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A comparison of paroxetine versus paroxetine plus amisulpride in the treatment of dysthymic disorder: efficacy and psychosocial outcomes.

Dysthymic disorder is a chronic depressive condition with considerable psychosocial impairment. Even if DD patients respond to various antidepressant medications, there has been little systematic study on antidepressant-refractory DD. Only a few trials have evaluated the effects of treatment on psychosocial functioning of dysthymic patients. In this 3-month, open-label study, 60 outpatients with DSM-IV criteria for dysthymic disorder who failed to respond to 3-month treatment with paroxetine 20 mg/day were randomly assigned to treatment with paroxetine 40 mg/day or paroxetine 20 mg/day plus amisulpride 50 mg/day. The effects of the two treatments were assessed for both mood symptoms (21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impression, severity and improvement) and psychosocial outcomes (DSM-IV Global Assessment of Functioning, Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale). Analysis of variance on all rating scales showed that both treatments were effective over this observation period. Response and remission rates did not differ in the treatment groups. A significantly greater psychosocial improvement was observed in the group receiving combined treatment compared with patients receiving paroxetine alone. Both treatments appeared to be effective in our sample of dysthymic subjects. Combined treatment with paroxetine and amisulpride resulted in a better outcome in terms of social functioning.

Adult↗

Longitudinal relationships between early adolescent family functioning and youth adjustment: an examination of the moderating role of very low birth weight.

OBJECTIVE: To examine longitudinal relations between early adolescent family conflict and late adolescent psychosocial adjustment, and the moderating role of low birth weight. METHODS: Three groups of adolescents (48 with birth weight <750 g, 46 with birth weight 750-1499 g, and 51 term-born controls) and their parents completed ratings of family conflict at age 11 (Time 1). Parent, teacher, and youth reports of psychosocial functioning were obtained at ages 11 and 17 (Time 2). RESULTS: Birth weight moderated the relationship between Time 1 adolescent-perceived conflict and change in adolescent behavioral functioning. For adolescents with histories of <750 g birth weight, adolescent-perceived conflict predicted less adaptive changes in teacher-reported total behavior problems and externalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: Small disruptions to the parent-child relationship have negative implications for the later well-being of adolescents with extreme levels of low birth weight. Clinical attention to resolving early adolescent conflict may promote adaptive adjustment.

Adjustment Disorders↗

The unhappy obese child.

OBJECTIVE: One of the most painful aspects of obesity may be the emotional suffering it causes. The paper discusses the psychological and social effects of obesity. METHOD: Current studies examining the psychosocial strains of obese children and adolescents are reported. The report especially focuses on stigmatization, mental health disorders, school performance and health-related quality of life. DISCUSSION: Research is showing that obesity is associated with poorer psychosocial functioning even compared with other chronic diseases. Future studies should further explicate the risk and protective factors for developing severe psychosocial strain.

Adolescent↗

A psychosocial kinship model for family therapy.

Family therapy has traditionally centered on the nuclear family and thus has been typically oriented toward urban white middle-class families. A variety of modifications in therapeutic technique has evolved for work with the many modern families whose structure consists of a functional psychosocial family kinship. The authors have developed a formal theoretical framework and model for family therapy that encompasses the total psychosocial network, i.e., the extended kinships of the nuclear family and the functional kin such as friends, neighbors, and associates.

Family↗

The impact of affectivity dispositions, self-efficacy and locus of control on psychosocial adjustment in patients with epilepsy.

The main hypothesis of this study was that negative and positive affectivity, self-efficacy and health-related locus of control are important for psychosocial adjustment in patients with epilepsy. These dimensions are rarely examined directly in relation to the psychosocial adjustment in these patients. Correlations between measures of these constructs and measures of psychosocial adjustment in epilepsy were investigated. One hundred and one patients answered the Washington psychosocial seizure inventory (WPSI), the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS-X), the multidimensional health locus of control scales (MHLC), the generalized self-efficacy scale and a scale measuring self-efficacy in epilepsy. Reliability analyses, correlational analyses and multiple stepwise regression analyses were performed. Negative affectivity (NA), positive affectivity (PA) and generalized self-efficacy showed high correlations with the WPSI scales emotional adjustment, overall psychosocial adjustment and quality of life. The epilepsy self-efficacy measures showed high, but lower correlations with the same WPSI scales. The MHLC scales showed low correlations with the WPSI scales. Multiple regression analyses showed that PA, NA and measures of self-efficacy explained more than 50% of the variances on emotional adjustment, overall psychosocial functioning and quality of life. In conclusion, positive and negative affectivity and self-efficacy are important predictors of perceived emotional adjustment, psychosocial adjustment and quality of life in patients with epilepsy. NA is the best predictor, but PA and self-efficacy measures give unique predictions independent of NA.

