Behavioral and Emotional Problems of Prisoners’ Children Based on the Children’s Self-Report

The aim of the analyses was to investigate the relations between parental incarceration and the levels of behavioral and emotional problems in children of fathers serving prison sentences, based on the children’s self-report. We tested a criterion group and two control groups. The criterion group consisted of children whose fathers were in prison. The children in control group I were from complete families; the level of problem behaviors in these families and the level of psychological resiliency in these children were similar to the respective levels in the criterion group. Finally, control group II consisted of children whose fathers were not in prison; problem behaviors in their families were basically absent or slight, and their level of resiliency was significantly higher compared to prisoners’ children and control group I. Prisoners’ children exhibited a higher level of emotional and behavioral problems than children from families in which the father was not serving a prison sentence and in which the level of dysfunctions was low. As regards prisoners’ children compared to their peers with a similar level of resiliency and a similar level of problem behavior in the family, statistically significant differences were found only in a few categories of emotional and behavioral problems. Parental incarceration proved to be an additional factor increasing the level of behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents—particularly girls—whose fathers were imprisoned.

Neuropsychological Profile, Emotional/Behavioral Problems, and Parental Stress in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background: The aim of our study was to trace a specific neuropsychological profile, to investigate emotional-behavioral problems and parental stress in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1/High functioning (ASD-HF), Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) disorders and to highlight similarities and differences among the three groups. Methods: We retrospectively collected the data from a total of 62 subjects with ASD-HF (n = 19) ADHD (n = 21), SLD (n = 22) and 20 typical development. All the participants underwent neuropsychological standardized test for the evaluation of cognitive profile (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition—WISC-IV), behavioral and emotional problems (Child Behavior CheckList CBCL), and parental stress (Parental Stress Index Short Form—PSI-SF). The scores of the ASD-HF, ADHD, and SLD groups were compared using non-parametric statistic methods (Kruskall–Wallis H test and U Mann–Whitney for post-hoc analysis). Results: The ASD-HF group were significantly higher in all areas of the WISC-IV than the other two clinical groups. The SLD group performed significantly lower than ASD-HF in Working Memory Index. The SLD group showed lower scores on the somatic problems subscale than the other two groups. In the Difficult Child subscale of the PSI-SF, parents of ADHD children scored lower than the mothers of SLD subjects and higher than the fathers of SLD subjects. In all three groups there are specific deficiencies compared to the control group in the cognitive profile, behavioral and emotional problems, and parental stress. Conclusions: Our comparative analysis highlighted similarities and differences in three groups of children with different neurodevelopmental disorders, helping to better define cognitive, behavioral, and emotional characteristics of these children and parental stress of their parents.

Right Frontotemporoccipital Focal Epilepsy with Behavioral and Emotional Problems

Miss AN, female, 17 years old, Muslim, Betawi ethnicity, graduated fromelementary school, currently no longer in school. The first febrile seizure patient wasfour years old. Five to seven years old, patients with recurrent seizures without fever,diagnosed with epilepsy and do not see a doctor regularly. At 14 years, the patient wasraped, and since then, the patient has had free sex with many different men. At the ageof,16, the patient had seizures up to five times an ay, and one seizure wasapproximately five minutes. The patient went to a neurologist and was regularly treatedwith valproic acid and carbamazepine. At the age of 17 years, the patient often gotangry when teased and threatened with knives or scissors, had free sex with many menand went to a psychiatrist. The patient has been treated five times in different mentalhospitals because he often runs away from home. Currently, the patient is being treatedin the psychiatric ward and is receiving 2 x 500 mg of valproic acid, 3 x 200 mg ofcarbamazepine, 2 x 0.5 mg of Clonazepam and 1 x 50 mg of sertraline. At the time oftreatment, the patient is known to be HIV positive and does not need ARV therapy.Patients also planned behavioural therapy and involved patients with activities atYayasan Pelita Ilmu. It is hoped that this therapy can help overcome the patient'sbehavioural and emotional problems.