Disorders - Depressive Disorders
Dundas, I., Binder, P. E., Hansen, T. G. B., Stige, S. H.
The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of a two-week self-compassion course on healthy self-regulation (personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse control) and unhealthy self-regulation (self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking) in university students. We also examined the effects on self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Students (N = 158, 85% women, mean age = 25 years) were randomized to an intervention group and a waiting-list control group in a multi-baseline randomized control trial. Healthy self-control was measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) and the Self-Control Scale; unhealthy self-control was measured by the Non-judgement subscale from the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (reversed) and the Habit Index of Negative Thinking (HINT). Secondary outcomes were measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-trait), the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). A 2 x 3 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed gains for the intervention-group in personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse-control and reductions in self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking, as well as increases in self-compassion and reductions in anxiety and depression. After all participants had completed the course, the groups were combined and repeated measures ANOVAs showed that changes remained at six-month follow-up for personal growth self-efficacy, self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking; as well as for self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Concluding, a short self-compassion course seems an effective method of increasing self-compassion and perceived control over one's life for university students, as well as increasing mental health. Copyright © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 58(5) : 443-450
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions, Mindfulness based therapy
Chorpita, B. F., Daleiden, E. L., Park, A. L., Ward, A. M., Levy, M. C., Cromley, T., Chiu, A. W., Letamendi, A. M., Tsai, K. H., Krull, J. L.
OBJECTIVE: This study reports outcomes from a randomized effectiveness trial testing modular treatment versus multiple community-implemented evidence-based treatments for youth.
METHOD: An ethnoracially diverse sample of 138 youth ages 5 to 15 (62 girls, 76 boys) whose primary clinical concerns involved diagnoses or clinical elevations related to anxiety, depression, disruptive behavior, and/or traumatic stress were treated by community therapists randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) modular treatment, which involved a single modular protocol (i.e., modular approach to therapy for children; MATCH) that allowed flexible selection and sequencing of procedures to fit the chosen treatment focus in the context of measurement feedback, and (b) community-implemented treatment (CIT), which was a county-supported implementation of multiple evidence-based practices for youth.
RESULTS: Youth treated with MATCH showed significantly faster rates of improvement over time on clinical and functional outcomes relative to youth in the CIT condition and required significantly fewer sessions delivered over significantly fewer days. Caregiver-reported clinical improvement rates were significantly greater for MATCH (60%) versus CIT (36.7%). Further, youth in the CIT condition were significantly more likely to receive additional psychosocial treatment services and were significantly more likely to use a variety of psychotropic medications during the active treatment phase.
CONCLUSIONS: These results extend prior findings, supporting the effectiveness and efficiency of a modular, multifocus approach that incorporates monitoring and feedback relative to community implementation of evidence-based treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record
Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 85(1) : 13-25
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions, Other service delivery and improvement interventions
Conner, T. S., Brookie, K. L., Carr, A. C., Mainvil, L. A., Vissers, M. C. M.
This study tested the psychological benefits of a 14-day preregistered clinical intervention to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in 171 low-FV-consuming young adults (67% female, aged 18-25). Participants were randomly assigned into a diet-as-usual control condition, an ecological momentary intervention (EMI) condition involving text message reminders to increase their FV consumption plus a voucher to purchase FV, or a fruit and vegetable intervention (FVI) condition in which participants were given two additional daily servings of fresh FV to consume on top of their normal diet. Self-report outcome measures were depressive symptoms and anxiety measured pre- and post-intervention, and daily negative and positive mood, vitality, flourishing, and flourishing behaviors (curiosity, creativity, motivation) assessed nightly using a smartphone survey. Vitamin C and carotenoids were measured from blood samples pre- and post-intervention, and psychological expectancies about the benefits of FV were measured post-intervention to test as mediators of psychological change. Only participants in the FVI condition showed improvements to their psychological well-being with increases in vitality, flourishing, and motivation across the 14-days relative to the other groups. No changes were found for depressive symptoms, anxiety, or mood. Intervention benefits were not mediated by vitamin C, carotenoids, or psychological expectancies. We conclude that providing young adults with high-quality FV, rather than reminding them to eat more FV (with a voucher to purchase FV), resulted in significant short-term improvements to their psychological well-being. These results provide initial proof-of-concept that giving young adults fresh fruit and vegetables to eat can have psychological benefits even over a brief period of time. Copyright © 2017 Conner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PLoS ONE, 12 (2) (no pagination)(e0171206) :
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Service Delivery & Improvement, Dietary advice, dietary change, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Cornelius, J., Chung, T., Douaihy, A., Glance, J.
