Welcome to the 22nd WCP Congress Program Scheduling

Objectives

In the past few decades, psychiatric research has aimed to better understand the etiology and mechanisms of comorbidity, with the aim of enhancing prevention and treatment efforts, especially the early detection and early differential diagnosis. We identified 152 experimental articles that mainly conducted a Go/NoGo (GNG) task in fMRI studies. The meta-analysis investigated: 1) what were the common features across 6 psychiatric disorders in the GNG task; 2) what were the difference between one disorder and others; and 3) the effect of medication on the GNG task.

Methods

The revised activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis was used to determine the anatomical and functional commonalities across different neuroimaging studies. The similarities and differences in the GNG inhibition were determined in the comparisons of pairs of groups.

Results

The meta-analysis provided a converging evidence that the inhibition circuitry was consistently affected in patients with psychiatric disorders and manifested as the decreased activitied in GNG. Compared to non-schizophrenics (non-SCZs), SCZ patients had increased (but not decreased) activities in multiple brain regions, and the increased activities in multiple brain regions might be due to the extensive damage in the brain of SCZ patients.

Conclusions

The six major psychiatric disorders showed a consistent pattern in the reaction inhibitory task, meaning that the consistency between these disorders is one of the foundations of their commorbidity. Schizophrenia is different from other five disorders, indicating that the features of task-state MRI can be used for differential diagnosis.

Objectives

Objectives: The present study examines the efficacy of psychological interventions, family therapy, and marital therapy for people living with schizophrenia (PLS) and their families through a review of research.

Methods

Methods: A comprehensive review of research was undertaken using Google Scholar, and databases-Scopus, PubMed. A computerized search strategy was used to restrict studies published in English from 1990 to 2022, using certain specific keywords. Potential studies were reviewed as per inclusion/exclusion criteria and 20 original research papers were included in the present review. The research studies were then tabulated based on the following criteria-author, year & country, objective, methods, results, and scope for future research.

Results

Results: Psychological interventions such as family and marital therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy have clear effects on the prevention of psychotic relapse and rehospitalization, and improvements in delusions and hallucinations.
Psychoeducational interventions, and social skills training also prove to be an effective approach for improving awareness, skills, and competence of PLS and helping their families in supporting their recovery.

Conclusions

Conclusions: The findings of the study implicate that PLS and their families can benefit from access to a range of psychological interventions and family services to meet their diverse needs. The findings of this review have significant ramifications for both clinical practice and research, as the information can be utilized by the clinicians and mental health institutions to increase their awareness and attention towards the significance of incorporating psychological interventions in the routine care of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Objectives

Dermatoglyphic patterns deviations have been consistently associated with schizophrenia (SZ) (Bramon et al., 2005). This relationship stands on the common ectodermal embryonic origin of the epidermis and central nervous system (Babler, 1991). However, little is known about the molecular and genetic commonalities between dermatoglyphics and SZ. Both the endocannabinoid and cholinergic systems are involved in brain development and have been associated with SZ (Fakhoury, 2016; Ross et al., 2010)

Accordingly, we aimed to test whether key genes in both systems (and their common interactors) play a role in the relationship between dermatoglyphics and SZ.

Methods

In a sample of 61 nuclear families (healthy first-degree relatives and offspring with SZ, n=208), we assessed the following dermatoglyphic markers: the total palmar a-b ridge count, its fluctuant asymmetry, and the finger pattern intensity. 72 SNPs from a total of 24 genes were genotyped. We evaluated genetic associations with SZ and dermatoglyphic markers through a TDT/QTDT analysis (PLINK).

Results

We identified the association of CNR2 (Cannabinoid receptor 2) and CHRNA7 (Neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-7) genes with the risk for SZ. We then observed their effect, along with some of their common interactors (APOE and MAPT), on total a-b ridge counts.

Conclusions

These results suggest the role of the endocannabinoid and cholinergic systems in the development and variability of both SZ and dermatoglyphic patterns. The identified associations encourage the combined use of genetics and dermatoglyphics to assess neurodevelopmental alterations predisposing to SZ.

Acknowledgements: PIF-Salut-SLT017/20/000233-AS-M; ISC-III, FI19/0352-MG-R, FI21/00093-NH, CP20/00072-MF-V, PI20/01002ERDF/ESF “Investing in your future” projects); AGAUR-2017SGR1271.

Objectives

Despite the high prevalence of comorbid depression, anxiety and insomnia in obstructive sleep apnea(OSA) patients, reports of a large real-word data analysis on this critical relationship are scarce. We aimed to explore the sex and age-related differences of the risk depression, anxiety and insomnia in OSA patients.

