Parasomnias are characterized by undesirable physical events or experiences during sleep. They occur alone or combined with other parasomnias. Parasomnias in childhood are more common than those of adulthood. Most of them are mild, benign and self remitted. Careful history takings from the patients and their parents, videotaped recordings of the episodes are invaluable to diagnose parasomnias. Sometimes polysomnographic recordings are helpful to differentiate ambiguous conditions and to diagnose comorbid conditions. Even many parasomnias do not need treatment, some conditions need therapeutic interventions. Medication, cognitive behavioral treatment, biofeedback, and oral appliance are helpful to reduce frequency and complexity of certain kinds of parasomnias.
Biofeedback, Psychology ; Humans ; Parasomnias* ; Parents

Parasomnias are characterized by undesirable physical events or experiences during sleep. They occur alone or combined with other parasomnias. Parasomnias in childhood are more common than those of adulthood. Most of them are mild, benign and self remitted. Careful history takings from the patients and their parents, videotaped recordings of the episodes are invaluable to diagnose parasomnias. Sometimes polysomnographic recordings are helpful to differentiate ambiguous conditions and to diagnose comorbid conditions. Even many parasomnias do not need treatment, some conditions need therapeutic interventions. Medication, cognitive behavioral treatment, biofeedback, and oral appliance are helpful to reduce frequency and complexity of certain kinds of parasomnias.
Biofeedback, Psychology ; Humans ; Parasomnias* ; Parents

Parents ; Parenting ; Adolescent ; Emotions ; psychology

The aim was to determine the differences in parents' perceptions of boys' and girls' body shapes and the explanations for the emphasis on body shape care of children. Subjects were low-income parents (n = 158) of preschoolers attending preschools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Parental perceptions of children's body shapes were assessed based on their rankings (scale of 1 to 7) of four attributes (ideal, healthy, fat and thin) for boy and girl figures. Parental responses to five questions on the importance of body shape were also obtained. Parental rankings of ideal and healthy body shapes were significantly lower for girls than boys (p < 0.001). However, mothers' and fathers' rankings of boys' and girls' body shapes were not significantly different. for both boys and girls, parental ratings for ideal body shape were significantly lower than for healthy body shape (p < 0.001). The majority of parents indicated that children's body shape is important for their future health, self enhancement, social interaction and career. With the increasing prevalence of body dissatisfaction among Malaysian children, these findings contribute to the understanding of parental roles in the development of body image and perhaps, in the etiology of body dissatisfaction among children.
*Body Image ; *Child, Preschool ; Parents/*psychology

The authors studied depression, using Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) in the subjects of 3,499 male and 1,335 female college freshmen of Yeungnam University. The authors collected the reports of SDS during the periods from January to February, 1986, and applied ANOVA and t-test on depression scores in order to compare them between various psychosocial factors, and sexes. The results are as follows: There was significant difference in the mean averages of total depression scores between male and female students: male students scored 35.68+7.46, female students scored 38.93+7.26 (P<0.01). The depression scores relating to the items of indecisiveness, psychomotor retardation, decreased libido, and diurnal variation were relatively higher in both groups. One hundred and sixty-one male students (4.6%) showed seriously high degree depression scores of 50 or higher, while one-hundred and seventeen female students (8.8%) showed the same scores. Female students attending in liberal arts showed higher level of depression scores (P<0.01). There was a strong tendency toward higher depression scores in the students who were dissatisfies with their home atmosphere, college, department and familiarity of parents and those who had pessimistic views of self in the past, present or future in both groups (P<0.001).
Atmosphere ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Libido ; Male ; Parents ; Psychology ; Recognition (Psychology)

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of parental anxiety associated with epileptic children, and to explore whether and how this specific condition affects children's quality of life (QOL), and what are the significant determinants for parental anxiety.

METHODSThree hundred and forty parents whose children were affected with known epilepsy were enrolled in the study. Questionnaires for quality of life in childhood epilepsy (QOLCE), and hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) of parents were used to collect demographic data of both children and their parents, as well as clinical manifestations of epilepsy and family status.

RESULTSParental anxiety (of any severity) was observed in 191 subjects at interview, giving a prevalence rate of 56.2%. Of the 191 subjects, 18.5% reported mild anxiety, 24.4% moderate anxiety, and 13.2% severe anxiety. Factors associated with parental anxiety included frequency of seizure in children, average monthly income per person and parents' knowledge about epilepsy (P < 0.05). Parental anxiety significantly (P = 0.000) correlated with quality of life of children with epilepsy.

