As children with autism have pervasive executive difficulties it is necessary to determine whether these contribute to their often-reported failure on the false belief task. Failure on this task is frequently taken to diagnose the lack of a “theory of mind”. We report two studies using two tasks that make similar executive demands to the false belief task. The first experiment showed that children with autism are significantly challenged by a “conflicting desire” task, which suggests that their difficulty with the false belief task is not rooted in difficulty with grasping the representational nature of belief. In the second study children with autism were also found to be impaired on a novel version of the “false photograph task”. A parsimonious reading of these data is that their difficulty with all three tasks is due to commonalities in the tasks' executive structure.

Thirty-seven pupils attending a special school for children and adolescents with autism were observed for the presence of motor and vocal tics. Subsequent family interviews confirmed the diagnosis of comorbid Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome (GTS) in three children with autism, giving a minimum prevalence rate of 8.1%. Family history data also suggested this was heritable. The presence of GTS was not associated with superior intellectual, language, or social development. Results suggest that the rate of GTS in autism may exceed that expected by chance. The limited sample size constrains this conclusion. A large-scale epidemiological study testing this association study would appear merited.

Information on everyday life activities and preferences in both social and nonsocial domains was obtained from parents and children who had taken part in an experimental study of central coherence. Comparisons were made between parents who had a son with autism, parents with a dyslexic son, and families without a history of developmental disorder, as well as the male siblings in these families. Data on everyday preferences and abilities were elicited by means of an experimental questionnaire. Significant group differences in social and nonsocial preferences were found, suggesting that some parents showed similarities with their son with autism, in preference for nonsocial activities and ability in detail-focused processing. A similar experimental questionnaire, completed by parents on behalf of their sons, discriminated between autism group probands and controls, but did not differentiate sibling groups. The relevance of the nonsocial items to central coherence is discussed in the light of the findings in Part I: autism parents who reported more autism-related nonsocial (but not social) preferences, tended to show a piecemeal processing style on the experimental tasks.

One hundred and seventy children attending a hospital accident and emergency department following everyday trauma were interviewed and completed the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) screening battery suggested by Yule and Udwin (1991). Diagnostic interviews (CAPS-C) confirmed that 39 (22.9%) fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. There were significant differences between children with and without PTSD on each individual component of the screening battery. Various criteria for caseness were evaluated and at 6 weeks post trauma the screen identified up to 90% of children diagnosed with PTSD and 73% with borderline conditions. A subset of 36 children were reassessed 8 months post trauma and all children with persistent PTSD were correctly identified by initial screen scores. The limitations of the study and the role of screening for PTSD in the absence of proven psychological interventions are discussed.

We explored the utility of the Expressed Emotion (EE) construct with a community sample of young children (N = 91), studying the stability of EE scores over a 2-year period and the extent to which EE was associated with simultaneous and subsequent disruptive behavior. As part of a longitudinal study, families were assessed when the child was in preschool, 1st grade, and 3rd grade. Maternal EE was measured at preschool and 1st grade using the Five Minute Speech Sample and behavior ratings were obtained using the Child Behavior Checklist. At 3rd grade, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to determine DSM-IV diagnoses. The stability of the EE rating over the 2-year period from preschool to 1st grade was statistically significant although modest. At 1st grade, EE ratings were significantly related to the extent of externalizing behavior problems. Regression analyses that controlled for maternal stress levels determined that preschool EE ratings predicted classification of ADHD over 4 years later, at 3rd grade. The relationships between EE and child problem behavior were almost exclusively determined by the EE criticism dimension; the emotional overinvolvement dimension was not related to child behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Developments in the assessment and treatment of school refusal have often been hampered by a failure to recognise its essentially heterogeneous nature. This paper provides a review of major conceptual complexities that have helped to undermine developments in clinical practice. In particular, it considers the distinction between school refusal and truancy, and school phobia and separation anxiety. Common approaches to the assessment and treatment of school refusal are outlined. Although behavioural and cognitive behavioural approaches are now widely accepted as central to treatment, it is increasingly recognised that individually tailored programmes, utilising a range of approaches, are most likely to prove successful. An approach focusing upon the functions, rather than the symptoms, of school refusal is advocated as having most promise for assessment and the subsequent formulation of individual prescriptive treatment.

