Journal of affective disorders最新文献

Background: Preterm birth (PB) is prevalent and associated with structural and functional brain alterations which may affect cognitive and behavioural outcomes, including social development. Facial emotion recognition (FER) is one of the main components of social interaction. PB individuals face distinct FER challenges that may impact social skills. Furthermore, both FER and social skills have shown distinctive developmental trajectories in PB individuals compared to term born controls. This study investigates the association between FER and social skills in PB individuals compared to term-born controls.

Objectives: To systematically review and meta-analyse relevant literature on the association between FER and social skills and to summarize the reported differences in FER and social skills between PB individuals and term-born controls of similar age.

Method: a systematic search of peer-reviewed and English written studies was performed in MEDLINE, Web of Science and CINAHL, with an additional forward and backward citation search. Eligible studies included any observational study that had a term-born control sample of similar age with reported FER and social skills measures and/or correlations between them. Quality assessment and data extraction was carried out. Correlation coefficients and Hedges' g for FER and social skills were calculated as effect size indexes. Random effects model and subgroup analysis considering gestational age and age at assessment was performed. Results were summarized using forest plots. I² statistics and Cochran's Q were used to test for heterogeneity.

Results: 8 studies were included (PB = 410, controls =337). Only 3 studies explored the correlation between FER and social skills. The review found a higher correlation between FER and social skills in the PB group (Z = 0.18, CI = -0.03, 0.39) compared to controls (Z = 0.11, CI = -0.03, 0.25). FER was significantly lower in PB individuals (overall g = -1.48; 95%IC = -2.46, -0-5), particularly in very preterm and adolescent subgroups.

Discussion: FER might play a crucial role in the social development of PB individuals compared to those born at term, but existing research in this domain remains limited.

Background: Social capital is dynamic; however, little is known about the association of its dynamics with peri-pandemic health. We examined the longitudinal association of pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital trajectories with peri-COVID-19 depressive symptoms and the moderating effect of province-level COVID-19 severity on the association in China.

Methods: We employed four-wave data from China Family Panel Studies between 2014 and 2020. Depressive symptoms in 2020 were measured by the 8-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale. Pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital from 2014 to 2018 included dichotomized (high/low) generalized trust, trust in neighbors, trust in local government officials, and reciprocity, each of which included five trajectories: persistently low, decreased, fluctuated, increased, and persistently high. Province-level COVID-19 severity in 2020 was a factor score constructed by the number of provincial COVID-19 cases and deaths. We conducted mixed-effects linear regression to answer our research questions.

Results: Persistently low generalized trust (β: 0.46; 95 % CI: 0.15,0.78), persistently low (β: 0.57; 95 % CI: 0.22, 0.92), decreased (β: 0.36; 95 % CI: 0.07, 0.65) and increased (β: 0.40; 95 % CI: 0.12, 0.68) trust in neighbors, and persistently low (β: 0.39; 95 % CI: 0.02, 0.77) and decreased (β: 0.68; 95 % CI: 0.38, 0.97) reciprocity, compared with their persistently high trajectories, were associated with a higher level of peri-COVID-19 depressive symptoms. We did not find robust evidence to support the moderating effect of province-level COVID-19 severity.

Conclusions: Long-term strategies to increase cognitive social capital and prevent cognitive social capital decline are needed to protect mental health against a pandemic.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur early in life and can have lasting effects on health and well-being. Previous research has linked ACEs to substance use in adulthood, but there is limited research on the underlying mechanisms or pathways of this relationship. This study explores whether depression mediates the relationship between ACEs and current substance use among U.S. adults.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 30,978). Generalized Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the links between ACEs, cigarette, e-cigarette, and marijuana use while adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Approximately 71 % of respondents reported experiencing at least one ACE. The findings show that depressive disorders mediate the relationship between ACEs and current substance use among U.S. adults. There was a significant indirect effect of ACEs on current cigarette use (OR = 1.13, 95 % CI [1.10, 1.16]), e-cigarette use (OR = 1.17, 95 % CI [1.12-1.22]), and marijuana use (OR = 1.22, 95 % CI [1.13, 1.33]) through the mediator of depressive disorders. Additionally, the most pronounced effects were found among those aged 18-24 years for cigarette use (OR = 1.32, 95 % CI [1.11, 1.56]), e-cigarette use (OR = 1.22 [1.09, 1.36]), and especially marijuana use (OR = 1.52 [1.18, 1.96]).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that depression may be a key pathway from negative experiences during childhood to certain types of substance use in adulthood, particularly among young adults.

Background: Human body odors (BOs) serve as an effective means of social communication, with individuals exposed to emotional BOs experiencing a partial replication of the sender's affective state. This phenomenon may be particularly relevant in conditions where social interactions are impaired, such as social anxiety. Our study aimed to investigate if emotional human BOs could augment the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions.

