29^th International Conference on Adolescent Medicine & Child Psychology December 06-07, 2018 Rome, Italy (Holiday Inn Rome Aurelia)

Biography:

Hongfei Yang has earned his B.S. at the age of 20 years from Zhejiang University, his M.S. from State University of New York at Oswego, and his Ph.D. from Zhejiang University. He is the director of the Association of School Psychology and Counseling of Zhejiang Province. He has published more than 90 papers in reputed journals and is an supervisor of master degree of counseling psychology at Zhejiang University.   
 

Abstract:

The positive and negative rumination scale was originally developed among college students. In this study, 718 school students (357 male, 359 female, 2 missing) with an average age of 14.3 years (SD = 2.4; range = 9-19 years) were recruited from elementary and high schools in mainland China. They were randomly split into two samples (ns = 361 and 357) for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the measure’s 5 first-order and 2 second-order factors structure: Positive Rumination consisting of 2 first-order factors (i.e., Enjoy Happiness and Positive Coping) and Negative Rumination consisting of 3 first-order factors (i.e., Suppress Happiness, Self Deny and Negative Attribution). Moreover, correlation analyses provided evidence for the subscales’ differential validity: Positive Rumination showed positive correlations with positive indicators of psychological adjustment (e.g., life satisfaction) and negative correlations with negative indicators of psychological adjustment (e.g., depression), whereas Negative Rumination showed negative correlations with positive indicators of psychological adjustment (e.g., life satisfaction) and positive correlations with negative indicators of psychological adjustment (e.g., depression). In addition, all PANRS scores showed satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) and temporal stability (test-retest). Overall the findings suggest that the PANRS is a reliable and valid instrument to assess positive and negative aspects of rumination among school students.

Biography:

Dr.Rachel Priyanka Pulla has completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, Karnataka under KLE University and then went on to perusing her Masters Degree in Pediatrics at the age of 25years from Sri Ramachandra Medical College and research institute, Chennai. During her course she had presented in various conferences in Reginional, national and International platforms. She is the co-founder of an non-profit organization in India called the Healing Train Foundation committed to providing better education, clothing, healthcare, empowering Girl child, adolescent life- skills, Awareness on children’s rights and nutrition among children aged between 0 to 19 years.

Abstract:

We see an increasing change in media usage trend in our evolving generation as we now are in the cusp of Digital Pioneers who are born in an evolved technology era; they see multitasking and instant communication as an efficient way of life. They imbibed technology to save time and balance both family and virtual world. They are a force of informal learners. They are challenging us to rethink our definition of basic functionality and New media technology effect on Health-related quality of life and how we approach Media literacy. We must be armed and ready to face that challenge and to ensure that they reap the potential benefits as safely as possible. In this study, we enrolled 1050 adolescent participants and performed a  Community-based descriptive cross-sectional study and determined the Health-related quality of life, and the new media technology frequencies and pattern of usage among middle adolescent school going children. We also determined the Impact of New media on the health-related quality of life of middle adolescents using the KIDSCREEN 52 questionnaire tool. This study assesses adolescents subjective health and well-being in 10 different domains and compared them with the usage of New Media Technologies to learn their Health-related quality of life(HRQoL) outcomes and categorized into low and high HRQOL based on the cut off 40(below and above respectively) described in the ten domains of the Kidscreen 52 into light,moderate and heavy Users. In conclusion, the Overall majority of them had a perception of high HRQOL indicating moderate usage of Digital technologies is more a way of life.

Biography:

Dr. Liezille Jacobs is a senior lecturer in the Psychology Department at Rhodes University. Dr. Jacobs teaches social psychology and critical health psychology to undergraduates. She also oversees the research of postgraduate students studying addiction. She has been working in addiction and feminist research for the past 20 years. Her specific research interest is to study women’s unique experiences with alcohol use disorder. Dr. Jacobs has worked at the South African Medical Research Council, the Human Sciences Research Council, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape, Howard University, Howard University Hospital, Georgetown University and the University of Antwerpen where she taught research methods and conducted research on addiction.

