Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a common vulnerability in emotional disorders. Due to the pathological role of AS, individuals with high AS are faced with emotional problems. Thus, cognitive behavioural interventions try to reduce these problems by targeting AS. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy (T-CBT) and construct-specific CBT (CS-CBT) on AS, anxiety, depression, and positive and negative affect in these patients. To this end, 40 patients with high AS were randomly assigned to one of the three groups of T-CBT, CS-CBT, and wait list. Participants were assessed using the Anxiety and Related Disorders Interview Schedule for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule at baseline, post-treatment, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The findings showed that T-CBT and CS-CBT have a significant effect on AS, anxiety, and negative affect; however, contrary to T-CBT, CS-CBT is not effective for reducing depression and positive affect. T-CBT had a more promising efficacy than CS-CBT in all treatment outcomes. The results show better and more stable efficacy of T-CBT among patients with high AS. It is essential to consider AS as a target for cognitive behavioural intervention for the spectrum of emotional disorders.

The study examined psychological development in 250 children at the age of 6–7 and 10–12 years who had been exposed in the prenatal period at the time of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. These children were compared to a control group of 250 children of the same age from non- and slightly contaminated areas of Belarus. The examination included psychiatric examination and intellectual assessment as well as the estimation of thyroid exposure in utero. The mean value of thyroid doses from 131I 0.39 Gy was estimated for the prenatal exposed children. The children of the exposed group had a lower mean full-scale IQ compared to the control group (89.6 ± 10.2 vs 92.1 ± 10.5 at the age of 6–7 years, P = 0.007; and 94.3 ± 10.4 vs 95.8 ± 10.9 at the age of 10–12 years, P = 0.117). Average IQ for the subgroup of highly exposed children (thyroid doses more than 1 Gy) was lower in comparison with average IQ for the whole exposed group (85.7 ± 6.4 vs 89.6 ± 10.2 at the age of 6–7 years, P = 0.014; 89.1 ± 7.1 vs 94.3 ± 10.4 at age 10–12 years, P = 0.003). No statistically significant distinctions in average IQ were found between the different subgroups of children in relation to the gestational age at the time of the Chernobyl accident. We notice a positive moderate correlation between IQ of children and the educational level of their parents (in exposed group – mothers: r = 0.50, P < 0.01 and fathers: r = 0.52, P < 0.01; in control group – mothers: r = 0.41, P < 0.05 and fathers: r = 0.42, P < 0.05). There was a moderate correlation between high personal anxiety in parents and emotional disorders in children (for mothers r = 0.38, P < 0.05; for fathers r = 0.43, P < 0.01). The relative risk of mental and behavioural disorders has been estimated for emotional disorders OR = 2.67, P < 0.001. The frequency of the formation of mental retardation, hyperkinetic disorders and other mental and behavioural disorders in children from both groups was approximately the same. We conclude that in the genesis of borderline intellectual functioning and emotional disorders in the exposed group of children a significant role was probably played by unfavourable social-psychological and sociocultural factors such as a low educational level of the parents, the break of microsocial contacts and difficulties adapting, which appeared following the evacuation and relocation from the contaminated areas.

This study examined the applicability of the Chinese Version of Teacher's Report Form (TRF-CV) and estimated the prevalence of behavioral problems in a general population sample of 2936 children aged 6 through 11 years in the Shandong Province of China. Teachers completed the TRF-CV and the Conners Hyperkinesis Index (CHI). The TRF-CV total scale showed satisfactory 2-week test–retest reliability (r = .83) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .94). The TRF-CV Total Problems, Attention Problems, Delinquent Behavior, and Aggressive Behavior had acceptable concurrent validity with the CHI (mean r = .62). With the TRF-CV Total Problems score of 26 as a cutoff, an overall correct classification rate of 90% for clinical sample and nonreferral required children was obtained. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six syndromes: Aggressive/Delinquent Behavior, Withdrawn/Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Attention Problems, Social Problems, and Thought Problems, with significant correlations with corresponding American cross-informant syndromes (mean r = .84). The overall prevalence rate of behavioral problems was 15.5% (95% CI = 14.2–16.8%), with a boy-to-girl ratio of 2.0: 1 (χ2 = 59.70, p < .001). Younger boys exhibited more externalizing problems. These findings indicate that the TRF-CV is applicable for Chinese children, and the prevalence of behavioral problems shown by it among Chinese children seems comparable to that found in other countries. Although most of the American syndromes were well replicated, the differences in the present subjects, when submitted to principal components analysis, from American samples from whom the original syndromes were derived, could have prevented the study from replicating distinctions between aggressive vs. delinquent and depressed vs. withdrawn syndromes.

The nature and correlates of psychological disorders of preadolescent children from the longitudinal Australian Temperament Project (ATP) are reported. Almost half of the children identified via checklists completed by mothers, teachers, and the children themselves as being in the at-risk range for disorder received a DSM-III-R diagnosis. Nine per cent of comparison, or low-risk, children also received a diagnosis. Internalising disorders were the most common, and 44% of cases had multiple problems. Children rated as problematic by all three informants or by child plus teacher were the most likely to receive a diagnosis. The at-risk group had more difficult temperament, poorer family and peer relationships, lower levels of social skills, and were of lower SES than the comparison group. There were minimal differences on these variables between at-risk children who did, or did not, receive a DSM-III-R diagnosis. It is argued that especially for boys, checklists from multiple informants are effective tools for identifying clinically significant disorders.

