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The level of agreement between self-reported posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, measured with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and severity measured via a clinician-rated measure, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), was tested as a predictor of the degree of improvement following a 2-week Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program (IOP). Differences in PTSD severity scores (PCL-5 minus CAPS-5) of US Veterans and service members with PTSD (N = 483) at Intake were used to categorize patients into 3 agreement groups: Congruent reporters, Limited Over-reporters and Extensive Over-reporters. A linear mixed model tested whether agreement group impacted the degree of improvement, measured as reduction in PCL-5 score, from IOP baseline to completion. The mean difference between the PCL-5 and CAPS-5 scores was 17.5 ± 13.1 points. Mean modeled reduction in PCL-5 scores from IOP Baseline to IOP Completion for Limited Over-reporters was -21.3 points (95 %CI -23.6, -19.1), which was significantly less than the reduction for Extensive Over-reporters (-27.6, 95 %CI -32.1, -23.1, p<.001), but not significantly different from Congruent reporters (-18.0, 95 %CI -22.7, -13.3, p=.17). Patients who most over-report their PTSD symptoms compared to trained clinicians show steepest declines in PTSD symptom severity with treatment. Personalizing treatment for PTSD may benefit from understanding the mechanisms contributing to these differences., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest JM-K has received research funding and consulting payments from COMPASS Pathways, and receives support from the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), and Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies. BOR has or recently had funding from Wounded Warrior Project, NIMH, National Science Foundation, and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, receives royalties from Oxford University Press, Guilford, APPI, Psych Campus, and Emory University, and received advisory board payments from Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Bioserenity, Cerebral Therapeutics, Otsuka, Psychwire, and Senseye. BOR owns equity in Virtually Better, Inc. that creates virtual environments. BWD has received research support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Compass Pathways, Intra-Cellular Therapies, NIMH, Otsuka, Usona Institute, and has served as a consultant for Biohaven, Cerebral Therapeutics, Myriad Neuroscience, and Otsuka. SJC, QG, and TM report no disclosures., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Lifestyle-related problems are common in people with mental illness, contributing to a decreased life expectancy and high societal and personal burden. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness on recovery of a multidomain lifestyle intervention in patients with severe or chronic mental illnesses. Twenty transdiagnostic outpatients were 1:1 randomised in intervention or control. The lifestyle intervention consisted of 11 three-hour group sessions about physical activity, nutrition, relaxation, sleep, substance use, and purpose and meaning. Self-report questionnaires, physical measurements, diary questions, and accelerometers were administered at baseline, halfway and post intervention. Outcomes included attrition, retention rates, protocol deviations, quantitative evaluations and effectiveness. Both the intervention and research protocol appeared feasible and acceptable, with relaxation, purpose and meaning and nutrition as highest appreciated themes. Intervention simplification and deepening was necessary to suit the heterogeneous participants. Preliminary effects were found in all recovery domains, with biggest effects in societal recovery and smallest effects in clinical recovery. To prevent dropout and match the outpatient population, small intervention adaptations are recommended. Effects can be expected in all domains of recovery and should be measured accordingly. Research with greater sample sizes is necessary., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is linked to suicidal behaviors and suicidal risk is a predictor of TRD, depression with current suicidal ideation (SI) may lead to TRD. Early identification of TRD risk factors in patients with depression and current SI is crucial. The aims of our study were: i) to identify risk factors for depression non-remission and TRD in patients with depression and current SI; ii) to assess if SI at baseline mediated the relationship between depression severity at baseline and depression remission at week 6. We analyzed data from two large, prospective, naturalistic French cohorts of adult outpatients with depression (DSM-IV criteria) followed for 6 weeks after starting or changing antidepressants (LUEUR and GENESE). