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Background: Although theory and research implicate self-criticism as a risk factor for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), the nature of this association in daily life remains unclear. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to address whether (1) trait and state self-criticism elevate the risk of NSSI, (2) state self-criticism predicts NSSI behavior in real-time via increased NSSI urge intensity, and (3) the risk pattern extends to disordered eating (DE; binge eating, purging, restrictive eating)., Methods: A total of 125 treatment-seeking individuals who self-injure (87.20 % female; M age  = 22.98, SD = 5.32) completed measures of trait self-criticism at intake, followed by six daily assessments for 28 days (15,098 assessments; median compliance = 78.6 %) measuring self-critical thoughts, NSSI, and DE. Multilevel vector autoregressive models were constructed within a dynamic structural equation modeling framework., Results: Patients who reported higher mean state self-critical thoughts experienced more intense NSSI urges and an increased risk for NSSI behavior during treatment. Higher-than-usual self-critical thoughts predicted NSSI urge intensity and NSSI behavior within the following 2 h. NSSI urge intensity partially mediated the effect of self-critical thoughts on NSSI behavior. Trait self-criticism did not predict comorbid DE, but aggregated state self-critical thoughts were associated with binge and restrictive eating. The within-person risk pattern of self-criticism generally extended to DE, with full mediation via DE urges for purging and restrictive eating, but not binge eating., Conclusions: Self-criticism is a real-time predictor of NSSI and comorbid DE. These findings underscore the relevance of monitoring self-criticism outside the therapy room, as it may be an important treatment target., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Changes in sleep and circadian function are leading candidate markers for the detection of relapse in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Consumer-grade wearable devices may enable remote and real-time examination of dynamic changes in sleep. Fitbit data from individuals with recurrent MDD were used to describe the longitudinal effects of sleep duration, quality, and regularity on subsequent depression relapse and severity., Methods: Data were collected as part of a longitudinal observational mobile Health (mHealth) cohort study in people with recurrent MDD. Participants wore a Fitbit device and completed regular outcome assessments via email for a median follow-up of 541 days. We used multivariable regression models to test the effects of sleep features on depression outcomes. We considered respondents with at least one assessment of relapse (n = 218) or at least one assessment of depression severity (n = 393)., Results: Increased intra-individual variability in total sleep time, greater sleep fragmentation, lower sleep efficiency, and more variable sleep midpoints were associated with worse depression outcomes. Adjusted Population Attributable Fractions suggested that an intervention to increase sleep consistency in adults with MDD could reduce the population risk for depression relapse by up to 22 %., Limitations: Limitations include a potentially underpowered primary outcome due to the smaller number of relapses identified than expected., Conclusion: Our study demonstrates a role for consumer-grade activity trackers in estimating relapse risk and depression severity in people with recurrent MDD. Variability in sleep duration and midpoint may be useful targets for stratified interventions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest HE was a full-time employee of H. Lundbeck A/S and held stock and stock options in H. Lundbeck A/S at the time of study conduct. QL, SV and VN were employees of Janssen Research & Development, LLC and held company stocks/stock options at the time of study conduct. JMH has received economic compensation for participating in advisory boards or giving educational lectures from Eli Lilly & Co, Sanofi, Lundbeck, and Otsuka. No other authors have competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Negative symptoms are a key therapeutic target in promoting functional recovery in early psychosis intervention, but momentary negative symptom manifestations remain understudied in the early stage of illness. We employed an experience-sampling methodology (ESM) to evaluate momentary affective experiences, hedonic capacity for an event recalled, current activities and social interactions, and associated appraisals for 6 consecutive days in 33 clinically-stable early psychosis patients (within 3 years of treatment for first-episode psychosis) and 35 demographically-matched healthy controls. Adjusted multilevel linear-mixed models revealed higher intensity and variability of negative affect in patients than controls, but no group difference in affect instability as well as positive affect intensity and variability. Patients demonstrated no significantly greater anhedonia for event, activity or social interactions relative to controls. Higher preference for company (when alone) and to be alone (when in company) was observed in patients than controls. No significant group difference in pleasantness to be alone or proportion of time being alone. Our results indicate no evidence for blunting of affective experiences, anhedonia (social and non-social) and asociality in early psychosis. Future research complementing ESM with multiple digital phenotyping measures will facilitate more refined negative symptom assessment in the daily life of patients with early psychosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Experience sampling method (ESM) has the potential to support person-centered care of psychotic disorders. However, clinical implementation is hampered by a lack of user involvement in the design of ESM tools. This qualitative study explored the perspective of nine people with lived experiences of psychosis. Participants reported a need to monitor a diverse range of daily-life