Reduced Cerebellar Volumes Associate with P300 Amplitude Attenuation in Children with Clinical High Risk for Psychosis and Early Onset Psychosis.

Patients with psychotic illnesses, including early onset psychosis (EOP), often experience cognitive impairment. The cerebellum is critically involved in neurocognitive processes, yet possible regional alterations in the cerebellum and their associations with behavioral parameters remain largely unexplored in EOP. In this preliminary study, we aimed to investigate structural morphological properties of the cerebellum as well as the supratentorial brain, and how morphological changes in the central nervous system relate to neurocognitive performance in children with EOP and clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR).

Heterogeneity of clinical symptomatology in pediatric patients at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Objective: Widespread use of diagnostic tools like the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms (SIPS) has highlighted that youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) present with heterogeneous symptomatology. This pilot study aims to highlight the range of clinical characteristics of CHR-P youth, investigate the role of the non-positive (negative, disorganization, and general) symptoms in risk assessment, and determine if specific profiles are associated with severe symptomatology.

Methods: 38 participants aged 7-18 were administered the SIPS and designated as CHR-P.

Burden Experienced by Primary Caregivers of Children With Psychotic Disorders and at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

Background: Despite the existing research exploring caregiver burden in adult psychosis, few studies have examined the experience of providing care to children diagnosed with psychotic disorders (PDs) and those identified as having clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P).

Aim: This study measured the level of burden in caregivers of children with PD and CHR-P and examined associated risk factors, including social support, caregiver-child relationship, severity of illness, and frequency of psychiatric hospitalizations.

Methods: A total of 56 caregivers completed validated measures and provided demographic information.

Similar Rates of Deleterious Copy Number Variants in Early-Onset Psychosis and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective: Copy number variants (CNVs) are strongly associated with neurodevelopmental and psychotic disorders. Early-onset psychosis (EOP), where symptoms appear before 18 years of age, is thought to be more strongly influenced by genetic factors than adult-onset psychotic disorders. However, the prevalence and effect of CNVs in EOP is unclear.

Depressive symptom screening and endorsement of psychosis risk-related experiences in a diverse adolescent and young adult outpatient clinic in the US.

Background: Early identification and intervention is a gold standard for psychotic disorders, for which delays in care can have serious consequences. Screening for psychosis in primary care may circumvent barriers related to stigma and facilitate shorter pathways to care. Yet, there is debate regarding the benefit-risk balance for psychosis screening in general adolescent populations.

RCL1 copy number variants are associated with a range of neuropsychiatric phenotypes.

Mendelian and early-onset severe psychiatric phenotypes often involve genetic variants having a large effect, offering opportunities for genetic discoveries and early therapeutic interventions. Here, the index case is an 18-year-old boy, who at 14 years of age had a decline in cognitive functioning over the course of a year and subsequently presented with catatonia, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, aggression, mood dysregulation, and disorganized thoughts. Exome sequencing revealed a stop-gain mutation in RCL1 (NM_005772.

Implementing Evidence-Based Treatments for Youth in Acute and Intensive Treatment Settings.

Evidence-based treatments (EBTs) have been well studied in outpatient and research settings to address a myriad of mental health concerns. Research studies have found benefits and challenges when implementing these interventions. However, less is known about the implementation of EBTs in acute and intensive treatment settings such as inpatient psychiatric hospitalization (IPH) units, partial hospitalization programs (PHPs), or intensive outpatient programs (IOPs).

P300 amplitude attenuation in high risk and early onset psychosis youth.

Little research has investigated the use of electrophysiological biomarkers in childhood and adolescence to distinguish early onset psychosis and the clinical high risk state. The P300 evoked potential is a robust neurophysiological marker of schizophrenia that is dampened in patients with schizophrenia and, less consistently, in those with affective psychoses and those at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR). How it may differ between patients with psychotic disorders (PS) and CHR is less studied, especially in youth.

De novo variant of TRRAP in a patient with very early onset psychosis in the context of non-verbal learning disability and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a case report.

Background: TRRAP encodes a multidomain protein kinase that works as a genetic cofactor to influence DNA methylation patterns, DNA damage repair, and chromatin remodeling. TRRAP protein is vital to early neural developmental processes, and variants in this gene have been associated with schizophrenia and childhood disintegrative disorder.

Case Presentation: Here, we report on a patient with a de novo nonsynonymous TRRAP single-nucleotide variant (EST00000355540.

Social impairment and social language deficits in children and adolescents with and at risk for psychosis.

Intro: One of the more debilitating functional outcomes of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders is social impairment. Previous studies have identified impaired social functioning both in the prodromal phase of psychosis and after acute symptoms abate, suggesting that social impairment represents a core deficit in psychosis not directly linked to psychotic episodes or symptom severity. To date, research in this area has focused primarily on adult populations rather than children, and has not directly assessed social language in individuals across the psychosis continuum.

and compound heterozygous mutations in a child with autism spectrum disorder, episodic fatigue and somnolence, and muckle-wells syndrome.

Complex phenotypes may represent novel syndromes that are the composite interaction of several genetic and environmental factors. We describe an 9-year old male with high functioning autism spectrum disorder and Muckle-Wells syndrome who at age 5  years of age manifested perseverations that interfered with his functioning at home and at school. After age 6, he developed intermittent episodes of fatigue and somnolence lasting from hours to weeks that evolved over the course of months to more chronic hypersomnia.

Potentially traumatic events in youth with and at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Aim: Previous research has demonstrated a strong association between early trauma exposure and the development of psychotic symptoms. However, few of these studies have included young adolescents and children. This study investigated rates and number of potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) among typically developing youth (TD; n = 21), youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 38), and youth with a psychotic disorder (PD; n = 28) between 7 and 18 years of age.

Social cognitive impairment in 22q11 deletion syndrome: A review.

Individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) exhibit a broad array of physical and psychiatric features, of which impaired social cognition and poor social functioning are common. This review seeks to (1) characterize the current understanding of impairment across social cognitive domains in the context of 22q11DS, and (2) synthesize the relevant literature on social cognition and psychosis, given that the prevalence of psychosis in 22q11DS is especially high compared to the general population.

A Developmental Perspective on Social-Cognition Difficulties in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

After participating in this activity, learners should be better able to:• Evaluate the evolution of social cognitive abilities as a developmental process• Assess the evidence regarding social cognition difficulties in youth at clinical high risk for psychosisIndividuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis exhibit a broad range of difficulties, including impaired social cognition, which may represent a target for early identification and intervention. Several studies have examined various domains of social cognition in CHR individuals. Most focus on adolescent and young adult populations, but given the accumulating evidence that impairment exists before the onset of psychotic disorders, it is critically important to begin to look for these risk markers in younger children.

Capturing Psychologists' Work in Academic Health Settings: The Role of the Educational Value Unit (EVU).

This paper describes how psychology faculty positions in academic health centers (AHCs) have evolved to meet the changing needs in healthcare. In that context, the roles of psychologists have expanded significantly to include a wide array of clinical responsibilities, teaching and supervisory roles, administrative functions, research initiatives, and academic scholarship. Traditionally, faculty compensation plans have been calculated through the use of Relative Value Units which are primarily based on clinical service delivery, hence, incomplete when attempting to account for these growing academic responsibilities.