The early diagnosis of bipolar II disorder remains difficult in clinical practice, hence the importance of psychometric tests.

To detect hypomania in patients followed for a major depressive disorder (MDD) and to determine factors which are correlated with it.

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study. It involved 40 psychiatric outpatients, who were followed for MDD (isolated or recurrent episode) at the Hedi Chaker University Hospital in Sfax (Tunisia), from January 26 to February 10, 2020. The study was conducted using a questionnaire and the Angst Hypomania Checklist-20 (HCL-20).

The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.66 with an average age of 54.8 years. MDD started at an average age of 41.45 years. According to HCL-20, half of our sample had hypomania. The presence of hypomania was correlated with young age (p = 0.022), academic failure (p = 0.038) and smoking (p = 0.003). In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between the presence of hypomania and the characteristics of the disease: number of depressive episodes ≥ 2 (p = 0.013), psychotic features (p = 0.038), melancholic features (p=0,025) and premature discontinuation of treatment (p = 0.003).

Our study confirmed that bipolar depression is still underdiagnosed and poorly treated. Questioning a patient about a history of hypomania would be a delicate task and would require the help of a scale, in particular the HCL -20.

Impulsivity is an important component of the phenomenology of bipolar disorder. Recent studies show that bipolar patients use various strategies to deal with life stressors and with the discomfort related to their disease.

To study impulsivity and coping strategies in bipolar patients in remission phase and the factors associated with them.

A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study of 30 patients followed for bipolar disorder, in remission, at the psychiatric outpatient clinic at CHU Hédi Chaker in Sfax. We used a socio-demographic and clinical data sheet, the Ways Of Coping Checklist to assess coping and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale to assess impulsivity.

The average age was 43.77 years, the sex ratio was 0.5. Smoking was found in 30%. Bipolar I disorder was diagnosed in 93% of patients. The mean age of onset was 27.8 years, and the mean duration of illness was 15 years. *Impulsivity was found in 20% of cases and was correlated with the duration of the disease (p = 0.016) and smoking (p = 0.009). *Coping focused on the problem present in 70% of patients, correlated with the duration of the disease (p = 0.032) and coping (p=0.02). *Emotion-centered coping revealed in 20% of patients, correlated with gender (p = 0.037) and cognitive impulsivity (p=0.032). *Coping focused on seeking social support was present in 10% of patients.

Impulsivity is quite frequent in remitted bipolar patients, who mainly used problem-focused coping and a cognitive management of the stressful event. Thus the hypothesis was that impulsivity is core trait of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar depression is not strictly clinically identical to unipolar depression.

To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with bipolar depression and to identify factors linked to bipolar depression.

This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative study carried out at the psychiatric department of the University Hospital of Mahdia. We have included 26 patients with bipolar depression and have compared them to 26 patients with unipolar depression. The data were collected from patients’ medical files. The analytical study has been made using Chi2 tests. The threshold of p<0.05 was considered as significant.

The mean age was 45 years. The majority of patients were male (61.5%) and unemployed (69.2%). Half of the patients were married. Alcohol consumption was found in 30.8% of cases. Family history of bipolar disorder and attempted suicide were present in 27% and 11.5% of cases respectively. A hospitalization number greater than or equal to 4 was found in 54% of cases. Personal history of suicide attempts was found in 46.2% of cases. At the psychiatric examination, psychomotor retardation, anxiety and psychotic and atypical characteristics were present in 73%, 31%, 42.3% and 7.7% of cases respectively. 46.2% of patients were treated with antidepressants in combination with a mood stabilizer. Antipsychotic treatment was combined in 80.8% of cases. A significant difference was noted for the number of hospitalizations, anxiety and antipsychotic treatment.

An early distinction between bipolar and unipolar disorders is crucial for the treatment of both diseases.

Bipolar female patients have clinical and evolutionary features wich involve different factors related to the women specifities.

Establish clinical and evolutionary features in a population of bipolar female patients attending to Gabes psychiatry department.

A retrospective descriptive and analytical study was undertaken including female patients referred to psychiatry department of Gabes regional hospital, for the first time in a 6-year period (January 1st, 2010 to December 31, 2016) and who were already diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD). Sociodemographic, clinical and evolutionary data were assessed. Patients were divised into two groups according to gender. The collected data were compared between the two groups. The statistical analysis was executed on the software SPSS (20th edition).

