JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS

The Febrile Effect in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation of Behavioral Improvements During Episodes of Fever in Chinese Children
Li C, Yang M, Tan C, An Y and Zhang J
Some individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate marked behavioral improvements during febrile episodes, which is called febrile effect. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the febrile effect in children with ASD in China.
Journal Article Reviews
Christiansen A, deVinck-Baroody O, Emrick BB and Ledesma M
Partnering With Physical Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists in Early Childhood to Promote Access to Assistive Technology for a Child With Medical Complexity
Sloane BM, Vincent S, Crawford S, Zuckerman KE and Augustyn M
Noah is an 18-month-old boy with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, diagnosed at 3 months through genetic testing that revealed a cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein (CREBBP) variant. At 7 months, Noah was socially engaged, smiling and responding to familiar caregivers, but his motor differences were evident: limited head control, frequent fisting of his hands, difficulty grasping objects because of syndactyly, the need for assistance with rolling, and difficulty tolerating time on his stomach.By 9 months, Noah was referred to Part C Early Intervention services and began occupational and physical therapy. With support, he was developing postural control and reaching skills. Still, his opportunities for exploration and communication remained largely dependent on adult facilitation. At this point, Noah did not have independent or reliable ways to move across his environment or consistent methods for communication to share his wants, needs, or make choices.The central challenge in this case: How can pediatric clinicians and therapists partner to bring assistive technology into the lives of children, like Noah, at the right time?
The Relations Among GI Symptoms, Mental Health, and Online Schooling for Youth With GI Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Robbertz AS, Nelson CI, Peugh J, Hommel K, Armistead LP and Cohen LL
For youth with gastrointestinal (GI) conditions, mental health symptoms can exacerbate GI symptoms. In a cyclical fashion, experiencing GI symptoms at school can contribute to depression, anxiety, and embarrassment. This study evaluated the impact of school instruction type on mental health and GI symptoms for youth with GI conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Screening for Developmental Delays in Primary Health Care in Northeastern Brazil
Bessa FR, Viana-Cardoso KV, Martins JDN, Moreira RS, Alves CRL and de Castro Magalhães L
To estimate the frequency of suspected neurodevelopmental delays (NDD) and to investigate the measurement properties and usability of the Survey of Well-Being of Young Children-Brazilian version (SWYC-BR).
Promoting Collaboration Among Pediatrics, Education, and Law in a Preschooler With Co-occurring Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Cerebral Palsy
Loe I, Spinks-Franklin A, Espiritu D, Koski WS, Diekroger EA and Fogler JM
Marcus is a 4-year-old African-American boy with cerebral palsy, Gross Motor Function Classification System level 1, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Combined Presentation who presents to Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics clinic for evaluation because of preschool difficulties. He is very active, jumping up and down at circle time, bumping into classmates, and impulsively hitting other children when they take his toys. As a toddler, his cognitive and social-emotional skills were on track, and he received early intervention for language and motor delays. He qualified for an IEP and transitioned to a district-based inclusive preschool setting with speech therapy and adaptive physical education. Marcus spends the week with his grandparents, and they live in a school district that is well-resourced and has inclusive school and therapy settings. The teachers call parents or grandparents frequently to pick him up. In response to misbehavior, they also put him in a separate timeout area, away from the other children, with a 1:1 aide for the rest of the day. On 2 occasions, he was strapped into a therapy chair for nonambulatory children after biting or hitting another child. Because he does well with 1:1 support, the school has switched him to a special day class with smaller class size, comprised primarily of autistic preschoolers who are minimally verbal. Marcus' parents have just started parent training in behavior management for ADHD after struggling to find a therapist that was covered by their insurance. His mother noticed while volunteering in his original class that other children with similar behavior were not sent home or transferred to a special education class. They are upset with the transfer to the more restrictive environment, but they are worried if they speak up that the district will send him to a less resourced school in the district where the family, rather than grandparents, reside. How would you advise the family to proceed?
Phenotypic Description of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Psychopathology in Maternal 15q Duplication Syndrome
Venezia I, Passarini S, Guerrera S, Apicella M, Alesi V, D'Elia G, Sallicandro E, Bontempo P, Bartuli A, Sinibaldi L, Vicari S and Valeri G
Maternal 15q11-q13 duplication syndrome (Dup15q) has been associated with 0.5% of all cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is no established protocol for the neuropsychiatric evaluation of individuals with this syndrome. This study aims to define a protocol incorporating gold standard assessments.