Abstract:

This study explored women’s lived recovery experiences from alcohol use disorder (AUD) facilitated by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The women (n = 10; age range 30–62 years; married = 6) completed life story interviews regarding their recovery from AUD with AA participation. Discourse analysis of the interview data yielded themes to suggest the women characterize their recovery as spiritual growth, a healing process with reliance of a higher authority, renewed purpose of life, and actively engaging rehabilitation. Spirituality appears a key resource in women’s AUD recovery

Biography:

Tobyn Tribbeck, is currently working as Principle Teacher and Director at Prezent Mind, in UK. Tobyn is an international meditation teacher and mindfulness coach. He runs day workshops, one to one sessions and residential retreats specifically aimed at finding happiness through dropping the ‘identity that seeks’. It is the very idea of finding perfection and developing that is cause of our dissatisfaction. This seeking energy is the same pattern that seeks fulfilment in all external sensation and phenomenon His unique and direct approach allows people to see clearly what we 'add' unnecessarily to a situation. With more than thirty years of mindfulness and Zen training.

Abstract:

Many people experience an insatiable sense of unworthiness and lack in their lives. This is often a subtle and pernicious feeling, but it drives our choices at every level and is broadly perpetuated by our culture. We seek relief from this sense of unworthiness in many ways; this is often in fleeting moments of satisfaction. However, one can discover that the underlying feeling of lack remains. Generally this only encourages us to seek again, immersing ourselves once more in varying degrees of denial and elaborate coping strategies. There is a deeply held notion with many people that by ‘embarking on the spiritual journey’ or through self-analysis the answer to our plight will be revealed. Over the Past 15 years there has been a surge of interest in mindfulness as a therapeutic model. Mindfulness is being applied to increasingly diverse range of conditions and the number of academic publications on the subject has grown exponentially. However mindfulness, therapy and self-development are not the answer within themselves. They are the signpost through which the truth can be seen. Development can become a method by which people compare and judge themselves. In short, the same feeling of lack that drove them in their material lives is now driving their spiritual identity. The feeling of one day being good enough and impossibly seeking the infinite in the finite are all very much still at play. At its best our work can only point to the simple wonder of just being, and attempt to illuminate the futility of seeking for it. Neither accepting or rejecting any process, but to expose, without compromise, the singular and fundamental misconception that drives the belief that there is something called a seeker that needs to find something else called fulfilment.

Biography:

M N V Giridhar is a practicing Psychiatrist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He got his Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Psychiatry from renowned NTR University of Health Sciences. Due course, he did his observership in Child Psychiatry from NIMHANS, Bengaluru, an apex centre for mental health and neuroscience education in the country. He worked as Assistant Professor for two years in Narayana Medical College and involved in the teaching and research work. Currently he established his own setup named Lalitha Neuropsychiatry Center and practicing Child Psychiatry and de-addiction medicine. He is also a Medical Advisor for an US based CRO named Global Allied Pharmaceuticals (GAP). His areas of expertise are ADHD and De-addiction medicine.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Adolescence refers to the long transitional developmental period between childhood and adulthood and to a maturational developmental process involving major physical, psychological, cognitive, and social transformations. It is the time when they reach out to society, tentatively at first and then confidently. Relationship with same-sex and opposite-sex grows and it is also a time of many disappointments. The common adolescent complaint is – ‘no one understands me’. Adolescents can be reliable reporters of their suicide potential and the clinician needs to be sensitive to symptoms of a major depressive disorder in assessing potentially suicidal adolescent.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: 30 cases of adolescent suicide attempters admitted in Narayana General Hospital, Andhra Pradesh, India were recruited in the study and detailed evaluation was done using socio-demographic proforma, ICD-10 to arrive at a psychiatric diagnosis, suicide intent scale, and Hamilton Depression Rating scale to evaluate the level of depression.

