However, this deficit in social cognition differs between the subgroups of PDD defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorder, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. PDD symptoms must always be assessed when treating depression in children and adolescents (Sasayama, 2009).ĭeficits in understanding the mental state of others or “mind-reading” have been well documented in individuals with pervasive developmental disorders.Children and adolescents who had such severe depression that it required medical treatment with antidepressants may be comorbid with PDD (Sasayama, 2009).Studies have shown emerging evidence that PDD patients are most likely to also carry depression with their disorder (Sasayama, 2009).
They might play alone instead of with the other children. The child may seem to lag behind others within their peer group in language production and comprehension. Parents may also notice that their children are not “up to par” on the language level as they should be. Parents may notice that their children play with their toys differently than the other children do or that they make repetitive movements. Behavioral differences/problems are also present. PDDs are classified as a group of conditions where there is a delay in the development of communication and social skills. Many refer to this diagnostic taxonomy as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) because both are depicted as disorders affecting a child’s social, communicative, emotional, and cognitive development however, the current DSM-IV-TR strictly refers to them as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) (Hoffman, 2009). Pervasive developmental disorders were first introduced into the DSM III. Mental Retardation and Autism Spectrum Disorders