Quality of Life Among People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Does Day Centre Attendance Make a Difference?

The purpose was to investigate (i) how people with psychiatric disabilities who attend day centres experience their quality of life (QoL) compared to non-attendees, (ii) differences in QoL between those who attend meeting place-oriented centres and those who attend work-oriented centres, (iii) possible correlates of QoL among day centre attendees. Ninety-three day centre attendees and 82 non-attendees completed questionnaires addressing QoL and selected correlates. No group difference was found regarding QoL. Factors related with a good QoL were high levels of self-mastery and motivation. Thus, promoting day centre attendees’ self-mastery and motivation might enhance their QoL.     

Parents’ Conceptualization of Adolescents’ Mental Health Problems: Who Adopts a Psychiatric Perspective and Does It Make a Difference?

How parents give meaning to the problems of adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders and receiving treatment is likely related to important outcomes including parental well-being and commitment to treatment, as well as their own behaviors and reactions to their child. The aim of this cross-sectional, mixed-method study of 70 parents of adolescents receiving wraparound mental health services is to examine: (1) how parents conceptualize their child’s MH problems; (2) factors related to parents’ conceptualization of youths’ problems using medical model terms; and (3) associations between parents’ problem conceptualization and their emotional or coping responses to their child having psychiatric problem(s). Content analysis indicated that 54.3% of parents definitively conceptualized adolescents’ problems using psychiatric terms, 37.1% reported uncertainty about the nature of their child’s problems, and 8.6% gave alternative, non-psychiatric explanations for their child’s problems. We found significant relationships between parents’ problem conceptualization and their attitudes and experience with MH treatment, demographics, as well as with adolescents’ clinical characteristics. Parents who conceptualized problems using psychiatric terminology were more likely to express sadness and pessimism relative to other parents, though there were no differences in expressions of worry, guilt, pragmatism and optimism by problem conceptualization.     

Brief Report: Application of the TEACCH Program on Chinese Pre-School Children with Autism––Does Culture Make a Difference?

A longitudinal study was conducted on 34 children with autism to evaluate the usefulness of the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) program for Chinese pre-school children in Hong Kong. Eighteen children received full-time center-based TEACCH program training. The control group included 16 children who received different types of individualized or group training but not TEACCH program training. Instruments validated in Hong Kong were used to assess the children’s cognitive, social adaptive functioning and developmental abilities before and during the training at 6-month intervals for 12 months. Children in the experimental group showed better outcomes at posttest. They also showed progress in different developmental domains over time. The study provided initial support for the effectiveness of using the TEACCH program with Chinese children.     

Maternal Postnatal Emotional Well-being and Perceived Parenting Hassles: Does Community Intervention with Normal Populations Make a Difference?

The impact of community intervention by health visitors on maternal emotional well-being and perceived hassles of parenting was examined longitudinally (pregnancy to two years after the child's birth) in a sample of Greek mothers in the normal population. Health visitors were assigned randomly to an experimental group (receiving specific training on issues of parenting and early psychosocial development) and a comparison group (not receiving the particular training). Mothers were recruited through health visitors on a voluntary basis, thus forming an experimental and a comparison group. Results suggest a positive effect of trained health visitors on both the employed measures; mothers of the experimental group showed improving emotional wellbeing and lower percentages of scores suggesting depression on the EPDS scale and they reported better adjustment to the baby and fewer, and less intense, ‘hassles’ associated with their day-to-day parenting. The evidence stemming from the study provides indications for the usefulness of community programmes addressing the general population.     

What Does Sex Have to Do with It? The Role of Sex as a Biological Variable in the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Purpose of Review

This review highlights the neurobiological aspects of sex differences in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specifically focusing on the physiological responses to trauma and presents evidence supporting hormone and neurosteroid/peptide differences from both preclinical and clinical research.

Recent Findings

While others have suggested that trauma type or acute emotional reaction are responsible for women’s disproportionate risk to PTSD, neither of these explanations fully accounts for the sex differences in PTSD. Sex differences in brain neurocircuitry, anatomy, and neurobiological processes, such as those involved in learning and memory, are discussed as they have been implicated in risk and resilience for the development of PTSD. Gonadal and stress hormones have been found to modulate sex differences in the neurocircuitry and neurochemistry underlying fear learning and extinction.

Summary

Preclinical research has not consistently controlled for hormonal and reproductive status of rodents nor have clinical studies consistently examined these factors as potential moderators of risk for PTSD. Sex as a biological variable (SABV) should be considered, in addition to the endocrine and reproductive status of participants, in all stress physiology and PTSD research.

     

Exposure to Pro-smoking Media in College Students: Does Type of Media Channel Differentially Contribute to Smoking Risk?

Background

There are almost no data on whether the different channels through which pro-smoking media appear (i.e., point-of-sale advertising, movie smoking) differently influence smoking.

Purpose

This study used ecological momentary assessment to examine whether differences in smoking risk were observed for exposures to different pro-smoking media channels.

Methods

College students (n?=?134) carried smartphones for 21 days, recording their exposures to pro-smoking media and the media channels for that exposure and responding to three randomly issued control prompts per day. Participants answered questions about their future smoking risk after each pro-smoking media exposure and random prompt.

