Background Sleep difficulties are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The temporal nature of the association between sleep problems and ASD is unclear because longitudinal studies are lacking. Our aim is to clarify whether sleep problems precede and worsen autistic traits and ASD or occur as a consequence of the disorder. Methods Repeated sleep measures were available a...

BACKGROUND Asthma prevalence in Latin America is high and continues to increase. There is evidence that the psychologic characteristics of the child are associated with greater asthma morbidity. This study aimed to investigate the independent effect of internalizing/externalizing problems on two asthma/wheeze outcomes: (i) remission and (ii) progression to severity on Latin American children wi...

Primary headache is a frequent and disabling disorder, common among children and adolescents, and it is a painful syndrome often accompanied by functional impairment and associated with emotional and behavior problems. The aim of this study was to investigate parenting stress and emotional/behavioral problems in adolescents affected by primary headache compared with healthy adolescents. The stu...

OBJECTIVE The assessment of symptoms of ADHD in children is usually based on a clinical interview or a behavior checklist. The aim of the present study is to investigate the extent to which these instruments measure an underlying construct and to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in ADHD. METHODS Maternal ratings were collected on 10,916 twins from 5,...

Although several studies have addressed developmental trajectories from childhood to adolescence of internalizing/externalizing problems, limited attention has been given to underweight children. Two groups were recruited for this study from a community sample: underweight (Ug, N = 80, 50% female) and normal weight (NWg, N = 80, 50% female) to examine the developmental trajectories of body mass...

In a pilot study of 120 children with reading disabilities, we assessed the presence of linkage and association between the DRD2/Taql and the DRD4/48bp-repeat polymorphisms and quantitative measures of behavioral problems derived from parental rated Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) [Achenbach, T. M. (1991). TM Manual for the CBCL 14-18. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont]. Analyses included m...

The current study investigated the connection between aggression and the perception of threat in a group of children with learning and behavior problems (N = 103). Aggression was assessed by means of the aggressive behavior subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Teacher Report Form (TRF), and Youth Self-Report (YSR). Perception of threat was measured by studying children's reactions ...

BACKGROUND Psychosocial and behavioral problems should be detected early during the pediatric consultation to prevent more severe psychosocial impairment as children move into adolescence. The pediatric visit offers an excellent opportunity to assess possible problems using screening tools. The aim of this study is to assess whether an adaptation of a screening tool (Pediatric Symptom Checklist...

Given the high level of comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD), deficits in executive function (EF), shown to be present in children with ADHD, may also be implicated in the motor coordination deficits of children with DCD. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between EF and motor ability. A sample of 238 chi...

AIM It has been suggested that one approach to identifying motor impairment in children is to use the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) as a screening tool. The current study examined the validity of the CBCL in identifying motor impairment. METHOD A total of 398 children, 206 females and 192 males, aged from 3 years 9 months to 14 years 10 months were assessed on the McCarron Assessment of Neu...