Methods

A nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study design using the Korean National Health Insurance(KNHI) claims database from 2010 to 2019 was adopted. Depression, anxiety, insomnia diagnoses were defined according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10^th version(ICD-10). Incidence rates of depression, anxiety and insomnia according to different sex and age were estimated. Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the risk of depression, anxiety and insomnia in different sex and age groups.

Results

Increased risk of depression (adjusted hazard ratio; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.615, 1.598-1.633), anxiety (1.560, 1.543-1.578), and insomnia (2.582, 2.536-2.628) was observed in OSA patients. Depression, anxiety and insomnia risk was consistently higher in female OSA patients. Depression, anxiety and insomnia risk were higher in middle-age and elderly OSA groups compared with younger age group.

Conclusions

There was a disparate sex and age-related patterns of increased risk of depression, anxiety and insomnia in OSA patients. Special clinical attention to these differences is warranted when diagnosing and treating depression, anxiety and insomnia in OSA patients.

Objectives

This research examined attitudes towards and participant characteristics associated with help-seeking for mental health related conditions among Latinos, specifically:

1) What are the attitudes toward professional help-seeking for mental health concerns among Latino individuals?

2) What participant characteristics and demographic factors are associated with Latino individuals’ help-seeking attitudes?

Methods

Employing a cross-sectional sampling strategy, 469 participants were recruited for a community-based survey study in a large US metropolitan urban area measuring mental health stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the associations between Latinos’ help-seeking attitudes and sociodemographic characteristics of participants.

Results

Findings indicate that openness towards seeking professional help for mental health concerns is influenced by participants’ age, marital status, gender, region of origin, education, public stigma and self-stigma towards mental health problem. Findings support future research to examine broader systemic factors associated with help seeking and how they interact with sociodemographic characteristics and stigma

Conclusions

Understanding the specific pathways that predict help-seeking for mental health issues is essential to systematically promoting early detection and entry into evidence-based treatments for Latinos. n our study, age, marital status, gender, region of origin, and education emerged as key predictors of help-seeking attitudes for mental health concerns, in addition to public stigma and self-stigma, accounting for nearly 20% of the variance in help-seeking attitudes.Consistent with prior research, females in our study were more likely than males to have an openness toward seeking help for mental health concerns. Our study also found that familial (public) stigma plays an important role in mental health help-seeking.

Objectives

Suicide is rapidly increasing among youth in the US. While the heritability of suicide risk is well established, there is limited understanding of how genetic risk relates to suicidal behaviors in young children. This study was conducted to examine whether genetic susceptibility to adult suicide attempts (SAs) is associated with suicidal behaviors in children.

Methods

We examined data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, a population-based longitudinal study of 11,878 US children aged 9 and 10 years old. Youth reports of suicidal ideation (SI) and SAs were obtained from K-SADS-5 at baseline (age 9-10) and two subsequent years. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for adult SAs were calculated for study participants based on the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of adult SA cases and controls (total sample N=549,742).

Results

We found statistically significant associations between children’s SA PRSs and their own lifetime SAs (Year 2, OR=1.43, 95% CI=1.18-1.75, corrected p-value=1.85x10^-3, R²=1.51%). These associations remained significant after accounting for children’s sociodemographic backgrounds, psychopathology symptoms, parental histories of suicide and mental health, and additional PRSs for major depression and ADHD (Likelihood ratio test p-value < 0.05). Children’s depressive mood and aggressive behavior were significant partial mediators of SA genetic risk on SAs (causal mediation analysis p-value < 1x10^-16).

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that there are genes that specifically increase SA risk across childhood and also suggest behaviors through which the risk is mediated. Research is warranted to examine whether incorporation of genetic data could improve the identification of children at risk for suicide.

Abstract Body

Against the backdrop of growing military conflict, hostilities are the most stressful factor in deteriorating mental health. For 7 years (from 2012 to 2019) a study of data from 3587 inpatients who served in peacetime, participated in hostilities and served during the armistice. The average age of servicemen differed significantly depending on the period of service, was 26.5 years in 2012 and increased to 34.2 years in 2019. In peacetime, diseases predominantly related to neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (F40-F48), adult personality disorders and behavioral disorders (F60-F69). The drug problem comes to the fore during the fighting in late 2014 and 2015. The total number of patients with drug problems was 46.2% among all hospitalized in 2014 and 2015. During the same period, 24.2% of all hospitalized patients had neurotic stress-related and somatoform disorders (F40-F48). As active hostilities decreased, the number of these disorders increased. In 2019 and amounted to 50.8% of servicemen treated in hospital. In the hospital, we observed an increase in mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of psychoactive substances (mainly alcohol, opiates), the number of such patients increased in the overall structure of diseases to 21.5% in 2019. For the first time, a signifier can't amount of data from servicemen was analyzed and the obtained material demonstrates. For the first time, an analysis of this number of military personnel has been carried out, and the material obtained demonstrates the need to involve specialists in drug abuse and rehabilitation.

