Clinical and neurophysiological characteristics of children with mental and behavioral disorders left without parental care and brought up in the help centers of the Trans-Baikal territory

Background. The contingent of orphaned minors is characterized by a high prevalence of mental disorders (cognitive, behavioral, psychological development), the course of which is accompanied by a decrease in intellectual activity, speech and cognitive impairments, low development of communication skills, self-control and self-esteem, anxiety and self-doubt, mood instability, non-constructive communication with peers. Objective: to study the frequency and nosological structure of mental disorders, to determine the amplitude characteristics of the spectral power of the EEG under the influence of emotional response in children left without parental care. Material and Methods. A complete study of pupils (n=516, 313 of them boys and 203 girls) aged 10-15 years, who are in the Centers for helping children left without parental care, was conducted using clinical and biographical methods. Mental and behavioral disorders were diagnosed according to ICD-10. Results. In a continuous sample, more than half (69.4%) of the surveyed revealed the presence of mental pathology: mild cognitive disorders of organic origin, behavioral disorders, disorders of psychological development. The vast majority of children in orphanages had a burdened inheritance due to alcoholism of parents (86.6%), perinatal pathology (71.0%) and pathology of the late recovery period (62.0%). The conducted EEG study and spectral analysis of electroencephalograms revealed a statistically significant decrease in the power of alpha-2 and beta activity, an increase in theta activity, which may indicate insufficient maturation of brain structures in orphaned children.