Clinical Neuropsychiatry最新文献

Objective: Evidence on the efficacy of social skills training for adolescents with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is unclear.

Method: We searched Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science until July 27th, 2023, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of social skills training for pre-adolescents and adolescents (aged 9-18) with Level 1 ASD. We then pooled data on efficacy from individual RCTs by conducting multivariate mixed-effects meta-analyses in R. We estimated possible bias in the retained RCTs using the RoB2 tool.

Results: We retained 36 RCTs (encompassing 2796 participants), including 18 RCTs comparing an experimental treatment to a waiting list, and 18 RCTs comparing it to standard care/control treatment. Meta-analyses showed that experimental treatments were significantly more efficacious than waiting list or standard care/ control treatments in improving social skills (SMD = 0.3745; 95%CI = [0.2396; 0.5093]), as well as reducing behavioral symptoms (0.3154;0.1783, 0.4525) and anxious/depressive symptoms (0.2780; 0.0432, 0.5128). However, for some outcomes there was significant heterogeneity across studies and evidence of publication bias. Subgroup analyses and meta-regressions did not identify any specific clinical or demographic factors as significant predictors of outcome. The most common risk of bias across studies was related to deviations from intended interventions and measurement of the outcomes.

Conclusions: At the group level, social skills training for adolescents with Level 1 ASD is efficacious, with small-to-moderate effect size. Future research should focus on personalized medicine approaches, aimed at tailoring interventions to specific characteristics of adolescents with Level 1 ASD.

Objective: Muscle dysmorphia (MD) refers to a pathological preoccupation with the idea that one's body is not lean and muscular enough. Literature suggests that vulnerable facet of narcissism and perfectionism are strongly related to the risk of developing MD symptoms. However, until now, there is a paucity of research exploring their relationship, which is the primary aim of this study.

Method: Participants were 135 gym-going Turkish males (Mage=24.99, SD=5.38; range=18-43 years) who completed a packet of self-report questionnaires.

Results: Out of the sample, 51 (37.8%) were at risk for MD. A mediation model analysis revealed that vulnerable narcissism has an indirect relationship with the MD risk that is likely to be expressed via perfectionism.

Conclusions: Our results showed a higher risk for MD among gym-going males and provided new insight into MD's understanding. It appears that a narcissistic flaw and perfectionistic traits may be particularly salient factors to consider in both preventing and treating MD symptomatology within high-risk populations.

Objective: Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) impacts cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of Executive Functions trainings to support daily-living skills in several clinical populations. However, although the relationship between Executive Functions and BIF has been studied, few studies have explored the effects of cognitive enhancement training for BIF children. Given the pivotal significance of Executive Functions in learning, orchestrating cognitive processes, and modulating affective and behavioral responses, our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive enhancement training targeting Executive Functions in a group of 23 children diagnosed with Borderline Intellectual Functioning devoid of neurodevelopmental impairments.

Method: We included a multiple assessment based on several informants (children, teachers, parents, and tutors) and provided individualized cognitive enhancement training focused on Executive Functions through both digital and analog activities. The training was highly customized, structured and monitored at various stages of the process activities. The training was composed of 20 sessions, each lasting 2 hours, held twice a week for each child.

Results: The obtained results confirmed the efficacy of cognitive enhancement training in improving Executive Functions, the primary target of the intervention, particularly in attention, verbal fluency, planning, inhibitory control, working memory, and flexibility. Furthermore, improvements were observed by all the informants in other cognitive functions, learning, and adaptive behaviors.

Conclusions: Our study contributes to the understanding of BIF, emphasizing the efficacy of neuropsychological enhancement through personalized training for EF.

Objective: Research on the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has pointed out that lockdowns had small effects on the overall mental health, despite considerable heterogeneity among studies is present. Psychological resilience may be responsible for an amount of variance in individual reactions to the pandemic, despite the fact that its longitudinal associations with mental health symptoms remain unclear. This study sought to investigate changes in resilience and its relationships with depression, anxiety, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: A total of 814 participated in this longitudinal study via an online survey during the first lockdown consequent to the COVID-19 pandemic (T1) and during the third wave (T2). The Resilience Scale and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales - 21 were administered. Sociodemographic data and COVID-19 related information were also collected.