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, along with early symptom improvement, were compared between patients with and without current SI using logistic regression models (univariate and multivariate). Patients with antidepressant change or initiation were analyzed separately. Those without depression remission at week 6 after an antidepressant change were considered TRD cases. In patients with antidepressant change, the major predictor of non-remission was poorer early improvement (at week 2) of anxiety. For patients with treatment initiation, SI at baseline mediated the relation between depression severity at baseline and depression remission. Depression severity at baseline alone did not explain depression remission. Clinicians should systematically target with specific pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments anxiety and SI and assess their changes in the short term to increase the chance of depression remission in depressed patients with current SI., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors declare conflict of interests related to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Veterans with PTSD are at higher risk for suicide. This study examined the specific associations of PTSD symptom clusters with suicidal ideation (SI) and death ideation (DI), independently from depressive symptom clusters. Participants included 695 Israeli male outpatient military veterans (M = 25.35 years, SD = 5.65), divided into subsamples of probable PTSD (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 [PCL-5] ≥ 33) and subthreshold PTSD scores (PCL-5 < 33). Data were extracted from medical chartsand self-report questionnaires. The main analyses included logistic regression to evaluate the associations between SI and DI (Brief Symptom Inventory, items 9 and 39) and PTSD symptom clusters (PCL-5), controlling for depressive symptom clusters (Beck Depression Inventory; cognitive-affective and somatization) in each subsample. The results showed that, for veterans with probable PTSD, the negative alterations in cognition and mood symptom cluster was positively correlated with SI and DI, while avoidance was negatively correlated with SI, independently from depressive symptoms clusters. In those with sub-syndromal PTSD, the re-experiencing cluster was positively correlated with DI, independently from the depressive symptom clusters. These findings highlight the importance of targeting PTSD components, such as negative alterations in cognition and mood symptoms experienced by veterans with PTSD, as part of suicide prevention efforts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

• High level of discrepancy between auto and hetero evaluation of suicidal ideation. • Most of patients declare suicidal ideation only in self-evaluation. • Patients with SI (concordant/discordant) have more severe clinical characteristics. • It is crucial to assess SI and improve assessment. Clinician- and self-rating of suicidal ideation (SI) are often discrepant. The aim of this study was to determine: 1) Association between discrepant self- and clinician-rated SI with clinical characteristics, depression remission and SA (SA) risk; 2) which SI assessment (self or clinician) predicted depression remission and risk of SA. LUEUR and GENESE are two large, prospective, naturalistic cohorts of French adult outpatients with unipolar depression treated and followed for 6 weeks. SI presence was assessed and defined with a score to the suicidal item of the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale ≥3. Discordant SI was defined as SI detection by only one of the two evaluators (patient or clinician). In both cohorts, 49.3 % (GENESE) and 34 % (LUEUR) patients had discordant SI. Clinical characteristics were more severe, and risk of SA was higher in patients with current SI (concordant and discordant) than in patients without SI and in the concordant than in the discordant group. Prediction of the risk of SA and of depression non-remission was comparable by the two ratings. Patients with SI (concordant and discordant) have more severe clinical characteristics and patients with concordant SI are the most at risk of SA during the follow-up. It is crucial to assess SI and to improve how it is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The REST-IT study found the addition of zolpidem-controlled release (CR) provided a significant reduction in observer-rated measurement of suicidal ideation (the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale) in 103 depressed outpatients with insomnia and suicidal ideation, but without significant change in a self-report measure of suicidal ideation (the Scale for Suicide Ideation). This secondary analysis of the REST-IT data examined the suicide item of another observer-rated scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), further clarifying the impact of insomnia-focused treatment on suicidal ideation. This analysis established a significant advantage for zolpidem-CR compared with placebo on the HRSD suicide item., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. McCall reports royalties from Wolters Kluwer and payments from Carelon and Idorsia as a scientific advisor. Dr Krystal reports Options: Neurawell, Big Health Research Grants: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Axsome Pharmaceutics, Attune, Harmony, Neurocrine Biosciences, Reveal Biosensors, The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund, and the National Institutes of Health Consulting: Axsome Therapeutics, Big Health, Eisai, Evecxia, Harmony Biosciences, Idorsia, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Neurocrine Biosciences, Neurawell, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Sage, Takeda Dr Benca is a consultant to Eisai, Idorsia, Genentech, Merck, Jazz, Sage, and receives research support from Eisai No other authors have disclosures, (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Highlight • Little is known about gender differences in the prevalence of sleep disturbance and related demographic and clinical characteristics. • Divorced/widowed and unemployed status were independently associated with sleep disturbance in females, while