Parental Feeding Strategies and Outcomes During Complementary Food Introduction Among Preterm Infants at 12 Months Corrected Age
Thompson KL, Park J, McComish C, Thoyre S and Erickson K
The introduction to complementary food is an important stage, particularly for preterm infants and their parents as they navigate a changing feeding relationship. Parental feeding strategies during this period can influence long-term feeding outcomes, but the influence of specific strategies on later feeding skills and feeding problem symptoms is unknown.
New Onset of Suicidal Ideation in Children With Neurologic, Developmental, and Behavioral Disorders From Longitudinal Universal Suicide Risk Screening
Gornik AE, Schindel BJ, Kim A, Ngur M, Zabel TA, Lopez-Arvizu C, Rybczynski S and Lipkin PH
This naturalistic, observational study aimed to assess the frequency and timing of new and recent suicidal ideation (SI) in youth with neurologic, developmental, and behavioral disorders (NDBDs) after an initial negative suicide risk screening within medical and behavioral health settings.
"Keeping the Door Open": The Lived Experiences of Developmental Pediatricians in Caring for Families
Koller D, Grech L and Matthiesen A
Within an evolving and increasingly complex pediatric context, little is known about how developmental pediatricians experience their interactions with families within nuanced clinical practices that demand flexibility and a tolerance for ambiguity. To address this gap, this study explored the perspectives and experiences of developmental pediatricians regarding their communications and interactions with children and families.
Family and Caregiver Quality of Life in Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases: Psychosocial and Disease-related Predictors
Ortega J, Vázquez N, García-Sanchoyerto M and Amayra Caro I
This study aimed to explore family and caregiver's quality of life, identifying psychosocial factors related to it.
A Child With Oppositional Behavior After a Burn Injury: A Role for Inpatient Developmental Pediatrics Consults
Seabury A, Campbell K, Clay CJ, Minges EC, Carbone PS, Kreier F and Augustyn M
A 5-year-old girl with a history of autism spectrum disorder was admitted to inpatient rehabilitation after extensive accidental burns requiring skin grafts to her upper body. During her admission, she had increasingly aggressive behaviors toward staff, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and refusal to participate in therapies. She resisted transitions between activities, hit her bed rails, and eloped from her room. Goals during physical therapy sessions included stretching and strengthening her scarred extremities to increase mobility. Her behavior increased her risk of healing complications and became a significant barrier to progress in her rehabilitation. The medical team consulted developmental and behavioral pediatrics to recommend medications for oppositional behaviors not responding to behavioral strategies.A developmental and behavioral pediatrics consulting team of physicians and nurses met the patient, gathered history, and observed the child in the hospital. The patient's developmental history was significant for expressive language delay and autism spectrum disorder. At home, she preferred solitary play and spinning objects and had an intense interest in horses. In the school setting, she was supported with an individualized education plan and special education services. In crowded areas, she wore noise-canceling headphones to accommodate auditory sensory hypersensitivity. Her mother reported maintaining a strict schedule at home around mealtimes, bath time, and bedtime, which provided comfort and limited tantrums. She had never needed medication to manage behaviors at home or at school in the past.When the developmental pediatrics team observed her in the hospital, she eloped from a physical therapy session in the gym and refused to participate in a hospital school session. Therapies occurred at variable times throughout the day, and she resisted transitions between therapies. She frequently complained of itching from healing burn sites and had developed new daytime urinary incontinence. During examination, she engaged in back-and-forth ball play and sought reassurance from her parent. Therapists, nurses, and behavioral health providers were interested to hear any ideas to support her. What should the developmental and behavioral pediatrics team recommend?
Disability Visibility: First-person Stories From the Twenty-first Century
Foster CC
Effectiveness of a Time-limited Parent Training Program via Telehealth for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Externalizing Behavior
Greathouse AD, Zemantic PK, Strong-Bak W, Lieneman C and Hayes LB
The Research Units in Behavioral Intervention (RUBI) Autism Network Parent Training Program is an effective behavioral parent training program for reducing child externalizing behavior and parenting stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study examined the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of a time-limited (i.e., 6-10 sessions), telehealth delivered, and community-based adaptation of the RUBI program for families of children with suspected or diagnosed ASD.