experiences and indicated that ESM should allow for personalization to be clinically useful. While participants recognized the potential of ESM to increase awareness and control over their mental health, concerns were voiced about the validity and burden of monitoring one's own mental health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the time to affective recovery from daily-life stressors between healthy controls (HC) and two groups with an increased risk for developing depression: individuals with subclinical symptoms of depression (SSD), and individuals remitted from a depressive episode with residual symptoms of depression (RRS)., Method: The experience sampling method (ESM) was used to measure affective recovery to daily-life stressors. Affective recovery was defined as the moment that negative affect (NA) returned to baseline level following the first stressful event of the day. We assessed two different operationalizations of the baseline: NA at the moment before the stressful event (t - 1 ), and mean-person NA. The effect of stress intensity, and cumulative stress were also assessed., Results: Survival analyses showed significantly longer recovery times for the at risk groups in comparison to healthy individuals, albeit no significant difference was found between the two at risk groups (i.e. SSD and RRS). There was also an effect of cumulative stress, but not stress intensity on time to recovery in that cumulative stress resulted in significantly longer recovery times for all three groups., Limitations: The present study is limited by the ESM sampling design, assessments take place post-stress and therefore do not capture peak stress. Additionally, we are only able to assess patterns at the group level. Finally, there is a significant age difference between groups., Conclusion: Individuals at risk for depression display a delayed recovery to daily-life stressors when compared to healthy controls, which is not explained by differences in stress intensity or cumulative stress. Understanding what is driving this delay may help combat the development of depression., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare to have no known financial or personal interest, direct or indirect, that may have affected the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Influenced by the field of epidemiology and the early ecological psychologists, my research focused on the role of person-environment interactions in the development and maintenance of psychopathology - a field I would name Contextual Psychiatry. To capture the interaction between the person and the environment, I was one of the early adopters of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) in mental health research. Using ESM, we demonstrated that there is an affective pathway to psychosis, characterized by increased stress-reactivity. Also altered social interactions have been identified as an important factor in the development of psychopathology. With digital technology quickly evolving, the impact of my work has now been extended to the development and implementation of mHealth and digital Health approaches in mental health, including the clinical application of ESM in routine mental health care as well as the development of Ecological Momentary Interventions. Moving forward, if we want to deliver treatment at moments when it is most needed and adapted to the needs of the individual, we need to advance our understanding of the real-time dynamics of the psychological and physiological processes of psychopathology - thus establishing a more personalised mental health care., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Smartphone overuse can have detrimental impacts on youth mental health. How it may be longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms and functioning, and with daily momentary affect, remains to be investigated. A total of 3,033 young people were consecutively recruited from a large-scale epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. A subsample (n = 936) was followed-up after 1 year, with experience sampling data collected from 177 participants. Separate multivariable logistic regression models were applied to examine the prospective associations between smartphone overuse and depressive symptoms, with multilevel models fitted to examine its associations with momentary affect. The prevalence of smartphone overuse in the Hong Kong youth population was 29.3%. Smartphone overuse was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms and functional impairments both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The associations between smartphone overuse and 1-year depressive symptoms were significant, even when accounting for baseline symptoms, social media use, and other risk and protective factors. Baseline depressive symptoms, in contrast, were not associated with 1-year smartphone overuse after adjusting for baseline smartphone overuse. Smartphone overuse was also significantly associated with higher levels of momentary negative affect, even when accounting for depressive symptoms. Strategies to mitigate the impact of smartphone overuse can have important long-term implications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest E.Y.H.C. has received speaker honoraria from Otsuka and DSK BioPharma, research funding from Otsuka, participated in paid advisory boards for Janssen and DSK BioPharma, and received funding to attend conferences from Otsuka and DSK BioPharma. