Journal of affective disorders
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Lifetime rates of depression are distinctly higher in women reflecting both real and artefactual influences. Most prevalence studies quantifying a female preponderance have examined severity-based diagnostic groups such as major depression or dysthymia. We examined gender differences across three depressive sub-type conditions using four differing measures to determine whether any gender differences emerge more from severity or symptom prevalence, reflect nuances of the particular measure, or whether depressive sub-type is influential. ⋯ The study had considerable power reflecting large sample sizes and thus risks assigning significant differences where none truly exist, although we repeated analyses after controlling for the type I error rate.
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Integration of depression screening into primary care may increase access to mental health services in sub-Saharan Africa, but this approach requires validated screening instruments. We sought to validate the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a depression screening tool at a high HIV-burden primary care clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa. ⋯ This is the first validation study of the PHQ-9 in a primary care clinic in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the potential for using primary care as an access point for identifying depressive symptoms during routine HIV testing. The PHQ-9 showed reasonable accuracy in classifying cases of depression, was easily implemented by lay health workers, and is a useful screening tool in this setting.
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Low IQ is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicide attempt in adults, but less is known about the relationship between IQ and aspects of suicidal/self-harm behaviours in adolescence. ⋯ In contrast to previous studies of IQ-suicide associations in adults, we found that higher IQ was associated with an increased risk of non-suicidal self-harm in male and female adolescents and suicidal thoughts in males. Associations of IQ with self-harm differed for self-harm with and without suicidal intent, suggesting that the aetiology of these behaviours may differ.
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Most first lifetime episodes among persons eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder are depressive, often with years of delay to a final differentiation from unipolar major depression. To support early differentiation, we tested several predictive factors for association with later diagnoses of bipolar disorder. ⋯ In multivariate modeling, 7 factors were significantly and independently associated with bipolar disorder diagnosed up to 13 years after initial depression.
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The aim was to examine the prevalence and consequences of co-occurring insomnia and hypersomnia symptoms in depressed adults drawn from a representative sample of the U.S. population. ⋯ Co-occurring insomnia and hypersomnia symptoms were associated with a more severe MDE. Further research is warranted to more fully understand the joint presentation of insomnia and hypersomnia in depression.