Adolescent↗

Social and psychiatric functioning in adolescents with Asperger syndrome compared with conduct disorder.

Lack of standardized phenotypic definition has made outcome studies of Asperger syndrome (AS) difficult to interpret. This paper reports psychosocial functioning in 20 male adolescents with AS, defined according to current ICD-10 criteria, and a comparison group of 20 male adolescents with severe conduct disorder. Subjects were gathered from clinical referral. Evaluation used standardized interviewer rated assessments of social functioning and psychiatric morbidity. The AS group showed severe impairments in practical social functioning despite good cognitive ability and lack of significant early language delay. High levels of anxiety and obsessional disorders were found in AS; depression, suicidal ideation, tempers, and defiance in both groups. Results are compared with those from other studies. Relevance to clinical ascertainment and treatment is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

The impact of posttraumatic seizures on 1-year neuropsychological and psychosocial outcome of head injury.

This study examined the relationship of posttraumatic seizures and head injury severity to neuropsychological performance and psychosocial functioning in 210 adults who were prospectively followed and assessed 1 year after moderate to severe traumatic head injury. Eighteen percent (n = 38) of the patients experienced 1 or more late seizures (i.e., seizures occurring 8 or more days posttrauma) by the time of the 1-year followup. As expected, the head injured patients who experienced late posttraumatic seizures were those with the most severe head injuries, and they were significantly more impaired on the neuropsychological and psychosocial measures compared to those who remained seizure free. However, after the effects of head injury severity were controlled, there were no significant differences in neuropsychological and psychosocial outcome at 1 year as a function of having seizures. These findings suggest that worse outcomes in patients who develop posttraumatic seizures up to 1 year posttrauma largely reflect the effects of the brain injuries that cause seizures, rather than the effect of seizures.

Adult↗

Psychiatric, psychosocial, and cognitive functioning of female adolescents with ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the psychiatric, psychosocial, and cognitive functioning of female adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in comparison with female controls and males with ADHD. Female controls were also compared with male controls to verify gender differences in a nonclinical sample. METHOD: One hundred seven adolescents from Southern Ontario aged 13 to 16 were included: 24 females with ADHD, 35 males with ADHD, 28 control females, and 20 control males. All were assessed with semistructured interviews, questionnaires, and tests of achievement and intellectual functioning. RESULTS: After controlling for parental education and estimated Full Scale IQ, females with ADHD were more impaired than control females in depression, anxiety, distress, teacher relationships, stress, attributional styles, and locus of control and on all cognitive and achievement measures. Females with ADHD were more impaired than males with ADHD in self-reported anxiety, distress, depression, locus of control, and vocabulary scores. These group differences were confirmed by higher ratings by parents and teachers in symptoms of psychopathology. Males with ADHD were more impaired in processing speed. Some gender differences (locus of control and vocabulary scores) were eliminated when controlling for ADHD severity. The absence of any differences between male and female controls indicates gender differences were specific to the clinical groups. CONCLUSION: Females with ADHD are at high risk for more psychological impairment than both males with ADHD and control females. The identified psychosocial problems point to areas for intervention.

Achievement↗

Cognitive remediation therapy for outpatients with chronic schizophrenia: a controlled and randomized study.

Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) is a novel rehabilitation approach designed to improve neurocognitive abilities such as attention, memory and executive functioning. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of CRT on neurocognition, and secondarily on symptomatology and psychosocial functioning. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was used as a control condition because it aims to improve emotional problems and positive symptoms, focusing on modification of maladaptive beliefs and schemas, but neurocognition is not targeted. A total of 40 chronic patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia disorder were randomly assigned for 4 months to one of two treatment groups: CRT or CBT. Repeated assessments were conducted before and after the treatments and at the end of a follow-up period of 6 months. Additionally, a method to establish reliable change was calculated from a separate sample of 20 schizophrenic patients who were under standard medication without any kind of psychological treatment. Results showed that CRT produced an overall improvement on neurocognition (Mean effect size=0.5), particularly in verbal and nonverbal memory, and executive function. CBT showed the expected treatment effect on general psychopathology (anxiety and depression) but produced only a slight non-specific improvement in neurocognition (Working Memory). Furthermore, patients receiving CRT showed improvement in social functioning, demonstrating that cognitive improvements are clinically meaningful. These gains were still present at the 6 month follow-up.