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Remote sensing for the measurement and management of long-term conditions such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is becoming more prevalent. User-engagement is essential to yield any benefits. We tested three hypotheses examining associations between clinical characteristics, perceptions of remote sensing, and objective user engagement metrics., Methods: The Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse - Major Depressive Disorder (RADAR-MDD) study is a multicentre longitudinal observational cohort study in people with recurrent MDD. Participants wore a FitBit and completed app-based assessments every two weeks for a median of 18 months. Multivariable random effects regression models pooling data across timepoints were used to examine associations between variables., Results: A total of 547 participants (87.8% of the total sample) were included in the current analysis. Higher levels of anxiety were associated with lower levels of perceived technology ease of use; increased functional disability was associated with small differences in perceptions of technology usefulness and usability. Participants who reported higher system ease of use, usefulness, and acceptability subsequently completed more app-based questionnaires and tended to wear their FitBit activity tracker for longer. All effect sizes were small and unlikely to be of practical significance., Limitations: Symptoms of depression, anxiety, functional disability, and perceptions of system usability are measured at the same time. These therefore represent cross-sectional associations rather than predictions of future perceptions., Conclusions: These findings suggest that perceived usability and actual use of remote measurement technologies in people with MDD are robust across differences in severity of depression, anxiety, and functional impairment., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adolescence is a period of both great social change, and of vulnerability to psychiatric distress. However, little is known about the associations between early psychopathology and social interactions at the fundamental level of daily life. To better understand the social correlates of subclinical psychopathology in adolescence, we assessed associations between general psychopathology and the quantity and quality of daily-life social interactions., Methods: During a six-day experience sampling period, adolescent and young adult participants in Study 1 (n = 663) and Study 2 (n = 1027) reported the quantity and quality of their everyday social interactions. General psychopathology was assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90 and Brief Symptom Inventory-53. The relationship between psychopathology and each outcome variable was tested in separate multilevel linear and logistic regression models., Results: General psychopathology was associated with social interaction quality. Associations between psychopathology and the number of social interactions were less apparent: In Study 1, participants with more psychopathology were not more alone, whereas Study 2 participants with higher levels of psychopathology were alone more., Limitations: Limitations include no separate investigation of distinct types of psychopathology, and relatively low compliance to the experience sampling in Study 2., Conclusions: Consistent associations between subclinical psychopathology and the quality of social interactions support the fundamentally social nature of early psychopathology. Moreover, negative experiences of social interactions may be more valuable markers of early psychopathology than a reduced quantity of social behaviors. Conceptualizations of daily-life social functioning, and prevention/intervention efforts would benefit from a greater consideration of the quality of everyday social experiences., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of the current study is to elucidate the temporal dynamics of suspiciousness and hallucinations as they occur in daily life in the early stages of psychosis. Their prevalence and co-occurrence, as well as their temporal relation to affect and delusions, were compared between patients with a first psychotic episode (FEP) and individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHRp). The Experience Sampling Method was used to investigate suspiciousness and hallucinatory experiences, delusions, and affect at semi-random moments throughout six days in 33 CHRp and 34 FEP. Overall, 91% of CHRp and 59% of FEP reported suspiciousness, and 24% and 39% reported hallucinations, respectively. Hallucinations almost always co-occurred with suspiciousness, whereas suspiciousness was often present without hallucinations. Suspicious episodes in CHRp occurred with marked increases in delusional intensity, while hallucinatory experiences were mostly absent. In FEP, a decrease of positive affect preceded suspicious episodes, while an increase of negative affect preceded hallucinatory episodes. Our results indicated the presence of a delusional mood (atmosphere) in CHRp as an experience in itself, without co-occurring or following hallucinations, thus refuting the anomalous experience hypothesis of psychosis. The co-occurrence of hallucinations, on the other hand, indicates a more severe stage of symptomatology., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The influence of momentary experiences on compliance has not yet been studied extensively in diary methods such as the experience sampling method (ESM). This study investigated to what extent momentary experiences at the moment of responding (hereafter 'beep') can predict compliance in high frequency ESM protocols. Lagged-analyses were conducted using a pooled dataset of seven studies including 1,318 healthy volunteers and individuals with different mental health conditions. All studies used an ESM design of 10 beeps per day over 4 to 6 days. Overall compliance was 86% (to beeps where a subject was compliant at the previous beep). Results indicated that participants who reported higher positive affect overall were more compliant. Feeling disturbed by a beep, being outside the home, medication use, or longer inter-prompt interval decreased the chances of compliance to the subsequent beep. While participants with depression tended to be more compliant, chances to be compliant decreased in the evenings and over the course of the study days. When more beeps were missed consecutively, the chances to miss the subsequent beep increased. Findings suggest that disturbance of the beep, being outside the home, medication use, and inter-prompt interval might decrease the chances of compliance to the subsequent beep., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Research has found that Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms (OCS) in schizophrenia are associated with either more or less negative symptoms and either better or poorer cognitive functioning. In order to explain these contradictory results, (Lysaker et al., 2004), performed a cluster analysis resulting in 2 OCS positive (OCSpos) clusters, one with higher functioning (HF) and one with poorer functioning (PF) compared to 2 OCS negative (OCSneg) clusters. The OCSpos/HF cluster had less negative symptoms compared to all other clusters, while the OCSpos/PF cluster showed poorer executive functioning. We performed a replication study, in an almost 10 times larger, representative sample, using both a longitudinal and cross-sectional design. Similar to Lysaker et al., we found a group with mild OCS and HF (OCSmild/HF) showing less negative symptoms compared to the PF groups. We also found an OCSmild/PF group, which did not significantly differ in executive functioning from the other groups. Moreover, we did not find evidence for a better prognosis in the OCSmild/HF group, and thus found no support for the assumption that for some patients OCS might be an effective coping mechanism., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The DSM-5 appended the conceptualization of asociality in psychotic disorders as the manifestation of diminished interest in social interactions, but it also admitted that it might merely be the result of limited opportunities for social interactions. In an effort to investigate this apparent dichotomy, we used experience sampling data from 149 patients with psychotic disorder and 143 controls, and divided their social interactions into those occurring in the context of work and other structured activities that patients have limited access to, and those occurring in the context of unstructured activities such as visits and conversations that both groups can choose relatively more freely. Patients spent significantly smaller proportion of their time in structured social context, but matched the controls in the time spent in unstructured social contexts, and endorsed intact hedonic experience of both social contexts. Moreover, employment and living situation, in addition to the severity of symptoms of avolition, predicted the proportion of time patients spent in structured and unstructured social contexts, supporting the notion that both lifestyle as well as disease-specific factors contribute to real-life social behavior in psychosis., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Theoretical and empirical literature suggests that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an important correlate of suicide risk. The present study was designed to evaluate: (a) whether NSSI is associated with increased odds of subsequent onsets of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) independent of common mental disorders, (b) whether NSSI is associated with increased risk of transitioning from suicide ideation to attempt, and (c) which NSSI characteristics are associated with STB after NSSI., Method: Using discrete-time survival models, based on retrospective age of onset reports from college students (n = 6,393, 56.8% female), we examined associations of temporally prior NSSI with subsequent STB (i.e., suicide ideation, plan, and attempt) controlling mental disorders (i.e., MDD, Broad Mania, GAD, Panic Disorder, and risk for Alcohol Dependence). NSSI characteristics associated with subsequent STB were examined using logistic regressions., Results: NSSI was associated with increased odds of subsequent suicide ideation (OR = 2.8), plan (OR = 3.0), and attempt (OR = 5.5) in models that controlled for the distribution of mental disorders. Further analyses revealed that NSSI was associated with increased risk of transitioning to a plan among those with ideation, as well as attempt among those with a plan (ORs = 1.7-2.1). Several NSSI characteristics (e.g., automatic positive reinforcement, earlier onset NSSI) were associated with increased odds of experiencing STB., Limitations: Surveys relied on self-report, and thus, there is the potential for recall bias., Conclusions: This study provides support for the conceptualization of NSSI as a risk factor for STB. Investigation of the underlying pathways accounting for these time-ordered associations is an important avenue for future research., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Subjective quality of life (SQOL) is an established patient-reported outcome in psychosis. However, current self-report measures of SQOL may be affected by recall bias and may not fully capture dynamic changes in SQOL over time. This study aimed to examine the ecological validity of self-reported and momentary assessment measures of SQOL, and their association with emotional experience, social interaction and activity in real life, in both patients with psychotic disorder (n = 56) and controls (n = 71). Self-reported QOL was assessed with the WHO-QOL, momentary QOL and real life experiences were assessed with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). Results show that both measures were significantly associated in patients and controls, and associations with emotional experience were most relevant, momentary QOL being a stronger predictor than self-reported QOL. The association between momentary QOL and negative affect was stronger in patients than in controls. Overall, momentary QOL was more consistently associated with affect, social interaction and activity, while self-reported QOL displayed a more narrow association with mostly affect. Concluding, concurrent assessment of self-reported QOL and momentary QOL showed that momentary QOL may enhance the ecological validity of SQOL measurement. Experience sampling research may broaden our perspective on SQOL and its associations with real life functioning., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated cardio-metabolic risk factors among patients with severe mental illness who do or do not meet the recommendations of 150min per week of physical activity. A secondary aim was to assess whether those that do meet the recommendations report lower levels of mental health symptoms. 