Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) and matched controls in terms of nonverbal communication skills, understanding of emotions, electrodermal activity (EDA) changes and response latencies measured with affective stimuli. Method: The study was designed as a single-center, cross-sectional, controlled study. KA-SI Empathic Tendency Scale-Child Form, Test of Perception of Affect-Via Nonverbal Cues (TPANC) were used for both groups. The TPANC test was performed in 4 different sessions (for picture, video, audio and textual stimuli), and during each session, the EDA was measured from the non-dominant hand. Stimuli were given at 15 second intervals in the tests and phasic changes within 3-8 seconds after the stimulus was accepted as skin conductance responses related to the stimulus in accordance with the literature. The responses and response latency during the TPANC test were recorded by the clinician. Results: 31 children with SLD and 31 healthy controls were included in the study. The mean ages for SLD and controls were 10 years 6 months and 10 years 1 month; respectively. In the SLD group, the number of correct responses in all subtests of TPANC was statistically significantly lower than controls (p<0.05). When TPANC subtests response latencies were compared, there was a significant increase in the SLD group compared to controls (p<0.05). The groups did not display a significant difference in EDA changes while providing responses in TPANC. Conclusion: Our results contribute to the literature on the affect recognition and its autonomic correlates among children with SLD. However, dependence on a single-modality for autonomic nervous system reactivity and limited sample size may affect our results and further studies with larger samples employing multiple domains of autonomic reactivity may be needed.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of drug holidays during summer vacations among children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who were treated with methylphenidate in ter...
28 April 2021 in Turkish Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health
We aimed to examine the effect of strabismus surgery on quality of life levels in children and adolescents. The Health-Related Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0 (HRQOL 4.0), consisting of 23 questions and 4 subscales (physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school problems), was administered to the children and adolescents who underwent strabismus surgery and their parents between December 2024 and June 2025, at preoperative and postoperative 1st and 3rd months. The postoperative deviation angle of the cases was 10 Prism Diopter (PD) or less. Strabismus surgery was performed by an Ophthalmologist, and the scales were evaluated by a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. 27 cases were included in our study. 17 (62.9%) of the cases were girls and 10 (37.1%) were boys. The average age was 9.0 ± 3.9 (7–17) . In child and adolescents, the change in the physical functionality parameters of the cases was not statistically significant (p >0.05), but the change in the parameters of emotional functionality, social functionality and school-related problems between the preoperative, postoperative 1st month and postoperative 3rd month was statistically significant (p < 0.05). In the parents’ proxy opinion of the child, the change in physical functionality, emotional functionality, social functionality parameters between preoperative, postoperative 1st month and postoperative 3rd month was statistically significant (p < 0.05), but in the parameters of school-related problems, preoperative, postoperative 1st month and postoperative 3rd month were statistically significant. The change between was not statistically significant(p >0.05) (Table 2). Successful surgery for strabismus results in measurable improvement in the quality of life in children and adolescents and in the parents proxy opinion of the child’s quality of life.