Ups and Downs of Daily Life: Age Effects on the Impact of Daily Appraisal Variability on Depressive Symptoms.

Ups and Downs of Daily Life: Age Effects on the Impact of Daily Appraisal Variability on Depressive Symptoms.

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2013 Apr 2;
Whitehead BR, Bergeman CS

Objectives.Day-to-day variability in appraisals has emerged as an index of emotion regulation and overall well-being; there is also evidence that such emotion regulation processes change with age. We investigate the impact of day-to-day variability in positive and negative event appraisals on depressive symptoms, focusing on (a) how variability and mean appraisal characteristics interact to impact well-being and (b) whether these effects differ by age. METHODS: Participants from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-Being (aged 40-75 years, N = 654) completed daily diaries for up to 56 days, along with a global survey. Measures included daily data on life events and appraisals and global assessments of depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale) and neuroticism. RESULTS: Both mean and variability components of daily positive and negative event appraisals predict global depressive symptoms; mean and variability interactions were also significant. The negative appraisal effects became less pronounced with age.Discussion.Findings suggest that those in later life are better able to manage the impact that their cognitive and emotional responses to daily stressors have on depressive symptoms. The results also highlight the importance of examining daily variability-in addition to mean levels-in understanding the impact of daily events and appraisals on well-being. HubMed – depression

DISC1 genetics, biology and psychiatric illness.

Front Biol. 2013 Feb 1; 8(1): 1-31
Thomson PA, Malavasi EL, Grünewald E, Soares DC, Borkowska M, Millar JK

Psychiatric disorders are highly heritable, and in many individuals likely arise from the combined effects of genes and the environment. A substantial body of evidence points towards DISC1 being one of the genes that influence risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, and functional studies of DISC1 consequently have the potential to reveal much about the pathways that lead to major mental illness. Here, we review the evidence that DISC1 influences disease risk through effects upon multiple critical pathways in the developing and adult brain. HubMed – depression

Cardiovascular fitness and serious depression in adulthood.

Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Apr; 202: 310-1
Stampfer HG

HubMed – depression

Effect of psychosocial interventions on social functioning in depression and schizophrenia: meta-analysis.

Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Apr; 202: 253-60
De Silva MJ, Cooper S, Li HL, Lund C, Patel V

Psychosocial interventions may contribute to reducing the burden of mental disorders in low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries by improving social functioning, but the evidence has not been systematically reviewed.Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of psychosocial interventions on social functioning in people with depression and schizophrenia in LAMI countries.Studies were identified through database searching up to March 2011. Randomised controlled trials were included if they compared the intervention group with a control group receiving placebo or treatment as usual. Random effects meta-analyses were performed separately for depressive disorders and schizophrenia and for each intervention type.Of the studies that met the inclusion criteria (n = 24), 21 had sufficient data to include in the meta-analysis. Eleven depression trials showed good evidence for a moderate positive effect of psychosocial interventions on social functioning (standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.46, 95% CI 0.24-0.69, n = 4009) and ten schizophrenia trials showed a large positive effect on social functioning (SMD = 0.84, 95% CI 0.49-1.19, n = 1671), although seven of these trials were of low quality. Excluding these did not substantially affect the size or direction of effect, although the precision of the estimate was substantially reduced (SMD = 0.89, 95% CI 0.05-1.72, n = 863).Psychosocial interventions delivered in out-patient and primary care settings are effective at improving social functioning in people with depression and should be incorporated into efforts to scale up services. For schizophrenia there is an absence of evidence from high-quality trials and the generalisabilty of the findings is limited by the over-representation of trials conducted in populations of hospital patients in China. More high-quality trials of psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia delivered in out-patient settings are needed. HubMed – depression

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