CONCLUSIONParents of children with epilepsy are at high risk of having anxiety. Factors associated with parental anxiety originate both from children and from parents. Parental anxiety is significantly related with children's QOL. It is important for experts concerned to recognize such a relationship to improve the QOL of children and their parents.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anxiety ; psychology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Epilepsy ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Parents ; psychology ; Quality of Life

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cleft Lip ; psychology ; Cleft Palate ; psychology ; Disabled Children ; psychology ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Parents ; psychology

OBJECTIVE: Patients' and parents' expectations are important in orthodontic treatment decision making. The literature generally demonstrates the perceived benefits of orthodontic treatment, but patients' and their parents' concerns about orthodontic treatment have not been investigated comprehensively. The aim of this study was to identify patients' and parents' concerns about orthodontic treatment and compare them according to sex, age, and treatment demand level. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-nine children and their parents were interviewed about concerns related to orthodontic treatment. Patients and parents were asked about orthodontic treatment decisions. Answers were recorded as "yes," "no," or "don't know." Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare concerns between age groups, sexes, and treatment demand levels. Kappa statistics were used to assess agreement between patients and their parents. RESULTS: Concerns about orthodontic treatment were gathered under 10 items as follows: "feeling pain," "the appearance of braces," "being teased," "avoiding smiling," "speech problems," "dietary changes," "problems with transportation," "economic problems," "long treatment duration," and "missing school." There was no statistically significant difference in concerns between the sexes or age groups. Some concern items and treatment demand were inversely related in patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate patients' and parents' concerns about orthodontic treatment. Differences between the concerns of patients with different treatment demands imply that children might reject orthodontic treatment because of their concerns. Appropriate consultation of patients addressing their concerns may help reduce anxiety and improve the acceptance of treatment.
Anxiety ; Child ; Decision Making ; Humans ; Parents ; Psychology ; Socioeconomic Factors

A doctor has to establish his or her own philosophy of medical practice for the management of congenitally disabled patients. To help the senior medical students to put their ideas on the management of such patients in shape, a question which asked them to describe their views on the medical, social, ethical aspects of the management was included in the examination for the 225 senior students of Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1992. The responses were summarized. The dismal prognosis of some malformations, considerable cases of abandonment by the misconception of parents and doctors, the conflict among the family members caused by the economic burden and social handicaps, the relative lack of support and the psychological and vacational discrimination by the society were among the prevalent problem. Of the 225 students, 131(58%) insisted that 'all' the congenitally disabled patients be provided with the best quality of treatment while 26(12%) argued against the idea. Fifteen students(7%) recommended to have a certain period of 'natural selection' and 14(6%) denied and warned against the doctor's role as a decision maker. Eleven students(5%) stated that the aggressive treatment should be confined to the patients who were selected by the medical criteria which supports the abandonment of poorly disabled patients. Three(1%) emphasized the 'prevention' as the ultimate goal. Twenty five(11%) showed reponses which lacked their own ideas or were inappropriate. Representative or unique statements are quoted. Though the ideas of students were not so contradictory to one another, the views were diverse as much as the variety of problem in the management of congenitally disabled patients. The authors believe it is worthwhile to ask medical students to think about the medically and ethically difficult situations before he or she becomes a doctor.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Parents ; Philosophy ; Prognosis ; Seoul ; Students, Medical*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the eating behavior of children aged 1-3 years and parental feeding behavior and the effect of family status on feeding behavior.

METHODSWith stratified random sampling, 2 324 children aged 1-3 years were selected from Shanghai. Questionnaires were filled out by their parents or feeders to investigate the basic family information, parental feeding behavior, the eating behavior of children, and the basic information on children.

RESULTSThe eating behavior of children was positively correlated with eating environment (r=0.223) and parental monitoring behavior (r=0.245) but negatively correlated with parental compulsive behavior (r=-0.264) (P<0.01). Moreover, the food preferences of children were negatively correlated with parental compulsive behavior (r=-0.569) but positively correlated with parental monitoring behavior (r=0.615) and eating environment (r=0.621). The emotional undereating of children was positively correlated with parental emotional feeding (r=0.259) and parental compulsive behavior (r=0.279). Parental monitoring behavior showed significant differences between different families (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSParental feeding behavior is closely related to the eating behavior of children. Parental feeding behavior may vary across different family status.

Child, Preschool ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Parents ; psychology