Results

Participants had elevated future smoking risk following exposure to pro-smoking media at point of sale (p?<?0.001); smoking risk at times of exposure to smoking in movies did not differ from risk measured during control prompts (p?=?0.78).

Conclusions

There is merit to examining the relative contribution of different pro-smoking media channels to smoking behavior.     

Does Exposure to Stressors Predict Changes in Physiological Dysregulation?

Background

The allostatic load framework implies that cumulative exposure to stressors results in multi-system physiological dysregulation.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of stress burden on subsequent changes (2000–2006) in physiological dysregulation.

Methods

Data came from a population-based cohort study in Taiwan (n?=?521, aged 54+ in 2000, re-examined in 2006). Measures of stressful events and chronic strain were based on questions asked in 1996, 1999, and 2000. A measure of trauma was based on exposure to the 1999 earthquake. Dysregulation was based on 17 biomarkers (e.g., metabolic, inflammatory, neuroendocrine).

Results

There were some small effects among men: chronic strain was associated with subsequent increases in dysregulation (standardized β?=?0.08, 95 % CI?=?0.01 to 0.20), particularly inflammation; life events were also associated with increased inflammation (β?=?0.10, CI?=?0.01 to 0.26). There were no significant effects in women.

Conclusions

We found weak evidence that stress burden is associated with changes in dysregulation.     

Politics and Israeli psychologists: is it time to take a stand?

In Israel, it is quite rare for psychologists to relate to political and social issues. This remarkable tendency of psychologists to avoid dealing with such matters seems to supersede the common indifference or obtuseness of other groups in the Israeli public and similar groups in particular (e.g., physicians or social workers). Within this context, this paper focuses on the qualities and forms of reaction of the psychotherapeutic community in Israel to the national conflict that has been present intermittently since the late 1980s - namely, the two Intifadas. More specifically, as opposed to the current situation (the second Al-Aksa Intifada), in the course of the first Intifada (1987-1996), the voice of Israeli psychologists was clearly heard. Until now, this is the only exception to the rule of neutrality and passivity, in which psychologists in Israel became politically active. Specific elements of involvement of the therapeutic community is presented and discussed. Also, an attempt is made to suggest possible reasons to the very puzzling questions: Why then? Or what factors allowed for this change in position to occur? And more importantly, why did the protest of the psychologists in Israel vanish and their clear voices turn into silence?     

Does addiction to antidepressants exist? About a case of one addiction to tianeptine

We report on a tianeptine dependence lasting for eighteen months in a 42 year old patient. The patient had a previous history of addiction to opiates, amineptine, coca?ne and alcohol. He also had a family history of addiction to alcohol and opiates. Tianeptine was prescribed for a major depressive disorder. The patient alleged a "flash sensation" like with heroin since the very first doses with a physical and psychological well-being sensation, better psychomotor performances and transient mood elation. His addiction to tianeptine was immediate and heavy. The positive reinforcement faded away after one month and a total dependance took over, with physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when doses were not renewed. After two months of treatment, the daily consumption of tianeptine was of 90 tablets. The patient was hospitalised to treat both the addiction to tianeptine and the ongoing major depressive disorder. He was taking 240 tablets daily. In the literature, reports of addictions to antidepressants are scarce and most of them involve agents with amphetamine-like properties, including amineptine and tranylcypromine. Other reports involving other antidepressant agents, including amitriptyline, fluoxetine and tianeptine remain exceptional. Addictions to antidepressants almost exclusively concern patients with a diagnosis of personality disorder and a previous history of drug or alcohol abuse and who are treated for a depressive disorder. Tianeptine, which is devoid of any psychostimulating effect in human, does not seem to have addictive properties apart from the reports of scarce cases.     

What Difference Does It Make? Implicit,Explicit and Complex Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorders

We tested social cognition abilities of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurotypically developed peers (NTD). A multi-faceted test-battery including facial emotion categorization (FEC), classical false belief tasks (FBT), and complex social cognition (SC), yielded significantly lower accuracy rates for FEC and complex SC tasks in ASD, but no significant differences in performance concerning FBT. A significant correlation between age and performance in a FEC task and in a complex task was found only in ASD. We propose that dynamic and/or fragmented FEC tasks can elicit deficits in implicit processing of facial emotion more efficiently. The difficulties of ASD in solving complex SC tasks can be ascribed to deficits in the acquisition and application of social schemata.     

Attitudes toward Assisted Suicide: Does Family Context Matter?

Little is known about how family-related contextual variables impact attitudes toward assisted suicide. A probability sample (N = 272) responded to a multiple-segment factorial vignette designed to examine the effects of 6 variables—patient sex, age, type of illness, relationship status, parenthood status, and family support—on attitudes toward physician- and family-assisted suicide. Respondents were more likely to support physician-assisted suicide if they heard about an older patient or a patient experiencing physical pain than a younger patient or one suffering from depression, respectively. For family-assisted suicide, respondent support was higher when the patient had physical pain than depression, and when the patient's spouse or friend was supportive of the wish to die than unsupportive. Attitudes about physician and family obligation to inform others were affected by type of illness, relationship status, family support, and respondent education and religiosity. The experience of pain, motivations for family involvement, confidentiality issues, and physicians’ biases concerning assisted suicide are discussed.