educational level was independently associated with males only. • Depressive symptoms and older age were the most common risk factors for sleep disturbance in both genders. Abstract This study investigated gender differences in the prevalence of sleep disturbance and related demographic and clinical characteristics, including quality of life (QOL), in Chinese outpatients. Up to 4399 adult outpatients (2896 females, 1503 males) who visited the neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and gynaecological outpatient clinics in four general hospitals were recruited. Demographic and clinical data including QOL were collected by using self-report questionnaires. The prevalence of sleep disturbance in female outpatients (671/2896, 23.2%) was significantly higher than in male outpatients (302/1503, 20.1%) and remained significant after adjusting for significant confounders in the regression analysis. In the regression analysis, divorced/widowed and unemployed status were independently associated with a higher frequency of sleep disturbance in females, while educational level was independently associated with males only. Among these factors, depressive symptoms and older age were the most common risk factors for sleep disturbance in both genders. Sleep disturbance was not associated with the mental domains of the QOL assessments in both genders. This study suggests that sleep disturbance is more frequent in female outpatients and is associated with multiple factors in both genders. A longitudinal study is warranted to confirm the current findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions remain regarding whether the transition and continued use of telehealth was associated with changes in treatment engagement among patients with serious mental illness (SMI). Using NYS Medicaid claims, we identified 116,497 individuals with SMI receiving outpatient mental health services from September 1, 2019-February 28, 2021 and a comparison cohort of 101,995 from September 1, 2017-February 28, 2019 to account for unmeasured and seasonal variation. We characterized engagement in three 6-month increments (T 0 -T 1 -T 2 ) using clinically meaningful measures of high, partial, low, and none. Subgroup differences were compared, and telehealth users were compared to those with only in-person visits. Engagement, as characterized, was largely maintained during COVID. The 19.0 % with only in-person visits during COVID had different characteristics than telehealth users. Telehealth use was greater among younger people by T 2 (33.1 %), women (57.7 %), non-Hispanic White people (38.9 %), and those with MDD (18.0 %), but lower among non-Hispanic Black people, in NYC, and those with schizophrenia or SUD. Most telehealth users were highly engaged (77.1 %); most using only in-person services had low engagement (47.5 %). The shift to telehealth preserved access to many outpatient services for this SMI population. Exploring reasons for not using telehealth may identify opportunities to increase care access., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Backgrounds: The high co-morbidity of abnormal glucose metabolism in depressed patients has been extensively studied, but few studies have explored abnormal glucose metabolism in young patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to examine the prevalence and clinical correlates of abnormal glucose metabolism in young patients with first-episode medication-naïve (FEMN) MDD., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1289 young Chinese outpatients with FEMN MDD. All subjects were assessed on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and their sociodemographic information was collected, and blood pressure, blood glucose, lipid and thyroid hormone levels were measured., Results: The prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism was 12.57% in young FEMN MDD outpatients. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and HAMA scale scores were associated with fasting blood glucose levels in patients with FEMN MDD (P<0.05), and TSH could differentiate patients with abnormal normal glucose metabolism from those without abnormal glucose metabolism (Area Under Curve of 0.774)., Conclusions: Our study showed a high prevalence of comorbid glucose metabolism abnormalities in young FEMN MDD outpatients. TSH may be a promising biomarker of abnormal glucose metabolism in young patients with FEMN MDD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This study aimed to determine predictors of BMI and recovery for outpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Patients were participants of the ANTOP (Anorexia Nervosa Treatment of Out-Patients) trial and randomized to focal psychodynamic therapy (FPT), enhanced cognitive behavior therapy (CBT-E), or optimized treatment as usual (TAU-O). N=169 patients participated in the one-year follow-up (T4). Outcomes were the BMI and global outcome (recovery/partial syndrome/full syndrome) at T4. We examined the following baseline variables as possible predictors: age, BMI, duration of illness, subtype of AN, various axis I diagnoses, quality of life, self-esteem, and psychological characteristics relevant to AN. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the predictors of the BMI and global outcome. The strongest positive predictor for BMI and recovery at T4 was a higher baseline BMI of the patients. Negative predictors for BMI and recovery were a duration of illness >6 years and a lifetime depression diagnosis at baseline. Additionally, higher bodily pain was significantly associated with a lower BMI and self-esteem was a positive predictor for recovery at T4. A higher baseline BMI and shorter illness duration led to a better outcome. Further research is necessary to investigate whether or not AN patients with lifetime depression, higher bodily pain, and lower self-esteem may benefit from specific treatment approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional research methods have shown low predictive value for suicidal risk assessments and limitations to be applied in clinical practice. The authors sought to evaluate natural language processing as a new tool for assessing self-injurious thoughts and behaviors and emotions related. We used MEmind project to assess 2838 psychiatric outpatients. Anonymous unstructured responses to the open-ended question "how are you feeling today?" were collected according to their emotional state. Natural language processing was used to process the patients' writings. The texts were automatically represented (corpus) and analyzed to determine their emotional content and degree of suicidal risk. Authors compared the patients' texts with a question used to assess lack of desire to live, as a suicidal risk assessment tool. Corpus consists of 5,489 short free-text documents containing 12,256 tokenized or unique words. The natural language processing showed an ROC-AUC score of 0.9638 when compared with the responses to lack of a desire to live question. Natural language processing shows encouraging results for classifying subjects according to their desire not to live as a measure of suicidal risk using patients' free texts. It is also easily applicable to clinical practice and facilitates real-time communication with patients, allowing better intervention strategies to be designed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Enrique Baca-Garcia has designed MEmind., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Universal antenatal education has been offered to expectant mothers in Taiwan since 2014. Depression screening is included in the offered education sessions. This study aimed to examine the association of antennal education and depression screening with mental health outcomes, including perinatal depression diagnosis and psychiatrist visits. Data was obtained from the antenatal education records and Taiwan's National Health Insurance claims database. A total of 789,763 eligible pregnant women were included in the current study. The psychiatric-related outcomes were measured between antenatal education and the six-month after delivery. It was found that the antenatal education was widely used in Taiwan, and the attendance rate has increased to 82.6% since its launch. The attenders were more likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds, and 5.3% of them were screened positive for depressive symptoms. They were also more likely to visit a psychiatrist but less likely to be diagnosed with depression than the non-attenders. Factors including young age, high healthcare utilization, and comorbid psychiatric disorder history were consistently associated with depression symptoms, perinatal depression diagnoses and psychiatrist visits. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for the nonattendance at antenatal education programmes and the barriers to utilizing mental health services., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

• Geriatric psychiatry outpatients participated in an exercise intervention. • Qualitative data identified recurring positive effects of the exercise intervention. • Mean depression scores improved following the exercise intervention. Exercise is a non-pharmacological intervention that may benefit elderly patients with depression, but the effects of an exercise intervention in geriatric psychiatry outpatients have yet to be tested. Outpatients in a geriatric psychiatry clinic participated in a structured exercise intervention of 50 minutes, twice-weekly, over twelve weeks. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and post-intervention using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Nine participants had baseline and post-intervention PHQ-9 scores. Mean scores were 5.9 and 2.8 at baseline and post-intervention, respectively (p = 0.03). Exercise intervention for geriatric psychiatry outpatients may improve depressive symptoms. Evidence from controlled interventions is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Social support is known to be important for well-being of individuals, but it is not clear how it predicts psychotherapy outcome in patients suffering from depressive or anxiety disorders. The aim of the present study was to study the prediction of social support on the outcome of short-term and long-term psychotherapy. In the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, 326 psychiatric outpatients, aged 20–46 years, and suffering from depressive or anxiety disorders, were randomly assigned to short-term psychotherapy (short-term psychodynamic or solution-focused) or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The level of social support at baseline was assessed using the Brief Inventory of Social Support and Integration (BISSI). Psychiatric symptoms were assessed with the Symptom Check List, Global Severity Index (SCL-90-GSI) at baseline and four times during a 3-year follow-up. Patients with a high level of social support before treatment benefitted more from long-term than short-term therapy at the 3-year follow-up, whereas patients with a low level of social support