Findings: Among suicide attempters, 67% (20 of 30) had psychiatric morbidity while there was no psychiatric morbidity among 33%. The severe depressive episode was present in 6.7%, a moderate depressive episode was present in 20%, mild depressive episode in 30%. 1 patient had adjustment disorder, dysthymia, and mixed anxiety and depression. No psychiatric diagnosis was noted in 33.3% of patients as in the pie chart below. It clearly indicates that majority of suicides in adolescents are followed by mild depressive episodes in contrary.

Conclusion & Significance: The results of the study indicated that there was a significant association between depressions scoring with suicide intent of the attempter. Two-thirds of the patients were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders at the time of admission. Psychiatric morbidity always should be taken into consideration when managing these groups of patients for further management.

Biography:

Almudena Martorell Cafranga is PhD at Faculty of Medicine (Department of Psychiatry) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and A LA PAR Foundation’s General Head, having worked since the beginning of her professional career in the assessment and improvement of mental health in people with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Compared to general population, people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are exposed to a high number of traumatic events throughout their lives and those events will affect their quality of life (QoL) due to a higher vulnerability to cope with extraordinary situations. The specificity of the traumatic symptomatology and the difficulties that clinicians have to understand these symptoms, complicate the ability to provide adequate psychosocial care. Literature reports a high prevalence of anxiety, depression and post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in people with ID who have experienced traumatic events. Despite the impact this has on their QoL, on their emotional state and on their environment, there are no validated scales in Spanish which help clinicians to make an accurate diagnosis in order to provide more specialized interventions.

Aim: The aim of this study is to validate the Spanish version of what would complete a traumatic symptomatology battery assessment for people with ID and to analyze the type and frequency of the symptoms depending on the traumatic event.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: 120 people with ID (older18) and their main careers have been interviewed through a traumatic symptomatology battery. The inter-rater and test retest reliabilities are being analyzed and the symptomatology frequency associated to each of the different traumatic events will be measured.

Findings: The main research hypothesis considered are, those scales under validation process will adequately assess the symptomatology previously mentioned within Spanish population with ID. Additionally, we expect to find higher scores in PTSD when being victims of sexual abuse, intimidation or threats.

Conclusions & Significance: This traumatic symptomatology battery will be an important step towards the comprehensive care within the mental health of people with ID. Its dissemination to ID centers throughout Spain will be carried out, improving mental health care in people with ID.

Biography:

Hamid Yahya Hessian enrolled with different international organization, UNICEIF, WHO, ICRC, IOM and others as programs manager and expert. He worked as environmental expert ant ministry of environment, Iraq and worked as training consultant, researcher, and programs manager at ministries of health and higher education and scientific research in different Middle East and North Africa region He is a member of editorial Board 26 international medical journals worldwide and member  of 33  international association e.g. APHA, IEA, MENAPF,  EMAME, American college of occupational and environmental medicine, American college of Epidemiology , American academy of family medicine, Canadian  College of family physician Qualified with PhD family and community medicine, FFPH-UK, MFPH-UK, FRCPSG-Glasgow, DIP-Respire Edge Hills UK, MFMLM-UK Cardiology Fellowship Japan, Obesity Medicine fellowship –London Supervised more than (30) PhD thesis, 25 MSc thesis, and published 200 article worldwide cited more than 150 times. He contribute as authors to CDC textbook on Ethics in Public Health, cases spanning around the Globe.

Abstract:

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a public health concern in Dubai and autism is the most common of the pervasive developmental disorders in Dubai. Autism poses a particularly large public health challenge and an inspiring lifelong challenge for many families; it is a lifelong challenge of a different nature, it is a spectrum of neurodevelopment disorder which often results in an array of motor impairments. These motor impairments often lead to reduced performance in activities of daily living as well as in societal tasks which require specific motor abilities and skills.