Objectives

In many Hindu and Buddhist societies, dreams are believed to be portents of mishap or disaster and a window into the mental health of the dreamer. The aim of this paper is to examine the cultural framing of dreams in Cambodia. The focus is on the manner in which people understand, interpret and respond to dreams as signals or predictors of mishap and disaster and how these reveal the post-traumatic stresses they face. The article draws on the 2010 human stampede at Diamond Island Bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which resulted in the deaths of 347 people.

Methods

An ethnographic study was carried out in Phnom Penh and nine provinces between 2010 and 2019, with cases followed up for up to 8 years. We explored beliefs about dreams held by 5 survivors and 8 of their family members, 34 bereaved relatives of 9 who had been killed, 31 villagers, and 48 key informants (including 7 monks, 10 female Buddhist lay devotees and 22 Buddhist lay officiants).

Results

Premonitory dreams, sometimes independently experienced by multiple family members, included themes such as loved ones preparing for their final journey to their next incarnation and symbols of earlier historic tragedies such as the Khmer Rouge era, and were decoded using myths or legends such as the Vessantara Jātaka.

Conclusions

Dreams provide a powerful window into the cultural construction of disaster, and such local knowledge could strengthen cultural responsiveness in mental health interventions in disaster.

Objectives

Esketamine, the S-enantiomer of ketamine, has recently shown the ability in reversing Treatment-Resistant Depression conditions when added-on to serotonergic drugs. Information about esketamine safety and efficacy in naturalistic settings is still lacking. In this observational, retrospective and multicentric study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy of Esketamine nasal spray in a clinical sample of TRD patients from different Italian Mental Health Services, providing a real-world experience of esketamine use.

Methods

116 patients were evaluated and prospectively followed up to 1 month (T1) and three months (T2). Inclusion criteria were: patients over 18 years of age, with a Major Depressive Episode, undergoing at least two conventional antidepressant treatments in the absence of an adequate clinical response (TRD), and currently in treatment with an SSRI or SNRI. Psychometric assessment included MADRS, HAM-D-21 items, HAM-A-21 items.

Results

Pearson’s t-test highlighted an overall significant reduction in MADRS scores in both one month and three-month assessments compared to baseline. Esketamine also showed a significant anti-suicidal action (p<0.000). Patients in treatment with augmentation strategies other than antidepressants (antipsychotics or mood stabilizers) shows an overall lower response rate to esketamine.

Conclusions

Results from the present study clearly showed the antidepressant efficacy of esketamine in a naturalistic setting. Late-response represents an innovative finding of our study, together with the non-inferiority in efficacy in comorbidity subjects. Comprehensively, this study shows that esketamine remains an important and efficient therapy for TRD also in common clinical practice, able to answer to the unmet treatment need in TRD care.

Objectives

Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) play a central role in mental health services and the pandemic forced an urgent need to shift to the use of telemedicine and remote working which allowed CMHTs to ensure continuity of care in times of crisis. The impact of remote working on CMHT staff is not yet clearly understood and it is vital to reflect on and understand staff’s experiences.

Methods

CMHT staff’s experiences and opinions was assessed by an anonymous, self-administered, internet-based survey. The questionnaire included questions relating to staff’s views on remote working, their confidence, satisfaction and productivity levels. Data were analysed quantitively and this project was registered with the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust Quality Improvement and Innovation Department.

Results

CMHT staff experiences was examined in 2020 and 2021. Twenty-two staff completed the 2020 survey and 16 completed the 2021 survey.

Satisfaction with work from home (WFH) was high in both surveys, 80% (2020 86.4%, 2021 81.3%) responding ‘Satisfied or Somewhat satisfied’. Staff indicated high levels of confidence in WFH; over 90% responded they were ‘Confident’ or ‘Extremely confident’ (2020 86.4%, 2021 81.3%) and able to keep regular working schedule on ‘Most days’ or ‘Every day’ (2020 90.9%, 2021 93.8%). Participants perceived increased productivity at both time points, with 81.8% (2020) and 68.1% (2021).

Conclusions

This study provides a unique insight into CMHT staffs experiences and provides a benchwork for guidance to be developed to support staff.