Adult↗

The relationship of depression to survival in chronic renal failure.

The authors examine the relationship between psychosocial factors and factors and survival of patients with chronic renal failure, while considering simultaneously the influence of parameters of physiologic functioning. Psychosocial and physiologic variables selected for discriminant analysis were extracted from data on 285 home-dialysis patients in Ontario, Canada. This analytical procedure defined which variables best discriminated between the survivor and nonsurvivor groups. The findings suggest that demographic and psychosocial factors may be more important than physiologic variables in determination of survival on home dialysis. The severity and type of depression is of particular importance to outcome.

Adjustment Disorders↗

Adolescent residential treatment: a one to three year follow-up.

Considerable difficulties have been encountered in the residential treatment of adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Few of these programs have been successful. This study describes the long term effectiveness of a residential treatment program for disturbed adolescents. This program was particularly successful in returning severely disturbed adolescents to the community. None of the adolescents needed intensive residential treatment during the follow-up period. Three objective measures (Global Assessment Scale, Level of Functioning Scale, Adolescent Functioning Scale) were used at three specific times (admission, discharge and long term follow-up) to determine the level of psychosocial functioning of each adolescent. A significant improvement was found in the adolescents' level of functioning. These treatment gains were maintained at the time of long term follow-up (one to three years).

Adolescent↗

Gender differences in the associations of self esteem, stress and social support with functional health status among older adults with heart disease.

This study explored and compared the role of self esteem, stress and social support in maintenance or improvement in physical and psychosocial functioning over 12 months in older men and women with cardiovascular disease. Data from 502 adults over 60 years of age showed that self esteem and stress were both significantly associated with functioning when demographic and clinical factors were controlled. Men were significantly more likely than women to maintain or improve in functioning. Self esteem, stress, compliance with medication regimens, and marital status were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement of functioning among women. Only age and stress were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement in functioning among men. Findings indicated that: (1) stress and self esteem were stronger predictors of functioning, especially among women, than demographic and clinical factors; and (2) women in the highest quartile of the self esteem distribution were approximately five times as likely to maintain or improve their functioning as women in the lowest quartile.

Aging↗

The evolution of health-related quality of life assessment in epilepsy.

The purpose of this article is to review the ways in which quality of life has been assessed in patients with epilepsy. It is specifically proposed that there have been three phases or types of studies examining the effects of epilepsy on cognitive, behavioural, social and physical function. The first and oldest phase was characterized by the use of traditional forms of clinical evaluation and available generic measures of cognitive, behavioural and psychosocial function to study the general effects of epilepsy, effects of epilepsy-specific clinical variables (e.g. seizure type, age at onset), and the consequences of treatment with antiepileptic medications on patients' lives. The second phase of research was characterized by the development of epilepsy-specific measures of cognitive ability, psychological status and psychosocial status, which were designed to meet the special research and clinical needs not provided by previous generic measures (e.g. Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory, Fear of Seizures Scale). The third and most recent phase is characterized by the use of models, techniques, and measures developed from the health services research field to assess formally contemporary definitions of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (e.g. ESI-55, QOLIE-89, Seizure Severity Scale) and develop models of the effects of epilepsy on HRQOL. Thus, concern regarding the impact and consequences of epilepsy is not a new development, but has evolved over the years, resulting in new models and methods of assessment of disease impact on well-being and functional status.

Epilepsy↗

Psycho-educational interventions for children with chronic disease, parents and siblings: an overview of the research evidence base.