From the 193 bipolar patients, 103 were women. The mean age of the disorder’s onset amongst Female patients was 32.4 years old [14 - 63]. The mean duration of the disorder was 7.6 years [2 - 30]. The polarity of the first episode was a depressive one in 74.7% of cases. It was associated to psychotic features in 43.7% of cases. Seasonal pattern was noted in 10.6% amongst female patients and rapid cycling bipolar disorder in 6.2% of cases. Analytical study showed that women began the BD more often with a depressive episode (p=0.004) and were more frequently diagnosed with BD type 2 (p<0.001). Men had significantly more auditory (p=0.002) and visual hallucinations (p=0.019).

There were clinical specifities of women with BD from which important to be considered.

The intersection between bipolar disorders and creativity has been investigated in western literature. Although psychopathology has been proposed for famous artists in painting, writing, music and other forms of art, there is no systematic study examining bipolar disorders and music production in composers.

The aim of this review is to investigate this relationship by providing an overview of published studies.

The search included papers published in English as abstracts as well as in full length until October 2020. The literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PUBMED and GOOGLE SCHOLAR databases. For all the searches, the terms/key words that were used were “bipolar disorder”, “music”, “creativity”, and “composers”.

Search results for composers from different music genres and musical periods indicated that the proposed origin of the overall bipolar pattern is attributed to several stressful environmental factors which are taking the form of interpersonal problems regarding the expressed emotion, life events, and paucity of stress-management skills. In addition to that, bipolar psychopathological patterns seem to influence the quantity of music composing activity indirectly due to changes in everyday functional abilities.

Published reports, although based on biographical research, do provide evidence in support of a strong bipolarity-music creativity/production link for famous composers. Further well-designed studies in living music professionals engaged in music composition are needed.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and chronic illness characterized by episodic changes in mood. The average onset of BD symptoms is estimated between 18 and 22 years. However, many adults retrospectively report symptoms onset in childhood or adolescence. Over the last decades, pediatric bipolar disease (PBD) has been the focus of increased attention mainly due to controversies surrounding its prevalence, diagnosis and treatment in the pediatric population.

To analyze pediatric hospitalizations related to BD held in mainland Portuguese public hospitals between 2000 and 2015.

This retrospective observational study analyzed all pediatric (<18 years old) inpatient episodes from 2000 to 2015 with a primary BD diagnosis, using an anonymized administrative database including all hospitalization from mainland Portuguese public hospitals. ICD-9-CM codes 296.x were used (excluding codes 296.2x; .3x and .9x). Age at admission, admission type and date, sex, charges and length of stay (LoS) were analyzed.

A total of 348 hospitalizations were analyzed from 258 patients. Patients were mainly young girls (60.6%), with a mean age of 15.24±1.87 years. The majority of the admissions were urgent (81.0%), and the median LoS was 14 days (IQR: 7; 24). Mean hospitalization charges were 3503.1€ with a total sum of 1.2M€ for all the episodes.

PBD hospitalizations occur predominantly in female patients during adolescence. The majority of them are urgent admissions. Descriptive studies will help to describe and characterize sociodemographic and clinical trends in PBD in order to better prevent acute hospitalizations with inevitable social and economic implications.

Benzodiazepines (BZD) are widely used in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and their effectiveness is well documented. Therefore, there are major risks associated with BZD use including abuse and dependence. Those risks can be related to the patients’chacteristics, the particularities of BD and the prescribers.

To determine the factors associated with chronic use of BZD in patients with BD.

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study among a sample of patients with BD (DSM-5) followed in psychiatric outpatient of Hedi Chaker university hospital in Sfax. We used the Benzodiazepine Cognitive Attachment Scale (ECAB) to determine dependent patients

Among the 61 included patients, 50 (82%) had a chronic use of BZD (> 3 months). They had a mean age of 49.3 years (± 14.02 years) and a low socio-economic level in 44%. The type of BD was dominated by type II (66%). Initial episode type was depressive in 78%. The average number of depressive episodes was 2.92±2.3. A rate of 65.5% of patients have already attempted BZD withdrawal. Chronic BZD use was significantly correlated with BZD dependence (p=0.000), low socioeconomic level (p=0.04), depressive type of the initial episode (p=0.011), the depressive recurrence (p=0.000) and the absence of any attempt to discontinue BZD (p=0.011).