Objectives: The objective is to study the prevalences, determinants and prediction of autism among Dubai population and to study some associated factors.

Methodology: Retrospective records review approach has been applied, qualitative methodology (focus groups with mental health experts working at: Al Jalila hospital (AJH), Dubai Autism Centre (DAC), Dubai Rehabilitation Centre for Disabilities, Latifa Hospital, Private Sector Healthcare (PSH)). Quantitative methodology through, prevalence, incidence estimates based on international research (a systematic research review) along with expert interviews has been applied as well.

Results: The study showed that 84.9% of the cases were males and 51.9% of the autism cases were females, 30.9% were UAE nationals and 69.1% were expatriate, about 72.4% were diagnosed as autism spectrum disorders, 9.2% as ASD features and 9.2% were diagnosed as other disorders when autism diagnostic test applied; and Dubai Autism Centre estimates it affects 1 in 146 births (0.68%). By applying these estimates to the total number of births in Dubai for 2014, it is predicted there would be approximately 199 children (of which 58, (29.1%) were nationals and 141, (70.9%) were non–nationals) suffering from autism at some stage. About 16.4% of children seek help for ASD assessment (through their families) between the age group 6–18+. It is critical to understand and address factors for seeking late stage diagnosis, as ASD can be diagnosed much earlier and how many of these later presenters are actually diagnosed with ASD. Families do not consult GPs for early diagnosis for a variety of reasons including cultural reasons. The study reflected future prediction of the cases based on international standards prevalence and the population density as reflected by which reflected the highest prevalence at the age intervals of 25-29 years, 30-34 years and 35-39 years respectively.

Conclusion: Autism is still ongoing challenging public health issue in Dubai, in terms of rising up prevalence, incidences, trends, cases sorting out and management context of autism is one of actual national health care system gaps.

Recommendation: Effective school health strategies is needed and implemented by nurses who are qualified and experienced in identifying children with ASD. Training of GP’s to aid early diagnosis of autism and increase awareness. There is an urgent need for an adult autism centre for when the children leave the safe environment of the school at 18 years. There is a need for further studies to cover the needs of people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Biography:

Maria F. Guzzo has completed her Masters degree in Psychiatry from McGill University and is now pursuing her doctoral studies at the same institution, specializing in adolescent mental health. Maria is president of a youth mental health family foundation and sits on several mental-health related boards in her community. She has been actively involved in her community as a well-renowned philanthropist who’s mission is to promote mental health, more specifically with the adolescent population in school-based settings.

Abstract:

Talking about a negative or traumatic experience can be helpful, however, expressing emotions can be challenging for adolescents. Finding the right approach for adolescents to express themselves is crucial to maintaining and promoting positive mental health. Some researchers claim expressive writing has positive mental health impacts on adolescents while others argue the contrary. Furthermore, even among advocates, there is little agreement about how or why expressive writing might produce positive mental health outcomes. Due to the paucity of research on the underlying psychological and cognitive mechanisms of expressive writing in the adolescent population, more studies are needed. For this research, analysis of journals written by adolescents during a structured expressive writing intervention was chosen as a qualitative method to reveal the underlying mechanisms of expressive writing. Data was generated through a randomized collection of student journals until saturation was met. A total of eight journals were thus kept for analysis. Data analysis combined both inductive thematic coding and conceptual deductive coding that reflected the psychological theories proposed in the literature to explain the potential mechanisms. The analysis suggests that 3 of the 5 theories proposed in the literature were found in the student journals. Furthermore, two additional theories chosen by the author but not proposed in the literature were also reflected in the journals. More structured writing interventions should be considered to facilitate the underlying mechanisms of expressive writing. More research is needed, such as using qualitative interviews to further understand the experience of expressive writing from the perspective of the adolescents themselves.

