Yehuda Senecky

Post-adoption depression among adoptive mothers

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the rate of depressive symptomatology and possible underlying factors in adoptive mothers during the transition to motherhood. DESIGN Cohort survey. SETTING General Community. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-nine adoptive mothers of reproductive age registered with international adoption agencies. INTERVENTIONS All women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) before and 6 weeks after the adoption. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Responses were compared between the study group and published findings for biological mothers in the general population, and within the study group, before and after adoption. RESULTS Symptoms of depression were found in 15.4% of the study group. This rate was similar to that for postpartum depression in the general population, and lower than the rate recorded in the study group before adoption (25.6%). All women with symptoms of depression after the adoption had also shown evidence of depressive features before the adoption. Similar findings were noted for other psychopathologies as well. CONCLUSION Adopting a child does not cause new-onset, reactive depression among adoptive mothers. It may even lead to a decrease in depressive features, perhaps in response to relief from other adjustment difficulties.

Prevalence of epilepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder: a population-based study.

Epilepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were reported to co-occur at rates higher than expected for coincidental findings. This study investigated the prevalence of both disorders in community-based primary care practice. The central database of the second-largest health maintenance organization in Israel was searched for all children aged 6 to 13 years (n = 284 419; 51.5% males) diagnosed as having ADHD according to the physicians’ records and/or the filling of at least 10 prescriptions for antiepileptic medications according to pharmacy records. The prevalence of epilepsy in the total population was 5 out of 1000 children, and the prevalence of ADHD was 12.6%. More than one-fourth (27.7%) of the epileptic children were also diagnosed as having ADHD. On multivariate analysis, children with ADHD had almost twice the risk of epilepsy than children without ADHD. This study supports hospital-based findings of a strong interrelationship between ADHD and epilepsy. The high rate of ADHD in Israeli children warrants further investigation.

Pediatricians' satisfaction with their abilities to care for children with developmental, behavioral and psychosocial problems.

Background: Developmental and behavioral pediatrics has emerged as an area of special interest and new responsibility for pediatricians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of training, experience, and other factors on pediatricians’ satisfaction with their abilities to care for children with developmental, behavioral and psychosocial problems.

Parental perception of developmental vulnerability after inter-country adoption: a 10-year follow-up study: longitudinal study after inter-country adoption

Abstract Background: The goal of the study was to identify developmental disabilities in internationally adopted children and evaluate the utility of pre-adoption screening. Methods: Parents of 191 adopted children (80.93%) completed the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) questionnaire. Responses were analyzed for the reported presence of developmental dysfunction in the children. Results: For 137 children, parental response rates ranged from 55% to 74.4% at different junctures. The cumulative incidence of reported concerns over developmental and behavioral disabilities at 12 years post-adoption was 79%. Children adopted after 1-year-old had more behavioral problems than those adopted earlier (relative risk=4.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.97–22.07). Conclusions: Parents perceive international adoption as being associated with a substantial risk for developmental problems. Even meticulous pre-adoption screening cannot preclude developmental problems that may appear in later childhood.