This study aimed to investigate the relationship between chronotype preference/sleep problems and symptom severity of children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the confinement and social isolation of the COVID-19 outbreak. This study included 46 drug-naive children aged 4-17 y diagnosed with ASD. The Autism Behavior Checklist (AuBC), Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and Children's chronotype questionnaire (CCQ) were filled out before and at the end of the COVID-19 mandated home confinement by the children's parents. Children with ASD during the home confinement reported higher chronotype scores, i.e., eveningness chronotype, sleep problems, and autism symptom scores compared to the normal non-hone confinement state. The chronotype score and sleep problems of children with ASD during the home confinement period varied according to the AuBC score. The sleep problems of the children with ASD during the home confinement period mediated the relationship between chronotype score and severity of autism symptoms. It is essential to validate the role of the mediator effect of sleep problems and chronotype in larger samples of children with ASD with restricted to home confinement during the pandemic period. If sleep problems can be controlled with parental education, pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapeutic interventions, the impact on children with ASD of home confinement can be reduced.
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between chronotype preference/sleep problems and symptom severity of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during the COVID-19 outbreak and to assess the chronotype preference/sleep problems that may play a mediating role in the relationship between the reactions to trauma and severity of ADHD symptoms. The sample of this single-center cross-sectional study consisted of 76 children with ADHD and their parents. Trauma symptoms were evaluated with the Children's Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8); sleep habits were assessed using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ); and chronotype was assessed using the Children's Chronotype Questionnaire (CCQ). There were significant differences in CRIES-8 and CSHQ scores between the eveningness type group and the non-eveningness type group. The CRIES-8 scores of children with ADHD were related to the CCQ and CSHQ scores and severity of ADHD symptoms. In mediation analyses, sleep problems were found to be the full mediating factor in the relationship between CRIES-8 scores and severity of ADHD symptoms and the relationship between CCQ scores and the severity of ADHD symptoms. Our findings indicate that chronotype plays an important role on the negative effects of home confinement of ADHD children during the COVID-19 outbreak. The role of the full mediator of sleep problems in the path from cognition to the behavior of young ADHD and non-ADHD children confined to the home environment during the pandemic period requires further assessment.
OBJECTIVE: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), mean platelet volume (MPV), and red cell distribution width (RDW) were determined to be good indicators of inflammatory status. The aim of this study was to investigate NLR, PLR, MPV, and RDW, which can provide insight into diagnosis and/or prognosis in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to controls. METHOD: A total of 103 patients diagnosed with MDD, who received no antidepressant therapy within the past 1 month, were included in the study. The control group consisted of 41 healthy subjects with no organic and psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: NLR and MPV values were significantly high in adolescents with MDD compared with healthy controls (2.00 ± 0.80 vs. 1.63 ± 0.64, P = .011; 10.25 ± 0.91 vs. 9.62 ± 1.23, P = .005). There was no difference between the groups on PLR and RDW. There was a positive correlation between NLR and Children's Depression Scale (CDI) scores in the total study group (r = 0.229, P = .006). There was also a positive correlation between MPV and CDI scores in the total study group (r = 0.185, P = .028). CONCLUSION: The findings of the study reveal that NLR and MPV tend to be higher in adolescents with MDD, and higher NLR values are associated with higher CDI scores in adolescents. The findings of this study are consistent with the relevant literature of inflammatory status in MDD. Our study gave us an idea of the need for larger sample study on the routine use of blood parameters in adolescent depression.
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