Biography:

Yousif Ali Yaseen is currently working as Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at University of Duhok in Iraq. He was the Member of the scientific committee of the Mental Health Act of Kurdistan in the year 2010. He is the member of the founding body of the Kurdistan Psychiatric Association.

Abstract:

Aim: This study aimed at assessing the prevalence and risk factors of somatoform disorders (SD) and their types among patients attending a major psychiatric clinic in Duhok Governorate, Iraq. Our secondary aim was to assess the common presenting symptoms of conversion disorders (CD).

Materials & Methods: 637 subjects were randomly selected from the outpatient psychiatric clinic at the Azadi Teaching Hospital in Duhok City, Iraq. SCID-I/P Version 2.0 was applied to diagnose patients with SDs.

Results: In our sample the prevalence of SD was 24%. CD comprised the vast majority of SD of 75.8%, followed by somatization disorders at 7.8% and undifferentiated SD at 5.2%. SD was most common (60.1%) in adolescents and young adults (ages 15-25 y.o.); (p<0.05), and female gender comprised most of the SD in our sample (75.8%; p<0.001). Although, more than two-third of the cases were from lower educational levels (illiterate and primary educational level) (67.3%), more than fifty percent were married (52.3%), the majority were housewives (39.2%) and more than half of the cases were from urban areas (52.3%), but no significant association was found between SD and educational level, marital status, occupation and residence (p-values were 0.218, 0.659, 0.072 and 0.090 respectively). Regarding the symptomatic presentation of CD, the vast majority of the cases presented with seizure which comprised (81%), followed by motor symptoms which comprised (17.2%), and sensory symptoms which constituted (1.7%) only.

Conclusion: SD was highly prevalent among patients attending a major outpatient psychiatric clinic in Duhok province, Iraq, and CD was the most common presenting form of SD. Younger age and female gender comprised the majority of cases. Interestingly, the most common presenting symptom of CD in our sample was pseudo-seizures.

Biography:

Malladi Srinivasa Sastry has completed his Graduation at Andhra Medical College in India. He later worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in UK before moving to Singapore where, he is a Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health. He actively teaches in medical schools in Singapore and has lectured in several public forums, conducted workshops in conferences and gave oral presentations.

Abstract:

To enhance the standing of psychiatry as a medical discipline that applies principles of evidence based practice mental health professionals would need to review what we best represent and how we are viewed by medical fraternity at large and the general public. Psychiatry has its inherent challenges to be described homogenously by various practitioners and critics alike. The medical model demands anatomic or physiological basis for the disorders to be identified with specific set of symptoms or to be detected by tests which show results specific to the disorder. There are often challenges in treatment and response to treatment due to medicalization of certain apparent social problems which are likely to be misdiagnosed such as adjustment disorder. In this presentation we shall look at enhacing the reliability of diagnoses and treatment keeping in view the limitations that are inherent to the field of psychiatry. Another dimension of conceptual overlap which is often not discussed is the spiritual domain besides biological, psychological and social. The implications cannot be underestimated as a significant population across the world may be at risk of not getting the right kind of support if the clinician is not trained in this area. We shall look at why it is important to include spiritual understanding in mainstream psychiatry and how it can be incorporated within assessment and management.

Biography:

Wassil Nowicky — Dipl. Ing., Dr. techn., DDDr. h. c., Director of “Nowicky Pharma” and President of the Ukrainian Anti-Cancer Institute (Vienna, Austria). Inventor of the anti-cancer preparation on the basis of celandine alkaloids “NSC-631570”. He is an author of over 300 scientific articles dedicated to cancer research. Dr. Wassil Nowicky is a real member of the New York Academy of Sciences, member of the European Union for applied immunology and of the American Association for scientific progress, honorary doctor of the Janka Kupala University in Hrodno, doctor “honoris causa” of the Open international university on complex medicine in Colombo, honorary member of the Austrian Society of a name of Albert Schweizer. He has received the award for merits of National guild of pharmacists of America. the award of Austrian Society of sanitary, hygiene and public health services and others.

