the schedule.

EgeUn###, Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of childhood psychopathologies in Turkey. Method: A nation-wide, randomly selected, representative population of 5830 children (6-13 years-old) enrolled as a 2nd,3rd or 4th grade student in 30 cities were evaluated for presence of a psychiatric or mental disorder by a Sociodemographic Form, Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL), and DSM-IV-Based Screening Scale for Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children and Adolescents scales. Impairment criterion was assessed via a 3 point-Likert scale by the parent and the teacher independently. Results: Overall prevalence of any psychopathology was 37.6% without impairment criterion, and 17.1% with impairment criterion. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by anxiety (19.5% and 16.7% without impairment, 12.4% and 5.3% with impairment, respectively). Lower education level and presence of a physical or psychiatric problem of the parents were independent predictors of any psychopathology of the offspring. Conclusion: This is the largest and most comprehensive epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of psychopathologies in children and adolescents in Turkey. Our results partly higher than, and partly comparable to previous national and international studies. It also contributes to the literature by determining the independent predictors of psychopathologies in this age group.

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the attachment security and perceived expressed emotion of female adolescents diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and those without any psychiatric disorder and to compare the expressed emotion of their parents. We also aimed to investigate the relationships between these variables and the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms of the adolescents on attachment security, perceived expressed emotion and expressed emotion of the parents. Method The study enrolled 43 female adolescents aged 12-18 years diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and an age and economic statusmatched control group of 37 healthy female adolescents. Both groups completed the Eating Attitudes Test-40 (EAT-40), the Perceived Expressed Emotion Scale (PEES), the Short Form of Inventory of Parentand Peer Attachment (IPPA), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Screenfor Child Anxietyand Related Disorders (SCARED). Parents were assessed with the Expressed Emotion Scale (EES). Results As compared to the control group, the female adolescents with anorexia nervosa had lower attachment security and higher perception of parental expression of criticism and hostility. Presence of depression and anxiety symptoms did not affect these results. The security of maternal attachment in the adolescents with anorexia nervosa predicted their perception of criticism and hostility in their mothers. Conclusion The results of this study indicate the importance of assessing attachment security and perceived expressed emotion in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and the requirement of parental inclusion in the therapeutic process during follow up for implementation of appropriate interventions.

Emotional functions may play an important role in anorexia nervosa (AN). The onset of the disorder generally occurs during adolescence, which is a critical period of emotional development. However, most studies that evaluated emotional functions in AN were conducted in adult patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate emotion regulation, emotion recognition, and empathy skills in adolescent girls with AN by controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms, childhood traumatic experiences, and attachment security on emotional functions. Thirty-two adolescent girls with AN and 32 healthy counterparts completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and the Child and Adolescent KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale-Adolescent Form. The results revealed that adolescents with AN were found to have more difficulties in emotion regulation, higher alexithymic tendencies, and lower empathy skills compared with the control group. However, emotion recognition was not found to be significantly different between the two groups. These results were the same when controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms, childhood traumatic experiences, and attachment security except for empathy skills. Alexithymia and depressive symptoms were significantly related to emotion regulation difficulties in adolescents with AN. Considering the results, it seems that emotion regulation and alexithymia may play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of AN. Accordingly, it is necessary to focus on the improvement of these skills during the treatment of AN. Furthermore, interventions promoting these skills during adolescence may be preventive. Level III, case–control study.

GOKCEN, CEM/0000-0003-3824-5890; Topal, Zehra/0000-0001-8397-5636; Tural, Umit/0000-0002-1593-2180; Unal, Fatih/0000-0001-8386-9884; Acikel, Burak/0000-0002-8964-9513; Erden, Semih/0000-0002-7723-9584; Kilic, Birim Gunay/0000-0002-4566-2564; Ucar, Halit Necmi/0000-0002-2706-7454; CELIK, GONCA/0000-0001-6101-0796; Gunes, Serkan/0000-0002-8247-2145; Isik, Umit/0000-0001-6006-3247; Coskun, Murat/0000-0002-4808-5870; Tufan, ALI EVREN/0000-0001-5207-6240; Donmez, Yunus Emre/0000-0002-7785-2805; Ceri, Veysi/0000-0001-6152-0227; Uzun, Necati/0000-0003-3381-2331; Hesapcioglu, Selma Tural/0000-0002-4816-0228; Kandemir, Hasan/0000-0002-1138-4973; Gormez, Vahdet/0000-0002-2704-9520 WOS: 000439557000070 PubMed: 29936389 Aim: To determine the prevalence of affective disorders in Turkey among a representative sample of Turkish population. Methods: This study was conducted as a part of the "The Epidemiology of Childhood Psychopathology in Turkey" (EPICPAT-T) Study, which was designed by the Turkish Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. The inclusion criterion was being a student between the second and fourth grades in the schools assigned as study centers. The assessment tools used were the K-SADS-PL, and a sociodemographic form that was designed by the authors. Impairment was assessed via a 3 point-Likert type scale independently rated by a parent and a teacher. Results: A total of 5842 participants were included in the analyses. The prevalence of affective disorders was 2.5 % without considering impairment and 1.6 % when impairment was taken into account. In our sample, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder was lacking, thus depressive disorders constituted all the cases. Among depressive disorders with impairment, major depressive disorder (MDD) (prevalence of 1.06%) was the most common, followed by dysthymia (prevalence of 0.2%), adjustment disorder with depressive features (prevalence of 0.17%), and depressive disorder-NOS (prevalence of 0.14%). There were no statistically significant gender differences for depression. Maternal psychopathology and paternal physical illness were predictors of affective disorders with pervasive impairment. Conclusion: MDD was the most common depressive disorder among Turkish children in this nationwide epidemiological study. This highlights the severe nature of depression and the importance of early interventions. Populations with maternal psychopathology and paternal physical illness may be the most appropriate targets for interventions to prevent and treat depression in children and adolescents.