Tag: Psychopathology

What is the Impact of Early Manifesting Disorders in the Frame of General Mental Morbidity & of the Effect of Intervention?

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Research Paper Title

What happens to children and adolescents with mental disorders? Findings from long-term outcome research.

Background

Research on the long-term outcome of mental disorders originating in childhood and adolescence is an important part of developmental psychopathology.

Methods

After a brief sketch of relevant terms of outcome research, the first part of this review reports findings based on heterotypic cohort studies.

The major second part of this review presents findings based on long-term outcome studies dealing with homotypic diagnostic groups. In particular, the review focuses on the course and prognosis of ADHD, anxiety disorders, depression, conduct disorders, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and selective mutism.

Results

Findings mainly support the vulnerability hypothesis regarding mental disorders with early manifestation in childhood and adolescence as frequent precursors of mental disorders in adulthood.

Conclusions

The discussion focuses on the impact of early manifesting disorders in the frame of general mental morbidity and of the effect of interventions, which is not yet sufficiently discernible.

Reference

Steinhausen, H-C. (2020) What happens to children and adolescents with mental disorders? Findings from long-term outcome research [German]. Zeitschrift fur Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie. 41(6), pp.419-431. doi: 10.1024/1422-4917/a000258.

On This Day … 09 October

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People (Births)

  • 1900 – Joseph Zubin, Lithuanian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1990).

Joseph Zubin

Joseph Zubin (09 October 1900 to 18 December 1990) was a Lithuanian born American educational psychologist and an authority on schizophrenia who is commemorated by the Joseph Zubin Awards.

Zubin was born 09 October 1900 in Raseiniai, Lithuania, but moved to the US in 1908 and grew up in Baltimore. His first degree was in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University in 1921, and he earned a PhD in educational psychology at Columbia University in 1932.

In 1946, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Zubin was President of both the American Psychopathological Association (195-1952) and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1971-1972) and received numerous awards for his work.

Should We Target Inflammation, The Gut Microbiome, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Combat PTSD-Metabolism?

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Research Paper Title

Novel Pharmacological Targets for Combat PTSD-Metabolism, Inflammation, The Gut Microbiome, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Background

Current pharmacological treatments of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have limited efficacy.

Although the diagnosis is based on psychopathological criteria, it is frequently accompanied by somatic comorbidities and perhaps “accelerated biological ageing,” suggesting widespread physical concomitants.

Such physiological comorbidities may affect core PTSD symptoms but are rarely the focus of therapeutic trials.

Methods

To elucidate the potential involvement of metabolism, inflammation, and mitochondrial function in PTSD, the researchers integrate findings and mechanistic models from the DOD-sponsored “Systems Biology of PTSD Study” with previous data on these topics.

Results

Data implicate inter-linked dysregulations in metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and perhaps the gut microbiome in PTSD.

Several inadequately tested targets of pharmacological intervention are proposed, including insulin sensitisers, lipid regulators, anti-inflammatories, and mitochondrial biogenesis modulators.

Conclusions

Systemic pathologies that are intricately involved in brain functioning and behaviour may not only contribute to somatic comorbidities in PTSD, but may represent novel targets for treating core psychiatric symptoms.

Reference

Bersani, F.S., Mellon, S.H., Lindqvist, D., Kang, J.I., Rampersaud, R., Somvanshi, P.R., Doyle, F.J., Hammamieh, R., Jett, M., Yehuda, R., Marmar, C.R. & Wolkowitz, O.M. (2020) Novel Pharmacological Targets for Combat PTSD-Metabolism, Inflammation, The Gut Microbiome, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

An Examination of Environmental Influences on Genomic Variations, Neurodevelopmental Trajectories & Vulnerability to Psychopathology, with a Focus on Externalising Disorders

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Research Paper Title

Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA): A developmental cohort study protocol.

Background

Low and middle-income countries like India with a large youth population experience a different environment from that of high-income countries.

The Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalising Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA), based in India, aims to examine environmental influences on genomic variations, neurodevelopmental trajectories and vulnerability to psychopathology, with a focus on externalising disorders.

Methods

cVEDA is a longitudinal cohort study, with planned missingness design for yearly follow-up.

Participants have been recruited from multi-site tertiary care mental health settings, local communities, schools and colleges.

10,000 individuals between 6 and 23 years of age, of all genders, representing five geographically, ethnically, and socio-culturally distinct regions in India, and exposures to variations in early life adversity (psychosocial, nutritional, toxic exposures, slum-habitats, socio-political conflicts, urban/rural living, mental illness in the family) have been assessed using age-appropriate instruments to capture socio-demographic information, temperament, environmental exposures, parenting, psychiatric morbidity, and neuropsychological functioning.

Blood/saliva and urine samples have been collected for genetic, epigenetic and toxicological (heavy metals, volatile organic compounds) studies.

Structural (T1, T2, DTI) and functional (resting state fMRI) MRI brain scans have been performed on approximately 15% of the individuals.

All data and biological samples are maintained in a databank and biobank, respectively.

Discussion

The cVEDA has established the largest neurodevelopmental database in India, comparable to global datasets, with detailed environmental characterisation.

This should permit identification of environmental and genetic vulnerabilities to psychopathology within a developmental framework.

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological data from this study are already yielding insights on brain growth and maturation patterns.

