Background and Objectives: the comorbidity of personality disorders in patients who use psychoactive substances is common in psychiatric practice. The epidemiology of disharmonious personality traits in patients with ADHD and addictions in adulthood is still insufficiently researched. The study investigated the typology of personality traits in a group of adult patients consuming psychoactive substances, in whom symptoms of ADHD were identified. Materials and Methods: the study evaluates a group of 104 patients with chronic psychoactive substances abuse, in whom symptoms of ADHD were identified in early adulthood, in terms of comorbid personality traits. Results: statistically significant data have been obtained regarding the presence of clinical traits characteristic for cluster B personality disorders, the patients presenting lower levels of self-control, self-image instability, difficulties in the areas of social relationships and own identity integration. Conclusions: ADHD symptomatology precedes the clinical traits of personality disorders in patients with addictions, negatively influencing chronic evolution and quality of life.

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This study analyzes the profile of executive functions (EF) in high-functioning adults with autism (HFA), both in terms of performance on four computer-based tasks, as well as how these functions are perceived by the individuals through self-reporting measures. The study included 64 participants: 32 individuals with HFA, and 32 typically developing controls. Four CANTAB tasks were used (assessing spatial working memory, planning, visual memory, and inhibition), as well as a self-reported measure of executive functions (BDEFS) and a scale for the severity of autism symptoms (RAADS-R). The participants in the ASD group performed significantly lower than the control group on all four computer-based tasks, as measured by the total number of errors made (for the spatial working memory, visual memory, and inhibition tasks) and the number of problems solved at the first choice (for the planning task). No correlation was found in the ASD group between the severity of autism symptoms and the computer-based measures. These findings provide evidence that HFA adults may have various executive functioning impairments, and subsequent daily life problems, but these deficits do not necessarily correlate with the severity of core ASD symptoms.

Objective. This paper aims to describe trends in diagnostic data in discharged patients from a regional child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit in Romania, over a 25-year period (1990-2014). Method. Data on discharge diagnosis of the 30854 patients from the study timeframe were analyzed. Diagnostic formulations in the years prior to ICD implementation were converted into ICD-10 specific disorders/ class of disorders. Results. Results showed a significant increase in proportion of autism spectrum disorders and hyperkinetic disorders over time and a significant decrease of stress related, dissociative and somatoform disorders. The number of psychotic disorders was constant over time, mood disorders had peak frequencies in 2003 and 2014 and anxiety disorders has a twofold increase from 2007 to 2014. Conclusions. This study demonstrates a major shift in the patterns of mental health disorders diagnosed among children and adolescents at our clinic over the last 25 years. Defining the current mental health needs of young people and adjusting service delivery in child and adolescent psychiatric settings have become of great importance in recent years.

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