Gerd Lehmkuhl

• University of Cologne

Educational, social, and psychiatric factors within a family play an important role in the development of antisocial behavior. This chapter presents an overview of current findings on early familial factors as predictors for the development of antisocial behavior and the syndrome of psychopathy. It reports on current findings regarding the impact o...

Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBT) is an effective treatment in adult patients with schizophrenia. However, no randomized controlled and blinded trial in adolescents with early-onset psychosis (EOP) has been conducted. Therefore, the present pilot study explores the acceptance, tolerability, feasibility, and safety of a modified CBT i...

Objective: Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for children aims not only at improving symptoms but also at changing the quality of life. To our knowledge, no studies exist to date that focused on both aspects. In this paper, we investigated changes in problem behavior and health-related quality of life based on long-term psychodynamic psychother...

Background Insomnia and sleep-wake-rhythm disorders occur frequently in children and adolescents and are based on heterogeneous pathogenetic factors. Due to its sleep-promoting and chronobiotic properties, melatonin may be a treatment alternative. Objective and methods Based on Medline research the pharmacologic effect characteristics as well as i...

Background Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and diverse rare neuropsychiatric disorders with psychomental retardation are often accompanied by comorbid problems concerning sleep onset and sleep maintenance. Measures of psychoeducation, sleep hygiene, and behavioral treatment remain the primary treatme...

The common symptom of sleep disorders is non-restorative sleep, which results in daytime sleepiness. Therefore in clinical practice simultaneous complaints of „not enough“ and „too much“ sleep are very frequent. For the investigation and treatment of organic sleep disorders, available instruments, guidelines and specialised institutions (sleep cent...

Schlafstörungen stellen ein häufiges Phänomen im Kindes- und Jugendalter dar. Vor allem Insomnien und Parasomnien kommen in dieser Altersgruppe häufig vor. Längsschnittstudien belegen, dass bei einem nicht unbedeutenden Anteil Ein- und Durchschlafprobleme persistieren und über mehrere Jahre bestehen bleiben können. Bisherige Studien unterstreichen...

There is growing evidence for the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of adult major depression. With regard to adolescents, clinical trials are scarce. Due to the inherent symptoms of depression (lack of energy, low motivation to exercise), endurance training forms could be too demanding especially in the first weeks of treatment. We hypoth...

Objective: The development of modern digital media, especially smartphones, has contributed to a fundamental change in the leisure activities and communication practices of adolescents. Besides the technical possibilities, the amount of multitasking, i.e., the parallel use of several media alone or in combination with nonmedia activities, has gain...

Spezifische Sprachentwicklungsstörungen stellen die häufigsten Entwicklungsstörungen im Kindesalter dar. Betroffene leiden nicht nur unter den sprachlichen Defiziten, sondern tragen auch ein erhöhtes Risiko für die Entwicklung weiterer Auffälligkeiten, z. B. im Verhalten oder im emotionalen Bereich. Zudem zeigen sich in den meisten Fällen Auffällig...

"How Beautiful Must I be?"- Physical Attractiveness and Mental Health in Adolescents Physical attractiveness is a high priority for young people. The beauty ideals and presentations spread in the media often reinforce self-doubt and self-insecurity. In 730 adolescents (age 13 to 20 years) it was measured, how they experience appearance-related soci...

The importance of the therapeutic alliance in child psychotherapy The therapeutic alliance encompasses more than merely the therapeutic relationship. It also includes the capacity and willingness of the patient to confront his internal difficulties, his conflicts and his resistances. Therapist and patient have to construct a frame in which allows f...

Children and adolescents with mental health problems need effective and safe therapies to support their emotional and social development and to avoid functional impairment and progress of social deficits. Though psychotropic drugs seem to be the preferential treatment, psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions are essential in mental health care...

Descriptive diagnoses of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SAs) may detract from underlying dimensional borderline personality pathology (D-BPP). This study aimed to investigate D-BPP in adolescent inpatients with NSSI and SAs. A consecutive sample of 359 adolescent inpatients was assessed for current and past NSSI and life-time...

Objective To date, the factors contributing to emergence of resilience in different stages of adolescence have yet to be sufficiently examined. This study looks at the influence of extracurricular activities on resilience. Method The sample consists of 413 adolescents (f = 14.8) reporting personal problems (mood, concentration problems, behavior)....

Background: In view of the well-known increase in prescriptions of stimulants for children and adolescents over the last 20 years, it is important to study trends in the prevalence and incidence of the use of other psychotropic drugs by this age group as well, to enable an early response to potential problems in the current care situation. Methods:...

Background Actually it remains unclear whether specific psychiatric disorders, especially emotional disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may be meaningful in the pathogenesis of computer game misuse. Objective In this clinical study with adolescent psychiatric patients we expected a moderate to strong correlation between...

