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BACKGROUND:Sleep disturbances constitute an important health problem. However, a valid and reliable sleep scale designed for Mexican elementary school-age children is not currently available.

Problem Sleep disturbance is a characteristic symptom of depression, but it is also a problem in itself related to the severity of this illness. Hence, the objective of this study was to examine sleep habits and sleep problems associated with increased depressive symptoms in children. Methods The sample included 524 children equally distributed by gender (51.1% female), with an average age of 10.29 (SD = 1.34) years. The administered instruments were the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Cronbach α = 0.82) and a Sleep Habits and Sleep Problems Questionnaire (α = 0.91). Findings The mean score for the CDI was 12.51 (SD = 6.74) and 20% presented symptoms of depression. The linear regression model showed that sleep habits associated with the increase in symptoms of depression were: little sleep, hours of sleep during the week, and wake‐up time on weekdays. In the same model, the associated sleep problems were: nocturnal awakenings, nightmares, and difficulty waking up. The presence of these sleep habits and sleep problems increased the score from 2.07 to 13.50 points on the CDI scale. Conclusions Depressive symptoms increase with the presence of sleep habits related to sleep deprivation and sleep problems related to parasomnias in school‐age children.

Background: Clinical advantages of the cranial electrical stimulation (CES) are not yet clear. Objective: The objective of the study was to know the effects as a result of the CES intervention for the treatment of insomnia symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Method: Twenty-four individuals agreed to participate in the study, all of them with initial insomnia diagnosis (ISDC-2), with an average age of 32.10 (± 14.24) years old (58% women), distributed in control (n = 11) and experimental group (n = 13). The intruments used were Beck's depression inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Insomnia Severity Index, and the Insomnia Symptoms Questionnaire. A CES device (Fisher Wallace-100) was given to each participant for its use at nights and mornings (20 min each session) for 10 days. Results: Insomnia symptoms decreased significantly in both the control and experimental groups (p < 0.01), but only in the experimental group there was a significant reduction in the severity of insomnia (p < 0.05). According to the effect size (Cohen's d), the experimental group had a larger effect in the insomnia severity and a moderated effect for anxiety and depression. The placebo group had a small effect in anxiety and a medium in insomnia and depression. Conclusions: The CES effect is superior to placebo to reduce the insomnia severity, but it is no different from placebo for anxiety and depression symptoms.

Este artículo debe citarse como Pérez-Pichardo MF, Ruz-Sahrur A, Barrera-Morales K, Moo-Estrella J. Medidas directas e indirectas de las funciones ejecutivas en niños con trastorno de espectro autista. Acta Pediatr Mex. 2018;39(1):13-22. ResumenINTRODUCCIÓN: los niños con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) tienen dificultades en las funciones ejecutivas (FE) pero se han sugerido discrepancias entre las medidas directas e indirectas.OBJETIVO: conocer si existen diferencias en las funciones ejecutivas mediante medidas directas e indirectas entre niños con y sin TEA.MÉTODO: se incluyeron 14 varones entre primero y tercero de primaria, 50% con diagnóstico de TEA y 50% con desarrollo neurotípico, seleccionados por emparejamiento en edad y grado escolar. El promedio de edad de la muestra fue de 7.43 (DE 0.98) años. Se aplicaron las pruebas de Evaluación neuropsicológica de funciones ejecutivas en niños (ENFEN) y el Inventario de clasificación comportamental de las funciones ejecutivas (BRIEF).RESULTADOS: se encontraron diferencias significativas en las medidas de las FE indirectas, pero no en las directas, entre los grupos (p < 0.05). Así mismo, las correlaciones entre las medidas directas e indirectas fueron mayores en el grupo con TEA.CONCLUSIONES: los niños con TEA son evaluados con más dificultades en las medidas indirectas de las funciones ejecutivas, pero obtienen puntuaciones similares a los niños con desarrollo neurotí-pico cuando son evaluados en condiciones estructuradas empleando medidas directas.PALABRAS CLAVE: trastorno del espectro autista, funciones ejecutivas, desarrollo neurotípico, niños. Direct and indirect measures