Psychological medicine
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Psychological medicine · Jul 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialClinical effectiveness of cognitive therapy v. interpersonal psychotherapy for depression: results of a randomized controlled trial.
Although both cognitive therapy (CT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) have been shown to be effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), it is not clear yet whether one therapy outperforms the other with regard to severity and course of the disorder. This study examined the clinical effectiveness of CT v. IPT in a large sample of depressed patients seeking treatment in a Dutch outpatient mental health clinic. We tested whether one of the treatments was superior to the other at post-treatment and at 5 months follow-up. Furthermore, we tested whether active treatment was superior to no treatment. We also assessed whether initial depression severity moderated the effect of time and condition and tested for therapist differences. ⋯ Within our power and time ranges, CT and IPT appeared not to differ in the treatment of depression in the acute phase and beyond.
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Psychological medicine · Jul 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) prevent major depressive episode for workers? A 12-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.
In this study we investigated whether an Internet-based computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) program can decrease the risk of DSM-IV-TR major depressive episodes (MDE) during a 12-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of Japanese workers. ⋯ The present study demonstrates that an iCBT program is effective in preventing MDE in the working population. However, it should be noted that MDE was measured by self-report, while the CIDI can measure the episodes more strictly following DSM-IV criteria.
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Psychological medicine · Jul 2015
Altered mesocorticolimbic functional connectivity in psychotic disorder: an analysis of proxy genetic and environmental effects.
Altered dopaminergic neurotransmission in the mesocorticolimbic (MCL) system may mediate psychotic symptoms. In addition, pharmacological dopaminergic manipulation may coincide with altered functional connectivity (fc) 'in rest'. We set out to test whether MCL-fc is conditional on (familial risk for) psychotic disorder and/or interactions with environmental exposures. ⋯ Reduced NAcc-OFC/MCC connectivity was seen in patients and siblings, suggesting that altered OFC connectivity and MCC connectivity are vulnerability markers for psychotic disorder. Differential exposure to environmental risk factors did not make an impact on the association between familial risk and MCL connectivity.
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Psychological medicine · Jun 2015
Review Meta AnalysisDepression in Gulf War veterans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been a focus of attention in 1990/1991 Gulf War veterans, the excess risk of depression has not been clearly identified. We investigated this through a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing depression in Gulf War veterans to depression in a comparison group of non-deployed military personnel. ⋯ Despite divergent methodologies between studies, depression and dysthymia were twice as common in Gulf War veterans and are important medical conditions for clinicians and policymakers to be aware of in managing Gulf War veterans' health.
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Psychological medicine · May 2015
Different neural and cognitive response to emotional faces in healthy monozygotic twins at risk of depression.
Negative cognitive bias and aberrant neural processing of emotional faces are trait-marks of depression. Yet it is unclear whether these changes constitute an endophenotype for depression and are also present in healthy individuals with hereditary risk for depression. ⋯ Different neural response and functional connectivity within fronto-limbic and occipito-parietal regions during emotional face processing and enhanced fear vigilance may be key endophenotypes for depression.