Mind wandering in anxiety disorders: A status report
Publication date: December 2023Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 155Author(s): Juergen Fell, Leila Chaieb, Christian Hoppe
psychiatry
Introduction to the Special Issue on The Neurobiology of Human Fear and Anxiety
Publication date: Available online 5 July 2023Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Miquel A. Fullana, Alexander J. Shackman
Understanding anxiety symptoms as aberrant defensive responding along the threat imminence continuum
Publication date: Available online 5 July 2023Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Rany Abend
Cutting back on social media reduces anxiety, depression, loneliness
Researchers found college students who tried to cut their social media use to 30 minutes per day scored significantly lower for anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear of missing out at the end of the two-week experiment and when compared to the control group.
An Overview of Substance Use, Mood, and Anxiety Disorders in ADHD and Non-ADHD Adults
Publication date: Available online 5 May 2023Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Catharina A. Hartman, Qi Chen, Berit Skretting Solberg, Ebba Du Rietz, Kari Klungsøyr, Samuele Cortese, Søren Dalsgaard, Jan Haavik, Marta Ribasés, Jeanette C. Mostert, Berit Libutzki, Sarah Kittel-Schneider, Bru Cormand, Melissa Vos, Henrik Larsson, Andreas Reif, Stephen V. Faraone, Alessio Bellato
Get ready for the future of mental health research: Center for Global Mental Health Research Webinar Series 2023 – Finding the perfect treatment for the right people at the right time. Let’s promote stratification to boost Global Mental Health!
This webinar focuses on the value of stratification as a tool for driving transformative change in early interventions for people with anxiety, depression, and psychosis.
Mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy effects on symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder: a network intervention analysis
Background
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a severe and undertreated condition. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first-line psychosocial treatment for this common disorder, how the intervention works is insufficiently understood. Specific pathways have been hypothesized, but only one small study has examined the precise nature of treatment effects of CBT, and no prior study has examined the effects of supportive psychotherapy (SPT).
Methods
This study re-examined a large trial (n = 120) comparing CBT to SPT for BDD. Network intervention analyses were used to explore symptom-level data across time. We computed mixed graphical models at multiple time points to examine relative differences in direct and indirect effects of the two interventions.
Results
In the resulting networks, CBT and SPT appeared to differentially target certain symptoms. The largest differences included CBT increasing efforts to disengage from and restructure unhelpful thoughts and resist BDD rituals, while SPT was directly related to improvement in BDD-related insight. Additionally, the time course of differences aligned with the intended targets of CBT; cognitive effects emerged first and behavioral effects second, paralleling cognitive restructuring in earlier sessions and the emphasis on exposure and ritual prevention in later sessions. Differences in favor of CBT were most consistent for behavioral targets.
Conclusions
CBT and SPT primarily affected different symptoms. To improve patient care, the field needs a better understanding of how and when BDD treatments and treatment components succeed. Considering patient experiences at the symptom level and over time can aid in refining or reorganizing treatments to better fit patient needs.
The effects of the pandemic on mental health in persons with and without a psychiatric history
Background
Prospective studies are needed to assess the influence of pre-pandemic risk factors on mental health outcomes following the COVID-19 pandemic. From direct interviews prior to (T1), and then in the same individuals after the pandemic onset (T2), we assessed the influence of personal psychiatric history on changes in symptoms and wellbeing.
Methods
Two hundred and four (19–69 years/117 female) individuals from a multigenerational family study were followed clinically up to T1. Psychiatric symptom changes (T1-to-T2), their association with lifetime psychiatric history (no, only-past, and recent psychiatric history), and pandemic-specific worries were investigated.
Results
At T2 relative to T1, participants with recent psychopathology (in the last 2 years) had significantly fewer depressive (mean, M = 41.7 v. 47.6) and traumatic symptoms (M = 6.6 v. 8.1, p < 0.001), while those with no and only-past psychiatric history had decreased wellbeing (M = 22.6 v. 25.0, p < 0.01). Three pandemic-related worry factors were identified: Illness/death, Financial, and Social isolation. Individuals with recent psychiatric history had greater Illness/death and Financial worries than the no/only-past groups, but these worries were unrelated to depression at T2. Among individuals with no/only-past history, Illness/death worries predicted increased T2 depression [B = 0.6(0.3), p < 0.05].
Conclusions
As recent psychiatric history was not associated with increased depression or anxiety during the pandemic, new groups of previously unaffected persons might contribute to the increased pandemic-related depression and anxiety rates reported. These individuals likely represent incident cases that are first detected in primary care and other non-specialty clinical settings. Such settings may be useful for monitoring future illness among newly at-risk individuals.
Condition openness is associated with better mental health in individuals with an intersex/differences of sex development condition: structural equation modeling of European multicenter data
Background
Openness on one’s health condition or (stigmatized) identity generally improves mental health. Intersex or differences of sex development (DSD) conditions have long been kept concealed and high levels of (internalizing) mental health problems are reported. This study examines the effects of condition openness on anxiety and depression and the role of mediating concepts in this population.
Methods
Cross-sectional data of individuals of 16 years and older with an intersex/DSD condition was collected in 14 specialized European clinics as part of the dsd-LIFE study. Patient-reported measures were taken on openness and shame (Coping with DSD), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), satisfaction with care (CSQ4), anxiety and depression (HADS). Scores were compared per clinical group and data were analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM) to calculate prediction and mediation models.
Results
Data of 903 individuals were included in this study (Turner syndrome (n = 284), 46, XY DSD (n = 233), CAH (n = 206) and Klinefelter syndrome (n = 180)). Participants were moderately open on their condition. High levels of both anxiety and depression were observed across the sample. In SEM analysis, the tested models predicted 25% of openness, 31% of anxiety and 48% of depression. More condition openness directly predicted lower anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as indirectly through increased self-esteem, self-satisfaction and satisfaction with social support.
Conclusions
Condition openness is associated with lower anxiety and depression in individuals with an intersex/DSD condition. Healthcare may provide the necessary knowledge and skills to employ one’s optimal level of self-disclosure in order to improve mental health.
Prenatal maternal stress, child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and the moderating role of parenting: findings from the Norwegian mother, father, and child cohort study
Background
Few studies have examined how parenting influences the associations between prenatal maternal stress and children’s mental health. The objectives of this study were to examine the sex-specific associations between prenatal maternal stress and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and to assess the moderating effects of parenting behaviors on these associations.
Methods
This study is based on 15 963 mother–child dyads from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). A broad measure of prenatal maternal stress was constructed using 41 self-reported items measured during pregnancy. Three parenting behaviors (positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, and positive involvement) were assessed by maternal report at child age 5 years. Child symptoms of internalizing and externalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional-defiant disorder) were assessed by maternal report at age 8. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling techniques.
Results
Prenatal maternal stress was associated with child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 8; associations with externalizing symptoms differed by sex. Associations between prenatal maternal stress and child depression, and conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant disorder in males, became stronger as levels of inconsistent discipline increased. Associations between prenatal maternal stress and symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in females were attenuated as levels of parental involvement increased.
Conclusions
This study confirms associations between prenatal maternal stress and children’s mental health outcomes, and demonstrates that these associations may be modified by parenting behaviors. Parenting may represent an important intervention target for improving mental health outcomes in children exposed to prenatal stress.
