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Peer victimization is associated with increased risk for mental health problems. These adverse psychological outcomes are linked with altered cognitive and emotional processes and their related neural functioning. In the present study, by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined whether peer victimization was associated with heightened neural response to social exclusion. Participants (N = 45; M[subscript age] = 17.7 years, SD = 0.60; 36 women) included three mutually exclusive groups: peer-victimized individuals (targets of bullying), cyberdefenders (defended peers who were being cyberbullied), and controls (not involved as targets or cyberdefenders). All participants underwent an fMRI scan while playing "Cyberball," an experimental paradigm that simulates social exclusion. Peer victimization was associated with increased neural response in the left amygdala, left parahippocampal gyrus, left inferior frontal operculum, and right fusiform gyrus. Understanding the acute neural response to social exclusion in peer-victimized individuals may provide insight into their increased risk for poor mental health.

Objective: The effectiveness of ECT under naturalistic conditions has not been well-studied. The current study aimed to 1) characterize a naturalistic sample of ECT patients; and 2) examine the long-term outcomes of ECT on depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II; BDI-II) and functional disability symptoms (WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0) in this sample. Methods: Participants were adults who received ECT for a major depressive episode at an ambulatory ECT clinic between September 2010 and November 2020. Clinical and cognitive assessments were completed at baseline (n = 100), mid-ECT (n = 94), 2–4 weeks post-ECT (n = 64), 6-months post-ECT (n = 34), and 12-months post-ECT (n = 19). Results: At baseline, participants had severe levels of depressive symptoms (BDI-II: M = 41.0, SD = 9.4), and 62.9% screened positive for multiple psychiatric diagnoses on the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Depressive symptoms (F (4,49.1) = 49.92, P < 0.001) and disability symptoms (F (3,40.72) = 12.30, P < 0.001) improved significantly following ECT, and this was maintained at 12-months follow-up. Improvement in depressive symptoms trended towards significantly predicting reduction in disability symptoms from baseline to post-ECT, (F (1,56) = 3.67, P = 0.061). Although our clinical remission rate of 27% (BDI-II score ≤ 13 and ≥ 50% improvement) and overall response rate of 41.3% (≥ 50% improvement in BDI-II score) were lower than the rates reported in the extant RCT and community ECT literature, 36% of those treated with ECT were lost to follow-up and did not complete post-ECT rating scales. At baseline, remitters had significantly fewer psychiatric comorbidities, lower BDI-II scores, and lower disability symptoms than non-responders (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Participants were severely symptomatic and clinically complex. ECT was effective at reducing depressive symptoms and functional disability in this heterogeneous sample. Although a large amount of missing data may have distorted our calculated response/remission rates, it is also likely that clinical heterogeneity and severity contribute to lower-than-expected remission and response rates to ECT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research investigating whether depression is an adaptation or a disorder has been hindered by the lack of an experimental paradigm that can test causal relationships. Moreover, studies attempting to induce the syndrome often fail to capture the suite of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that characterize depression. An experimental paradigm for triggering depressive symptoms can improve our etiological understanding of the syndrome. The present study attempts to induce core symptoms of depression, particularly those related to rumination, in a healthy, nonclinical sample through a controlled social experiment. These symptoms are sad or depressed mood, anhedonia, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and difficulty concentrating. One hundred and thirty-four undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either an exclusion (E) or control (C) group. Participants in the exclusion group were exposed to a modified Cyberball paradigm, designed to make them feel socially excluded, followed by a dual-interference task to assess whether their exclusion interfered with their working memory. Excluded participants: (a) self-reported a significant increase in sadness and decrease in happiness, but not anxiety or calmness; (b) scored significantly higher in four of five variables related to depressive rumination; and (c) performed significantly worse on a dual-interference task, suggesting an impaired ability to concentrate. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).