Chronic use of BZD in patients with BD is prevalent. In order to minimize this problem in this population, it is important to enhance programs to improve psychiatrist-prescribing behavior and to use cognitive-behavioral therapies in combination with medication to help withdrawal.

Lithium is an effective mood stabilizer and is widely used as a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder in the perinatal period. Several guidelines have provided clinical advice on dosing strategy (dose reduction versus stop lithium) in the peripartum period to minimize the risk of neonatal complications. An association has been observed between high neonatal lithium concentrations (> 0.64 mEq/L) and lower 1-min Apgar scores, longer hospital stays, and central nervous system and neuromuscular complications.

To quantify the rate of lithium placental passage at delivery. To assess any association between plasma concentration of lithium at delivery and neonatal outcome.

In this retrospective observational cohort study, we included women treated with llithium at least in late pregnancy. Maternal (MB) and umbilical cord (UC) lithium blood level measurement were collected at delivery. Lithium serum concentrations were determined by means of an AVL 9180 electrolyte analyzer. The limit of quantification (LoQ) was 0.20 mEq/L and detection limit was 0.10 mEq/L. From the medical records, we extracted information on neonatal outcomes (preterm birth, birth weight, Apgar scores, pH-values, and admision to NICU) and complications categoriced by organ system: respiratory, circulatory, hematological, gastro-intestinal, metabolic, neurological, and immune system (infections).

Umbilical cord and maternal lithium blood levels were strongly correlated: mean (SD) range UC/MR ratio 1.15 (0.24). Umbilical cord lithium levels ranged between 0.20 to 1.42 mEq/L. We observed no associations between umbilical cord lithium blood levels at delivery and neonatal outcomes.

In our study, newborns tolerated well a wide range of lithemias, between 0.20 and 1.42 mEq/L.

The inter-critical phase in bipolar disorder may contain symptoms that do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a thymic episode. According to studies, these symptoms are common and usually associated with impaired psychosocial and family functioning.

Study the subsyndromal symptoms in remitted patients with bipolar disorder, and their functioning repercussions.

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, in the outpatient psychiatry department of the University Hospital in Sfax (Tunisia) among 30 remitted patients with bipolar disorder. We used: the Montgomery And Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Angst Hypomania Questionnaire and the FAST test to assess functioning levels.

The average age of our population was 44.37±15.45 years with a sex ratio (M/F) =0.66. Most of them lived in urban areas (60%) and half of them did not go beyond the primary school level. Most did not have a constant job (76.6%). The average number of previous thymic episodes was 2±1.33 times/year. A quarter of the patients (26.6%) had hypomanic symptoms in the intercritical phase and 20% had depressive symptoms. Hypomanic symptoms were correlated with tobacco use (p=0.035). Depressive symptoms weremore frequent in men (p=0.074). Functioninglevel was lower in subjects living in rural areas (p=0.065).

Our study suggests that residual symptoms were frequent with a significant functional impact. As a result, their identification and management are highly essential to improve the overall functioning of patients with bipolar disorder.

Benzodiazepines (BZD) are frequently prescribed to patients with bipolar disorder. The use of this medication can become problematic in some cases or even lead to dependence mainly in patients with personality disorders.

To assess different personality traits in BZD-dependent patients with bipolar disorder

A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was conducted on euthymic bipolar patients (DSM-5) attending the psychiatric outpatient in Hedi Chaker university hospital of Sfax. We used the Benzodiazepine Cognitive Attachment Scale (ECAB) to determine dependent patients and the Ten Item Personality Measure (TIPI) scale to assess the five personality traits.

Among the 61 included patients, 34 were BZD-dependents (55.7%). Their mean age was 52.12 ± 12.87 years. The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.54. A comorbid personality disorder was found in 18% of patients and the most frequent was histrionic personality (45.45%). According to TIPI, the highest scores of personality traits were conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion, with mean scores of 9.8 ± 2.78, 8.21 ± 3.15 and 7.98 ± 1.77 respectively. Having a comorbid personality disorder was not associated with BZD dependence. Regarding the dimensional approach using TIPI, the dimensions of extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability were significantly negatively correlated with BZD-dependence (p 0.024; 0.006 and 0.01 respectively).

This study demonstrates that personality characterized by less extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability may increase the risk of BZD-dependence among bipolar patients. Such psychological factors should be taken into account in the risk-benefit assessment made in the planning of BZD treatment.

