Journal of affective disorders
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This study examined functioning of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis, a neurobiological stress system centrally implicated in depression, as a predictor of treatment response to Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A; Mufson et al., 2004. Interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents. (second ed.). New York, Guilford Press). ⋯ This is the first study to examine HPA functioning as a predictor of depressed adolescents' response to a psychotherapeutic intervention. If replicated with larger samples, these results have important implications for advancing the use of neurobiological markers to personalize psychotherapeutic interventions for depressed adolescents.
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Studies investigating major depression and associated factors in older people from developing countries are scarce. ⋯ Our study shows significant association between depression and potentially modifiable factors, reinforcing the benefit of probable preventive measures, to incentive healthy lifestyle, leisure activities and the practice of physical exercise, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of CSDS, especially in primary care.
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Genetic factors are important in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following exposure to traumatic events. However, the molecular genetic underpinnings of this disorder remain largely unresolved. The present study investigated the association between ADCYAP1R1 rs2267735 genotype and PTSD symptoms in a highly traumatized sample of Chinese adults. ⋯ The findings suggest that the PACAP-PAC1 receptor pathway may play an important role in female human responses to traumatic stress, and carry implications for better understanding and treating of posttraumatic psychopathology.
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Depression is associated with problems in social functioning. Impaired empathic abilities might underlie this association. Empathy is a multidimensional construct and involves both affective and cognitive processes. We reviewed the literature to find out to what extent depression may be associated with abnormal levels of affective and cognitive empathy. We also explored potential gender differences in these associations. ⋯ Empathic abilities may be impaired in depression. The relation between empathy, depression, and gender is unclear. Future studies could use implicit and more ecologically valid measures of empathy. Insight into impaired empathy in depression may not only help explain poor social functioning in MDD but also benefit clinician-patient interactions.
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Ample evidence has suggested the presence of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) abnormalities in bipolar disorder (BD) patients, including pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD). However, little research has been done in PBD patients that carefully classify the mood states. The aim of the present study is to investigate the brain structural changes in PBD-mania children and adolescents. ⋯ Our findings highlighted that extensive brain structural lesions (including GM and WM) were existed in PBD-mania. The widespread occurrence of structural abnormalities mainly located in the anterior limbic network (ALN) which suggested that this network might contribute to emotional and cognitive dysregulations in PBD.