experienced no such benefit. Pretreatment social support seems to predict differentially short- and long-term psychotherapy and thus needs to be acknowledged when evaluating patient's resources and treatment options. More research is needed to verify these findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• There are no currently available psychosis screening or diagnostic support tools that avoid reliance on self-report • P-IAT may be useful in identifying individuals with psychotic illness in community settings • P-IAT demonstrated promising discriminant performance • The test may be particularly useful in settings with limited access to specialty providers Despite significant advances in early-intervention services for psychosis, delays in identifying patients continue to impede the delivery of prompt and effective treatments. We sought to develop and preliminarily validate a self-administered psychosis implicit association task (P-IAT) as a screening and diagnostic support tool for identifying individuals with psychotic illness in community settings. The P-IAT is a response latency task, designed to measure the extent to which individuals implicitly associate psychosis-related terms with the "self." The P-IAT was administered to 57 participants across 3 groups: healthy controls (N=19), inpatients hospitalized with active psychosis (N=19), and outpatients with psychotic disorders (N=19). Mean D-scores (the output of the task) differed significantly between the illness groups and healthy controls (Mann-Whitney U=138, p<.001). A receiver operating curve was plotted to assess the performance of D-scores in predicting a psychosis diagnosis, yielding an area under the curve of 0.81. When participant D-scores exceeded -0.24, the test achieved a specificity of 100% (sensitivity: 47%), with all 18 participants scoring above this threshold belonging to the illness groups. The discriminant performance of the P-IAT suggests its potential to augment existing screening instruments and inform referral decision making, particularly in settings with limited access to specialist providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Studies to date have only investigated primary polydipsia in hospitalized psychiatric patient populations, where rates range from 3% to 25%. The objective of the present study was to determine the occurrence of primary polydipsia in a psychiatric outpatient population, and to determine the perceptions of outpatients with self-induced water intoxication regarding reasons for drinking excess fluids, health risks, and insight into their behavior. All 115 psychiatric outpatients from a Community Outreach Program in Kingston, Ontario, were invited to participate in this study. Of these, 89 (77.4%) were enrolled. Data collection included chart reviews, structured interviews, weight measurements, and urine collection. The incidence of primary polydipsia was found to be 15.7%. One-half of the polydipsic people presenting with medical complications suggestive for water intoxication had cigarette smoking as a strong correlate. There were interesting answers to the self-induced water intoxication questionnaire. These showed a lack of knowledge related to the normal quantity of fluids necessary daily and about healthy behaviors. Excessive drinking occurs in psychiatric patient populations outside of institutional/hospital settings. Patients have limited awareness of the severity and possible complications from their problem. Given the prevalence of polydipsia, more effort should be put into identifying and treating this problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study aimed to measure the subjective quality of life (QOL) of Nigerian outpatients with schizophrenia and to examine its socio-demographic as well as clinical determinants. A total of 313 outpatients with schizophrenia participated in the study. Data were collected on socio-demographics, outpatient clinic attendance, perceived social support, perceived satisfaction with hospital care, medication adherence, illness severity and QOL. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the amount of variance in the QOL domain scores explained by socio-demographic and clinical variables. Employment status, perceived social support, satisfaction with outpatient care, antipsychotic medication dose, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores and medication adherence had significant relationships with all the QOL domains. Average monthly allowance and outpatient clinic default were significantly associated with all QOL domains except social relationship. Socio-demographic and clinical factors explained only a modest part (29.4%) of the variance in the QOL scores. It is likely that unmeasured ‘internalised’ determinants contribute in a much larger sense to the variation in subjective QOL. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined the proportion of Canadian adults who were on psychiatric medication prior to entering specialized outpatient care for an eating disorder, the types and combinations of medications taken, and predictors of being on a medication. A retrospective chart review of 223 adults with an eating disorder was conducted. A large proportion of the adults (61%) had been prescribed a psychiatric medication prior to entering specialized outpatient care. Of these adults, 74.6% were prescribed one medication and 24.3% were on a combination of two or more. Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications were the most commonly prescribed (78%), while stimulant medications (2.1%), benzodiazepines (13.7%), and antipsychotics (10.7%) were also reported. Being at a higher weight status was a significant predictor of being on a psychiatric medication at intake assessment. Adults with comorbid depression were 2.68 times more likely to be on a psychiatric medication. Although the number of Canadian adults on psychiatric medication may well exceed the documented efficacy of these medications for eating disorders, psychopharmacological intervention could have been aimed at targeting comorbid conditions. Clinicians specializing in pharmacology and eating disorders may have an important role to provide psychoeducation to all providers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they have no competing interests to report., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with psychotic symptoms have more complex clinical symptoms and higher relapse rates. The purpose of this study was to compare serum lipid differences between psychotic major depressive disorder (PMD) and non-psychotic major depressive disorder (NPMD) in a large sample of young first-episode drug naïve (FEDN) patients., Methods: We recruited 1289 young MDD patients. Socio-demographic information, clinical data, and lipid parameters were collected. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and the positive symptom subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were used to assess patients' depressive, anxiety and psychotic symptoms, respectively., Results: Compared with the NPMD group, the PMD group had higher HAMD, HAMA scores, and higher TC, TG, and LDL-C levels. Correlation analysis showed that psychotic symptoms were significantly associated with the total score of HAMD and HAMA, and the levels of serum lipid. In addition, logistic regression analysis found that TC was associated with psychotic symptoms in young FEDN MDD patients., Conclusion: Our results suggest TC levels may be associated with psychotic symptoms in young MDD patients. The importance of regular psychotic symptom assessment in young MDD patients with high TC levels should be taken into account., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict of interest was disclosed for each author., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Abstract: Dissociative disorders are frequent comorbid conditions of other mental disorders. Yet, there is controversy about their clinical relevance, and little systematic research has been done on how they influence global functioning. Outpatients and day care patients (N=160) of several psychiatric units in Switzerland were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV Axis I Disorders, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-II. The association between subjects with a dissociative disorder (N=30) and functional impairment after accounting for non-dissociative axis I disorders was evaluated by linear regression models. We found a proportion of 18.8% dissociative disorders (dissociative amnesia=0%, dissociative fugue=0.6%, depersonalization disorder=4.4%, dissociative identity disorder=7.5%, dissociative disorder-not-otherwise-specified=6.3%) across treatment settings. Adjusted for other axis I disorders, subjects with a comorbid dissociative identity disorder or dissociative disorder-not-otherwise-specified had a median global assessment of functioning score that was 0.86 and 0.88 times, respectively, the score of subjects without a comorbid dissociative disorder. These findings support the hypothesis that complex dissociative disorders, i.e., dissociative identity disorder and dissociative disorder-not-otherwise-specified, contribute to functional impairment above and beyond the impact of co-existing non-dissociative axis I disorders, and that they qualify as “serious mental illness”. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Impairments in social cognition are critical predictors of social functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Emotion processing (EP) and theory of mind (ToM) are hypothesized to influence real-world behavior more directly than basic cognition and represent important targets of intervention. The use of video scenes depicting human interactions could constitute an appropriate tool to enhance understanding of the characters'' behavior and stimulate inferences on mental states. The aim of our pilot study was to evaluate longitudinally, with a controlled trial, the feasibility and the efficacy of a single-paradigm emotion recognition and ToM training designed for outpatients affected by schizophrenia, with the goal to create an ecological treatment, overcoming artificial laboratory biases, by the use of specific videotaped material. Fifty-two outpatients were randomly assigned to an EP and ToM video-based training (n =27) or to a standard social cognitive rehabilitation treatment (n =24). They were assessed before and after 12weeks of intervention and compared to a time-matched control group (n =24). Our results show a statistically significant improvement in ToM abilities, confirming the hypothesis of the enhancing potential of social cognitive interventions, but no changes with respect to EP; despite the need for a deeper examination, these data support further development of this treatment approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Patients with schizophrenia may have sleep disorders even when clinically stable under antipsychotic treatments. To better understand this issue, we measured sleep characteristics between 1999 and 2003 in 150 outpatients