This longitudinal study is part of a series examining the relationships between maternal mood, feeding practices, and infant growth and development during the first 6 months of life in 226 well-nourished mother-infant dyads in Barbados. In this report, we assessed maternal moods (General Adjustment and Morale Scale and Zung Depression and Anxiety Scales), feeding practices (scales describing breast-feeding and other practices associated with infant feeding in this setting), and infant cognitive development (Griffiths Mental Development Scales). Multivariate analyses, with and without controlling for background variables, established significant relationships between maternal moods and infant cognitive development. Infants of mothers with mild–moderate depression had lower Griffiths scores than infants of mothers without depression. Maternal depressive symptoms and lack of trust at 7 weeks predicted lower infant social and performance scores at 3 months. Maternal moods at 6 months were associated with lower scores in motor development at the same age. Although no independent relationships emerged between feeding practices and infant cognitive development, the combination of diminished infant feeding intensity and maternal depression predicted delays in infant social development. These findings demonstrate the need to carefully monitor maternal moods during the postpartum period, in order to maximize the benefits of breast-feeding and related health programs to infant cognitive development.

Do cultural values and traditions influence the development of coping styles? To address this question, we compared self-reports of coping by 6–14-year-olds in Thailand and the U.S. One hundred and forty-one children were interviewed about six common stressors: separation from a friend, injection in a doctor's office, adult anger, peer animosity, school failure, and physical injury. Children's self-reported coping methods were coded as overt or covert. Coping goals were coded as reflecting primary control (attempts to influence objective conditions), secondary control (attempts to adjust oneself to objective conditions), or relinquished control. Although findings revealed numerous cross-national similarities, there were also multiple main and interaction effects involving culture, suggesting that sociocultural context may be critical to our understanding of child coping. Consistent with literature on Thai culture, Thai children reported more than twice as much covert coping as American children for stressors involving adult authority figures (i.e. adult anger, injection in doctor's office). Thai children also reported more secondary control goals than Americans when coping with separation, but American children were five times as likely as Thais to adopt secondary control goals for coping with injury. The findings support a model of coping development in which culture and stressor characteristics interact, with societal differences most likely to be found in situations where culture-specific norms become salient.

The discriminant validity of children's and parents' ratings of the child's fear on the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R; Ollendick, 1983) was examined using a clinic sample of children who met DSM criteria for phobic disorders (N=120). Discriminant function analyses and item analyses were conducted to determine if children meeting diagnostic criteria for a primary disorder of social phobia, simple phobia of the dark/sleeping alone, simple phobia of animals, or a simple phobia of shots/doctors could be differentiated on the basis of FSSC-R subscale scores and items. Results of the discriminant function analyses indicated that the child-completed as well as the parent-completed FSSC-Rs were similarly useful in differentiating the specific types of phobias. Results of the item analyses indicated that child-completed FSSC-R items could discriminate among the different simple phobias but not social phobia and that parent-completed FSSC-R items could discriminate not only the different simple phobias but also social phobia. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of the FSSC-R in the assessment of clinically significant fears in children with phobic disorders and the relative utility of child and parent ratings in the assessment of childhood fears.

Although young children with conduct disorder (CD) are suspected of having verbal and executive function deficits, most studies that investigated this hypothesis did not control for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, relatively little is known about the interaction between cognitive deficits and familial factors in explaining the onset and persistence of CD in children. The participants in this study were 57 children with CD and 35 controls aged 7 to 12 years. At 1-year follow-up, 41 of the participants with CD were reassessed. Children with CD were found to be significantly impaired in four of five executive function measures after ADHD symptoms and socioeconomic status (SES) were controlled. Executive function test performance, number of ADHD symptoms, and familial characteristics (SES, parental punishment) together correctly classified 90% of the participants. Only the number of ADHD symptoms was found to significantly improve prediction of CD 1 year later beyond that afforded by number of CD symptoms a year earlier. Findings indicate that children with CD and ADHD symptoms are especially at risk for persistent antisocial behaviour. Results also highlight the importance of treatment programs that cover both cognitive and familial aspects associated with CD.