Methods: We enrolled 48 women with social anxiety symptoms and assigned them to groups exposed to happiness BO, fear BO, or clean air. Participants engaged in mindfulness practice over two consecutive days, which included breathing, meditation, and relaxation exercises. During these interventions, the odor specific to each group was presented. Affective symptoms were assessed at the beginning and end of each day, with heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance level (SCL) recorded during the intervention.

Results: Self-reported anxiety level revealed a significant reduction in anxiety on the second day for both happiness and fear conditions, but not for the clean air group. However, on a physiological level, fear BO exposure compared to clean air led to decreased HRV, indicating that fear BO may induce a less physiological relaxed state. No significant differences were observed in SCL between odor conditions.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that exposure to BOs triggers the perception of a "social presence", improving the ecological validity of a psychological treatment. If replicated and expanded, these findings could pave the way for using BOs as catalysts in existing therapies.

Background: Recently, we showed that Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) is effective in improving clinical symptoms in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Here, we investigated whether the effect of MIT on clinical features is associated to microstructural changes in brain circuits supporting core BPD symptoms.

Methods: Forty-seven BPD were randomized to MIT or structured clinical management, and underwent a clinical assessment and diffusion-weighted imaging before and after the intervention. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean, radial, and axial diffusivities maps were computed using FSL toolbox. Microstructural changes were assessed (i) voxel-wise, with tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) and (ii) ROI-wise, in the triple network system (default mode, salience, and executive control networks). The effect of MIT on brain microstructure was assessed with paired tests using FSL PALM (voxel-wise), Linear Mixed-Effect Models or Generalized Linear Mixed Models (ROI-wise). Associations between microstructural and clinical changes were explored with linear regression (voxel-wise) and correlations (ROI-wise).

Results: The voxel-wise analysis showed that MIT was associated with increased FA in the bilateral thalamic radiation and left associative tracts (p < .050, family-wise error rate corrected). At network system level, MIT increased FA and both interventions reduced AD in the executive control network (p = .05, uncorrected).

Limitations: The DTI metrics can't clarify the nature of axonal changes.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that MIT modulates brain structural connectivity in circuits related to associative and executive control functions. These microstructural changes may denote activity-dependent plasticity, possibly representing a neurobiological mechanism underlying MIT effects.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.govNCT02370316 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02370316).

Background: Mixed depression (MXD), defined as (hypo)manic symptoms occurring within major depressive episodes, is common in both bipolar and unipolar disorders, but its prognostic and treatment implications remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the relationship between hypomanic symptoms, treatment response and remission of suicidal thoughts.

Methods: We analyzed 1243 adults with major depressive disorder (MDD), recruited for a naturalistic study on treatment-resistant depression. Data were gathered cross-sectionally and retrospectively through structured interviews and clinical rating scales including the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS); statistical analyses were performed using univariate and multivariate methods.

Results: Hypomanic symptoms were present in 651 patients (45 %), while 307 patients (25 %) responded to treatment. Both treatment responders (p < 0.0001) and those who achieved remission from suicide ideation (p = 0.0085) showed lower hypomanic (YMRS) scores. Multivariate analysis showed that hypomanic symptoms were negatively linked to treatment response (O.R. 0.71-0.87), while bipolar spectrum markers such as age at illness onset (O.R. 1.00-1.03) and MDD recurrence (O.R. 0.47-0.89) predicted remission from suicidal thoughts. Medications commonly used to treat bipolar disorder showed some benefits, with dopamine/serotonin antagonists improving suicide ideation (p < 0.0001) and mood stabilizers being associated with reduced hypomanic symptoms (p = 0.0003).

Limitations: The study lacked prospective clinical assessments and treatment randomization.

Conclusion: Hypomanic symptoms are common in unipolar depression; their assessment is essential to identify challenging-to-treat cases and select the best pharmacological options.

Background: Compared to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), source localization of a scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) provides higher temporal resolution and frequency synchronization to better understand the potential neurophysiological origins of disrupted functional connectivity (FC) in major depressive disorder (MDD). The present study aimed to investigate EEG-sourced measures to examine the FC in drug-free patients with MDD.

Method: Resting-state 32-channel EEG were recorded in 84 drug-free patients with MDD and 143 healthy controls, and the cortical source signals were estimated. Exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA) was used to compute the intracortical activity from regions within the default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (PFN). Lagged phase synchronization was used as a measure of functional connectivity.

Results: Compared with control subjects, the MDD group showed greater within-DMN alpha 1 and 2 bands and within-FPN alpha 1, 2, and beta 3 bands. Furthermore, the MDD group showed hyperconnectivity between the DMN and the FPN in the alpha 1 and 2 bands. Finally, higher levels of anhedonia were associated with higher between-network DMN and FPN connectivity in the alpha-1 band.