Background: Previous medication studies involving persons with co-occurring major depression and an alcohol use disorder (MDD/AUD) have focused on SSRI medications, with disappointing results, so effective treatments for that comorbid population are lacking. Pharmacotherapy results have been particularly scarce and disappointing among younger subjects. Mirtazapine is an FDA-approved antidepressant with a unique pharmacological profile. Recent metaanalyses suggest that its efficacy may exceed that of SSRI antidepressants. Our own recent open label study suggested efficacy for mirtazapine for decreasing both the drinking and the depression of middle aged adults with that comorbid condition (Cornelius et al., 2012). To date, no double-blind placebo-controlled studies have evaluated its safety and efficacy for treating the drinking and depression of youthful MDD/AUD subjects. We now report preliminary findings from a first double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving mirtazapine in comorbid MDD/AUD adolescents and young adults. We hypothesized that mirtazapine would be well tolerated and would decrease levels of drinking and depression. Methods: This federally-funded double-blind, placebocontrolled 12-week pilot trial is currently underway involving persons 18 to 30 years of age with co-occurring DSM-IV MDD/AUD. Participants receive mirtazapine 15 mg for two weeks, which is then increased to 30 mg. All subjects in both the mirtazapine group and the placebo group also receive motivation enhancement therapy (MET). Assessments are conducted weekly for 4 weeks and bi-weekly thereafter. Depression is monitored with the BDI and drinking with the TLFB. The study remains ongoing, so the medication blinds have not yet been broken, and final study results are not yet available. Results: Atotal of 6 subjects have entered the study to date. None of those persons have dropped out of the study to date. All of the subjects have demonstrated decreases in both depressive symptoms and in drinking during the study. No serious adverse events have occurred, and no subjects have noted paradoxical increases in depressive symptoms or suicidal symptoms. The most common side effect was mild sedation. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest safety and efficacy for mirtazapine in combination with MET for decreasing the drinking and depression of adolescents and young adults with co-occurring MDD/AUD. Large doubleblind studies are needed to clarify its safety and efficacy among various comorbid populations. Summary: We now report preliminary findings from a first double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study involving mirtazapine in comorbid MDD/AUD adolescents and young adults. These preliminary findings of this pilot study suggest safety and efficacy for mirtazapine in combination with MET for decreasing the drinking and depression of adolescents and young adults with co-occurring MDD/AUD.
American Journal on Addictions, 26 (3) : 250-251
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders, Alcohol Use
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Tetracyclic antidepressants (TECA/NSSAs), Antidepressants (any)
, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Motivational interviewing, includes Motivational Enhancing Therapy
de-Voogd, E. L., de-Hullu, E., Burnett Heyes, S., Blackwell, S. E., Wiers, R. W., Salemink, E.
INTRODUCTION: Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent during adolescence and characterized by negative interpretation biases. Cognitive bias modification of interpretations (CBM-I) may reduce such biases and improve emotional functioning. However, as findings have been mixed and the traditional scenario training is experienced as relatively boring, a picture-based type of training might be more engaging and effective.
METHODS: The current study investigated short- and long-term effects (up to 6 months) and users' experience of two types of CBM-I procedure in adolescents with heightened symptoms of anxiety or depression (N = 119, aged 12-18 year). Participants were randomized to eight online sessions of text-based scenario training, picture-word imagery training, or neutral control training.
RESULTS: No significant group differences were observed on primary or secondary emotional outcomes. A decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms, and improvements in emotional resilience were observed, irrespective of condition. Scenario training marginally reduced negative interpretation bias on a closely matched assessment task, while no such effects were found on a different task, nor for the picture-word or control group. Subjective evaluations of all training paradigms were relatively negative and the imagery component appeared particularly difficult for adolescents with higher symptom levels.
CONCLUSIONS: The current results question the preventive efficacy and feasibility of both CBM-I procedures as implemented here in adolescents.
PLoS ONE, 12(7) : e0181147
- 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
De-Voogd, E. L., Wiers, R. W., Salemink, E.