This study examined psychological development in 138 children at the age of 6–7 and 10–11 years, who had suffered prenatal radiation exposure at the time of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. These children were compared to a control group of 122 children of the same age from noncontaminated areas of Belarus. The examination included neurological and psychiatric examination, intellectual assessment, and clinical psychological investigation of parents as well as the estimation of thyroid exposure in utero. The exposed group manifested a relative increase in psychological impairment compared with the control group, with increased prevalence in cases of specific developmental speech-language disorders (18·1% vs. 8·2% at 6–7 years; 10·1% vs. 3.3% at 10–11 years) and emotional disorders (20.3% vs. 7.4% at 6–7 years; 18.1 vs. 7.4% at 10–11 years). The mean IQ of the exposed group was lower than that of the control group, and there were more cases of borderline IQ (IQ=70–79) (15.9% vs. 5.7% at 6–7 years; and 10.1% vs. 3.3% at 10–11 years). The mean value of thyroid doses from 131I 0.4 Gy was estimated for children exposed in utero. No correlation was found between individual thyroid doses and IQ at age 6–7 years or 10–11 years. We notice a positive moderate correlation between IQ of children and the educational level of their parents. There was a moderate correlation between high personal anxiety in parents and emotional disorders in children. We conclude that a significant role in the genesis of borderline intellectual functioning, specific developmental disorders of speech, language and scholastic skills, as well as emotional disorders in the exposed group of children was played by unfavourable social-psychological and social-cultural factors such as a low educational level of parents, the break of microsocial contacts, and adaptational difficulties, which appear following the evacuation and relocation from the contaminated areas.

The adjustment and prosocial behaviour of 4-year-old children and their older siblings growing up in step-parent or single-parent families, or with two biological parents, was investigated within a longitudinal community study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC). Mean differences in mothers' perception of adjustment were found for children in different family settings, with higher levels of problems and lower prosocial scores reported for those in single- and step-parent families than those in non-stepfamilies. Individual differences within each family setting were marked. With the exception of single parenthood, which remained a risk indicator for the 4-year-olds, the contribution of family type to differences in adjustment and prosocial behaviour largely disappeared when account was also taken of negativity in family relationships, maternal age, education level, depressive symptomatology, and history of previous live-in relationships, mothers' support networks, and the family's current financial and housing circumstances. Boys remained more at risk for adjustment difficulties than girls when this range of factors was taken into account. The limitations and implications of these findings on a community sample, a first step in a programme of research into family processes in children's adjustment, are discussed.

In adolescence, antisocial and depressive symptoms are moderately stable and modestly correlated with each other. We examined the genetic and environmental origins of the stability and change of antisocial and depressive symptoms and their co-occurrence cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a national sample of 405 adolescents. Monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins and full, half, and unrelated siblings 10–18 years of age from nondivorced and stepfamilies were studied over a 3-year period. Composite measures of adolescent self-reports, parent reports, and observational measures of antisocial and depressive symptoms were analysed in multivariate behavioural genetic models. Results indicated that the majority of the stability in and co-occurrence between dimensions could be accounted for by genetic factors. Nonshared environmental risks and, for antisocial symptoms, shared environmental risks also contributed to the stability. Genetic influences on change were observed, but only for antisocial behaviour. In addition, the longitudinal association between antisocial behavioural and later depressive symptoms was also found to be genetically mediated, but this effect was nonsignificant after controlling for stability. Results are discussed in light of the potential contributions of developmental behavioural genetic research in understanding individual differences in the stability and change of maladjustment.

Forty-one children reared in group care were compared with 41 age- and sex-matched family care children according to interview, questionnaire, and observation measures of behavioural and scholastic functioning. Individual differences in outcome within the group care sample were examined in relation to a range of possible risk/protective indicators. The strongest predictor of outcome proved to be the reason for admission into residential care, with the implication that the outcome was best for children who had experienced stable, harmonious family relationships in their early years. The risk and protective effects applied to both the children's behaviour and scholastic attainments but, although the two were intercorrelated, neither accounted for the other. All subgroups of children in institutional care failed to show a lack of confiding peer relationships, with the pattern of findings suggesting that this stemmed from some aspect of experiences (possibly involving peer relationships) during residential care, as well as from discontinuity in caregiving during the early years.

The social, behavioural, and school adjustment of 41 9-year-old children in long-term residential group care in Greece was compared with that of children of the same sex and age brought up in two-parent families. Observational, interview, and questionnaire measures were employed. Observations in school classrooms showed that compared with their classmates, the group care children were more inattentive, participated less often in the classroom activities, were more likely to be passive, and tended to be involved in alternative and nonproductive activities. In the playground, they rarely interacted with non-institutional children. On both parent and teacher scales the group care children showed significantly more overall disturbance. The boys showed poor task involvement in the classroom and more emotional difficulties, conduct problems, and hyperactivity, whereas the between-group differences for girls were statistically significant only for emotional disturbance and poor task involvement in the classroom. Both boys and girls in long-term residential care showed less harmonious, confiding relationships with peers than those reared in families, and were more affection-seeking with teachers.