Limitations: Due to the inherent limitations of eLORETA with predefined seeds, we could not exclude connectivity between regions of interest (ROIs), which may be related to the activity from regions adjacent to the ROIs.

Conclusions: The present findings support the importance of phase-lagged functional dysconnectivity in the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying MDD. Exploring the potential of these patterns as surrogates for treatment responses may advance targeted interventions for depression.

Background: Prospective and cross-sectional studies have reported an association between functional gastrointestinal disorders and anxiety and depression. However, the causal relationship remains uncertain. To clarify this, we utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the causal effects of common gastrointestinal disorders on cortical structures.

Methods: Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data was gathered for functional dyspepsia (FD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) from European populations numbering 329,262, 16,792, and 602,604, respectively. GWAS cerebral cortical architecture data for cortical thickness (TH) and surface area (SA) were obtained from 51,665 MRI scans. MR was used to analyze the casual relationship between FD, IBS, GERD, and cortical structures. Inverse-variance weighted, weighted median, and MR-Egger tests were performed as assessment indicators. We also evaluated heterogeneity and pleiotropy.

Results: FD significantly decreases the TH in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (β_TH = -0.022 mm; 95%CI: -0.035 mm to -0.009 mm²; P_TH = 6.89 × 10^-4), and IBS significantly decreases the SA of the pars triangularis (β_SA = -21.91 mm²; 95%CI: -32.99 mm to -10.83 mm²; P_SA = 1.06 × 10^-4), precuneus (β_SA = -47.53 mm²; 95%CI: -73.57 mm to-21.48 mm²; P_SA = 3.48 × 10^-4) and superior frontal regions (β_SA = -78.70 mm²; 95%CI: -122.61 mm to -34.78 mm²; P_SA = 4.4 × 10^-4). At the local functional level, GERD significantly increases the SA of the inferior temporal region (β_SA = -113.58 mm², 95%CI: -113.58 mm to -39.01 mm², P_SA = 6.05 × 10^-5).

Conclusions: FD, IBS and GERD can affect the cerebral cortex architecture through the brain-gut axis, potentially increasing the risks of mental illness and cognitive impairment.

Background: The intricate role of pain in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) makes the investigation of alterations in brain function during pain processing a critical yet underexplored topic. The aim of this study was to investigate fNIRS correlates of experimental pain and how these differed between adolescent patients engaging in NSSI and healthy controls.

Methods: 154 adolescent patients with NSSI and 48 healthy controls underwent a heat pain stimulation with linearly increasing temperature from 32 °C to max. 50 °C, during which fNIRS activity was recorded. Associations between fNIRS activity and pain perception (i.e. pain threshold, pain tolerance and pain intensity) were examined using linear mixed models and linear regression analyses.

Results: Across groups, we found a decrease in prefrontal oxygenation during increasing pain stimulation: Oxygenated hemoglobin was higher during baseline than during pain threshold (b = -0.36, p < .001) and higher during pain threshold than during pain tolerance (b = -0.10, p < .001). We did not find differential patterns of prefrontal oxygenation across the pain assessment between patients and healthy controls. Also, no association between pain intensity and fNIRS activity was found.

Limitations: fNIRS was only recorded in prefrontal regions and our design did not include a non-painful stimulation as a control condition.

Conclusion: While our study adds to the understanding of prefrontal hemodynamic changes associated with pain processing, it did not contribute further evidence to the few existing findings regarding altered neural processing of pain in adolescents engaging in NSSI.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the prospective associations between four types of perceived discrimination (country of origin, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and weight) and the development of manic symptoms in a diverse, nationwide sample of adolescents aged 9-14 years in the U.S.

Methods: We analyzed prospective cohort data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 7466; ages 9-14 years at Year 1 or 2 in 2017-2020; 48.5 % female; 39.4 % racial/ethnic minority). Multiple zero-inflated negative binomial analyses were conducted to examine the associations between Year 1 or 2 discrimination (by country of origin, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, weight, sum score), and Year 3 manic symptoms (7 Up Mania scale), adjusting for covariates (age, sex, race and ethnicity, household income, parental education, sipping alcohol, puffing tobacco, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, Year 1 manic symptoms, and study site).

Results: After adjusting for covariates, perceived discrimination based on country of origin (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.46; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.15-1.86), sexual orientation (IRR = 1.36; 95 % CI 1.21-1.53), race and ethnicity (IRR = 1.28; 95 % CI 1.13-1.46), weight (IRR = 1.21 95 % CI 1.09-1.34), and sum scores (IRR = 1.18 5 % CI 1.12-1.24), were significantly associated with higher manic symptoms.

Conclusion: Perceived discrimination based on country of origin, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, weight, and sum scores, are prospectively associated with greater manic symptoms in adolescents. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address discrimination and associated psychological impacts. Efforts to reduce discrimination and to support affected adolescents are important components of comprehensive mental health care and public health strategies.