Disorders - Depressive Disorders
Nam, B., Bae, S., Kim, S. M., Hong, J. S., Han, D. H.
Objective: Several studies have suggested the efficacy of bupropion and escitalopram on reducing the excessive internet game play. We hypothesized that both bupropion and escitalopram would be effective on reducing the severity of depressive symptoms and internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptoms in patients with both major depressive disorder and IGD. However, the changes in brain connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and the salience network were different between bupropion and escitalopram due to their different pharmacodynamics. Methods: This study was designed as a 12-week double blind prospective trial. Thirty patients were recruited for this research (15 bupropion group+15 escitalopram group). To assess the differential functional connectivity (FC) between the hubs of the DMN and the salience network, we selected 12 regions from the automated anatomical labeling in PickAtals software. Results: After drug treatment, the depressive symptoms and IGD symptoms in both groups were improved. Impulsivity and attentional symptoms in the bupropion group were significantly decreased, compared to the escitalopram group. After treatment, FC within only the DMN in escitalopram decreased while FC between DMN and salience network in bupropion group decreased. Bupropion was associated with significantly decreased FC within the salience network and between the salience network and the DMN, compared to escitalopram. Conclusion: Bupropion showed greater effects than escitalopram on reducing impulsivity and attentional symptoms. Decreased brain connectivity between the salience network and the DMN appears to be associated with improved excessive IGD symptoms and impulsivity in MDD patients with IGD. Copyright © 2017, Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience, 15(4) : 361-368
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Antidepressants (any)
, Other antidepressants
Mennella, R., Patron, E., Palomba, D.
Frontal alpha asymmetry has been proposed to underlie the balance between approach and withdrawal motivation associated to each individual's affective style. Neurofeedback of EEG frontal alpha asymmetry represents a promising tool to reduce negative affect, although its specific effects on left/right frontal activity and approach/withdrawal motivation are still unclear. The present study employed a neurofeedback training to increase frontal alpha asymmetry (right - left), in order to evaluate discrete changes in alpha power at left and right sites, as well as in positive and negative affect, anxiety and depression. Thirty-two right-handed females were randomly assigned to receive either the neurofeedback on frontal alpha asymmetry, or an active control training (N = 16 in each group). The asymmetry group showed an increase in alpha asymmetry driven by higher alpha at the right site (p < 0.001), as well as a coherent reduction in both negative affect and anxiety symptoms (ps < 0.05), from pre-to post-training. No training-specific modulation emerged for positive affect and depressive symptoms. These findings provide a strong rationale for the use of frontal alpha asymmetry neurofeedback for the reduction of negative affect and anxiety in clinical settings.
Behaviour Research & Therapy, 92 : 32-40
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Biofeedback, neurofeedback, audio/video feedback
Miranda, R., Weierich, M., Khait, V., Jurska, J., Andersen, S. M.
The present study examined whether practice in making optimistic future-event predictions would result in change in the hopelessness-related cognitions that characterize depression. Individuals (N = 170) with low, mild, and moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to a condition in which they practiced making optimistic future-event predictions or to a control condition in which they viewed the same stimuli but practiced determining whether a given phrase contained an adjective. Overall, individuals in the induced optimism condition showed increases in optimistic predictions, relative to the control condition, as a result of practice, but only individuals with moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression who practiced making optimistic future-event predictions showed decreases in depressive predictive certainty, relative to the control condition. In addition, they showed gains in efficiency in making optimistic predictions over the practice blocks, as assessed by response time. There was no difference in depressed mood by practice condition. Mental rehearsal might be one way of changing the hopelessness-related cognitions that characterize depression.
Behaviour Research & Therapy, 90 : 1-8
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Attention/cognitive bias modification
Mishra, S., Sailesh, K. S., Bashetti, S., Ashok, S., Archana, R., Mukkadan, J. K., Reddy, U. K.