Anxiety and depression, which are highly prevalent in adolescence, are both characterized by a negative attentional bias. As Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) can reduce such a bias, and might also affect emotional reactivity, it could be a promising early intervention. However, a growing number of studies also report comparable improvements in both active and placebo groups. The current study investigated the effects of eight online sessions of visual search (VS) ABM compared to both a VS placebo-training and a no-training control group in adolescents with heightened symptoms of anxiety and/or depression (n = 108). Attention bias, interpretation bias, and stress-reactivity were assessed pre- and post-training. Primary outcomes of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and secondary measures of emotional resilience were assessed pre- and post-training and at three and six months follow-up. Results revealed that VS training reduced attentional bias compared to both control groups, with stronger effects for participants who completed more training sessions. Irrespective of training condition, an overall reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression and an increase in emotional resilience were observed up to six months later. The training was evaluated relatively negatively. Results suggest that online ABM as employed in the current study has no added value as an early intervention in adolescents with heightened symptoms.
Behaviour Research & Therapy, 92 : 57-67
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Attention/cognitive bias modification
Cesnekova, D., Ondrejka, I., Oppa, M., Tonhajzerova, I., Nosal-Ova, G.
Depressive disorder is one of the most common and serious psychiatric diagnosis in paediatric population, often connected with suicidal risk. In recent years, fluoxetine monotherapy is the gold standard in acute phase of depression treatment in children and adolescents, but is not effective enough after an acute phase of treatment. More helpful researches concerning more effective therapeutic strategies of depression in this age are insufficient. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fluoxetine monotherapy in comparison with combined olanzapine/fluoxetine therapy in acute 6-week treatment of depression in adolescence. We found that combined therapeutic strategy, using olanzapine augmentation is predicted to be more useful in the treatment of adolescent depression. Copyright © European Pharmaceutical Journal.
European Pharmaceutical Journal, 64(1) : 1-3
- 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)
, Atypical Antipsychotics (second generation)
Burckhardt, R., Manicavasagar, V., Batterham, P. J., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D., Shand, F.
Background: There is a need to prevent anxiety and depression in young people and mindfulness contains important emotion regulation strategies. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a mindfulness-based therapy, has yet to be evaluated as a prevention program, but has demonstrated an ability to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in adult and adolescent populations. This study examines the feasibility of using an ACT-based prevention program in a sample of year 10 (aged 14-16 years) high school students from Sydney, Australia. Methods: Participants were allocated to either their usual classes or to the ACT-based intervention. Participants were followed for a period of 5 months post-intervention and completed the Flourishing Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and a program evaluation questionnaire. Analyses were completed using intention-to-treat mixed models for repeated measures. Results: The results indicated that the intervention was acceptable to students and feasible to administer in a school setting. There were no statistically significant differences between the conditions, likely due to the small sample size (N = 48). However, between-group effect sizes demonstrated small to large differences for baseline to post-intervention mean scores and medium to large differences for baseline to follow-up mean scores, all favouring the ACT-based condition. Conclusion: The results suggest that an ACT-based school program has potential as a universal prevention program and merits further investigation in a larger trial. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Trial ID: ACTRN12616001383459. Registered 06/10/2016. Retrospectively registered. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s).
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11 (1) (no pagination)(27) :
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT)
Zetterstrom-Dahlqvist, H., Landstedt, E., Almqvist, Y. B., Gillander-Gadin, K.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the DISA-programme in preventing depressive symptoms (DS) in adolescent girls, as implemented in a real-world school setting, accounting for baseline socioeconomic and psychosocial factors, and to investigate whether the effects of these baseline variables on DS differed between intervention participants and non-participants. In this non-randomised pragmatic trial, an electronic questionnaire was disseminated in 2011 (baseline) and 2012 (follow-up) in schools in one municipality in northern Sweden. Pupils (total n=275; intervention participants identified in the questionnaire: n=53; non-participants: n=222) were 14-15 years old at baseline. The groups were compared by means of SEM. DISA could not predict differences in DS at follow-up in this real-life setting. In the overall sample, sexual harassment victimisation (SH) at baseline was associated with DS at follow-up and the estimate for SH increased in the DISA-participants compared to the overall sample.
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 76(1) : 1396146
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
Agyapong, V. I. O., Juhas, M., Ohinmaa, A., Omeje, J., Mrklas, K., Suen, V. Y. M., Dursun, S. M., Greenshaw, A. J.
BACKGROUND: Depression is projected to be the primary cause of disability worldwide by 2030. In a recent survey, the most commonly cited unmet need among 42.4% of depressed Albertans was the lack of sufficient, accessible, and affordable counselling. Our aim was to test the efficacy of a supportive text messaging mobile health intervention in improving treatment outcomes in depressed patients.
