In this submission, five articles are presented examining one theme: diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children. Three articles provides perspectives on various social and medical factors that influence the diagnosis of ASD, and the others examine social and behavioural outcomes for children diagnosed with ASD. One article provides an in depth examination of the dilemmas of diagnosis from a parental perspective. The research utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods. A secondary analysis of a longitudinal birth cohort study revealed that there were a number of children who had autistic traits equally severe as those with clinical diagnosis. Further analysis exposed a possible gender bias in diagnosis. Outcomes for children with ASD diagnoses were worse than for those without diagnoses but with comparable behaviours as preschoolers. ASD diagnosis apparently had no positive effect on the developmental trajectory of prosocial behaviour. The implications of these results are discussed. Analysis of qualitative data collected in semi-structured interviews with parents of both diagnosed and undiagnosed children exposed dilemmas faced by parents as they contemplated an ASD diagnosis and highlighted parental action to de-stigmatise the condition after diagnosis had been applied. The body of work as a whole falls at the junction of clinical and educational psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, social psychiatry, sociology and epidemiology. It draws attention to a number of social processes that contribute to ASD diagnosis. Overall, it is argued, the work supports the conceptualisation of ASD as both a biologically and socially determined condition.

M.A. thesis, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 1999

The cognitive model of BDD (Veale, 2004) proposes high levels of self-objectification (viewing and treating oneself as an object) as an important maintaining factor; however, to date this construct has not been empirically measured in this population. In addition, recent models of the self (Damasio, 2010) point towards the central role of interoceptive awareness (IA; the ability to identify bodily signals) in developing a sense of self. Low levels of IA have been associated to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of self-objectification and interoceptive awareness in patients with BDD. Three groups of participants with BDD (n=14), anxiety (n=23), and non-clinical participants (n=23) completed a heartbeat detection task to measure levels of IA under two conditions: blank screen and while facing a mirror in order to also explore the impact of self-focus attention on IA. Levels of self-objectification and self-focussed attention were measured through self-report questionnaires. Statistical comparisons between groups indicated significantly lower levels of IA in the BDD group at blank screen only when compared to the non-clinical group. In the mirror condition the BDD group had significantly lower IA scores than both control groups. Furthermore, the BDD group reported significantly higher self-objectification than the non-clinical group, and there was a trend towards the group scoring at a higher level than the anxiety group. Across groups there was no significant relationship between levels of IA in either condition, and self-reported levels of self-objectification or self-focussed attention. The results support the role of self-objectification in BDD and points towards the potential contribution of somatoperception. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings, the limitations of the methodology employed, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

No description available.

Unilateral Visual Neglect was measured in 12 Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyperactive elementary boys aged 8-12 years old, and 27 classroom derived boys also aged 8-12. Previous studies have suggested greater numbers of omission errors on the left side of the page in attention deficit disorder. This study compared a carefully diagnosed group of hyperactives to a classroom sample of boys to see if this type of error is particular to the ADD with H dimension of attention. The Behavioural Inattention Test (Thames Valley Test Company, (1987) series of conventional subtests, was used. This test is commonly used to detect neglect in stroke victims. Tests involve line bisection, line crossing, star and letter cancellation, representational drawing and copying of drawings. No significant differences between the two groups were found on non-parametric statistical testing of the results of four comparisons: total test score, total errors, left sided errors, right sided errors,. Some differences between the groups were noted, but scores realized were very close to the ceiling and few errors were made. It was concluded that the BIT test is not especially suitable for testing neglect in this population. / Graduate

A calorimeter was constructed for the determination of heat capacities of solids from 1.5 to 84 K. Results from this and other calorimeters are discussed, on bis(adiponitrile)copper(I) nitrate and tetramethylammonium trichloromanganate(II) ("TMMC") from 1.5 to 300 K, and on β-modification metal-free, copper(II), and nickel(II) phthalocyanines from under 5 to 80 K. Bis(adiponitrile)copper(I) nitrate has not-very-pronounced heat capacity maxima at 51 and 63 K. The total molar anomalous entropy change is estimated as between 1/2 R1n2 and R1n2. A previous assertion by X-ray crystallographers (Bull.Chem.Soc. Japan, <strong>32</strong>, 1221 (1959)) that the nitrate ions are disordered among four orientations at room temperature is not supported by these results or by consideration of structure factors or of the potential field on the nitrate ions. The TMMC heat capacity results are consistent with those given in Solid State Comm., <strong>15</strong>, 1185 (1974) and Phys.Rev. B, <strong>12</strong>, 5858 (1975). The anomalous molar entropy change associated with the monoclinic-hexagonal transition at 126 K is estimated as R1n2.8, of which 1/3 occurs between 124 and 127 K; it is suggested that the NC₄ tetrahedra undergo twofold disordering and that the H atoms also undergo some disordering. The heat capacities of the copper and nickel phthalocyanines are surprisingly different from each other, especially below 25K, where the former is markedly lower except for two first-order transitions at about 9-13K with a total molar entropy change of not less than approximately R1n4. Magnetic and Schottky anomalies are, apparently, not involved in either material; perhaps the transitions in copper phthalocyanine involve disordering of the copper ions among four positions in the plane of each molecule. Below 8 K, the heat capacities of copper and metal-free (but not nickel) phthalocyanine apparently obey the T³ law.