Abstract:

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a genetic disorder of DNA repair in which the ability to repair damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light is deficient. Multiple basal cell carcinomas (basaliomas) and other skin malignancies frequently occur at a young age in those with XP. In fact, metastatic malignant melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two most common causes of death in XP victims. This is a very rare disease. The incidence differs regionally and is between 1:40000 (Japan) and 1:250000 (USA). About 250 XP patients live in the USA, about 50 in Germany, mostly children. The life expectance is low; usually they die in the first decade. If left unchecked, damage caused by UV light can cause mutations in individual cells DNA. XP patients are at a high risk (more than 2000 times over the general population) for developing skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma, for this reason. A report on the successful using NSC‐631570 in a XP patient suggests this drug can be very useful also in this hereditary disease. NSC‐631570 bei Xeroderma pigmentosum: Patient S.S., an eight year old boy, was presented with an ulcering lesion of the nose. As he was 10 month old, xeroderma pigmentosum was diagnosed. Until the age of three years the number of skin lesions increased considerably. In May 2002 skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) at the nose was diagnosed, T4NXM0, histologically verified. From May till June 2002 three cycles of chemotherapy were administered (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and vinblastine). The therapy failed and the tumors grew up. Clinical investigation in April 2004 revealed deforming malignant melanoma of the nose with invasion into the cartilage of nasal septum, measuring 3x3 cm. On 20 May 2004 the therapy with Ukrain was started, 5 mg intravenously twice a week, up to a total dose of 85 mg. One month after the last administration of Ukrain a complete regression of the tumor was revealed. The skin defect was partially replaced with connective tissue. Xeroderma skin lesions improved throughout the body.

Biography:

Sam Vaknin is the author of "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited" and other books about personality disorders. His work is cited in hundreds of books and dozens of academic papers. He is Visiting Professor of Psychology, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia and Professor of Finance and Psychology in CIAPS (Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies). He spent the past 6 years developing a treatment modality for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Over the years, with volunteers, it was found to be effective with clients suffering from a major depressive episode as well.

Abstract:

Like dependents (people with dependent personality disorder), co-dependents depend on other people for their emotional gratification and the performance of both inconsequential and crucial daily and psychological (ego) functions. They seek to fuse or merge with their significant others. By becoming one with their intimate partners, codependents are able to actually love themselves by loving others. Co-dependents are needy, demanding, and submissive. They suffer from abandonment anxiety and to avoid being overwhelmed by it they cling to others and act immaturely. These behaviours are intended to elicit protective responses and to safeguard the relationship with their companion or mate upon whom they depend. Co-dependents appear to be impervious to abuse. No matter how badly mistreated, they remain committed. In extreme co-dependence, this fusion and merger with the significant other lead to in-house stalking as the co-dependent strives to preserve the integrity and cohesion of her personality and the representations of her loved ones within it. This is where the “co” in co-dependence comes into play. By accepting the role of victims, codependents seek to control their abusers and manipulate them. It is a Danse Macabre in which both members of the dyad collaborate. The co-dependent sometimes claims to pity her abuser and cast herself in the grandiose roles of his saviour and redeemer. Her overwhelming empathy imprisons the codependent in these dysfunctional relationships and she feels guilt either because she believes that she had driven the abuser to maltreat her or because she contemplates abandoning him.

Biography:

Itzia Perez Morales obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Psychology with distinction in 2016 from the Universidad de las Américas in Mexico City. Since then, she has worked as a Clinician in psychiatric hospitals, youth addiction rehabilitation units, paediatric hospitals and IAPT services, along with research work in Experimental Biology, Child Psychotherapy, Pharmacogenetics and Perinatal Psychiatry. Currently, she is a Recent Graduate at the Psychiatric Research MSc program at King’s College London with the dissertation title, “The relationship between perinatal mental health problems and infant stress: the first year of life”.

