Primary objective: Studies have documented mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) to be unpredictable and disordered. However, no studies have directly compared mother-infant interaction between women with BPD and other psychiatric disorders. Methods: The current study examined mother-infant interactions in the context of women with BPD, major depressive disorder (MDD), their co-occurrence and healthy controls. Mother-infant interactions were coded for mother and infant behaviour across a variety of behavioural dimensions. Main outcomes and results: Group differences emerged on the domains of maternal smiling, maternal touching, maternal game playing, maternal imitation, infant smiling, infant vocalisation and infant gaze aversion. Conclusion: Differences in mother-infant interactions can be reliably observed across varying forms of psychopathology. Such observed differences may be used to improve clinical treatment of mothers with psychopathology.
In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the number of adolescents experiencing extended absences from school due to mental health crises. Upon returning to school, these students often face difficulties in functioning, risk of relapse, and vulnerability to academic failure and social isolation. This paper presents results of a study examining a school-based support program model designed to provide short-term academic, social, and emotional support to help students successfully reacclimatize to school after an extended absence. The paper describes demographic, academic, and clinical characteristics of 189 program participants across eight high schools. Improvements were observed in participants' day-to-day functioning based on the results of pre/postassessments completed by program clinicians. Preliminary data showed positive trends in participants' school attendance and high school graduation rates.Finally, the paper considers implications for school-based mental health practice and next steps in related research.
Summary
Background
Allergy is increasingly reported by patients and members of the public, and there is evidence that the prevalence is increasing. Not all diagnoses have been made by clinicians, as direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) allergy tests are widely available online.
Aim
To determine if DTC allergy tests are processed in accredited laboratories and utilize validated methods, while providing an overview of the DTC allergy tests available.
Methods
Internet searches using ‘allergy test kit’ and ‘intolerance test’ were performed to identify DTC food‐allergy tests. Each company was contacted to enquire if they had ISO15189 accreditation, what methods of testing they used and what was the extent of individual clinical input used to guide the test requested or result interpretation.
Results
In total, 24 online companies providing DTC food‐allergy testing were identified, of which 22 were contactable. One laboratory had ISO15189 accreditation, which was also the only laboratory using clinically recognized specific IgE testing and had a clinician involved in the process. Other laboratories used bioresonance or IgG and involved a nutritionist at most.
Conclusion
Online DTC food‐allergy tests are largely misleading to the consumer and provided by unaccredited laboratories using controversial methodology. The dermatologist must politely discount these results and assess the role of food allergy in a patient’s skin disease on the merit of clinical history, supported by specific IgE testing as appropriate.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.