The study investigates the process of recovery for people diagnosed with personality disorder. This is related to the application of the new meaning of recovery from mental illness as explored by members of The Haven which, as the service setting for the study, addresses the problems of a client group that suffers significant social exclusion, known to impact on demand for health and other public services. It aims to examine efforts which attempt to reverse this social exclusion as an aspect of the recovery process. An earlier inquiry by the author yielded a new understanding of the diagnosis of personality disorder as defined by service users, and contributed to a change in the national agenda when the Department of Health responded by providing new national guidance and funding for pilot projects throughout the country. This resulted in The Haven, the service context for this current study. As yet, internationally, there is no agreed rationale of recovery for those diagnosed with personality disorder and few researchers have sought the views of service users regarding the issue. The following study is the first internationally known research about personality disorder and recovery. A Participatory Action Research approach was chosen for this study and The Haven Research Group, comprised of the author and Haven clients, formulated proposed research questions and conducted Focus Groups and Individual Client Interviews with 66 participants, over a period of three years. The group has been concerned with the effectiveness of The Haven as a recovery tool from the perspective of service users and carers. An examination of emerging themes, and the interplay between themes, gives insight into what participants consider to be the key steps to recovery for someone with a personality disorder diagnosis. From this thematic analysis a map is proposed of the journey of recovery for people with the diagnosis. Findings offer contributions to knowledge in terms of the service model and propose a new construct regarding recovery in personality disorder. This is defined as a journey of small steps highlighting recovering as a process, rather than recovery as a goal, leading to the emergence of the new concept of Transitional Recovery. As an alternative to the historically sequential path of rehabilitation and proposed recovery, this study offers a new, socially inclusive way of working with people who have a personality disorder diagnosis where they may choose to retain a haven while continuing to develop and progress on their chosen path in the wider world.

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability diagnosed in an increasing number of children. ASD has few effective treatment options. This study describes ASD prevalence and use of psychotropic medications among children and youth in Manitoba. Methodology: Administrative data from the Repository at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) were used to create a cohort of children born in Manitoba. Diagnoses of ASD were based on medical claim records, hospital abstracts, or special education funding data. Results: Between 2010 and 2014, 3079 Manitoba children aged 0-14 had an ASD diagnosis (1.2% prevalence). Child demographic, health and education, and family environmental characteristics were compared between children with ASD and children in the general population; children with ASD with and without psychotropic medications; and among all children with psychotropic medications. Children with ASD were more likely to have a psychotropic medication than children in the general population. Children with ASD were more likely to receive a psychotropic medication if they were older than age 4, were diagnosed with ASD later than age 4, received special education funding, had participated in behavioural programming, had a co-occurring psychiatric condition, had a sibling diagnosed with ASD or had ever been in the care of child welfare. This study demonstrated that children with ASD received a greater number and intensity of psychotropic medications than children in the general population with similar demographic and psychiatric conditions. Conclusions: In Manitoba, the prevalence of ASD is increasing and differences exist between children with ASD and children in the general population. Future research and treatment planning for children with mental disorders and developmental disabilities should consider the appropriateness of the patterns of medication use and equity of treatment interventions found in this study. / October 2016

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been attributed to genetic and non-genetic risk factors. Of the non-genetic factors, prenatal and perinatal complications have been extensively investigated, though few associations have been replicated consistently. We selected 2,562 families with at least one individual with ASD and one unaffected sibling. We investigated the relationships between 29 prenatal and perinatal complications and ASD, while considering the influences of confounding factors, comorbid conditions, and different ASD definitions. Although many complications were associated with ASD in the pairwise comparisons, only haematological disorders of the newborn and lower Apgar scores remained significant after adjusting for the effects of the confounders. After removing individuals with congenital anomalies, only 5-minute Apgar scores were associated with ASD. In conclusion, after considering confounding effects and four ASD definitions, several perinatal complications were associated with ASD with moderate effect sizes. Furthermore, comorbid conditions with ASD appear to be intertwined in these relationships. / October 2016

Women interpersonal chronic trauma survivors are frequently misdiagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which often results in mistreatment. Neither PTSD nor BPD adequately describes the unique character alterations observed among those exposed to prolonged early childhood trauma.  Researchers suggest survivors of interpersonal and chronic trauma should be subsumed under complex PTSD (CPTSD)(MacLean & Gallop, 2003).  The primary purpose of this study was to test the validity of complex PTSD as a construct. MANOVA, ANOVA, chi- Square, and independent samples t- Tests were utilized to test hypotheses. Results revealed that women who experienced higher frequencies of trauma met more CPTSD criteria and had higher mean base rate scores on the Major Depression, Depressive, Avoidant, Masochistic, Anxiety, PTSD, and Borderline scales of the MCMI- III than women who experienced fewer traumas. Additionally, findings suggest that the Major Depression, Depressive, Anxiety, PTSD, and Borderline scales may highlight differences among women interpersonal trauma survivors who meet five of six CPTSD criteria versus those who meet full CPTSD diagnostic criteria. Lastly, the mean Borderline scale score for women who met full CPTSD diagnostic criteria was below the cutoff for personality traits. Overall, these findings provide evidence and validation for the distinction of CPTSD from BPD and PTSD.