An uncommon adverse event of antidepressant discontinuation is the paradoxical withdrawal hypomania or mania. It is rarely described in the literature and its true incidence is unknown, may it be a consequence of underrecognition or misattribution.

Alert clinicians of the uncommon Antidepressant-Withdrawal Mania

Report and discuss, based on online pubmed database, a case of Antidepressant-Withdrawal Mania with Citalopram

A 34 year old woman, with a previous unipolar depressive episode, presents to the emergency department in june/2020 with anxiety, recurrent thoughts of death without a plan, low energy, anhedonia, loss of appetite, sadness and insomnia developing over a period of 7 months. She was prescribed Quetiapine 50 mg XR, Lamotrigine 100 mg, and sent to a psychiatry consultation. After a month and a half there was no important clinical improvement and Citalopram 20 mg was started. The patient reported slow improvement and by august she had a complete symptomatic response. In the beginning of september the patient stopped citalopram abruptly. Three weeks later, she was presented with an irritable mood, increased energy with decreased need for sleep, sweet cravings, easy irritability, racing thoughts, pressure to keep talking and suicidal thoughts. After 2 weeks of Quetiapine 300 mg XR id, Lamotrigine 100 mg id and Olanzapine 5 mg there was a partial symptomatic response.

Antidepressant withdrawal manic states are an under-recognized phenomena, with ill defined patho-physiological pathways and nosology. It is important to continue close follow up of the patient and to investigate whether it can be included on the bipolar spectrum.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause social and professional harm in an individual. Many teachers are unprepared to receive students with ASD. They find it difficult to communicate with other professionals or to comfort the family. And parents often do not feel that their children at school benefit socially and in their academic skills.

To know the point of view and expectations of parents with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder about the academic future and professional life.

An online questionnaire was applied with 38 multiple choice questions about the future academic perspectives and expectations of their children, the job market and about school adaptations and the school year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, 16 parents of a Speech-Language Pathology laboratory in which they assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have answered the questionnaire. When asked if there were teachers who work with TEA individuals, nine guardians 56.3% answered that they did not, 50% of the guardians said they had received adapted material during the COVID-19 pandemic, 100% of the guardians believe that their child will finish high school, 93.8% of those in charge do not believe that the job market is prepared for individuals with ASD.

Parents are dissatisfied with the education their children receive and most of them did not get adequate support during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also low expectations for the future in the job market.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a clinical condition defined as intentional, self-inflicted act causing pain or superficial damage without suicidal intents (12-35% of the adolescent community). Several findings show a high correlation between NSSI and impairments in the impulsivity control.

The goal of our study is to evaluate the role of impulsivity in NSSI adolescents, relatively to the inhibitory control, in order to investigate if it can represent a neurocognitive risk factor underlying maladaptive behaviours and which psychopathological dimensions can be associated with this neurobiological process.

30 NNSI inpatients (age range: 12 to 18 years), drug-free, were compared with an age-matched control group, using two behavioural paradigms for the study of inhibitory control: the Stop Signal task and the emotive go/Nogo. Psychopathological traits were evaluated by self-report questionnaires for impulsivity dimensions, suicidality and self-injurious acts. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS program (p =0.05).

NSSI patients did not present impairments in the global inhibitory control but they had longer movement times in both paradigms and faster reaction times in the Go/no-go behavioural paradigm. Therefore, NSSI patients tended to be impulsive at an early stage of movement (rapid TR) and have to slow down in a second phase (TM slow) in order to have time to rework the cognitive processes underlying movement.

The impulsivity dimension is a complex construct that involves multiple interconnected factors. The study of neuro-cognitive and psychopathological aspects and how they are interconnected is necessary to draw new perspectives on the etiopathogenesis of NNSI.

The differential diagnosis between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often challenging and detrimental to early and timely treatment. Co-current and overlapping symptoms contribute to erode differential diagnostic accuracy, based mainly on clinical assessment supported by standardized instruments and reports from parents and teachers. The microbiota was recently considered a valuable resource in the search for biological markers in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Our objective was to examine the published literature in order to clarify the role of the microbiome as a possible differential biomarker between ASD and ADHD.

Five hundred and sixteen articles were reviewed in order to contextualize the role of Gut- Brain Axis in neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental disorders, the microbiome as a biomarker and ultimately to unravel microbiome abnormalities reported in patients diagnosed with ASD and/or ADHD.

