| 1. |
- Bejerot, Susanne, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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The Brief Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (BOCS) : a self-report scale for OCD and obsessive-compulsive related disorders
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. - : Informa Healthcare. - 0803-9488 .- 1502-4725. ; 68:8, s. 549-559
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The Brief Obsessive Compulsive Scale (BOCS), derived from the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the children's version (CY-BOCS), is a short self-report tool used to aid in the assessment of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is widely used throughout child, adolescent and adult psychiatry settings in Sweden but has not been validated up to date.Aim: The aim of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the BOCS amongst a psychiatric outpatient population.Method: The BOCS consists of a 15-item Symptom Checklist including three items (hoarding, dysmorphophobia and self-harm) related to the DSM-5 category "Obsessive-compulsive related disorders", accompanied by a single six-item Severity Scale for obsessions and compulsions combined. It encompasses the revisions made in the Y-BOCS-II severity scale by including obsessive-compulsive free intervals, extent of avoidance and excluding the resistance item. 402 adult psychiatric outpatients with OCD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and other psychiatric disorders completed the BOCS.Results: Principal component factor analysis produced five subscales titled "Symmetry", "Forbidden thoughts", "Contamination", "Magical thoughts" and "Dysmorphic thoughts". The OCD group scored higher than the other diagnostic groups in all subscales (P < 0.001). Sensitivities, specificities and internal consistency for both the Symptom Checklist and the Severity Scale emerged high (Symptom Checklist: sensitivity = 85%, specificities = 62-70% Cronbach's alpha = 0.81; Severity Scale: sensitivity = 72%, specificities = 75-84%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.94).Conclusions: The BOCS has the ability to discriminate OCD from other non-OCD related psychiatric disorders. The current study provides strong support for the utility of the BOCS in the assessment of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in clinical psychiatry.
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| 2. |
- Bejerot, Susanne, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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The extreme male brain revisited: gender coherence in adults with autism spectrum disorder
- 2012
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Ingår i: British Journal of Psychiatry. - London, United Kingdom : Royal College of Psychiatrists. - 0007-1250 .- 1472-1465. ; 201:2, s. 116-123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The 'extreme male brain' theory suggests that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an extreme variant of male intelligence. However, somewhat paradoxically, many individuals with ASD display androgynous physical features regardless of gender. Aims To assess physical measures, supposedly related to androgen influence, in adults with and without ASD. Method Serum hormone levels, anthropometry, the ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length (2D:4D) and psychiatric symptomatology were measured in 50 adults with high-functioning ASD and age- and gender-matched neurotypical controls. Photographs of face and body, as well as voice recordings, were obtained and assessed with respect to gender coherence, blindly and independently, by eight assessors. Results Women with ASD had higher total and bioactive testosterone levels, less feminine facial features and a larger head circumference than female controls. Men in the ASD group were assessed as having less masculine body characteristics and voice quality, and displayed higher (i.e. less masculine) 2D:4D ratios, but similar testosterone levels to controls. Androgynous facial features correlated strongly and positively with autistic traits measured with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient in the total sample. In males and females with ASD dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate did not decrease with age, in contrast to the control group. Conclusions Women with ASD had elevated testosterone levels and several masculinised characteristics compared with controls, whereas men with ASD displayed several feminised characteristics. Our findings suggest that ASD, rather than being characterised by masculinisation in both genders, may constitute a gender defiant disorder.
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| 3. |
- Fernell, Elisabeth, 1948, et al.
(författare)
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Autism spectrum disorder and low vitamin D at birth : a sibling control study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Molecular Autism. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2040-2392. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Insufficient vitamin D activity has attracted increasing interest as a possible underlying risk factor in disorders of the central nervous system, including autism.Methods: In this study, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) was analysed in 58 Sweden-born sibling pairs, in which one child had autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the other did not. The study group consisted of two representative samples; 47 Gothenburg sibling pairs with mixed ethnicities and 11 Stockholm sibling pairs with Somali background. 25(OH) D levels were analysed in the stored dried blood spots taken in the neonatal period for metabolic screening.Results: The collapsed group of children with ASD had significantly lower vitamin D levels (M = 24.0 nM, SD = 19.6) as compared with their siblings (M = 31.9 nM, SD = 27.7), according to a paired samples t-test (P = 0.013). The difference was-most likely-not only accounted for by a difference in season of birth between ASD and non-ASD siblings since the mean 25(OH)D levels differed with similar effect size between the sibling pairs born during winter and summer, respectively. All children with African/Middle East background, both the children with ASD and their non-ASD siblings, had vitamin D deficiency.Conclusions: The findings suggest that low prenatal vitamin D may act as a risk factor for ASD, however, there is a need for replication with larger samples. Future research should study whether or not adequate supplementation of vitamin D to pregnant women might lower the risk for ASD in the offspring.
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