The intrauterine period is a time of high sensitivity in the development of the embryo and the fetus. Therefore, low levels of maternal stress are closely associated with healthy brain development in the neonatal and early childhood periods. There is increasing evidence linking natural disasters as prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) to neurodevelopmental disorders (including subclinical manifestations). Natural disasters involve many factors in addition to the trauma they cause, including loss and the physical and psychosocial difficulties that result from that trauma. This review article aims to bring together research findings on the neurodevelopmental effects of natural disasters on children as PNMS. It also looks at how factors such as gestational age and gender contribute to these effects. We conducted a systematic review on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, with 30 studies meting the inclusion criteria. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. A total of 1,327,886 mother–child dyads participated in the included studies. The results of the studies indicate that natural disasters have a negative impact on children’s outcomes in terms of cognitive development, language development, autism/autism-like features, motor skills, performance in mathematics, mental development, sleep, attention, behavioral and emotional problems, and various psychiatric comorbidities.

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of bullying among high school students, its associated factors, and the effects of engaging in bullying behaviors on mental health.This cross-...

Objective: To determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of children followed up with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at a tertiary center in Southeeast Turkey.Methods: ...

The aim of this study is to determine the functioning of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) diagnosed in childhood and depression and burnout levels among their parents. A total of 261 adults with ASDs and their parents were recruited for the study. Both parents completed the Beck Depression and Maslach Burnout Inventories and reported the functioning of their adult offspring with ASDs. Only 5.4 % of our sample reported “good” or “very good” outcomes. The most common psychiatric comorbidities were intellectual disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Maternal burnout and depression scores were significantly elevated compared to those of fathers. There is an undeniable urgent need for more research to identify the needs of adults and families suffering from ASD. Modifications for those with 10.13039/100007726 ASD may have to be made for support in workplaces, achieving driving licenses, using public transportation and attendance at tertiary education.

Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, that starts in early childhood and presents with deficiencies in social-communicational domains along with restricted and repetitive behaviours/interests. While genetic factors are dominant in its pathogenesis, many factors, including neurological, environmental and immunological have been identified. Furtheremore, although cerebellar dysfunction in the etiology of autism has been shown in different studies, the possible causes of the dysfunction and the role of neuroinflammation among these causes have not been clarified yet. Anti-Yo, anti-Hu, anti-Ri and anti-Amphiphysin antibodies have been found to be associated with cerebellar degeneration. The aim of the present study was to compare anti-Yo, anti-Hu, anti-Ri and anti- Amphiphysin antibodies and 8-OHdG values in blood using the ELISA method between ASD patients and healthy children to demonstrate the role of neuroinflammation as a potential cause of cerebellar dysfunction and DNA damage and evaluate the relationship between Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores in children diagnosed with ASD and these parameters. Methods: Thirty-five consecutive children between the ages of 3 and 12 referred to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic of Harran University Hospital and diagnosed with ASD according to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria were included in the study. The children did not have any chronic physical disorders and were treatment naive. Thirty-three healthy children between the ages of 3 and 12 without any physical or psychiatric disorders were included as the healthy control group. For psychiatric evaluation, a sociodemographic form and to measure the severity of autism, CARS was used. In the study, anti-Yo, anti-Hu, anti-Ri and anti-Amphiphysin antibodies and 8-OHdG values in blood were investigated using the ELISA method. Results: Thirty-five cases with autism (62.9% males) and thirty-three healthy controls (72.7% males) were included in the present study (p = 0.385). The median age was 6.0 in the ASD group and 7.0 in the control group (p = 0.146). Among ASD patients, anti-Ri antibody positivity was detected, while no anti-Ri antibody positivity was found in the control group (p = 0.002). In the ASD group, the anti-Hu and 8-OHdG values were found to be significantly higher than those of the controls (p < 0.001, p = 0.001); no significant difference was found between the ASD and control groups with regard to the anti-Yo and anti-Amphiphysin values (p = 0.113, p = 0.275). Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that antibodies against cerebellum may be present among children with ASD and DNA damage may occur due to oxidative stress.