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Background: Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) might occur in the general population as low-risk individual differences or prodromal features, requiring quick detection and early intervention. The aims of this study were to conduct a mini-systematic review of the prognostic abilities of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B), describe the PLEs distribution for the first time in a Polish population, assess PQ-B reliability and propose an innovative scoring approach based on cluster analysis., Methods: Five hundred and twenty eight (334 female) adult volunteers underwent screening with the PQ-B, 49% also underwent the early psychosis screening test PRIME, to verify the tests' psychometric properties, to compare the prognostic accuracy of the PQ-B to the more restrictive PRIME, and to the detected types of possible diagnosis in the general population., Results: Almost 70% of respondents met the prognostic criteria of the PQ-B while only 30.6% met the PRIME criteria. Both tests proved reliable (α > .835) and valid (rho >.710; P < .001). A cluster analysis identified three different sub-groups detected with the PQ-B: healthy individuals without PLE; healthy with low-distressing PLEs; and possibly prodromal subjects reporting less frequent but more distressing PLEs and no worries about their own mental state. Also in systematic reviews, authors of different adaptations have observed that the PQ-B has too low specificity and postulated the need for higher cut-offs., Conclusion: Study provides evidence of good reliability and sensitivity of the PQ-B in assessing PLEs among the general population, but emphasizes that straightforward quantitative scoring criteria are still unclear. A more qualitative approach might be useful for differentiating true prodromal subjects from clinically low-risk individual differences., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Under the auspices of the Polish Psychiatric Association and the National Consultant in Psychiatry, on the basis of analysis of international guidelines, the expert group consisting of psychiatrists and an epidemiologist compiled recommendations for the treatment of adepressive episode and recurrent depressive disorder. The recommendations take into account the information that the patient should receive before starting the treatment, the selection criteria for the treatment method and the choice of the antidepressant, the method of assessing the efficacy of treatment, treatment monitoring, and the duration of treatment. Formulating the recommendations, the experts analyzed the source data for their applicability in Poland. The current recommendations of scientific societies and an analysis of the literature on the treatment of depressive episodes and recurrent depressive disorder broken down by the treatment of acute episodes and maintenance treatment, as well as the recommendations on the method of creating guidelines have been taken into account. Furthermore, the guidelines developed in collaboration with the Supreme Medical Council and the Polish Psychiatric Association, entitled: "Diagnostic work-up and treatment of depression in adults - guidelines for family physicians", and recommendations of theNationalConsultantin Adult Psychiatry have been taken into account. The recommendations were discussed among the experts and accepted by the General Board of the Polish Psychiatric Association. Subsequently, the recommendations were modified in line with the Board's commentsand endorsed by the Association for use in the management of patients with depression in Poland.

Objectives: Cognitive and affective experiences considered typical of psychotic disorders may also occur in the general population,though in aless severe form. The ability to differentiate them from prodromal states, preceding the onset of full-blown psychosis, is an important element of prevention and early detection of high risk of asudden deterioration of mental state. In response to the current lack of questionnaire tools enabling assessment of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), an attempt was made to adapt the PQ-B questionnaire for use in the Polish population., Methods: In the pilot study, a sample of 652 persons (66% women), aged 18-78 years, approximately 10% of whom were psychiatric patients, completed the Polish version of the PQ-B, and the O-LIFE, HCL-33, SWLS and TCT-DP measures., Results: Results yielded a one-factor structure, satisfactory reliability (α > 0.85) and construct validity of the 21-item self-report questionnaire assessing the incidence of PLEs in the past month and severity of accompanying distress. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between PQ-B scores and symptoms of schizotypy (especially unusual perceptual experiences and cognitive disorganization), emotional lability (p < 0.05) and depressed mood (p > 0.001) typical of hypomania, as well as unconventional thinking (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: The PQ-B(PL) can be a useful tool in both Polish clinical practice and scientific research, filling the existing gap among screening tests for traits on the border of health and psychopathology.