Abstract:

Objective: Investigate cortisol reactivity in infants born to: 1) mothers at high-risk of developing puerperal psychosis (PP), and mothers with no such risk, and 2) mothers at high-risk of developing PP that remained well and mothers at high-risk that became unwell.

Methods: Saliva cortisol from 71 infants (42 cases and 29 controls) born to mothers at high and low risk of developing PP was collected immediately before and 20 minutes after routine immunizations at 8-weeks and 12-months. The case group was further subdivided according to maternal mental health status, infants born to mothers that presented clinically significant symptoms between birth and 4-weeks postpartum were allocated into the unwell group, while infants born to mothers that remained well were allocated into the well group. Infant cortisol reactivity was measured as the difference between cortisol levels before and after routine immunizations, and differences between groups were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney tests and confounders were controlled for in linear regression models.

Results: Differences in cortisol reactivity were compared between groups, finding no significant at 8-weeks, and significant differences were found in the 12-month, although these were non-significant after controlling for possible confounders.

Conclusions: Infant cortisol reactivity may not be affected by maternal risk of developing PP or maternal health status in the first year of life. However, these results could change in a bigger sample at 12-months, as sample size could not account for all potential confounders.

Biography:

Gregory J Knowles is a 4^th year medical student studying at the University of Birmingham, UK. Considering a career in psychiatry, he has completed an intercalated BMedSci in Psychological Medicine. Inspired by the work of renowned developmental neuroscientists (Casey et al., 2008; Steinberg, 2008), he orientated his year towards the analysis of research into adolescent social neuroscience. He aimed to investigate the neural components underlying well-recognised risky tendencies during this period. Previous study in this area focused predominantly on the utilisation of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Employing a different approach, he applied voxel-based morphometric analysis to evaluate the association between risk-propensity and grey and white matter volumes (and hence, maturity). Furthermore, since most risks are taken in the presence of peers, he also investigated the association between peer influence susceptibility and brain structure. His research provides some preliminary findings to build upon in the future.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Adolescence is characterised by an increased propensity to engage in risky behaviour, in part the result of a heightened susceptibility to peer influence. We aimed to investigate whether adolescent risk-taking and peer influence susceptibility (PIS) had any relation to brain structure.

Methodology: A sample of 27 healthy adolescents (15 males, 12 females; age 17-23 years) participated in this study. We adapted the Balloon Analogue Risk Task so that participants completed it twice alone and twice after exposure to peer encouragement. The alone condition objectively measured baseline risk-propensity. Taking the percentage difference between conditions formed an empirical index of PIS. Using voxel-based morphometry, we compared baseline risk-propensity and PIS scores to grey and white matter volumes in whole-brain multiple regression analyses.

Findings: We identified a statistically significant positive correlation between baseline risk-propensity and white matter volume of the right posterior cerebellar lobule VII (p<0.01, FWE-corrected). Secondly, PIS scores were associated with volumetric variations in the right precuneus, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (p<0.001, uncorrected).

Conclusion: Across late adolescence, cerebellar volumes decline through mechanisms like synaptic pruning. Considering this, our research suggests a link between reduced lobule VII structural maturity and increased risk-propensity. We remain in the early stages of learning about the cognitive cerebellum. However, functional topographical studies demonstrate the recruitment of lobule VII specifically during cognitively-demanding, rather than movement-orientated, tasks. Perhaps lobule VII immaturity hinders the engagement of cognitive resources in decision-making, causing less risk-averse behaviour. With regards to PIS analyses, our study is the first to empirically investigate its structural correlates. Existent fMRI research implicates the DLPFC, VLPFC and precuneus in social cognition. While we provide preliminary evidence for a specific association between these regions and PIS, larger studies are needed to elucidate their exact contribution to task performance.

