[Electroencephalographic examinations in emotionally disturbed children and adolescents (author's transl)]

Electroencephalographic examinations were conducted on 250 emotionally disturbed children and adolescents (175 boys and 75 girls) between the ages of 6 and 18. ll8 (47.2%) of the children and adolescents had an EEG which corresponded with their age group. 88 (35.2%) of the patients showed a HV alteration without any pathological graphologic elements. The electroencephalography in 44 cases (17.6%) clearly showed abnormal and/or pathological alterations. Frequently conspicuous findings were present in children with aggressive behavior, learning problems, anxiety syndromes as well as enuresis and encopresis. The alterations were less pronounced in those children who stuttered and the obsessive neurotics. No statistical significance, however, could be established. A correlation could not be established between a particular psychological symptom and a specific EEG alteration. Our results correspond in this regard with those presented in the literature. The majority of the authors, however, recorded conspicuous EEG findings much more frequently than we did. Basically, an electroencephalographic examination for emotionally disturbed children seems to be necessary for the recognition of somatic factors. For the evaluation, however, the range of variation of the normal encephalogram in children and its special characteristics at various age levels should be taken into consideration.