The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a new instrument to measure empathy and sympathy in adolescents that differentiates between empathy and sympathy, and balances its emphasis on affective and cognitive empathy. The psychometric properties of the Adolescent Measure of Empathy and Sympathy (AMES) were established in two studies. In the first study, among 499 adolescents (10-15 years old), the structure of the AMES was investigated and the number of items was reduced. In the second study, among 450 adolescents, test-retest reliability and construct validity of the AMES was evaluated. Results indicate that the AMES met the standards of reliability and validity. By specifically distinguishing between affective empathy and sympathy, the AMES provides a distinct advantage over existing measurement tools and is useful in elucidating the relationship between empathy and behavior in adolescents.

Individuals exposed to childhood abuse are more likely to report positive psychotic-like experiences. Met carriers reported more positive psychotic-like experiences when exposed to childhood abuse than did individuals carrying the Val/Val genotype. Therefore, the observed gene-environment interaction effect may be partially responsible for individual variation in response to childhood abuse.

This trial shows efficacy of mirtazapine on primary and secondary depression measures. Mirtazapine seems to be safe in the treatment of post-MI depression.

The first aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between adolescents' use of social network sites (SNSs) and their social self-esteem. The second aim was to investigate whether the valence of the feedback that adolescents receive on SNSs can explain these relationships. We conducted a three-wave panel study among 852 pre- and early adolescents (10–15 years old). In line with earlier research, we found significant concurrent correlations between adolescents' SNS use and their social self-esteem in all three data waves. The longitudinal results only partly confirmed these concurrent findings: Adolescents' initial SNS use did not significantly influence their social self-esteem in subsequent years. In contrast, their initial social self-esteem consistently influenced their SNS use in subsequent years. The valence of online feedback from close friends and acquaintances explained the concurrent relationship between SNS use and social self-esteem, but not the longitudinal relationship. Results are discussed in terms of their methodological and theoretical implications.

No abstract

Despite many developments in the methods of event-related potentials (ERPs), little attention has gone out to the statistical handling of ERP data. Trials are often averaged, and univariate or repeated measures of analysis of variance (ANOVA) are used to test hypotheses. The aim of this study was to introduce mixed regression to ERP research and to demonstrate advantages associated with this method. Eighty-five healthy subjects received electrical pain stimuli with simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) registration. Analyses first showed that results obtained with mixed regression analyses are highly comparable to those using repeated measures of ANOVA. Second, important advantages of the mixed regression technique were demonstrated by allowing the inclusion of persons with missing data, single trial analysis, non-linear time effects, time×person effects (random slope effects) and a within-subject covariate. Among others, the results showed a strong trial (habituation) effect, which contraindicates the common procedure of averaging of trials. Furthermore, the regression coefficients for intensity and trial varied significantly between persons, indicating individual differences in the effect of intensity and trial on the ERP amplitude. In conclusion, using mixed regression analysis as a statistical technique in ERP research will advance the science of unravelling mechanisms underlying ERP data.

The Dysregulation Profile (DP) has emerged as a measure of concurrent affective, behavioral and cognitive dysregulation, associated with severe psychopathology, and poor adjustment. While originally developed with the Child Behavior Checklist, more recently the DP has also been defined on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), mostly with a 5-item, but also a 15-item, SDQ-DP measure. This study evaluated the SDQ-DP by examining its factor structure, measurement invariance, and construct validity. Different SDQ-DP operationalizations were compared. In a United States longitudinal community sample ( = 768), a bifactor model consisting of a general Dysregulation factor and three specific factors of Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, and Hyperactivity-Inattention fitted best, across three different developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence) and across three different reporters (parents, teachers, and youth). Measurement invariance across reporter, gender, and developmental period was demonstrated. These findings indicate that the SDQ-DP, like the CBCL-DP, reflects a broad syndrome of dysregulation that exists in addition to specific syndromes of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and hyperactivity-inattention. SDQ-DP bifactor scores were strongly related with scores on the 5- and 15-item SDQ-DP measures and similarly concurrently associated with two markers of self-regulation, ego-resiliency and effortful control, and longitudinally with antisocial behavior and disciplinary measures. As reliability, validity, and stability was weaker for the SDQ-DP 5-item measure, use of all 15 items is recommended. Advantages of using a bifactor approach are discussed as well as the potential of the SDQ-DP as an easy screening measure of children at risk for developing serious psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record

The objective of this study was to investigate, under circumstances of routine care, the impact of paediatric delirium (PD) on length of stay in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) as well as on direct financial costs. A five-year prospective observational study (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) was carried out in a tertiary eight-bed PICU in the Netherlands. Critically ill children aged 1 to 18 years who were acutely, non-electively and consecutively admitted to the PICU and detected as having PD in routine care were compared to critically ill children aged 1 to 18 years without signs of PD. PD, population characteristics and severity of illness at admission were used as predictors for length of PICU stay. Differences in length of stay yielded short-term, direct medical costs associated with PD. Fortynine children with and 98 children without PD were included. PD prolonged length of PICU stay with 2.39 days, independent of severity of illness, age, gender, mechanical ventilation and medical indication for admission (B = 0.38, P \ 0.001). PD increased direct medical costs with 1.5%. The results suggest a negative prognostic influence of PD on duration of PICU stay in routine care, resulting in an increase of direct medical costs.