Clinical Neuropsychiatry最新文献

Objective: Atypical depression (AD) is a clinical subtype of depression characterised by mood reactivity and at least two of the following features: significant weight gain/increased appetite, hypersomnia, leaden paralysis, and/or interpersonal rejection sensitivity. The role of genetics in the development of depression remains a considerable level of interest among individuals. Due to the large number of breakthrough studies in genetics, there is currently a wealth of heterogeneous data on the existence of genetic markers for depression, including AD. However, it appears that there is a gap in the literature, as we were unable to identify any systematic reviews or meta-analyses that comprehensively describe these data. Therefore, our research aims to provide high-quality, solid evidence for further studies in this area.

Method: Electronic bibliographic databases (Scopus, MEDLINE) were systematically searched from inception to September 2023. We searched for any specific genetic markers that could be retrieved associated with AD. The quality of studies has been assessed by means of the Q-genie tool.

Results: Nine studies meeting the inclusion criteria were selected, which appeared to link genetic polymorphisms to atypical depression. Four studies examined genetic polymorphisms associated with the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT), three studies examined genetic polymorphisms associated with endocrine regulation, two studies considered genetic polymorphisms associated with immune and/or cellular regulation, specifically the melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 (MCHR2), mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), and fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) genes involved in the regulation of energy balance.

Conclusions: The extracted data confirm that the atypical type of major depressive disorder is heritable to a certain extent. Individual risk markers for developing this type of depression may be identified in the future.

Objective: The significance of the psychotherapeutic relationship in promoting psychotherapeutic change is widely recognized. In this paper, we contribute to the relational orientation of psychotherapy through a transtheoretical exploration of safety. We aimed to identify and integrate those relational and change-promoting principles and aspects of safety that are school-independent.

Method: We conducted an overview and synthesis of the clinical-theoretical and empirical literature that we believe has significantly addressed the role of safety in regulating change-promoting therapeutic relationships.

Results: The relational and change-promoting aspects of safety form a dynamic system involving the therapist, the client, and the relationship. These interact, influence each other, and perform multiple homeostatic functions: they allow to resist change, assimilate small changes that do not disrupt the client's way of functioning, regulate major changes that disrupt and alter the client's way of functioning, and regulate adjustments in the way the therapist and client work together. From an integrative-relational perspective, a safe therapist is a precondition for co-creating a safe environment. This establishes trust and fosters an affective bond that provides additional sources of safety for the therapeutic relationship and the client. To promote change, however, the relational aspects of safety need to be fine-tuned (calibrated and personalized) for each therapy in terms of intensity, duration, timing, scope, and sources, accommodating developmental, individual, and situational differences. Crucially, the safety of the therapist, the client, and the relationship must be neither perfect, steady, or static, but rather safe enough, adaptive, and dynamic, leaving space not only for self-discovery and self-awareness but also for the co-regulation of tolerable frustrations, disappointments, and insecurities that facilitate the client's resilience and adaptation.

Conclusions: Focusing on school-independent, safety-based relational principles and understanding how they evolve and adapt over time and across circumstances can make a significant contribution to the current relational orientation in psychotherapy. This has important implications for psychotherapy practice, training, and research.

Objective: The growth of videoconferencing psychotherapy (VP) requires a closer conceptualization of the therapeutic relationship in VP. Therefore, we investigated the therapeutic relationship in VP from the clinicians' perspective.

Method: We conducted three focus groups with 27 Italian VP professional psychotherapists of different theoretical orientations, focusing on their experience of the therapeutic relationship in VP. Data analysis was conducted through inductive thematic analysis.

Results: The following themes emerged: (a) construction and management of the online setting (regarding the complexity of the therapeutic boundaries in VP and the efforts to manage this); (b) meaning construction of the request for help and the therapeutic process (regarding how patients and therapist represent the meaning of the therapeutic space and work in VP); (c) patient and therapist involvement in the online relationship (addressing the depth of the therapeutic relationship in VP in terms of intimacy, openness/closure, distance/closeness, and involvement); (d) new elements of the therapeutic relationship introduced by VP (regarding the source and nature of information about the patient and the effects of the technical environment on the relationship); (e) nonverbal aspects and corporeality in VP (dealing with how different aspects of para- and extralinguistic communication may impact the therapeutic relationship in VP); (f) differences in the quality of the emotional and relational level of VP (regarding the emotional attitudes and reactions of patients and therapists and the overall quality of the therapeutic relationship); (g) treatment satisfaction and drop-out (regarding ease of leaving the session, patient satisfaction, and dificulties in terminating therapy); and (h) personal characteristics of patient and therapist that influence VP (regarding the impact of patients personality and therapists training/approach on the progress of VP).