Meditation is known to be a conscious mental process tends to induce certain integrated physiological changes further leading to the relaxation of mind and body. Mental stress, anxiety, depression are the common silent sufferings in the instrumental world faced today not only in adults but also in school going children. In the present scenario meditation is used as a clinical tool in various areas of mental and physical health improvisations and also as a curator for the emotional and disease sufferings. In this study we made an attempt to know the effects of meditation on depression, anxiety and stress levels before and after meditation and to also study the cognitive functions before and after meditation. The study was conducted on 160 apparently healthy participants, male (n=80) and female (n=80) studying class 6th to class 10th who were not undergoing any medical treatment. The students were randomly distributed into four groups, control male (n=40), control female (n=40) group, meditation male (n=40), meditation female (n=40) groups. The students were allowed to practice meditation in sitting posture, under the supervision of the expert at 6:30 am in the morning for 35 minutes for a period of 90 days. Subjects were analyzed based on the data before and after therapy. Depression, anxiety, and stress levels were assessed by DASS 42 and perceived stress scale. Spatial and verbal memory test was used to assess cognition. We found a profound decrease in the levels of depression, anxiety and stress in all the subjects' pre-meditation and post-meditation with and significant improvement in spatial and verbal memory. Further studies based on biochemical parameters may show more accurate and explorative results. Further one can also study the effect of meditation on other various parameters of the body and further experimenting with the variations noted with different types of meditation correlating its effects on health could be promising.
Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 10(1) : 189-191
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Meditation
Mastikhina, L., Dobson, K.
The present study replicated Wells and Beevers [(2010). Biased attention and dysphoria: Manipulating selective attention reduces subsequent depressive symptoms. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 719-728] and examined the longitudinal effects of attentional retraining on symptoms of depression. Dysphoric undergraduate psychology students were randomly assigned into either a neutral or control training condition. Training was administered using a dot-probe task that presented participants with pairs of pictures (of sad and neutral content) that were followed by a probe that participants had to respond to. Training took place over four sessions during a two-week period, followed by a final follow-up session two weeks later. Mood was measured at baseline, post-training, and at follow-up. All participants showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms throughout the study, F(1.7, 73.55)=21.19, p<.001; but the attentional retraining did not demonstrate any advantage over the control condition. Results were inconsistent with those of Wells and Beevers [(2010). Biased attention and dysphoria: Manipulating selective attention reduces subsequent depressive symptoms. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 719-728]. Implications of the findings on research on attentional retraining in the context of depression are discussed.
Cognition & Emotion, 31(3) : 625-631
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Attention/cognitive bias modification
Matsugaki, R., Kuhara, S., Saeki, S., Jiang, Y., Michishita, R., Ohta, M., Yamato, H.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of supervised exercise among nurses conducting shift work for health promotion. METHODS: A total of 30 healthy female nurses conducting shift work participated in this study and they were randomly assigned to one of the following 2 groups: The supervised exercise group (SG; participants exercised under the supervision of a physical therapist (PT)) and the voluntary exercise group (VG; participants exercised without supervision). The study participants were asked to exercise twice/week for 12 weeks for 24 sessions. The primary outcome was aerobic fitness, and the secondary outcomes were muscle strength, anthropometric data, biochemical parameters, and mental health. We compared all the outcomes before and after the intervention within each group and between both groups at follow-up. RESULTS: Aerobic fitness increased in the SG whereas it decreased in the VG, but these changes were not statistically significant (p=0.053 and 0.073, respectively). However, the between-group difference was significant in the intervention effect (p=0.010). Muscle strength, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and metabolic profile (high-molecular weight adiponectin), and depressive symptom significantly improved in the SG over time, even though the SG exercised less as compared with the VG. Moreover, significant differences in muscle strength, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and reactive oxygen metabolite levels were observed between both groups, and these parameters were better in the SG than in the VG. CONCLUSIONS: Our data-suggest the effectiveness of exercise supervised by a PT at the workplace of nurses conducting shift work for health promotion.
Journal of occupational health, 59(4) : 327-335
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
, At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Physical activity, exercise
Martin, T. J., Mist, S., Lektsok, T., Trent, N. L.
