Psychological medicine
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Psychological medicine · Mar 2013
Controlled Clinical TrialEffects of cortisol on memory in women with borderline personality disorder: role of co-morbid post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression.
Stress and cortisol administration are known to have impairing effects on memory retrieval in healthy humans. These effects are reported to be altered in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but they have not yet been investigated in borderline personality disorder (BPD). ⋯ The present results demonstrate beneficial effects of acute cortisol elevations on hippocampal-mediated memory processes in BPD. The absence of these effects in patients with co-morbid MDD suggests that these patients differ from other BPD patients in terms of their sensitivity to glucocorticoids (GCs).
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Psychological medicine · Mar 2013
Differential functional connectivity within an emotion regulation neural network among individuals resilient and susceptible to the depressogenic effects of early life stress.
Early life stress (ELS) is a significant risk factor for depression. The effects of ELS exposure on neural network organization have not been differentiated from the effect of depression. Furthermore, many individuals exposed to ELS do not develop depression, yet the network organization patterns differentiating resiliency versus susceptibility to the depressogenic effects of ELS are not clear. ⋯ These preliminary results suggest functional neural connectivity patterns specific to ELS exposure and resiliency versus susceptibility to the depressogenic effects of ELS exposure.
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Psychological medicine · Feb 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialCost-effectiveness and long-term effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for severe health anxiety.
Severe health anxiety is a common condition associated with functional disability, making it a costly disorder from a societal perspective. Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is a promising treatment but no previous study has assessed the cost-effectiveness or long-term outcome of ICBT for severe health anxiety. The aim of this study was to investigate the cost-effectiveness and 1-year treatment effects of ICBT for severe health anxiety. ⋯ ICBT is a cost-effective treatment for severe health anxiety that can produce substantial and enduring effects.
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Psychological medicine · Feb 2013
Comparative StudyTime to diagnosis in young-onset dementia as compared with late-onset dementia.
The extent to which specific factors influence diagnostic delays in dementia is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare duration from symptom onset to diagnosis for young-onset dementia (YOD) and late-onset dementia (LOD) and to assess the effect of age at onset, type of dementia, gender, living situation, education and family history of dementia on this duration. ⋯ There is a need to raise special awareness of YOD to facilitate a timely diagnosis.
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Psychological medicine · Jan 2013
Comparative Study'The risks of playing it safe': a prospective longitudinal study of response to reward in the adolescent offspring of depressed parents.
Alterations in reward processing may represent an early vulnerability factor for the development of depressive disorder. Depression in adults is associated with reward hyposensitivity and diminished reward seeking may also be a feature of depression in children and adolescents. We examined the role of reward responding in predicting depressive symptoms, functional impairment and new-onset depressive disorder over time in the adolescent offspring of depressed parents. In addition, we examined group differences in reward responding between currently depressed adolescents, psychiatric and healthy controls, and also cross-sectional associations between reward responding and measures of positive social/environmental functioning. Method We conducted a 1-year longitudinal study of adolescents at familial risk for depression (n = 197; age range 10-18 years). Reward responding and self-reported social/environmental functioning were assessed at baseline. Clinical interviews determined diagnostic status at baseline and at follow-up. Reports of depressive symptoms and functional impairment were also obtained. ⋯ Reward seeking predicts depression severity and onset in adolescents at elevated risk of depression. Adaptive reward responses may be amenable to change through modification of existing preventive psychological interventions.