Although gut microbiome appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of ASD with several reports identifying changes in gut populations and functions, a “microbial signature” is still not reached. In ADHD patients, research confirms that the composition and predicted functions of gut microbiome are also altered, but identically controversial results were found.

Future studies are needed to confirm the relationship between the composition and function of the microbiome and the occurrence or presentation of each of the disorders. A specific signature of the microbiota could then constitute itself as a differential biomarker in ASD and ADHD.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) represents a severe mental disorder associated with cardiovascular complications leading to morbidity and mortality. Abnormal functioning of autonomic nervous system, particularly sympathetic nervous system, plays a crucial role in AN-linked psychopathology and cardiovascular diseases; however, the pathomechanisms are still unclear.

Thus, we studied sympathetic arousal in response to mental stress using conventional parameters, and for the first time by spectral analysis of electrodermal activity with aim to detect non-invasive biomarkers for cardiovascular risk assessment already in adolescent AN patients.

Twenty-five AN girls were examined (14.8±0.4 yr.) and age/gender matched controls (15.1±0.3 years). Electrodermal activity (EDA) was continuously recorded at rest (5 min.) and in response to Go/NoGo test (5 min.). Evaluated parameters: skin conductance level (SCL) and spectral parameter of EDA in the sympathetic frequency band (EDASymp). EDA reactivity was calculated as percentual change (%) of SCL and EDASymp in response to stressor.

The AN group had significantly reduced SCL and EDASymp compared to controls during baseline (p=0.041, p=0.0001, respectively) and in response to Go/NoGo test (p=0.043, p=0.017, respectively). The EDASymp index reactivity was significantly lower in AN group compared to control (p=0.034).

Our study revealed resting sympathetic underactivity associated with lower reactivity to mental stressor indexed by EDA parameters in adolescent AN patients. This altered pattern of sympathetic arousal could play important role as a pathomechanism leading to cardiovascular complications in AN. It seems that EDA indices represent potential non-invasive biomarkers to detect AN-linked cardiovascular risk already at adolescent age.

This study was funded by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency under grants VEGA 1/0044/18 and VEGA 1/0190/20 and Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic under the project registration number 2018/20-UKMT-16.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multi-factorial disease characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors. The necessity of developing an adequate treatment for ASD is essential. There is an increase in clinical studies assessing the positive effects of vitamins in ASD children. Vitamin C (vit. C) is implicated in biosynthesis of neurotransmitters and in protein metabolism.

This study evaluated the possible effect of vit. C on zebrafish sociability after a single insecticide mixture administration as inductor for ASD.

A single dose of insecticide mixture (600 μg L-1 fipronil and 600 μg L-1 pyriproxyfen) was administrated to zebrafish juvenile. Vit. C (25 μg L−1) was daily administrated during 14 days. A control group simulated the administration of insecticide mixture and vitamin. Each animal was tested in the experimental tank designed for the social interaction test. The trials were recorded and analysed using EthoVision XT 11 (NOLDUS, Netherlands). The locomotor activity parameters and the time spent next to the group were measured. Each trial had 4 minutes duration.

We have found no significant differences in the average levels between pre-treatment and treatment days (P< 0.05 ANOVA) regarding the locomotor activity parameters. Significant changes in sociability were observed for the group exposed to insecticide mixture and for vit. C group (P > 0.05 ANOVA). It was also found that 14 days vitamin administration can lead to sociability improvements after a single administration of mixture insecticide.

The results of the current study bring some positive insights for the future of ASD therapy.

This work was co-funded by the European Social Fund, through Operational Programme Human Capital 2014-2020, project number POCU/380/6/13/123623, project title

A pregnant woman’s bond with her fetus and the quality of the prenatal attachment can be determined by numerous variables.

Determine the socio-demographic and clinical factors’ effect on prenatal attachment.

We conducted a transversal descriptive study in a first line clinical practice center and in an university gynecology-obstetrics department. The Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) was used to assess maternal-fetal attachment.

For the 125 pregnant women that participated in our study, 99,2% were married with consanguinity for 14,4%. The mean marriage duration was 4 years and 3 months. Women were illiterate in 3,2% and more than the half (54,4 %) were unemployed. On average, the current pregnancy was their second one. Pregnancy was spontaneous in 85,6%, unplanned in 71,2% and not desired in 29,6%. Sex of the fetus was not desired by the mother in 40,8%. Dysgravidia complicated 32% of the pregnancies with hospitalization in 25,6%. Fetal health problems were detected in 7,2%. A psychiatric trouble has been reported by 4% of the pregnancies. The total score of PAI ranged from 27 to 82 in our sample. We found a statistically significant negative correlation between PAI and duration of marriage (p=0,012); PAI and gestation number (p=0,039) ; and a correlation between PAI and the planning of the pregnancy (p=0,030).