Impact of Intersecting Identities on Student Well-being
Valdez P, Stransky AD, Grant C and Augustyn M
John is a 12-year-old African-American boy with a Specific Learning Disorder in Reading and Generalized Anxiety Disorder who you are seeing in follow-up at your clinic. Last fall, when John was having an escalation of his anxiety symptoms at school, he enacted the behavior intervention plan (BIP) that had been previously established by his educational team of informing his teacher that he needed to leave the classroom. He then paced the hallway outside of his classroom as a method of coping with the anxiety that he was experiencing. Approximately 3 months prior, John's teacher was unable to visualize him from her position in the classroom and subsequently called the School Resource Officer (SRO) to locate him. The SRO found John, who was in an emotionally dysregulated state. The SRO subsequently approached John who noted that he wanted to jump off a cliff. Rather than following the BIP which details the need to involve the school counselor and social worker when John is in an emotionally dysregulated state to perform a self-harm/threat assessment, the SRO bypassed this step and, instead, notified the emergency response team, who initiated a petition for psychiatric evaluation, thus temporarily limiting parental rights to make certain treatment decisions. This led to John being transported to the local Emergency Department (ED) in the backseat of a police vehicle.While in the ED, a urine toxicology assessment was performed which returned negative and John was subsequently evaluated by the child and adolescent psychiatrist on call who deemed that John was not an immediate threat to himself or others and discharged him home with his mother. Subsequent to this event, John exhibited refusal to return to school and would remain in his family's car for 30 to 60 minutes before entering the school in the morning. Once at school, he would go to an administrator's office where he felt safe, and his school work was brought to him. His long-standing therapist, who he had been seeing for management of anxiety, began providing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy with John as a trauma-focused intervention to address the events he experienced at school.John continued to exhibit school avoidance and was placed on home-bound instruction by the school in the spring, which comprised 60 minutes of special education instruction in the home each week, without provision of general education instruction. John went from being an A/B student to earning Ds and Fs, and he was denied compensatory instructional services by the school in the summer.The family comes to your DBP clinic that summer asking for evaluation of his traumatic symptoms and to create a plan for the fall and returning to school.
Effectiveness of Enhanced Developmental Screening at 18 Months to Identify Developmental Delays
Hamovitch E, Raveendran T, Cohen E, Guttmann A, Altaf A, Diong C, Evans A, Stukel TA, Janus M and Saunders NR
We sought to measure whether receipt of an enhanced 18-month well-baby visit with use of a developmental screening tool versus a routine 18-month well-baby visit (which typically involves developmental surveillance without screening) is associated with time to identification of developmental delays.
Comparison of Available Tools to Screen for Autism at 12 and 15 Months
Porto KS, Wieckowski AT, Fein DA, Barton ML, Baranek GT and Robins DL
To determine the performance of autism screeners at 12 and 15 months of age.
Specific Behaviors of Young Healthy Children During Toilet Training and Their Associations With Functional Constipation: A Cohort Study
Naenen L, Van Aggelpoel T, Roelant E, De Wachter S, De Baets K, De Win G and Vermandel A
To assess the association between specific toilet training (TT) behaviors and functional constipation (FC) in young, healthy children.
Preferences for Outcome Data Collection and Access in a Pediatric Autism Learning Health Network Registry
Murray DS, Anixt JS, Vasudevan V, Cole LL, Fedele A, Karpur A, Cornell WL, Latten LM, Butter EM and Coury DL
Health professionals participating in learning health networks collect data for informing clinical decision-making, research, and quality improvement (QI). To optimize the collection and use of clinical and Parent Reported Outcome (PRO) data for these purposes, it is important to understand the priorities of patient registry "end users" (clinicians, researchers, and patients/families).