Reference

Sharma, E., Vaidya, N., Iyengar, U., Zhang, Y., Holla, B., Purushottam, M., Chakrabarti, A., Fernandes, G.S., Heron, J., Hickman, M., Desrivieres, S., Kartik, K., Jacob, P., Rangaswamy, M., Bharath, R.D., Barker, G., Orfanos, D.P., Ahuja, C., Murthy, P., Jain, S., Varghese, M., Jayarajan, D., Kumar, K., Thennarasu, K., Basu, D., Subodh, B.N., Kuriyan, R., Kurpad, S.S., Kalyanram, K., Krishnaveni, G., Krishna, M., Singh, R.L., Singh, L.R., Kalyanram, K., Toledano, M., Schumann, G., Benegal, V. & cVEDA Consortium. (2020) Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA): A developmental cohort study protocol. BMC Psychiatry. 20(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2373-3.

Book: Psychotherapy – A Practical Guide

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Book Title:

Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide.

Author(s): Jeffery Smith.

Year: 2016.

Edition: First (1st).

Publisher: Springer.

Type(s): Paperback and Kindle.

Synopsis:

This title combines the many schools of thought on psychotherapy into one reader-friendly guide that coaches psychotherapists through the various techniques needed as the field expands.

Unlike any other book on the market, this text considers all of the simultaneous advances in the field, including the neurobiology of emotions, the importance of the therapeutic relationship, mindfulness meditation, and the role of the body in healing.

Written with genuine respect for all traditions from CBT to psychodynamics, the book unifies views of psychopathology and cure based on the notion of the mind-brain as an organ of affect regulation.

The book accounts for the tasks that characterise psychotherapist activity in all therapies, how they are performed, and how they result in therapeutic change.

The book also reviews the various pathologies seen in general practice and guides the reader to the specific therapist-patient interactions needed for their resolution.

With its big-picture focus on clinical practice, Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide is a concise resource for students, psychotherapists, psychologists, residents, and all who seek to integrate what is new in psychotherapy.

What Impact does Motivational Dispositions have on Mood Symptoms & Emotional Regulation?

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Research Paper Title

Psychopathological Correlates and Emotion Regulation as Mediators of Approach and Avoidance Motivation in a Chinese Military Sample.

Background

Approach and avoidance motivation have been thoroughly studied in common mental disorders, which are prevalent in the military context.

Approach/avoidance motivational dispositions underlie emotion responses and are thought to influence emotion dysregulation.

However, studies on the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER) between motivational dispositions and mental disorders have been insufficient.

The researchers examined the psychopathological correlates of motivational dispositions and explored the mediating role of ER.

Methods

The Behavioural Inhibition System and Behavioural Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales and measures of mood disorders (depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD) were administered to a nonclinical sample of 3,146 Chinese military service members.

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Army men (ERQ-A) (Chinese version) was used to measure ER styles.

They examined the reliability and construct validity of the BIS/BAS scales.

Approach/avoidance motivations were correlated with symptoms of mood disorders.

Mediation analysis was conducted to confirm the mediating role of ER between motivation and mood disorders.

Results

The results showed acceptable internal reliability and construct validity of the BIS/BAS scales. Gender (female), family status (single-parent family), and social relationships (having fewer good friends) were significant predictors of high BIS sensitivity.

More years of education, an older age, being an only child and being in a single-parent family all significantly predicted high BAS sensitivity.

The BIS/BAS scales were predictive of various DSM-V-based mental disorders (depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD).

Immersion exacerbated the impact of BAS/BIS sensitivities on depressive/PTSD symptoms, while reinterpretation and talking out alleviated the impact of BAS/BIS sensitivities on these symptoms.

Conclusions

Motivational dispositions have an impact on mood symptoms under specific conditions.

ER strategies (immersion, reinterpretation, and talking out) were shown to be partial mediators between approach/avoidance motivation and mood disorders.

These findings highlight the importance of ER in altering the impact of motivational dispositions on mood disorders and as a promising target of psychotherapies.

Reference

Wang, X., Zhang, R., Chen, X., Liu, K., Wang, L., Zhang, J., Liu, X. & Feng, Z. (2019) Psychopathological Correlates and Emotion Regulation as Mediators of Approach and Avoidance Motivation in a Chinese Military Sample. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 10:149. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00149. eCollection 2019.

Examining the Role the Inflammatory Process & Immune System Play in Mental Disorder

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Research Paper Title

Inflammatory Response and Treatment-Resistant Mental Disorders: Should Immunotherapy Be Added to Pharmacotherapy?

Abstract

Treatment resistance continues to challenge and frustrate mental health clinicians and provoke psychiatric researchers to seek additional explanatory theories for psychopathology.

Because the inflammatory process activates symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychosis, it is a reasonable route to follow for primary and/or indirect contribution to mental disorders.

The current article reviews the research literature regarding the role the inflammatory process and immune system play in mental disorders as well as novel treatments under investigation for resistant depression, anxiety, substance use, and psychotic disorders.

Reference

Limandri, B.J. (2020) Inflammatory Response and Treatment-Resistant Mental Disorders: Should Immunotherapy Be Added to Pharmacotherapy? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services. 58(1), pp.11-16. doi: 10.3928/02793695-20191218-03.