Results: Psychological resilience decreased during the third wave of the pandemic, whereas depression and stress increased. Moreover, psychological resilience had a direct effect only on depression during the third wave, while its effect on anxiety and stress is mediated by the mental health during the first lockdown.

Conclusions: The mental health symptoms worsened during the third wave, while protective factors such as resilience decreased. Individuals showing high resilience experienced lower depression, anxiety, and stress over time. Psychological intervention that enhances resilience should be embraced in the action of health care authorities to reduce the impact of pandemic.

Objective: Online shopping has been described by the scientific literature both for its benefits and the potential risks when excessive usage is involved. Indeed, compulsive online shopping is commonly conceptualized as a potential behavioural addiction that substantially impacts the lives of individuals afflicted by it. In light of this, the present research aimed at exploring the association between possible risk and protective factors for compulsive online shopping, by specifically exploring the role of adult attachment, affect dysregulation, and dissociation.

Method: 285 participants (75% females, 25% males; M_age = 31.57, SD = 11.379) were involved in the research and completed an online survey. The collected data was analysed implementing a path analysis model.

Results: Results showed significant total effects in the relationship between secure/fearful attachment patterns and compulsive online shopping. Such associations were significantly mediated by the sequential effect of affect dysregulation and dissociation.

Conclusions: The present study provides useful information to guide tailored interventions concerning both preventive activity and clinical practice.

Objective: It is known from earlier literature that substance use is associated with diminished executive functioning and decreased quality of life (QoL). The study extended this knowledge by assessing whether selective executive function components would mediate the association between age and QoL domains in young men with substance use disorder and whether family history of substance use would moderate these mediated associations.

Method: A sample of 212 young inpatient men with substance use disorder (105 positive family history and 107 negative family history of substance use disorder) was selected from drug units/wards of government sector hospitals.

Results: The participants with positive family history compared to those with negative family history scored significantly lower on all QoL domains except physical QoL. Mediation analyses revealed that only inhibition but not flexibility mediated the negative association of age with psychological, social, and environmental QoL. Furthermore, family history of substance use moderated all the significant mediated associations with stronger indirect negative associations in participants having a family history of substance use disorder compared to those with no such history.

Conclusions: It is concluded that inhibitory control, which is vulnerable to aging, substance use, and family history of substance use, is an important factor related to QoL in young substance abuser men.

Objective: Transference is a psychological process where feelings and attitudes towards a familiar person are unconsciously redirected to another. This phenomenon can be activated by physical resemblance, including facial features. Despite its potential therapeutic significance, little research has investigated transference processes in individuals with psychiatric conditions. Here, we explored how patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD)-characterized, among other features, by unstable relationships, self-damaging impulsivity, and suicidal ideation-would exhibit transference of negative and positive attributes.

Method: We performed an experiment where BPD participants and a control group with no prior psychiatric history completed a face-rating task. The task involved an evaluation of images of strangers who resembled significant others in terms of facial features.

Results: Our results indicated that transference effects were elicited in both groups. Notably, there were significant differences in ratings assigned to significant others, whereby participants with BPD displayed transference of negative attributes more and positive attributes less intensely than healthy controls, which, in part, correlated with attachment anxiety.

Conclusions: Our findings align with the tendency in BPD to perceive interpersonal relationships and emotions more negatively. They have potential implications for psychotherapeutic approaches in treating patients with BPD and our understanding of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of BPD itself.

Objective: Resilience is a complex process of adaptation to new conditions that would permit a positive outcome after adversities, traumas or other sources of stress. However, despite the growing interest in this topic, there is no universally accepted definition and no comprehensive bio-behavioural model. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of the main biological models that have been theorized to date, with a focus on new alternative theories to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development and strengthening of resilience, with potential implications for the prevention of some psychopathological disorders.

Method: This review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines and includes 185 studies published in English in PubMed and Embase up to December 2023.

Results: Most studies use the stress-related model, which conceptualizes resilience as the absence of symptoms after the stressful event and mainly deal with the differences between stress-prone and resilient phenotypes in animals exposed to stress. However, the results of this search seem to suggest that resilience might be an independent construct with biological bases rooted in the stress system and the social brain, and widely sculptured by individual and environmental factors, especially early life events and affiliation.

Conclusions: This work contributes to ongoing efforts to understand the intricate mechanisms of resilience, while highlighting the potential of improving social relationships since our birth to promote coping strategies towards stress and traumas, and even a peaceful world.