Improving Metabolic Monitoring of Atypical Antipsychotics in a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Ambulatory Clinic
Dreyer JE, Glasheen JJ, Orth LE, Garay K, Koch AZ and Reynolds A
Atypical antipsychotics are high-risk medications with serious side effects including weight gain, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance. Safe use in youth with autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders is especially important due to inherent risks of high obesity rates and barriers to a healthy lifestyle. Metabolic monitoring rates are low in this population in part due to difficulties with obtaining labs and other vitals. In our Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics clinic, 31% of patients had once-yearly metabolic monitoring parameters completed. We aimed to increase metabolic monitoring rates through multi-disciplinary interventions. A pharmacist provided educational presentations to staff, the pharmacist identified patients needing monitoring and provided recommendations to the medical provider, nursing staff notified families by phone if labs were needed, and child life support services were offered. Average once-yearly metabolic monitoring rates increased from 31% to 64% 1 year after beginning interventions. Three educational presentations were provided, 183 recommendations for monitoring were made on 141 patients, and nursing made 38 phone calls to families. Of the 141 patients identified as needing monitoring at the time of clinic visit, 72 (51%) obtained the monitoring parameters within 3 months. Abnormal metabolic labs requiring additional action were found in 31/72 (43%) patients. Patients with in-person visits were more likely to obtain labs overall and on the day of clinic visit than those with telehealth appointments. Using a multidisciplinary approach within a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics clinic, metabolic monitoring rates in patients taking atypical antipsychotics greatly improved.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescents With and Without Autism
Wiggins LD, DiGuiseppi C, Overwyk K, Barger B, Dichter G, Durkin M, Hightshoe K, Moody E, Nadler C, Powell P, Reyes N, Thompson-Paul AM and Anderson KN
We sought to examine differences in caregiver-reported adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in adolescents with and without autism and explore associations between ACEs and behavioral and emotional problems in those with ACEs.
A Systematic Study on Prenatal Opioid Exposure: A Review of Neurodevelopmental Consequences
Cao Q and Kable J
A systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was conducted to evaluate the potential adverse impacts on neurodevelopment associated with prenatal opiate exposure.
Early Life Neurodevelopment of Infants Across a Wide Gestational Age Range
Chan PHY, Lai CM, Lam HS and Wong PCM
Neural development differs between in-utero and ex-utero environments. Length of gestational age (GA) is associated with brain development and early life neurodevelopmental outcomes, affecting both preterm and term infants. This study aimed to examine a wide range of GA and provide a more comprehensive understanding of its effects on various developmental domains.
Rethinking the Scope of Developmental-behavioral Pediatric Fellowship Training: Is It Time to Recalibrate?
Weitzman CC
Assessing the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Disordered Eating Among Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Korth CX, Kutash LA, Coifman KG and Sato AF
Exposure to child maltreatment is highly prevalent and associated with a myriad of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, including disordered eating (DE). However, most of this work has been limited to adults with eating disorders, and the association between maltreatment and DE specifically among youth has yet to be systematically quantified. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the association between child maltreatment and indicators of DE among children and adolescents.
The Essential Guide to Raising Complex Kids With ADHD, Anxiety, and More by Elaine Taylor-Klaus
Garcia J and Farley M
Consensus Training Priorities for Developmental-behavioral Pediatric Mini-fellows
Blum NJ, Jackel C, Jaffe N, Perlman D, Ayeni O, Chiu K, DeHaan S, Evans D, Hughes K, Jungblut M and van der List L
Identify training priorities for primary care clinicians who commit to a minimum of 300 hours of training in developmental-behavioral pediatrics (DBP mini-fellows).
Bridging the Gap in Autism Diagnosis: An Evaluation of a Novel Primary Care Training Model
Bickel J, Hatoun J, Fry M, Prock L, Vernacchio L, Patane LB, Coop A and Weitzman C
The current study assesses the impact of an educational program designed to train primary care clinicians (PCCs) to diagnose children between age 18 and 36 months at high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Precision Medicine in Pediatric Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review of Behavioral, Neurobiological and Genetic Diagnostic Biomarkers
Pranjić M, Peisch V, Vukšić N, Subedi S and Arnett AB
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders and a common presenting concern in primary and developmental pediatric care. However, objective diagnostic tools are currently not available, leading to delayed and missed diagnoses. The current systematic review aimed to determine whether objective indices can serve as diagnostic markers for pediatric ADHD.
The Father's Role in Complementary Feeding During Infancy in Turkey
Aydın B, Tekindal MA and Özmert EN
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of fathers' participation in complementary feeding on the occurrence of parent-reported behavioral feeding problems in infants.