BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF ENDOCRINE DISORDERS IN CHILDREN

该项目包括一系列研究， 与内分泌失调相关，包括儿童性早熟 青春期，特纳综合征和生长激素缺乏症。 第一 目的是确定这些儿童是否有问题的风险 在心理社会适应方面。 在一个早熟的儿童样本中， 在青春期，我们报告说，这些孩子，事实上，显示出高于正常水平的 发生各种调整问题。 目前的目标是 确定导致这一结果的因素。 分析期间， 在过去的一个财政年度里，我们重点关注了三个问题：（1）更密切地审查 先前报道的年龄和行为问题之间的关系揭示了 那些直到8岁才接受治疗的孩子 高风险（85%）的临床水平的行为问题。 我们目前正在 确定这个群体的哪些特征可能导致 这一发现。 (2)治疗对报告的行为没有影响 尽管治疗在减少性类固醇方面有效， 和促性腺激素水平。 这表明，调整困难， 并不是荷尔蒙作用的直接结果。 （三） 特发性病例与坦纳分期匹配病例的比较 来自NIMH一项正在进行的正常青春期研究的数据显示了一些差异 在行为调整方面。 在几个方面，先证者显示出 更大的调整困难比控制情况下，特别是 关于多动症。 (4)与以前的研究相比，我们 在5到8岁的女孩样本中没有发现语言智商优越的证据 特发性早熟

This project encompasses a series of studies examining the behavioral correlated of endocrine disorders, including children with precocious puberty, Turner's syndrome and growth hormone deficiency. A first objective was to determine whether these children are at risk for problems in psychosocial adjustment. In a sample of children with precocious puberty, we reported that these children do, in fact, show an above-normal incidence of a variety of adjustment problems. A current objective is to ascertain the factor(s) responsible for this finding. Analyses during the past fiscal year have focused on 3 issues: (1) Closer examination of the previously reported relation between age and behavior problems revealed that children who did not receive treatment until 8 years old were at very high risk (85%) for clinical levels of behavior problems. We are currently determining what characteristics of this group could be responsible for this finding. (2) There was no effect of treatment for reported behavior problems even though the treatment was effective in reducing sex steroid and gonadotropin levels. This suggests that the adjustment difficulties we have seen in this sample are not the direct result of hormonal action. (3) Comparison between our idiopathic cases and cases matched on Tanner stage data from an ongoin NIMH study of normal puberty showed several differences in behavioral adjustment. In several areas the probands showed evidence of greater adjustment difficulties than did the control cases, particularly with regard to hyperactivity. (4) In contrast to previous research, we found no evidence of verbal IQ superiority in a sample of girls aged 5 to 8 with idiopathic precocious puberty.