Look on the Bright Side: Progress in Defining and Treating Depression and Diabetes.
Look on the bright side: progress in defining and treating depression and diabetes.
Diabetes Forecast. 2013 Apr; 66(4): 26-8
Gebel E
Rapid screening for perceived cognitive impairment in major depressive disorder.
Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2013 May; 25(2): 135-40
Iverson GL, Lam RW
Subjectively experienced cognitive impairment is common in patients with mood disorders. The British Columbia Cognitive Complaints Inventory (BC-CCI) is a 6-item scale that measures perceived cognitive problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability of the scale in healthy volunteers and depressed patients and to evaluate the sensitivity of the measure to perceived cognitive problems in depression.Participants were 62 physician-diagnosed inpatients or outpatients with depression, who had independently confirmed diagnoses on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and a large sample of healthy community volunteers (n=112).The internal consistency reliability of the BC-CCI was ?=.86 for patients with depression and ?=.82 for healthy controls. Principal components analyses revealed a one-factor solution accounting for 54% of the total variability in the control sample and a 2-factor solution (cognitive impairment and difficulty with expressive language) accounting for 76% of the variance in the depression sample. The total score difference between the groups was very large (Cohen’s d=2.2).The BC-CCI has high internal consistency in both depressed patients and community controls, despite its small number of items. The test is sensitive to cognitive complaints in patients with depression. HubMed – depression
Is there a relationship between age at menarche and clinical and temperamental characteristics in bipolar disorder?
Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2013 May; 25(2): 121-4
Kesebir S, Ya?an ?air B, Unübol B, Tatl?dil Yaylac? E
This study investigated whether age at menarche in women with bipolar disorder (BD) is different from that in healthy women and if there is a relationship between age at menarche and clinical and temperamental characteristics of BD.We consecutively evaluated 126 euthymic women diagnosed with BD according to DSM-IV. The healthy control group comprised 100 individuals of similar mean age and socioeconomic level. After the diagnostic interview, BD patients completed the Mood Disorders Diagnosis and Follow-Up Form and Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire.Age at menarche in BD patients was similar to that in controls. A strong inverse correlation was found between age at menarche and total duration of depressive episodes (r = -0.532). In BD patients, an inverse correlation has been found between age at menarche and depressive and cyclothymic temperament scores (r = -0.384 and r = -0.421). However, a strong correlation has been found between age at menarche and irritable temperament scores (r = 0.488).Age at menarche is associated with the clinical course of BD. Moreover, age at menarche seems to be associated with traits related to mood. HubMed – depression
Alexithymia, emotional empathy, and self-regulation in anorexia nervosa.
Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2013 May; 25(2): 107-20
Beadle JN, Paradiso S, Salerno A, McCormick LM
Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) who are starved have poor awareness (alexithymia), reduced understanding of others’ mental states (cognitive empathy), and difficulty regulating personal emotions (self-regulation). Despite its important role in social interaction, sympathy for others (emotional empathy) has not been measured in AN. Furthermore, it is unknown how restoring weight affects the relationship among alexithymia, empathy, and self-regulation in AN.Women with AN were tested longitudinally during their starvation period (N = 26) and after weight was restored (N = 20) and compared with 16 age-matched healthy women. Alexithymia, empathy, and self-regulation were assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and items measuring self-regulation from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, respectively.Relative to comparison participants, individuals with AN during both starvation and weight restoration reported greater alexithymia and emotional empathy in one domain, personal distress (vicarious negative arousal to others’ suffering). Among AN participants, personal distress was positively correlated with alexithymia and negatively correlated with self-regulation, when accounting for depression.High levels of alexithymia and personal distress may be persistent features of AN because they do not resolve upon weight restoration. Greater personal distress in AN may be a function of poor emotional awareness and regulation. HubMed – depression