Biomedical subjects

F Minow

Publications and source records attributed to F Minow.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Evaluation of attention problems in children with autism and children with a specific language disorder.

Children with autism and children with a specific language disorder show additional attention deficits. The literature on the neuropsychological investigation of attention in both groups of children suggests that the nature of their attention problems might be different. The purpose of this study is to examine the attention test profiles in these two groups of children with developmental disorders. Nineteen children and adolescents with autism, 17 subjects with a specific language disorder and 19 control subjects participated in the study. Non-verbal intelligence was normal for all subjects. The "Testbatterie zur Aufmerksamkeitsprüfung" was administered to all subjects. This instrument provides the possibility to examine a wide range of attention functions and executive functions. The results showed that the autistic individuals had deficits in executive functions, whereas the language impaired children had deficits in auditory sustained attention, in auditory selective attention, and in the domain of executive functions. It is concluded that although both groups of developmentally impaired subjects showed attention problems, the deficits are not the same in both groups. The different neuropsychological profiles probably reflect different mechanisms in the pathogenesis of the attention deficits in both types of developmental disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

[Applicability of the Child Behavior Checklist in developmentally delayed children].

OBJECTIVES: The Child Behavior Checklist is used to assess behavioral problems in a large unselected sample of children. In the present study we assess the usefulness of the CBCL in the evaluation of the typical behavioral problems usually reported in children with developmental disorders. METHODS: We examined two groups of children which both had language or communication problems. The first group consisted of 34 children with infantile autism, the second group consisted of 34 age-, sex- and IQ-matched children with a specific developmental speech and language disorder. The CBCL was filled out by the parents in both groups as part of the routine diagnostic procedures. RESULTS: Half of the language-impaired children have Total Behavioral Problem scores within the clinical range. Problems are mainly reported on the scales: "Attention Problems", "Social Problems" and "Withdrawn". Two-thirds of the autistic children have deviant scores on the syndrome scales mentioned above. 32 out of 34 autistic children score within the clinical range on the scale "Thought Problems", whereas only one language-impaired child does so. Single item analysis shows a high prevalence of developmental problems (speech problems, enuresis ...) in both groups. CONCLUSION: The CBCL records characteristic behavioral problems in children with developmental disorders. The problematic behaviors are shown on the syndrome scale level as well as on the single item level. Children with developmental disorders and high scores on the "Thought Problems" scale of the CBCL should be evaluated for the presence of a possible pervasive developmental disorder.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

[Behavior problems in language-impaired children: therapy evaluation using child behavior checklist].

Speech and language impaired children often show accompanying behavioral and emotional problems, putting an additional burden on their developmental course. In a sample of 57 children with a specific speech and language disorder we evaluated the behavioral changes after therapeutic intervention. The children got intensive treatment for about 15 months. Before the beginning of the treatment, all children were assessed using clinical psychiatric interviews and observations and were diagnosed according to the multiaxial classification scheme. The CBCL was filled in by the same parent before and after the treatment program. The Total Behavior Problem Score was used to assess changes in behavioral problems. The school type as well as the still necessary therapeutic interventions after the completion of the treatment program were used as global measures of psychosocial adaptation. 45 of 57 children had a psychiatric diagnosis on axis 1 of the multiaxial classification scheme. Hyperkinetic disorder, with or without conduct disorders were the most commonly given diagnoses, in addition to emotional disorders and adjustment problems. Before treatment, the children with a psychiatric diagnosis had higher scores on the Total Behavior Problem Score than the children without a psychiatric diagnosis. The children with psychiatric problems showed a significant decrease in the Total Behavior Problem Score of the CBCL. Although the children with a conduct disorder also showed improvement after treatment, their CBCL scores remained high. The stability of their problems was associated with a worse school prognosis and with further institutional care after the end of the treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

[Reliability of parameters of cognitive evoked P3 potentials].

Reliability of event-related P3 parameters. Various parameters of the P3 wave were tested for reliability and test-retest stability. To this end, event-related P3 waves were evoked in 21 subjects during visual and auditory oddball tasks. The protocol was repeated one to two weeks later. Amplitude, latency and area between P3 and baseline were estimated by different procedures. The stability within and between sessions was assessed with the split-half method and a measure of test-retest reliability, respectively. A literature review revealed that latency estimation is most commonly done by computer-aided peak measurement, but determining peak parameters visually after interpellating superimposed artifacts turned out to be significantly more reliable. Interrater reliability for this visual inspection was very high if preestablished rules were employed. Amplitude and area were measured reliably by both computer-aided procedures and visual inspection. The area was quite stable both within and between sessions. Area can serve as a measure of cerebral activation and should therefore be determined. Based on the results recommendations are made about analyzing components of event-related potentials. The need to control for error variance is emphasized. This is the only way to improve methods enough that they will be suitable for use in single case diagnosis.

Adult↗