Conclusions: Results suggest that the therapeutic relationship in VP has specific features that distinguish it from face-to-face psychotherapy. Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed.

Objective: Insomnia can be a contributing factor, a comorbid disorder, or a transdiagnostic element to several mental disorders, including mood disorders (MDs). A recent meta-analysis has already shown the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for insomnia that is comorbid with MDs. This work aimed to systematically review data on pharmacological insomnia treatment in the context of MDS. In agreement with the current guidelines, pharmacological interventions for insomnia include gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor agonists such as short-medium acting benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine receptor agonists - Z-drugs, melatonergic receptors agonists, specifically melatonin 2 mg Prolonged Release (PR) and ramelteon, and dual orexin receptors antagonists (DORA) such as daridorexant, lemborexant, and suvorexant.

Method: A systematic search was carried out on PUBMED database, according to the PRISMA Guidelines.

Results: Thirty-three papers, 15 on gabaergic receptor agonists, 14 on melatonergic receptor agonists and 4 on DORA, were selected.

Conclusions: Available data suggests that the treatment of insomnia symptoms with specific pharmacological options can improve both insomnia and comorbid conditions. Specifically, eszopiclone and melatonin 2 mg PR have demonstrated promising outcomes. Moreover, daridorexant and suvorexant, both belonging to the DORA class, have demonstrated efficacy in treating insomnia and mood symptoms. To summarize, current literature would suggest that targeting insomnia could potentially regulate the sleep system and, as such, improve mood symptoms.

Objective: Syncope is defined as a spontaneous and transient loss of consciousness and postural tone due to brief and reversible cerebral hypoperfusion. This review aimed to summarize the research findings regarding the psychological correlates associated with pediatric syncope. Moreover, the study aimed to deepen the understanding of the relationship between psychological disorders and the onset of syncopal episodes in childhood, focusing on clinical features and different clinical classifications.

Method: A systematic review was carried out from inception to January 2023, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, using the CINAHL Plus, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, MEDLINE, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection databases. The study search and selection were based on the Population Intervention Comparison Outcome Study Design (PICOS) strategy and the Quality Assessment was carried out using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) scales. A combination of keywords related to a) syncope; b) psycho*; and c) child* (Subjects) was used. Studies concerning epilepsy-related syncope were excluded.

Results: Overall, 912 records were identified. After excluding non-English, non-original, and duplicate studies, 579 records were selected for the title screening, 88 for the abstract screening, 37 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and a total of 14 were included. The Risk of Bias in the included studies was assessed and 78,6% of the studies satisfied robustness quality criteria. The findings highlighted that children and adolescents with syncope showed a higher rate of psychopathology as compared to the healthy and clinical controls. Furthermore, patients reported social withdrawal and poor quality of life.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that there is a robust relationship between psychopathology and syncope. Children and adolescents with syncope frequently report clinical symptoms related to emotional, relational, and psychosomatic dysregulation. Psychological assessment should be routinely included in the integrated care to identify potential targets for treatment and improve early differential diagnosis.

Objective: Our goal was to compare the original conceptualization of the alexithymia construct with the attention-appraisal model, focusing primarily on the removal of the reduced imaginal activity component, a seminal aspect of the construct in the original model. We also examined associations between alexithymia and emotional distress and emotion regulation, attachment, and trauma, and whether alexithymia is a transdiagnostic risk factor. We discuss differences between the models in the treatment of alexithymia and also differences in measurement.

Method: We conducted a narrative review of the scientific literature validating the original model of alexithymia and examined the comparatively few empirical studies evaluating the attention-appraisal model. Articles describing contemporary theoretical ideas about the relationship between imagination and emotion were reviewed, as well as studies exploring associations between alexithymia and imaginal activity.