Background: The approach-avoidance training program (AATP) has shown preliminary promise as an add-on to standard treatment for alcohol dependence. However, knowledge is lacking as to whether the effectiveness of AATP can be enhanced further when performed in a typical drinking situation. The main aim of this study is to investigate whether approach-avoidance training implemented in a virtual reality bar environment is superior to the classical joystick PC-version of the AATP., Methods: The study will be implemented as a randomized controlled trial. A total of 204consecutively enrolled alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients, recruited from alcohol inpatient clinics in Germany, Poland and Denmark, will be randomized into one of three groups at the start of standard alcohol treatment: group A) stimuli-relevant AATP + treatment as usual (TAU); group B) stimuli-relevant AATP in virtual reality + TAU, and group C) TAU only (control group). Treatment outcomes will be assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. Repeated-measures ANOVA will be applied to compare the trajectories of the groups over time on drinking, craving and impulsiveness outcomes. It is hypothesized that the two experimental groups will achieve better treatment outcomes compared to group C and that group B will achieve better outcomes than group A., Discussion: This study is the first trial examining the effectiveness of stimuli-relevant AATP delivered in a VR environment. The use of VR has shown promise in enhancing the effectiveness of other psychological treatments and since AATP has already been shown effective as add-on treatment, it is of interest to investigate whether these effects can be further enhanced by implementing the program in more ecologically valid environments. If proven effective, the AATP-VR can, like the AATP, be implemented easily and cheaply as add-on treatment or continued care to enhance the effectiveness of current evidence-based treatment., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04283305 Registration date: 24.02.20.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the GRIK3 functional polymorphism (Ser310Ala) in the pathogenesis of alcoholism. This polymorphism was investigated in two types of studies: (1) the association study in a whole group of alcoholics (116 patients fulfilling ICD-10 alcohol dependence (AD) criteria and 255 controls, Polish descent) and homogenous overlapping subgroups of patients with: a history of delirium tremens and/or alcohol seizures, early age of onset of alcoholism (AOO<26 years), a co-occurrence of dissocial personality disorder, a history of familial alcoholism; (2) the family-based study (using Transmission Disequilibrium Test (TDT) in 100 Polish families with alcohol dependence). The history of alcoholism was obtained using SSAGA (Polish version). GRIK3 functional polymorphism was determined using PCR. TDT revealed an adequate transmission of both alleles to the affected offspring in the whole group of alcohol families (29 x Ser, 24 x Ala; chi2=0.472; d.f.=1; p=0.492) and in the homogenous subgroups of families. No significant associations between any of the above mentioned alcohol phenotypes and Ser310 allele were observed (the whole AD group: p=0.66 AD with delirium and/or seizures: p=0.521; early onset AD: p=0.868; AD with familial history of alcoholism: p=0.798 and AD with dissocial personality disorder: p=0.618). These findings do not seem to support the hypothesis of the role of this polymorphism in the pathogenesis of alcoholism.

The associations between 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region (5-HTT-LPR), monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)-LPR and the dimensions of temperament evaluated using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were studied. One hundred healthy volunteers (without psychiatric disorders) were recruited to represent a cross-section of the population of Szczecin (Poland) in terms of sex, age and education. No associations between 5-HTT-LPR and the TCI harm avoidance dimension and between 5-HTT-LPR and the NEO-FFI neuroticism dimension were found. Males carrying the 3-VNTR MAOA gene variant (209 bp) had significantly lower values on the NEO-FFI openness dimension (p = 0.039) and obtained higher scores on the subdimension 3 of the TCI reward dependence (RD3), i.e. attachment vs. detachment (p = 0.005). Individuals carrying the 'short' variant of 5-HTT-LPR had lower values on the reward dependence dimension and the RD4 subdimension (dependence vs. independence) than individuals not carrying the 'short' variant (p = 0.039 and p = 0.011, respectively). Females carrying the 'short' variant had lower values on NS1 (exploratory excitability vs. stoic rigidity) and RD4 (dependence vs. independence) than those not carrying the variant (p = 0.042 and 0.043, respectively). The obtained level of significance with respect to the observed associations between 5-HTT-LPR and the reward dependence scales and subscales and between 5-HTT-LPR and the NS1 subscale are too weak for further interpretation. Our results do not confirm the hypothesis that there is a simple correlation between single gene polymorphisms and a personality trait measured by the TCI and NEO-FFI scales.