Biography:

Anna Burkiewicz has completed her PhD at the age of 31 years from Medical University of GdaÅ„sk.  She is the director of Department of Clinical Psychology at Medical University of GdaÅ„sk. She works as a psychotherapist and clinical psychologist at Adult Psychiatry Clinic at the University Clinical Center. Anna Burkiewicz has her expertise in evaluation and passion in improving the mental health and wellbeing. She has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals in the field of clinical psychology and mental health.

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to asses temperament and character trials in group of patients diagnosed with depression. To evaluate temperament trials the Temperament and Character Inventory created by Cloninger was used. The inventory based on Cloninger's psychobiological model that identifies four dimensions of temperament (Novelty seeking NS, Harm Avoidance HA, Reward Dependence RD and Persistence) and three dimensions of character (Self-Directedness SD, Cooperativeness C and Self Transcendence ST). The study included 30 patients diagnosed with depression and 30 indywiduals from control group.Results: Patient diagnosed with depression obtained higher scores in HA dimension and lower scores in scales NS and SD.

Biography:

Mahtab Askari has done M.A, from Shahid Beheshti University, Iran. She has her expertise in family therapy and child psychology. Her experiences are in object relation theory on infants and children, she works with infants and mothers separately. Working with mothers is about their maternal representations and their feelings about their childhood and with infants, it’s a play therapy.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Statistical learning is a learning style which mainly causes an individual to unconsciously extract probabilities in the environment, generalize them, and turn them into a subjective rule in order to finally interact with the environment based on them. This learning style emerges in the early hours of birth, and infants use it to make inferences about the frequencies of the environment. Accordingly, they can interact with the environment, parents and other important individuals. The purpose of this study is to investigate this type of learning which has a great impact on the estimation and learning of the environment as well as the mother-infant relationship using the precise eye tracker technology. The amount of visit time per seconds and the fixation time were assessed and the results confirmed the existence of this unconscious learning mechanism among infants.

Finding: The findings of ANOVA with repeated measures indicated that there was a significant difference between the total visit duration and total fixation duration in shapes with different frequencies (p&lt;0.05). Conclusion: According to the research findings, it can be concluded that the statistical learning mechanism is active in infants. Moreover, it becomes more complicated with age, and infants make cognitive interactions with the environment based on this mechanism.

Biography:

Abstract:

Introduction: Time, space, math and numerosity are ubiquitous dimensions of human lives. An influential theory suggested that all these magnitudes may be encoded by a common neural mechanism, mainly located in the parietal cortex. Another function processed in the parietal cortex is attention. In fact, as reported by Atkinson, dorsal stream is also important for attention. Additional evidences can be found in studies of atypical populations; however, we have not firm conclusion. In this line, the aim of this study is to test the association of parietal functions in children and adolescents with ADHD.

Patients & Methods: Twenty two ADHD and 22 typical children and adolescents, matched for age (8-14 years old) participated in this study. Inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of ADHD according to DSM–V criteria (America Psychiatric Association, 2003), an IQ more than 70, no neurological or sensory impairment and no pharmacological treatment. We used a psychophysical battery of tests to assess numerosity, time discrimination thresholds and visuospatial sustained attention (MOT). Time was measured in the auditory domain and for both sub (T 500 ms) and supra (T 1500 ms) second duration intervals. We also measured symbolic math.

Results: ADHD subjects performed worse than controls both in time and number discrimination and symbolic math, but the difference was statistical significant only for T 500 ms (t=2.949, p=0.005, Cohen’s d=0.889). T 500 ms deficit does not depend on IQ and index of elaboration velocity. Instead we found no difference in MOT performance. Interestingly, numerosity and time performance were positively correlated.

Conclusions: Our results generally confirm ATOM theory but also show that selective impairments are possible. ADHD subjects seem to show a dorsal vulnerability. Moreover given that time perception deficits do not depend on attention, our results suggest that ADHD may be characterized by a specific time encoding deficit, together with impaired attention skills.