BACKGROUND: The role of psycho-educational interventions in facilitating adaptation to chronic disease has received growing recognition and is in keeping with policy developments advocating greater involvement of patients in their own care. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current literature regarding the effectiveness of psycho-educational interventions for children and adolescents with chronic disease, their parents and siblings. METHODS: Electronic searches were conducted using AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Database, DARE, HTA, MEDLINE, NHS EED, PsycLIT, PsycINFO, and PubMED. Inclusion criteria were systematic reviews, meta-analyses and overviews based on traditional reviews of published literature. The titles of papers were reviewed, abstracts were obtained and reviewed, and full copies of selected papers were obtained. RESULTS: No reviews of psycho-educational interventions were found for either parents or siblings. Twelve reviews of interventions for children and adolescents were identified: chronic disease in general (three); chronic pain (one); asthma (three); chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) (one); diabetes (two); juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (one) and one informational intervention for paediatric cancer patients. The main focus was on disease management (particularly in asthma and diabetes) with less attention being paid to psychosocial aspects of life with a chronic condition. Overall, there is evidence of effectiveness for interventions incorporating cognitive-behavioural techniques on variables such as self-efficacy, self-management of disease, family functioning, psychosocial well-being, reduced isolation, social competence, knowledge, hope, pain (for chronic headache), lung function (asthma), days absent from school (asthma), visits to A & E (asthma), fatigue (CFS), and metabolic control (diabetes). A number of gaps and limitations were identified across all disease categories, such as inadequate description of interventions, small sample sizes, and lack of evidence regarding cost-effectiveness. CONCLUSION: This overview has highlighted the need to extend the evidence base for psycho-educational interventions, particularly in a UK context. It is essential that effective interventions are implemented and embedded in service provision in order to maximize empowerment through self-care for children, adolescents and their parents.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Adults seeking treatment for marijuana dependence: a comparison with cocaine-dependent treatment seekers.

Sixty-two individuals seeking treatment for marijuana dependence completed a comprehensive assessment. Sociodemographics, substance use, psychosocial functioning, psychiatric symptoms, and medical status were compared with similar data collected from 70 treatment-seeking, cocaine-dependent individuals. Substantial psychosocial and psychiatric problems were observed in both groups. In general, the marijuana group reported substance-use histories and a range of impairment comparable with the cocaine group; however, they showed less severe dependence. The marijuana group was more ambivalent and less confident about stopping their marijuana use than the cocaine group was about stopping their cocaine use. These findings indicate that treatment-seeking, marijuana-dependent individuals exhibit substantial problems and that further efforts to develop effective treatments for this population are warranted.

Adult↗

Effects of Graves' ophthalmopathy on quality of life.

General health-related quality of life is markedly impaired in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), and even worse than in patients with other chronic conditions like diabetes, emphysema or heart failure. A disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire for GO has been developed, the so-called GO-QOL, consisting of two subscales: one for visual functioning (8 questions referring to limitations due to decreased visual acuity and/or diplopia) and one for appearance (8 questions referring to limitations in psychosocial functioning due to changes in appearance). The GO-QOL was found to be a valid and reliable instrument. A minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in the GO-QOL score was derived from data obtained before and after specific eye treatments. Based on the patient's opinions, changes of > or = 6 points (minor surgery) or > or = 10 points (surgical decompression, immunosuppression) are recommended as MCID. It is concluded that the GO-QOL is an useful instrument for measuring changes over time in visual functioning and appearance of GO patients. The GO-QOL is available in six languages, and can be used as a separate outcome measure in clinical studies.

Graves Disease↗

Follow-up of psychogenic, non-epileptic seizures: a pilot study - experience in a Dutch special centre for epilepsy.

A follow-up study was performed in 33 patients with proven (ictal EEG-CCTV) psychogenic, non-epileptic seizures (PNES). These patients received a questionnaire to evaluate seizures, treatment and rehabilitation. The response group consisted of 21 females (80% response) and seven males (100% response). Follow-up after diagnosis varied from 23-67 months. Seven patients (25%) reported that seizures had ceased and of the patients not seizure-free seven did report a seizure-free period after diagnosis of an average 6.7 months. Eight patients were on antiepileptic drugs again. Of 13 patients referred for psychotherapy, who also did receive treatment, six became free of seizures and seven did not. Of seven patients also referred, but who did not receive psychotherapy, all continued to have seizures. On a self-rating scale to compare "overall function" at the time of diagnosis and follow-up, 75% considered themselves to have "improved", but no improvement could be detected in psychosocial functioning.

Adolescent↗