Huriye Berna Devecioğlu

This study aimed to examine theory of mind (ToM), empathy, and alexithymia in adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared to typically developing controls (TDC) and to investigate the associations of these socio-emotional measures with fatigue and internalizing symptoms. In this two-center cross-sectional study, 21 adolescents with SLE (median age 16 years; 90.5% female) and 21 age- and sex-matched TDC underwent comprehensive assessment including the Faux Pas Recognition Test, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Empathy and Systemizing Quotient, Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. ToM, empathy, and systemizing scores did not differ between groups, despite a generalized trend toward lower WISC-IV performance in the SLE group and a nominally significant, exploratory deficit in Vocabulary (p = .014, r = .380). Alexithymia, particularly the difficulty identifying feelings dimension, showed strong positive correlations with fatigue and internalizing symptoms in both groups (all r ≥ .74, p < .001). Within the SLE group, an exploratory unadjusted analysis showed that longer disease duration was associated with lower empathy (r = - .592, p = .005); this finding was attenuated after adjustment for age at diagnosis. Fatigue tended to be higher in the SLE group (p = .051) without parallel differences in sleep disturbance. Externally directed social cognition did not differ from controls in stable SLE despite nominally lower vocabulary performance, although the small sample limited power to detect modest differences; internally directed emotional processing, by contrast, emerged as a transdiagnostic correlate of fatigue and internalizing symptoms. In an unadjusted exploratory within-group analysis, longer disease duration was associated with lower empathy. These findings are hypothesis-generating and require replication in larger samples with prespecified multiplicity correction. Key Points • Theory of mind and empathy did not differ from controls in adolescents with stable childhood-onset SLE. • Alexithymia strongly correlates with fatigue and internalizing symptoms in pediatric SLE. • In an unadjusted exploratory analysis, longer disease duration was associated with lower empathy.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the impact of specific learning disorder (SLD) on quality of life, expressed emotion, and clinical features in adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: A total of 35 adolescents participated in the study, 15 of whom were diagnosed with ADHD alone, while 20 were diagnosed with both ADHD and SLD. The adolescents completed the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Parents filled out the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)-Proxy Report, the Expressed Emotion Scale (EES), and the Conners Parent Rating Scale-48 (CPRS-48). Results: According to the children’s self-reports, the ADHD+SLD group showed significantly lower physical health-related quality of life and a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms compared to their peers. However, based on parental reports, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the children’s quality of life or the levels of expressed emotion among parents. Conclusions: Adolescents with ADHD+SLD tend to perceive their physical health-related quality of life as lower. Therefore, it is crucial to identify this issue early and implement appropriate interventions.

Aims: This study aims to examine the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of refugee children applying for the Special Needs Report for Children (SNRC) in Turkiye. The study seeks to comprehensively address the challenges encountered during these children’s health evaluations, particularly the impact of language barriers, and how these challenges affect diagnostic and treatment processes. Methods: A retrospective evaluation was conducted on 251 refugee children who applied to the SNRC outpatient clinic at Ankara Etlik City Hospital between June 2023 and June 2024. Participants were analyzed in terms of age, gender, reasons for application, and the percentages they received in each section of the SNRC evaluation. Difficulties arising from language barriers during psychiatric assessments and the functionality of psychometric tests were also examined. Results: The mean age of the 251 refugee children who applied for SNRC within one year was 88.92±56.65 months. The gender distribution revealed that 40.6% (n=102) were female and 59.3% (n=149) were male. The most common diagnosis was delayed developmental milestones (52.6%). Language barriers emerged as a fundamental issue during the assessment processes and were most frequently observed in the Afghan group (78.3%). In the application of psychometric tests, 30.3% of non-compliance was detected due to language barriers. The recommendation rate for follow-up in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry clinic was highest in the Afghan group (47.8%). Conclusion: Language barriers represent a significant obstacle to refugee children’s access to healthcare services. Enhancing translation services and developing cultural adaptation programs are critically important in addressing this issue. This study provides an essential guide for understanding the needs of refugee children and improving healthcare services tailored to them.

Objective: This study compared serum levels of S100B, GFAP, UCHL‐1, NF‐H and MMP‐9 between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and controls, focusing on their association with regression in ASD. We hypothesized that neuroinflammation and neuronal/astroglial damage markers would be higher in the ASD group than in controls and even more elevated in the regressive ASD subgroup compared to the non‐regressive subgroup.Methods: The study included 50 children with ASD (ages 4–10) and 30 healthy children. Participants underwent the K‐SADS‐PL diagnostic interview, CARS, a semi‐structured interview for regression, ABC, AuBC, CPRS‐RS and SRS assessments. Serum levels of S100B, GFAP, UCHL‐1, NF‐H and MMP‐9 were measured using flow cytometry and ELISA.Results: Serum levels of S100B, GFAP, UCHL‐1, NF‐H and MMP‐9 showed no significant differences between the ASD and control groups. Within the ASD group, no notable differences were found in sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, or serum marker levels between those with and without regression.Conclusion: The findings obtained in this study suggested that it is necessary to question whether the peripheral circulation can represent changes in central nervous system and to review the existence of autistic regression as a separate entity in ASD in terms of clinical features and etiopathogenesis.