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Wisdom-based Buddhist-derived practices (BDPs) are concerned with transmuting suffering by cultivating insight into the ultimate nature of both the self and reality. Arguably the most important wisdom-based BDP is emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā) that implies that although phenomena are perceptible to the human mind, they do not intrinsically exist. Despite its significance in Buddhism, emptiness has received little empirical attention. Advancing scientific understanding of emptiness is important as it may yield novel insights not only into the nature of mind and reality, but also in terms of helping human beings realise more of their capacity for wisdom and wellbeing. This study recruited 25 advanced Buddhist meditators and compared emptiness meditation against a mindfulness meditation control condition within the same group of participants. Qualitative analytical techniques were also employed to investigate meditators' experiences of emptiness. Compared to the mindfulness control condition, emptiness meditation resulted in significantly greater improvements in non-attachment to self and environment, mystical experiences, compassion, positive affect, and negative affect. No significant relationship was observed between duration of emptiness meditation and any of the aforementioned outcome measures. Qualitative outcomes demonstrated that participants (i) combined concentrative and investigative meditation techniques to induce emptiness, (ii) elicited spiritually meaningful insights both during and following the meditation on emptiness, and (iii) retained volitional control over the content and duration of the emptiness meditation. Cultivating emptiness appears to be a means of reconnecting advanced Buddhist meditators to what they deem to be the innermost nature of their minds and phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale and Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze 1) whether the metabolite levels in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) are different in healthy individuals compared to a group of patients with cognitive impairment and/or pain and 2) whether there exists a correlation between brain metabolites and the age of a patient. Materials and Methods: Two hundred seven patients with cognitive impairment and/or pain (66 mild cognitive impairment, 54 fibromyalgia, 36 Alzheimer disease, 33 interictal migraine, 10 somatization disorder, and 8 after trigeminal neuralgia, and 193 healthy participants adjusted for gender and age. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain was performed with the voxel placed in the ventral PCC and postprocessed with LCModel (Stephen Provencher, Oakville, Ontario, Canada). Results: Using linear regression and adjusting for gender and age, mean brain metabolite values for the pathological group, when compared to healthy controls, were significantly lower in W-acetylaspartate (P = .003) and A/-acetylaspartate/creatine (P = .015) and significantly greater in glutamate + glutamine (P < .001) and glutamate + glutamine/creatine (P < .000). All metabolites were significantly correlated with age: glutamate, glutamate + glutamine, A/-acetylaspartate, and their creatine ratios exhibited a negative correlation, whereas myoinositol and choline exhibited a positive correlation. Conclusions: Although the number of patients is relatively small with heterogeneous state of disease, MRS in PCC may serve as a useful noninvasive tool for diagnostic of patients with cognitive impairment and pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: The aim of this paper is to assess personality disorder (PD) comorbidity in somatization disorder (SD) patients compared with psychiatric controls in a Spanish sample. Methods: This is a case–control study. Selection of 70 consecutive SD patients was made, and an age-, sex-, and ethnic-group-matched control group of 70 mood and/or anxiety disorder patients recruited in psychiatric outpatient clinics was selected. PDs were measured using the International Personality Disorder Examination, and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Axis I morbidity was measured by means of the Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview. Results: PD comorbidity in SD patients was 62.9%, compared to 28.2% in controls [odds ratio (OR)=3.7; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=1.8–7.6]. The highest ORs of PD in SD patients, compared with controls, were for paranoid (OR=9.2; 95% CI=1.9–43), obsessive–compulsive (OR=6.2; 95% CI=1.2–53.6), and histrionic (OR=3.6; 95% CI=0.9–13.9) PDs. Conclusions: This is a controlled study with the largest sample of SD patients. The prevalence of PD comorbidity is similar to that of a previously published controlled study but is different from those of the most frequent PD subtypes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: To assess the performance of the Spanish version of a new screening tool (the SCOFF) for the detection of eating disorders (EDs) in primary care. Methods: Design: validation study. The psychiatric interview Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) was used as the “gold standard.” Blinding was applied to administration of the SCOFF and the clinical interview. Setting: six primary health care centers in Zaragoza and Huesca, Spain. Participants: 203 female patients, between the ages of 15 and 53 years, with a probable diagnosis of ED. Main outcome measure: validity as assessed by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. In addition, test–retest reliability and the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve were calculated. Results: The best threshold point in the Spanish version was 2+ positive answers, the same as that recommended in the original British study. This cutoff point provided 97.7% sensitivity and 94.4% specificity for the detection of EDs in primary care. For each specific ED, sensitivity and specificity with this threshold point were, respectively, the following: bulimia, 97.8% and 94.4%; anorexia, 93.1% and 94.4%; and ED not otherwise specified (EDNOS), 100% and 94.4%. Conclusions: The Spanish version of the SCOFF questionnaire shows excellent psychometric properties for the early detection of EDs in primary settings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although cognitive and behavioral therapies are effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders, it is not clear what the relative effects of these treatments are. We conducted a meta-analysis of trials comparing cognitive and behavioral therapies with a control condition, in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder. We included 42 studies in which generic measures of anxiety were used (BAI, HAMA, STAI-State and Trait). Only the effects of treatment for panic disorder as measured on the BAI (13.33 points; 95% CI: 10.58–16.07) were significantly (p = 0.001) larger than the effect sizes on GAD (6.06 points; 95% CI: 3.96–8.16) and SAD (5.92 points; 95% CI: 4.64–7.20). The effects remained significant after adjusting for baseline severity and other major characteristics of the trials. The results should be considered with caution because of the small number of studies in many subgroups and the high risk of bias in most studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To validate a Spanish version of the Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ), a measure of perceived injustice, in a fibromyalgia sample and to examine its relationship with pain catastrophising and pain acceptance. Methods: The IEQ was administered along with the Pain Visual Analogue Scale, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) to 250 primary care patients with fibromyalgia. Results: The IEQ had good test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.98) and internal consistency (Cronbach''s α=0.92). The factor structure obtained was similar to the original validation study. The multiple regression analyses showed that perceived injustice (PI) accounted for significant pain-related outcomes after controlling pain intensity, PCS and CPAQ. Principal component analysis of both the IEQ and the CPAQ taken together showed that the two constructs do not represent opposite extremes of the same dimension. Conclusion: The IEQ is a reliable assessment tool for measuring PI among patients with fibromyalgia. PI seems to be distinct from catastrophising, although the two constructs are very similar. The factor analysis showed that PI and acceptance represent related constructs, and this entails relevant implications for therapy, as acceptance-based interventions would be appropriate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]