This study explored the links between the development of language and the development of social cognition. Measures of language, phonological short-term memory, social cognition, and social competence of two groups of children with specific language impairment (SLI), one group attending a special school, the other attending integrated educational placements, were compared with those of chronological and language age-matched normally developing peers (N = 8 in each group). Significant differences between the scores of normally developing children and the scores of the group of children with SLI who attended the special school were found for social cognition and ratings of social competence. Children with SLI from integrated placements did not differ significantly from other groups on these measures. Assessments of language development and phonological short-term memory were not related to social cognition and social competence. Models of the possible relationship between social cognition and language development in children with SLI are discussed.

Childhood-onset schizophrenia is a rare, clinically severe form of schizophrenia, which is associated with disrupted cognitive, linguistic, and social development well before the appearance of frank psychotic symptoms. This disruption of multiple developmental domains signals the important opportunity these patients present for examining neurodevelopmental and other etiologic hypotheses of schizophrenia. The present research update reviews studies of the phenomenology and neurobiology of childhood-onset schizophrenia conducted since 1994. Findings from these studies indicate that children can be diagnosed with schizophrenia using unmodified DSM-III, -IIIR, and -IV criteria, and that the atypical neuroleptic clozapine is an effective medication for this treatment refractory group. Neuropsychologic and neurobiologic studies generally support continuity with adult-onset schizophrenia, with evidence of more severe premorbid impairment. Longitudinal studies show preliminary evidence of progressive ventricular enlargment and more prolonged deterioration in intellectual function than is seen in the adult-onset disorder. If replicated, these observations, together with the insidious onset of this disorder, would suggest that the pathologic underpinning of childhood-onset schizophrenia is not a single static lesion or event but may be a continuous or multi-event process.

The implications of adoption for the emotional and behavioral adjustment of children have been an issue in child welfare for many years. Past research has suggested that adopted children are over-represented in mental health settings. In addition, some studies have suggested that adopted and nonadopted children differ on measures of social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning. The current study used data from a large, representative sample in the United States to examine whether adopted children are more likely to have had mental health contacts or emotional or behavioral problems than nonadopted children. Age of placement in the adoptive home was examined as a variable contributing to the adjustment of adopted children. Results suggest that adopted and foster children are more likely to have mental health contacts than nonadopted children. Results are mixed regarding whether adopted and foster children have more behavior problems than nonadopted children. However, significant differences between adopted, foster, and nonadopted children disappeared when a small group of influential cases were removed. This suggests that the differences seen between the groups reflect a small number of cases and are not representative of the groups of adoptees and foster children as a whole. The vast majority of adopted children showed patterns of behavior problems similar to those of nonadopted children. These results are discussed in relation to the past literature and areas for future research.

Memory tasks were administered to 14 high-functioning individuals with autism and 14 typically developing individuals matched on chronological age and verbal intelligence. The tasks consisted of free and cued recall of 15 semantically unrelated words in 3 encoding conditions: phonological encoding, semantic encoding, and a no encoding orientation. In both groups, semantic orientation led to better free recall than did orientation toward syllabic encoding or absence of orientation. In contrast, semantic cues at retrieval led to better cued recall than phonological cues in typically developing individuals, whereas both types of cue had the same effect in prompting cued recall for individuals with autism. These findings are incompatible with the hypothesis of an amnesic deficit and do not support the notion of executive or semantic deficits in the memory problems of autistic individuals, at least for those with a high level of functioning. It is proposed that these findings can be accounted for by enhanced phonological processing in autism. This interpretation is consistent with other findings of enhanced processing of low-level perceptual information in the visual and auditory modality in autism.