METHODS: We performed a single-rater-blinded randomized trial involving 73 patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients in the intervention group (n = 35) received twice-daily supportive text messages for 3 months while those in the control group (n = 38) received a single text message every fortnight thanking them for participating in the study. The primary outcome of this study was: "Mean changes in the BDI scores from baseline".
RESULTS: After adjusting for baseline BDI scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean BDI scores between the intervention and control groups: (20.8 (SD = 11.7) vs. 24.9 (SD = 11.5), F (1, 60) = 4.83, p = 0.03, etap2 = 0.07). The mean difference in the BDI scores change was significant with an effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.67. Furthermore, after adjusting for baseline scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean self-rated VAS scores (EQ-5D-5 L scale) between the intervention and control groups, 65.7 (SD = 15.3) vs. 57.4 (SD = 22.9), F (1, 60) =4.16, p = 0.05, etap2 = 0.065. The mean difference in change mean self-rated VAS scores was also statistically significant with an effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.51.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that supportive text messages are a potentially useful psychological intervention for depression, especially in underserved populations. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of our findings in larger clinical samples.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02327858 . Registered 24 December 2014.
BMC Psychiatry, 17(1) : 286
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Supportive therapy, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Hogea, L. M., Nussbaum, L. A., Chiriac, D. V., Ageu, L. S., Andreescu, N. I., Grigoras, M. L., Folescu, R., Bredicean, A. C., Puiu, M., Rosca, E. C. I., Simu, M. A., Levai, C. M.
We approach the theme of modern treatment strategies, based on clinico-biological, pharmacogenetic, neuroimagistic, neuroendocrinological and psychological integrative correlations in the management of depressive and comorbid anxiety disorders. We target to evaluate the efficacy of the pharmacogenetic testing and the evolution, functioning of patients in correlation with specific neurobiological, neuroimagistic and neuroendocrinological markers. Our research was conducted between 2010-2016 on 80 children and adolescents with depressive and comorbid anxiety disorders - 40 children (G1 group), who benefited in choosing the pharmacotherapy from pharmacogenetic testing and 40 children without testing (G2 group). Also, the patients were evaluated through magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy at baseline and after pharmacotherapy. The efficacy of the chosen therapy in correlation with the pharmacogenetic testing was evaluated through the mean change in the CDRS (Children's Depression Rating Scale) total scores, in the CGI-S/I (Clinical Global Impression - Severity/Improvement), CGAS (Children's Global Assessment Scale) and through the change of the relevant neurobiological markers and MR spectroscopy metabolites. We evaluated the side effects through the PAERS (Pediatric Adverse Events Rating Scale)-Clinician. Our results show statistically significant differences of the clinical scores between the studied groups: for those subjects who benefited of pharmacogenetic testing, the CDRS, the global functioning scores prove a higher clinical improvement, a better compliance and lower PAERS side effects scores and also improvement concerning the MR spectroscopy dosed metabolites values. Our research was a proof sustaining the use of the pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice and the value of investigating relevant neurobiological, neuroimagistic and neuroendocrinological markers for a personalized therapy in depressive disorders.
Romanian Journal of Morphology & Embryology, 58(3) : 767-775
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Service Delivery & Improvement, Other service delivery and improvement interventions
Azevedo-da-Silva, R., de-Azevedo-Cardoso, T., Campos-Mondin, T., Neumann-Reyes, A., de-Lima-Bach, S., Dias-de-Mattos-Souza, L., Jansen, K.
This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of narrative cognitive therapy (NCT) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in the improvement of perception of quality of life in young adults with depression at 12-month follow-up. This was a randomized clinical trial conducted using seven sessions of NCT or CBT. Quality of life was measured using the Medical Outcomes Survey Short-Form General Health Survey. The sample included 97 patients. Considering only completers to be samples, CBT was more effective than NCT for improvement of physical functioning (p = 0.031), vitality (p = 0.013), and mental health (p = 0.002) at 12-month follow-up. However, in the intention-to-treat analysis, we found no difference between groups. Regardless of model, we found a significant improvement in all domains from baseline to postintervention and 6- and 12-month follow-ups, except for the bodily pain domain. In conclusion, both models were effective in the improvement of perception of quality of life.
Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 205(12) : 918-924
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
, Other Psychological Interventions