diagnosed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 80 healthy controls using a sleep habits questionnaire. Comparisons between both groups were performed and multiple comparisons were Bonferroni corrected. Compared to healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia reported significantly increased sleep latency, time in bed, total sleep time and frequency of naps during weekdays and weekends along with normal sleep efficiency, sleep satisfaction, and feeling of restfulness in the morning. In conclusion, sleep-onset insomnia is a major, enduring disorder in middle-aged, non-hospitalized patients with schizophrenia that are otherwise clinically stable under antipsychotic and adjuvant medications. Noteworthy, these patients do not complain of sleep-maintenance insomnia but report increased sleep propensity and normal sleep satisfaction. These results may reflect circadian disturbances in schizophrenia, but objective laboratory investigations are needed to confirm subjective sleep reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) seem to experience periods in which they are homebound due to their symptomatology. Despite a growing body of research about CFS, little is known about patients who no longer feel able to leave their homes. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether homebound patients differ from other CFS patients on illness-specific characteristics. Besides experiencing more impairment in daily functioning than participants of an outpatient intervention study, homebound patients were characterised by extremely high levels of daily fatigue, predominant somatic attributions, and pervasively passive activity patterns. The course of symptomatology was similarly stable in both groups. Our findings suggest that homebound patients form a distinct subgroup of CFS patients who might profit from a treatment approach that is tailored to their specific needs. The exploratory nature of this first systematic investigation of homebound CFS patients is stressed, and suggestions for future research are made. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Sleep disorders were more frequent and severe in people with adult ADHD compared to other psychiatric outpatients in our sample of 634 participants. • ADHD diagnosis, multiple psychiatric comorbidity and history of suicide attempts emerged as individual predictors of worse sleep disturbances. • Sleep disturbances might represent an intrinsic feature of ADHD and should be routinely evaluated and monitored in this population. Sleep disorders are frequent in adult subjects diagnosed with ADHD. The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence and the severity of sleep disorders in a sample of Italian psychiatric outpatients, to compare the prevalence and severity of sleep disorders in patients with and without diagnosis of adult ADHD, and to evaluate the role of ADHD as an individual predictor of sleep disturbances severity. 634 outpatients accessing psychiatric services were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) Plus V. 5.0.0 interview and the Adult ADHD self-report Scale Symptoms Checklist (ASRS)-V 1.1 Short Form. Patients positive to the ASRS-V 1.1 were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults (DIVA) 2.0. Sleep disorders and sleep disturbances' severity were assessed with the PROMIS Adult Sleep Disturbance Scale. Sleep disorders were more frequent (p < 0.001) and sleep disturbances were more severe (d = 1.26, p < 0.001) in subjects diagnosed with adult ADHD compared to other outpatients. Among the 44 subjects diagnosed with ADHD, 15 (34.1%) reported no or slight sleep disturbances, 9 (20.5%) a mild sleep disorder, 17 (38.6%) a moderate sleep disorder and 3 (6.8%) a severe sleep disorder. ADHD diagnosis, multiple psychiatric comorbidity and history of suicide attempts emerged as individual predictors of worse sleep disturbances. Sleep disorders are more frequent and severe in subjects diagnosed with ADHD compared to other adult outpatients. Sleep disturbances might represent an intrinsic feature in adult ADHD subjects, presenting important clinical repercussions, and should be routinely evaluated and monitored in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is an important feature of major depressive disorder (MDD), but relatively little attention has been given to within-person variability of hormone secretion over time. Because most studies have been conducted in hospital settings, little information is available about naturally occurring patterns of cortisol secretion throughout the day in depressed outpatients. Multiple salivary cortisol samples were obtained over a 6-day period from 47 outpatients with MDD and 39 healthy controls in their everyday environment. We used multilevel regression analysis to estimate the effects of MDD and associated clinical characteristics on cortisol levels and intraindividual variability. Although more severe symptoms were associated with small elevations in cortisol levels, we found no clear evidence for hypercortisolism in the MDD group as a whole. However, cortisol output in MDD outpatients was less stable from sample to sample, as evidenced by a significantly lower autocorrelation than that observed in controls. Secretory patterns were particularly erratic in patients with more severe or recurrent episodes. Findings suggest that erratic cortisol secretion may be a more characteristic feature of HPA axis dysregulation in MDD than hypercortisolism, especially in outpatient populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]