Paediatrics (RCH) - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/199

Filters

2010 - 2012 2
2
Reset filters

Settings
Statistics
Citations
Author: Hetrick, Sarah × Author: Vance, Alasdair × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2010 ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Predicting Suicidal Risk in a Cohort of Depressed Children and Adolescents
    Hetrick, SE ; Parker, AG ; Robinson, J ; Hall, N ; Vance, A (HOGREFE & HUBER PUBLISHERS, 2012)
    BACKGROUND: In children and adolescents with a depressive disorder, predicting who will also go on to exhibit suicide-related behaviors (SRBs), including suicide attempt or self-harm, is a key challenge facing clinicians. AIMS: To investigate the relative contributions of depressive disorder severity, hopelessness, family dysfunction, and perceived social support to the risk of suicide-related behaviors. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of a group of 10-16-year-olds with major depressive disorders and dysthymic disorder. RESULTS: Child-rated depressive disorder symptom severity emerged as the greatest predictor of risk. Hopelessness and family dysfunction were also significant predictors of SRBs. In combination these variables were strong predictors, accounting for 66% of the variance. This is a cross-sectional study design, rather than longitudinal, therefore risk prediction over time was not possible. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the child and adolescents depressive disorder symptom severity from their perspective, their level of hopelessness, as well as their family context is critical in understanding the risk of SRBs. These findings may help to provide direction for targeted interventions to address these clinical risk factors.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The association of visuospatial working memory with dysthymic disorder in pre-pubertal children
    Franklin, T ; Lee, A ; Hall, N ; Hetrick, S ; Ong, J ; Haslam, N ; Karsz, F ; Vance, A (CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS, 2010-02)
    BACKGROUND: Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) deficits have not been investigated specifically in children with dysthymic disorder (DD), although they are associated with impairments in attention that commonly occur in DD. This study investigates VSWM impairment in children with DD. METHOD: A cross-sectional study of VSWM in 6- to 12-year-old children with medication-naive DD (n=26) compared to an age-, gender- and 'performance IQ' (PIQ)-matched healthy control group (n=28) was completed. RESULTS: The DD group demonstrated impairment in VSWM, including impairment in the spatial span and strategy components of VSWM. Furthermore, the VSWM impairment remained after controlling for spatial span. Inattentive symptoms were significantly associated with the VSWM impairment. CONCLUSIONS: This study of children with DD found deficits in performance on VSWM tasks, suggesting that fronto-striatal-parietal neural networks that underlie processes of attention and the executive component of VSWM are dysfunctional in children with DD. These findings further our understanding of DD and suggest more specific interventions that might improve functioning.