Survival rates in childhood cancer now approach approximately 65%, depending on the specific cancer. Success has been achieved through the use of increasingly aggressive treatments (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, bone-marrow transplantation). These are now recognised to be associated with a range of physical late effects, including problems associated with growth and endocrine function, sensory function, fertility, liver, cardiac, and kidney damage. Recognition of these physical late effects raises the issue of related problems in psychological, educational, and behavioural functioning. There is considerable evidence to suggest that children who are younger on diagnosis are more at risk in terms of cognitive and behavioural late effects compared with those who are diagnosed later. Cancer remains a rare disease in children and consequently only those professionals attached to centres specialising in the care of children with cancer are likely to receive a significant number of referrals. It is important to establish a psychological support service as an integral part of long-term care in order to (a) establish more accurately the incidence of social and psychological late effects and (b) offer advice to the individual about the possible long-term effects of cancer treatment on future health, social, and employment prospects.

The construct representation of the cross-informant model of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF) was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Samples were collected in seven different countries. The results are based on 13,226 parent ratings and 8893 teacher ratings. The adequacy of fit for the cross-informant model was established on the basis of three approaches: conventional rules of fit, simulation, and comparison with other models. The results indicated that the cross-informant model fits these data poorly. These results were consistent across countries, informants, and both clinical and population samples. Since inadequate empirical support for the cross-informant syndromes and their differentiation was found, the construct validity of these syndrome dimensions is questioned.

This study examined characteristics of social cognitive processing, psychiatric disorder, and behavioral ratings of 380 children aged 7 to 14 years who had been referred consecutively for child psychiatric services with identified and unsuspected language impairments and with normally developing language. The results indicated that children with language impairments generally exhibited greater deficits in social cognitive processing, and particularly emotion decoding and social problem solving, than children who have language that is developing normally. Differences in psychiatric diagnosis and behavior problems were observed only between children with previously identified language impairments and children with normally developing language; children with previously identified language impairments were more likely to be diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and to be rated by both parents and teachers as having more severe attentional problems. In addition, teachers rated them as more socially withdrawn. The results suggest that it is important to incorporate measures of both social cognition and language functioning routinely into clinical assessment, something that currently is rarely done.

A representative sample of 55 mainstreamed 9–10-year-olds with hemiplegia were compared with all classmates on sociometric measures of popularity and friendship, and with 55 matched controls on measures of victimisation. Children with hemiplegia were more rejected and less popular, had fewer friends, and were more often victimised; they were not more likely to be bullies themselves. These differences were not fully accounted for by group differences in teacher-estimated IQ and behaviour. Possible explanations range from neurologically determined deficits in mentalising skills to peer prejudices about children with disabilities. The development of appropriate intervention strategies should be a high priority, particularly since peer problems not only result in current distress but also predict psychosocial problems in the future.

Thirty hyperactive and 30 non-hyperactive children were confronted with a delay, consisting of a waiting situation of 15 minutes, either with or without extra stimulation provided by the presentation of a videotape. The behaviour of the child during the waiting period was videotaped and later coded by two naive observers. In line with theories that emphasise the stimulation-seeking function of hyperactive behaviours, such as the optimal stimulation account and the delay aversion theory, a group by stimulation effect was hypothesised. For two categories of activity this was found, with ADHD children displaying more activity than non-ADHD children in the no-stimulation but not in the stimulation condition. These data provide support for the stimulation-seeking function of certain features of ADHD hyperactivity.

This study is a prospective, longitudinal attempt to explore behavioral self-regulation, private speech, and speech-action coordination in a sample of behaviorally at-risk preschool children. Preschoolers (N = 72) were classified at age 3 years into a behaviorally at-risk group or a comparison group on the basis of preschool teacher behavioral ratings. Children were videotaped on four different occasions across the span of almost 2 years as they completed problem-solving tasks, and private speech, task performance, executive functioning, and speech-action coordination were analyzed. Children identified 2 years earlier as being hard to manage were at risk for continued behavior problems at elementary school entry. Behaviorally at-risk children consistently used more spontaneous private speech than comparison children across all observations. Both groups of children demonstrated a pattern of increasing silence with task success over time. No group differences were observed in children's speech-action coordination at age 5 years. Intraindividual developmental changes in private speech for both groups were associated with task performance, speech-action coordination, and executive functioning at age 5, but not with teacher- and parent-reported problem behavior.