Socio-demographic and clinical factors should be taken in consideration while evaluating pregnant women at risk of perinatal psychological difficulties.

No significant relationships.

According to Vygotsky, children with special needs follow the same trajectory of development as normally developing children, although some of the skills can be observed in a later period. This statement can be implemeted to the children with Down syndrome. The number of such children in Russia is around 25 thousand.

The aim is to study the conditions of negation formation in children with Down syndrome.

The sample consisted of 22 dyads of children with Down syndrome of 24-36 months old and their mothers. The research methods included: parents’ questionnaire; analysis of problematic situations; Tkacheva’s inventory Parent’s Psychological Type; Varga &Stolin Inventory of Parental Attitude; Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Bass-Darky Hostility Questionnaire, Leonhard-Schmieschek Test, Spielberger’s Test Anxiety Inventory.

Firstly, we have studied how a child expresses his or her negative reaction: whether he or she uses a gesture or a sound for “no” or reacts with the whole body. According to those results we have divided the sample into two groups and then have compared them. The research shows the connection between mother’s aggressiveness and formation of the child’s negation reaction (gesture/sound or the whole body) as well as differences in the level of alexithymia and anxiety: all the characteristics are lower in the first group.

Mothers of the children with Down syndrome demonstrate a high and a medium level of anxiety. However, the mothers of the children who expresses negation with a gesture/sound show a lower anxiety level comparing with the mothers whose children react with the whole body.

Media multitasking (MMT) begins to play an increasingly important role in terms of the digitalization of everyday life. At the same time, the effect of MMT on efficiency is still poorly highlighted, especially among the younger generation (May, Elder, 2018; Patterson, 2017; Peifer, Zipp, 2019).

The aim is to identify types of MMT in children and compare them by productivity and time of task performance.

Quasi-experimental research, which included the performance of tasks on a computer and a smartphone, was conducted among children in three groups aged 7-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-16 years (N=154).

Based on a number of criteria, several types of behavior are identified in the MMT environment: two subgroups of “single-taskers” (23%), “light” (19%), “medium” (54%) and “heavy” (4%) MMT. Comparative analysis (p=0.027) reveals high scores for proper task performance of the subgroup “single-taskers1”, as well as “heavy” and “light” MMT. The other subgroup “single-taskers2” and “medium” MMT show, on the contrary, low productivity results. MMT groups also differ in terms of task performance time (p=0.006). The “light” and “heavy” MMT cope the fastest. The second place by the speed of task performance is held by “medium” MMTs and “single-taskers1”, and the slowest are “single-taskers2”.

The results show that both linear and nonlinear behavioral strategies can lead to a certain level of performance. Most children try to operate in the MMT mode and it is becoming the dominant and ubiquitous modus vivendi for the younger generation. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project No. 19-29-14181.

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project No. 19-29-14181.

According to numerous studies, the origins of most endogenous mental diseases, in particular, autism, lie in early childhood. This concept is based on the classical theories of diathesis.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the phenomenology of mental disorders in children with an assessment of the prognostic significance of symptoms that preceded the development of the disease for future mental health.

The clinical material was collected during the survey of a child population. Selected for prospective observation was 40 children (1-3 years old) from the high-risk group for schizophrenia with functional disorders of the endogenous spectrum. All patients were examined by clinical methods and pathopsychological, neurophysiological. Psychometric scales PANSS, CARS were used. The results were mathematically evaluated using the Statistica 7 program.

The clinical picture of the mental state of young children, in children with autistic disorders in 1,5-3 years, was determined by a specific complex of disorders, which were reduced to a general deficit, especially in the emotional sphere, vegetative dysregulation, most often, the sleep-Wake rhythm. Motor skills, as a rule, did not lag significantly behind the age standards. The onset of actual autistic disorders was noted older than 1 year of life. Сhildren received medication and corrective therapy. The detailed clinical picture of violations developed gradually. Dynamics of psychopathological picture in (80,0%) children was regressive.

The study shows the importance of preventive measures in people related to ASD, sparing individual approach in education and therapy.