Introduction Herbal medicine and other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are used to treat symptoms of psychiatric disorders in the United States, including anxiety and mood problems. In Traditional Tibetan Medicine anxiety and depression are commonly treated with an herbal compound known as Agar-35. Objective The objective of this pilot study was to explore whether Agar-35 tea would improve anxiety, affect, stress, and rumination. Methods Undergraduate psychology students (N=14) were randomized to drink either Agar-35 tea (n=6) or placebo tea (n=8) for 7 nights. Results The results indicated that Agar-35 significantly reduced participants' negative affect compared to placebo, U = 6.0, p =.019, effect size, r =.63. Further, Agar-35 also reduced anxiety (trending toward significance), U = 10.0, p =.071, effect size, r =.48. Conclusion In accordance with its use in Tibetan Medicine, these preliminary findings suggest that Agar-35 may benefit aspects of psychological health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc.
Explore, 13(6) : 367-370
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Homeopathic, plant-based medicines
Houston, J. B., First, J., Spialek, M. L., Sorenson, M. E., Mills-Sandoval, T., Lockett, M., First, N. L., Nitiema, P., Allen, S. F., Pfefferbaum, B.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students.
PARTICIPANTS: College students (aged 18-23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester.
METHODS: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed.
RESULTS: RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate.
CONCLUSIONS: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students.
Journal of American College Health, 65(1) : 1-9
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Irarrazaval, M., Prieto, F., Arriagada, L., Gladstone, T., Beardslee, W. R.
Objectives: Family Talk is a preventive intervention for families with parental depression that has shown sustained benefits in parents' behaviors and attitudes about the illness and a greater understanding of parental depression among children. The objective of this study is to evaluate the maintenance of the effect of the Family Talk intervention in Chilean families between initial time and follow-up. Methods: A sample group of 17 families, in which at least one parent suffered from a mood disorder and at least one nondepressed child was within the age range of 6-15 years, was recruited. Families were randomized to treatment groups. Parents and children were assessed at baseline and every three to eight months thereafter on behavioral functioning, psychopathology, and in response to intervention. Results: At baseline, the sample group consisted of 17 families. Of these, 13 (76.4%) completed the intervention, with gradual sample loss over the follow-up assessments. Of the participants at follow-up, 100 percent were mothers and 53.9 percent were parents. The average ages of mothers and fathers were 43.3 and 47.7 years, respectively. The average age of the children was 9.5 years. A significant decrease in maternal depressive symptoms was found after the intervention and in the follow up assessments P < 0.01). Likewise, a significant increase in maternal parenting skills (P < 0.01), particularly in maternal reflexive skills (P < 0.05), as well as in family adaptability, was observed after the intervention, which remained significant in the follow-up assessments (P < 0.05). The children did not report depressive symptoms after the intervention or in the follow-up assessments. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the behavioral problems of the children reported by the mothers in the follow-up, compared with those presented before the intervention (P < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that Famila Activa, a brief familycentered preventive intervention for parental depression, may contribute to long-term, sustained improvements in family functioning.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56 (10) : S178-S179
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
Kuosmanen, T., Fleming, T. M., Newell, J., Barry, M. M.