Results: The attention-appraisal model of alexithymia is theoretically derived and examined empirically in studies using correlation/measurement-based methods that employed self-report measures with mostly non-clinical samples and conducted primarily by researchers led by developers of the model. The original model of alexithymia is derived from observations of patients in clinical settings; its validity is supported by findings from hundreds of empirical investigations spanning nearly four decades with nonclinical and a variety of clinical samples using both correlation-based and experimental studies and methods of measurement other than self-report, and by independent teams of researchers. The reduced imaginal activity component of the alexithymia construct is mostly supported by these studies.

Conclusions: Because of the dearth of studies with clinical samples, the absence of investigations by independent researchers, and the limited range of methods and measurements to evaluate and assess the model, there is insufficient evidence to warrant removal of the imaginal activity component of the alexithymia construct and for replacing the original conceptualization of the construct with the attention-appraisal model.

Objective: Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate if psychache and hopelessness may serve as reliable predictors of suicidal ideation among female fibromyalgia (FM) patients.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 women with FM, examining the relationship between psychological pain, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. FM diagnosis was confirmed by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Demographic data, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI 7.0.2), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Psychache Scale were utilized to assess these relationships and their predictive value for suicidality.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 50.2 years (±8.7). Thirty-two (64%) patients had current major depression, 11 (22%) had bipolar disorder, 20 (40%) presented passive suicidal ideation and 14 (28%) presented active suicidal ideation. Psychological pain correlated with both depressive symptoms (p<0.01; r= 0.648) and hopelessness (p=0.029; r=0.312) but did not predict suicidal ideation. Logistic regression analyses revealed depressive symptom severity as a predictor of passive suicidal ideation (odds ratio = 1.486; 95% CI: 1.017 - 2.170), while hopelessness predicted active suicidal ideation (odd ratio = 1.356; 95% CI, 1.049 - 1.753).

Conclusions: FM female patients showed increased prevalence of suicidal ideation. Hopelessness predicts active suicidal ideation but psychological pain did not serve as predictive factor for suicide ideation among female FM patients.

Objective: Emotional Dysregulation (ED) is characterized by the inability to manage emotions effectively, leading to maladaptive behaviors, and often co-occurs with psychiatric conditions carrying significant long-term consequences. Early diagnosis of ED is thus essential for targeted interventions. To address this need, we developed and validated the "Reactivity of Emotions in Adolescents: Caregivers' Tool" (REACT), a novel parent-rated questionnaire designed to assess ED in adolescents.

Method: The present study involved two samples, one drawn from the general population (n = 89 healthy controls from local schools) and the other composed of clinical patients (n = 76 adolescents with different psychiatric and/or neurodevelopmental conditions). Patients' diagnoses were confirmed through the clinical interview K-SADS-PL to explore the presence of any psychopathological conditions. Participants from both groups completed the RIPoSt-Y questionnaire, providing a measure of ED, while their parents filled out the ARI, measuring affective reactivity in youth. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were performed to refine the questionnaire's internal structure.

Results: The final REACT questionnaire consists of 55 items distributed across three subscales, namely Negative Emotionality, Irritability, and Excitability. Psychometric evaluation showed that these subscales demonstrated excellent internal consistency and strong construct validity, with clinical patients scoring higher on all subscales compared to healthy controls. The REACT questionnaire showed also high convergent validity by exhibiting significant positive correlations with established measures of ED.

Conclusions: This novel tool represents a valuable improvement in the assessment of ED in adolescence as it may facilitate tailored interventions to provide emotional well-being and long-term outcomes.

Objective: This systematic review summarises the studies that have investigated the relationship between dimensions of social cognition (i.e., Theory of Mind - ToM, emotion recognition, and empathy) and alexithymia in the general adult non-clinical population.

Method: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were screened, using the following strings: ("alexithymi*") AND ("theory of mind" OR "ToM"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("empath*"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("emotion recognition"); ("alexithymi*") AND ("social cognition").

Results: A total of 117 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The total number of participants included in the reviewed studies was 40,231. Mixed results were found for alexithymia and ToM, while the relationship between emotion recognition or empathy and alexithymia was more homogeneous. Alexithymia was found to be significantly associated with both a reduced ability to recognise emotions and empathy.

Conclusions: These results support the existence of significant relationships between alexithymia and altered social cognitive abilities. Future research is needed to confirm the present findings and further elucidate the complex relationship between these processes. Suggestions are made on how to overcome some of the theoretical and methodological problems in the literature.