107 (60♀) Ugandan in- and outpatients (mean age=34.4 ± 9.7 years) with severe mental illness (depression=7, bipolar disorder=55, schizophrenia=45) completed the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) method and Brief Symptoms Inventory -18. Participants were also screened for abdominal obesity (waist circumference>90cm), overweight (body mass index≥25) and hypertension (systolic pressure≥140mmHg and/or diastolic pressure≥90mmHg).48.6% (n = 52) of patients met the physical activity recommendations as assessed by the PAVS method. 41.1% (n = 44) were overweight, 40.2% (n = 43) had abdominal obesity and 23.4% (n = 25) had hypertension. Those who did not meet the physical activity recommendations were significantly older, had a higher BSI-18 somatisation score, and had a higher risk of overweight [relative risk (RR) = 2.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.59-4.99], abdominal obesity (RR = 1.82, 95%CI = 1.13-2.93), and hypertension (RR = 2.16, 95%CI = 0.99-4.73). The PAVS is a feasible method of assessing physical activity among patients with severe mental illness in a low resource setting. The PAVS may have clinical utility for physical and mental health risk stratification., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Childhood trauma exposure has been associated with a clinically relevant mixed phenotype of psychopathology composed of depressive, anxiety, and psychosis symptoms, across healthy and clinical samples. Altered stress-reactivity after exposure to childhood trauma may be a plausible underlying mechanism explaining this association. In a general population sample of female twins (T0 = 564; T1 = 483), associations between childhood trauma exposure and symptom profile (no symptoms, isolated symptoms, or a mixed phenotype) on the one hand, and daily life stress reactivity on the other were investigated. Daily life stress reactivity was measured using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), and was defined as negative affect reactivity to minor daily life stressors. Individuals exposed to childhood trauma who reported a mixed phenotype of psychopathology showed a significant increase in emotional reactivity to daily life stress (activity and social stress), compared with trauma-exposed individuals without a mixed phenotype. In the trauma-exposed mixed phenotype group, increased emotional reactivity to event-stress predicted more severe symptoms at ± 14 month follow-up. This study found evidence that may link heightened emotional reactivity to stress in individuals with a trauma history to the risk for later comorbid psychopathology., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Subjective well-being (SWB) is associated with treatment adherence and symptom outcome in people with psychotic disorders. Also, it is associated with psychosis susceptibility and it is partly hereditable. The SWN-20 is a widely used tool to assess subjective well-being in patients; it was also found to be suitable for assessing SWB in healthy populations. Yet it is unclear how this retrospectively measured construct may be associated with momentary affective state, which is the proposed underlying mechanism of subjective well-being. This study therefore investigated the ecological validity of the SWN-20 in people at different risk for psychosis. In 63 patients with a psychotic disorder and 61 siblings of patients with a psychotic disorder we assessed whether subjective well-being as measured with the SWN-20, was associated with momentary positive affect, negative affect, reward experience and stress-sensitivity as measured by the experience sample method (ESM). Higher subjective well-being was associated with higher momentary positive affect and lower negative affect, and this association was not conditional on psychosis vulnerability. Subjective well-being was not associated with stress-sensitivity or reward-experience. SWN-20 is an easy-to-use and ecologically valid tool to measure subjective well-being in people with different vulnerability for psychosis., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Patients with a psychotic disorder show lower cardiorespiratory fitness and higher mortality rates compared to healthy individuals. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore whether in patients with first-episode psychosis a low cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with decreased physical activity and increased sedentary levels. Twenty-nine outpatients (21 men; 22.8±5.1 years) performed a maximal exercise test to assess their maximum oxygen uptake (VO 2 max), wore a Senswear armband for five consecutive days and were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Twenty-four patients (82.8%) scored below the normative cardiorespiratory values. The percent-predicted VO 2 max ranged from 47% to 109%. In a backward regression analysis, less time spent sedentary (min/day) was the only independent predictor of a higher VO 2 max. The model explained 28.0% of the variance in the VO 2 max-score. The current study indicates that future research should explore whether reducing sedentary behaviour (e.g. time spent napping or prolonged sitting during waking hours) might improve cardio-respiratory fitness levels. Interventions targeting recreational screen time (watching television, computer use, playing video games, etc.) or replacing passive to more active video games should be investigated., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Repeated exposures to social exclusion, through a process of sensitization, may result in larger responses to experiences of social stress. The current study tested the hypothesis that healthy Moroccan-Dutch men respond stronger to social stress than Dutch controls 1) in daily life, and 2) in an experimental set-up. A general population sample of 50 Moroccan-Dutch and 50 Dutch young adult males were tested with 1) the Experience Sampling Method, a structured diary technique, assessing reactivity to social stress in daily life, and 2) an experimental exposure to social peer evaluation. No group differences were found in affective or psychotic reactivity to daily social stress. When exposed to a negative social evaluation in the lab, a blunted affective response was found in the Moroccan-Dutch compared to the Dutch group, whereas the psychotic response did not differ significantly between groups. In conclusion, healthy Moroccan-Dutch men are not more sensitive to social stress than healthy Dutch men. Instead, the blunted affective response of Moroccan-Dutch men to peer evaluation may signify habituation rather than sensitization., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