Aim The use of computerized mental health programs with vulnerable youth, such as early school leavers, remains relatively unstudied. This pilot study examined the feasibility of delivering a computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) gaming intervention (SPARX-R) for young people (age 15-20 years) who have left school early and are attending Youthreach, an alternative education (AE) program in Ireland. Method Students (n = 146) from twenty-one Youthreach Centers were randomized to SPARX-R and no-intervention control. All students within the group were included in the study whether or not they were exhibiting heightened levels of depression. Program impact was examined on both negative and positive indicators of mental health, including depression (primary outcome), generalized anxiety, general mental wellbeing, coping and emotion regulation. Assessments were conducted at baseline and post-intervention (7 weeks). Participants that provided data at post-assessment (n = 66) were included in the analysis. Results The participants completed on average 5.3 modules of SPARX-R with 30% (n = 9) completing the entire program. A significant improvement in emotion regulation strategies was detected, with expressive suppression decreasing significantly in the SPARX-R group in comparison to the control (- 2.97, 95% CI - 5.48 to - 0.46, p = 0.03). Conclusions Findings suggest that SPARX-R has a positive impact on emotion regulation. The lack of significant findings on other outcome measures may be attributed to inadequate sample size, and therefore, further research with larger samples are required to establish the effectiveness of the program in reducing depression and anxiety and improving psychological wellbeing among young people attending AE. Copyright © 2017 The Authors
Internet Interventions, 8 : 40-47
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Kyrou, I., Christou, A., Panagiotakos, D., Stefanaki, C., Skenderi, K., Katsana, K., Tsigos, C.
OBJECTIVE: The Humulus lupulus L. plant (hops) is used as a herbal medicinal product for anxiety/mood disorders. Our aim was to study the effects of a hops dry extract on self-reported depression, anxiety and stress levels in young adults.
DESIGN: Apparently healthy young adults from our university completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and those reporting at least mild depression, anxiety and stress were invited to complete the study intervention. This followed a randomized (1:1), placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover design with two 4-week intervention periods (Melcalin hops or placebo; two 0.2 gr capsules once daily) separated by a 2-week wash-out. Anthropometric measurements, DASS-21 assessments and measurements of morning cortisol plasma levels were performed at the beginning and the end of the 4-week treatment periods.
RESULTS: 36 participants (Females/Males: 31/5; age: 24.7+/-0.5 years) completed the study intervention (attrition: 6/42). No significant changes in body weight and composition or morning circulating cortisol were noted with the hops or placebo. Significantly decreased DASS-21 anxiety, depression and stress scores were documented with hops (9.2+/-7.3 vs. 5.1+/-5.9, 11.9+/-7.9 vs. 9.2+/-7.4, and 19.1+/-8.1 vs. 11.6+/-8.1; all p values <0.05), which were significantly greater compared to those caused by the placebo (all p values <0.05).
CONCLUSION: In otherwise healthy young adults reporting at least mild depression, anxietyand stress symptoms, daily supplementation with a hops dry extract can significantly improve all these symptoms over a 4-week period. These beneficial effects agree with the indication of hops for anxiety/mood disorders and restlessness, as approved by the German Commission E.
Hormones, 16(2) : 171-180
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Homeopathic, plant-based medicines
Linke, J., Wessa, M.
High reward sensitivity and wanting of rewarding stimuli help to identify and motivate repetition of pleasant activities. This behavioral activation is thought to increase positive emotions. Therefore, both mechanisms are highly relevant for resilience against depressive symptoms. Yet, these mechanisms have not been targeted by psychotherapeutic interventions. In the present study, we tested a mental imagery training comprising eight 10-minute sessions every second day and delivered via the Internet to healthy volunteers (N = 30, 21 female, mean age of 23.8 years, Caucasian) who were preselected for low reward sensitivity. Participants were paired according to age, sex, reward sensitivity, and mental imagery ability. Then, members of each pair were randomly assigned to either the intervention or wait condition. Ratings of wanting and response bias toward probabilistic reward cues (Probabilistic Reward Task) served as primary outcomes. We further tested whether training effects extended to approach behavior (Approach Avoidance Task) and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory). The intervention led to an increase in wanting (p < .001, eta2p= .45) and reward sensitivity (p = .004, eta2p= .27). Further, the training group displayed faster approach toward positive edibles and activities (p = .025, eta2p= .18) and reductions in depressive symptoms (p = .028, eta2p= .16). Results extend existing literature by showing that mental imagery training can increase wanting of rewarding stimuli and reward sensitivity. Further, the training appears to reduce depressive symptoms and thus may foster the successful implementation of exsiting treatments for depression such as behavioral activation and could also increase resilience against depressive symptoms.
Behavior Therapy, 48(5) : 695-706
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)