Search

Background Group therapy is an economic intervention, allowing for fast access, for the treatment of several depressed adolescents simultaneously; evaluated manualised programs, however, are scarce. Method Nine depressive adolescent inpatients ( M = 16.33 years; SD = 1.92) participated between October 2009 and March 2010 in a brief manualised group therapy programme ( MICHI), which was evaluated with respect to feasibility and trends of efficacy. Results MICHI demonstrated good feasibility, was positively evaluated by the participants by means of an evaluation questionnaire ranging from 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good) ( M = 7.22; SD = 1.79), and showed significant reduction of depressive symptoms ( z = −2.66, p = .008) assessed by means of a clinical interview. Conclusions Feasibility of MICHI was demonstrated and larger trials for efficacy will follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this, our murine model demonstrates that low-level maternal NMDAR autoantibodies (at serum titers similar to those of antibody-positive mothers) can lead to persisting neurodevelopmental changes and behavioral abnormalities in the offspring, resembling several features of psychiatric disease models.[1] Additionally, to further refine our animal models, we suggest using a variety of NMDAR antibodies derived from different mothers, as well as autoantibodies targeting other receptors besides the NMDAR.[2] In any case, we feel that the best example of our maternofetal transfer model is not NMDAR encephalitis, but the clinically and experimentally much better understood myasthenia gravis with low-level autoantibodies against the fetal acetylcholine receptor (AChR). [Extracted from the article]