High rates of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in schizophrenia require pathogenic explanations. Personality traits may represent risk and resiliency factors for the development of mental disorders and their comorbidities. The aim of the present study was to explore the associations between Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits and the liability for OCS in patients with psychotic disorders and in their un-affected siblings. FFM traits, occurrence and severity of OCS and (subclinical) psychotic symptoms were assessed in 208 patients and in 281 siblings. Differences in FFM traits between participants with vs. without comorbid OCS were examined and the predictive value of FFM traits on group categorization was evaluated. Associations between FFM traits and OCS severity were investigated. Patients and siblings with OCS showed significantly higher Neuroticism compared to their counterparts without OCS. Neuroticism was positively associated with higher OCS severity and significantly predicted group assignment in both patients and in siblings. Patients with comorbid OCS presented with lower scores on Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Higher Neuroticism, and to a lesser degree lower Extraversion and Conscientiousness might add to the vulnerability of patients with a psychotic disorder to also develop OCS. Future prospective studies are needed to elucidate proposed personality-psychopathology interrelations and possible mediating factors., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The response styles theory of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) proposes three main strategies individuals employ in response to low mood: rumination, active coping (distraction and problem-solving) and risk taking. Although recent research has suggested this theory has utility in understanding the symptoms of bipolar disorder (BD), the role of these processes in conferring vulnerability to the condition is poorly understood. Twenty-three adolescent children of patients with BD and 25 offspring of well parents completed the Experience Sampling Method (ESM; Csikszentmihalyi and Larson, 1987) diary for six days. Longitudinal analyses were carried out to examine inter-relationships between mood, self-esteem and response styles. Increased negative as well as positive mood resulted in greater rumination in both groups. Low self-esteem triggered greater risk-taking at the subsequent time point in the at-risk group, while negative affect instigated increased active coping in the control group. In both groups, engagement in risk-taking improved mood at the subsequent time point, whilst rumination dampened self-esteem. Differential longitudinal associations between mood, self-esteem and response styles between at-risk and control children suggest early psychological vulnerability in the offspring of BD parents, with important indications for early intervention., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bipolar psychopathology has traditionally been defined by categorical diagnoses. However, these disorders may simply reflect the extremes of a broader spectrum of clinical and subclinical bipolar psychopathology., Method: The present study examined the validity of the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) as a measure of bipolar spectrum psychopathology in 305 young adults using experience sampling methodology. The participants completed the HPS and were signaled randomly eight times daily for seven days to complete brief questionnaires on their current experiences., Results: High HPS scores were associated with elevated energetic-enthusiasm, irritability, dysphoria, flight of ideas, mild grandiose beliefs, and risky behavior, as well as increased variability in affect in daily life. High HPS scores were also associated with greater reactivity in negative affect and behavior in response to viewing themselves as unsuccessful in their activities., Limitations: It is not clear to what extent the participants had diagnosable bipolar disorders., Conclusions: The findings support a broader spectrum of bipolar psychopathology and the validity of the HPS as a measure of this construct., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Although social deficits remain a persistent component of the behavioural phenotype of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) in adulthood, it remains unclear whether these represent diminished social needs, as is seen in social anhedonia, or rather thwarted social needs, as is seen in social anxiety. This study used the Experience Sampling Method (ESM)--a structured diary technique--to examine social interaction in daily life of 8 adults with PDD, compared to 14 healthy controls. Multilevel linear regression analyses showed that PDD subjects a) did not spend more time alone, b) had no increased preference to be alone when in company, and c) spent more time with familiar people, compared to control subjects. Patients experienced more negative affect and anxiety when in the company of less familiar people compared to when they are alone, whereas no difference in affect could be found between being alone or being with familiar people. All these lines of evidence suggest that PDD subjects do have a desire to interact. However, this may be thwarted as is seen in social anxiety. Therapeutic interventions should aim at decreasing negative affect and anxiety in social interactions possibly by improving social skills to fulfil the existing social needs in adults with PDD., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)