Sleep problems are very common in adolescents. Common reported symptoms are delayed sleep onset and/or frequent awaking during the night or having a fragmented un-refreshing sleep. These symptoms are general criteria of insomnia disorder. Though sleeping problems can be transient, there is a reasonable risk of chronification. Adolescents with insom...

Hyperkinetic disorders are among the most prevalent behavioral problems during childhood and adolescence with a prevalence of 4 to 5 %. The diagnosis should be based on standardized tests and should lead to a multimodal treatment plan.

Survey, results and course Based on early pediatric medical checkups 144 children with an average age of 9.1 years were examined using the Mannheim parent questionnaire. In one third of the children eating and sleeping problems were detected as well as attention problems and a variety of anxieties. A follow-up investigation was carried out 3.2 year...

Although the use of psychotropic medications in child and adolescent psychiatry in Germany is on the increase, most compounds are in fact prescribed "off-label" because of a lack of regulatory approval in these age groups. In 2007, the European Parliament introduced Regulation 1901/2006 concerning medicinal products in pediatric populations, with a...

The effects of inpatient treatment, including manual-guided cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), were examined for 36 adolescents (12–18 years) with chronic school absenteeism and mental health problems. Using a within-subject control group design, no changes were noted during the untreated waiting period, whereas there was a strong, statistically...

Both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show executive function and attention problems. By now, these are well described in school children and adolescents, but not in preschool or elementary school children. The goal of this study was to compare the neuropsychological profiles of executive and attent...

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are complex neurodevelopmental diseases clinically defined by dysfunction of social interaction. Dysregulation of cellular calcium homeostasis might be involved in ASD pathogenesis, and genes coding for the L-type calcium channel subunits CaV1.2 (CACNA1C) and CaVβ2 (CACNB2) were recently identified as risk loci for p...

The volume of treatment for mental disorders in children and adolescents has risen markedly in Germany in recent years. This places additional demands not only on child and adolescent psychiatrists, but also on pediatricians and general practitioners, particularly when treatment with psychotropic drugs is at issue (1). Thanks to the German Health...

90 adolescents (aged 12-18 years) with chronic anxious-depressive school absenteeism with or without comorbid disruptive symptoms underwent an open inpatient treatment. The treatment was manual guided with a cognitive-behavioral focus. In case of long lasting school absence youth were integrated on a special school initially. The present analyses c...

Autismus-Spektrum-Störungen und die Psychopathy gemäß dem Konzept von Hare gehen mit einem ausgeprägten Empathiedefizit einher. Empathiedefizite von Patienten mit Autismus-Spektrum-Störungen und Empathiedefizite bei Personen mit Persönlichkeitszügen der Psychopathy scheinen sich jedoch zu unterscheiden. Einige Autoren beschreiben ein komorbides Auf...

Objective: This cross-section study investigated the prevalence of sleep disorders and the relationship between sleep problems (insomnias, parasomnias, and daytime sleepiness) and school refusal behavior in school-age children (fourth grade elementary school in Cologne, Germany). Method: A sample of 1,490 children (age range: 8-11 years) and the...

150 files of adopted children chosen from the archive of the protestant association for adopted and foster children in Duesseldorf-Wittlaer, being mediated to families between 1947 and 1987, were evaluated with a special evaluation document, regarding the motives and wishes to adopt children. The results indicate that the expectation of adoptive pa...

On the basis of the high prevalence for behavioural problems and mental disorders in adolescence and its persistence into adulthood it is tested whether and based upon which emphasis this topic is considered in the recent discussion on psychotherapy. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis is given that summarizes the issue in the 2011 and 2012 volumes...

According to the concept of Hare autism spectrum disorders and psychopathy are associated with a strong deficit in empathy. However, empathy deficits in patients suffering from autism spectrum disorders and empathy deficits in individuals with psychopathic personality traits appear to be different. Some authors described the comorbid occurrence of...

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by the interaction of environment with a complex genetic background. The genetic etiology of the disorder remains, so far, elusive, although multiple promising leads have been recently reported. The recent implication of the histamine decarboxylase (HDC) gene, the key en...

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a higher rate of obesity than children without ADHD. Obesity risk alleles may overlap with those relevant for ADHD. We examined whether risk alleles for an increased body mass index (BMI) are associated with ADHD and related quantitative traits (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsi...

Bipolar disorder (BD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may share common genetic risk factors as indicated by the high co-morbidity of BD and ADHD, their phenotypic overlap especially in pediatric populations, the high heritability of both disorders, and the co-occurrence in families. We therefore examined whether known polygenic...

Predictors of outcome of inpatient treatment based on manualized cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) were examined for 147 adolescents with anxious‐depressed school absenteeism assessed at discharge and at 2 months after the end of treatment. Outcome measures were regular school attendance and a wide variety of mental health problems rated by adole...