Developmental and behavioural disorders

It is difficult for children with a developmental or behavioural disorder to sense, assess and determine the importance of (social) information. They do not understand social situations well and have difficulty controlling their behaviour. In addition to this, a considerable number of children is restless and hyperactive. It is often not easy to correct them. Children with these disorders are sensitive to unfavourable environmental factors. When too much is asked of them, restlessness and awkward behaviour can increase quickly. This in turn can easily set all kinds of vicious circles in motion. As parents are soon faced with difficult issues due to these problems it is understandable that they want help. Our research is aimed at gaining insight into the nature, course, backgrounds and causes of these problems. We also try to determine which treatment strategies will be the most effective.

Tic disorders (Tourette syndrome)

Tics come in many shapes and sizes. They are often relatively inconspicuous, e.g., frequent eye-blinking, facial movements, or repeatedly making small noises. Sometimes the tics can be very annoying and powerful. The best known example of a tics disorder is Tourette syndrome. This syndrome involves both motion and sound tics. Remarkably, children with tics often show additional behavioural or psychological disorders as well. They can be very compulsive, hyperactive, quickly distracted, or show awkward social behaviour. With our research we want to study the exact relationship between tics and these additional problems. Our study also focuses on the cause of tics. There are signs that infections and our body's defence mechanism against infections may play a role. Genetic tendencies are also very important. We want to gain more insight into this subject with our genetic research. Finally we know that all kinds of stress can make tics worse. We explore this by studying the stress hormone cortisol.

Anxiety and mood disorders

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is important in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children. With CBT, children and adolescents learn to see their anxiety from a different perspective and to start doing the things they are afraid of. Parents receive information on the treatment and advice on how best to deal with their child's anxieties. For children aged 8-18 years, treatment usually takes up four months (with 14 weekly sessions).
Research in the United States, Australia and earlier research at our own outpatients' clinic tells us that about 60-70% of the children benefit from this form of treatment.
Research at Accare currently focuses mainly on the question which factors influence the treatment result, enabling us to make a better assessment of whether a treatment will be successful. Parents, children and adolescents are asked to participate in extensive interviews before, after and another three months after treatment, and to fill in questionnaires.

8 perspectives

There are several ways to study the themes discussed above. There perspectives are mutually connected in many ways and should be considered as a whole.

Research of the nature, causes and course of the disorders:
1) Behavioural description
2) Epidemiological research
3) Information processing and psychophysiology
4) Neurochemical research
5) Immunological research
6) Genetic research

Research of the effects of treatment:
7) Research of the effects of medication
8) Research of the effects of psychological forms of treatment