The moderating role of COMT gene rs4680 polymorphism between maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Although the positive association between impairments in metacognitive capacity and negative symptoms in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders is widely evidenced in the literature, the explaining mechanisms of this association are still less known and poorly understood. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by testing the hypothesis that COMT rs4680 variants will act as moderators in the relationship between certain metacognitive domains and negative symptoms' severity.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried-out during the period between February and March 2024.

Psychotic experiences and psychological distress in adolescents: an examination of longitudinal bidirectional effects across sex.

Background: Although the co-occurrence of psychotic experiences (PEs) and psychological distress symptoms is growingly recognized in several previous studies, there is still a lack of literature, which clearly outlines how these two psychopathological entities affect each other over time. This study is intended to add to the literature by examining: (a) the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between PEs and psychological distress in a sample of Tunisian adolescents, and (b) whether these associations are moderated by sex.

Methods: 510 adolescent students (mean age of 16.

Impulsivity as a predictor of clinical and psychological outcomes in a naturalistic prospective cohort of subjects at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis from Tunisia.

Background: Impulsivity is associated with serious detrimental consequences on physical, mental, behavioral and social aspects of health among patients with psychosis. The present prospective 12-month follow-up study aimed to determine the prevalence of highly impulsive individuals among Ultra High Risk (UHR) patients, how impulsivity evolves over the follow-up period, and whether impulsivity impacts clinical, psychological and functional outcomes in this population.

Method: UHR patients were invited to complete a battery of measurements at three-time points: at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months of follow-up.

Development of mental health first aid guidelines for psychosis for Brazil: A Delphi expert consensus study.

Psychotic symptoms can be highly debilitating for those experiencing them. Community members, including family and friends, can play a crucial role in providing support to a person during the early stages of psychosis, provided they have the necessary resources. Mental health first aid guidelines for psychosis have been developed for high-income countries and this study aimed to adapt those guidelines for Brazil.

How "global" is research in early intervention for psychosis? A bibliometric analysis.

Introduction: Unlike high-income countries (HICs), there are few early intervention services for psychosis in low-and middle-income countries (LAMICs). In HICs, research spurred the growth of such services. Little is known about the state of EIP research in LAMICs, which we address by examining their research output and collaborations vis-à-vis that of HICs.

Development and initial validation of the cannabis-related psychosis risk literacy scale (CPRL): a multinational psychometric study.

Background: Public education efforts to address and reduce potential harms from cannabis use in Arab countries are either slow or inexistent, and do not follow the steadily increasing trends of cannabis use in Arab youth. Several decades of research on substance use, it can be suggested that being aware of, and knowing about, psychosis risk related to cannabis can at least limit the consumption of the substance. Motivated by a lack of measures specifically designed to measure literacy about cannabis-related psychosis risk in younger populations, and based on an extensive literature review, we aimed to create and validate a new self-report scale to assess the construct, the Cannabis-related Psychosis Risk Literacy Scale (CPRL), in the Arabic language.

Endocannabinoid system alterations in schizophrenia: association with cannabis use and antipsychotic medication.

Determining peripheral modulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may be important for differentiating individuals with schizophrenia. Such differentiation can also be extended to subgroups of individuals, those who use cannabis and antipsychotic medications, particularly those who are treatment resistant. Patients and controls were recruited from the outpatient clinic of the Psychosis Group of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Stigma of ultra-high risk for psychosis: an updated systematic review.

Objective: To determine whether the stigma associated with schizophrenia has also been directed towards people at ultra-high risk of psychosis (UHR), the present review aimed to synthetize the literature to update and extend our understanding of this topic.

Methods: A systematic review compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases for articles published until April 30, 2023, using a combination of search terms describing at-risk mental states for psychosis, stigma, and related terms.

Results: Thirty-eight studies were included.

ChatGPT is not ready yet for use in providing mental health assessment and interventions.

Background: Psychiatry is a specialized field of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental health disorders. With advancements in technology and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), there has been a growing interest in exploring the potential of AI language models systems, such as Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer (ChatGPT), to assist in the field of psychiatry.

Objective: Our study aimed to evaluates the effectiveness, reliability and safeness of ChatGPT in assisting patients with mental health problems, and to assess its potential as a collaborative tool for mental health professionals through a simulated interaction with three distinct imaginary patients.

Moderating effect of alexithymia between problem gambling and psychotic experiences in university students.

Background: Most of the young individuals with problem gambling (PG) or psychotic experiences (PEs) are less prone to seek medical help. Therefore, community-based studies investigating the relationship between these entities in non-clinical young people across a continuum of severity are warranted. To this end, the present study proposes to advance knowledge on the mechanisms that potentially underlie the association between PG and PEs, by examining the role of a potential moderator, i.

Body image as a mediator in the relationship between psychotic experiences and later disordered eating: A 12-month longitudinal study in high school adolescents.

Background: The relationship between psychosis and disordered eating remains a challenging area of research to which little interest was paid. Using longitudinal data, we aimed to explore the hypothesis that the pathways from psychotic experiences (PEs) to disordered eating (DE) and body-mass index (BMI) are mediated by body-image disturbances.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was performed.

Cannabis use influences disorganized symptoms severity but not transition in a cohort of non-help-seeking individuals at-risk for psychosis from São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder. However, in individuals with at-risk mental states for psychosis (ARMS) this association is not clear, as well as the impact of cannabis use on symptom severity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of cannabis use patterns and ARMS risk status, transition to psychotic and psychiatric disorders, and psychopathology.

The relationship between internet gaming disorder and psychotic experiences: cyberbullying and insomnia severity as mediators.

Background: The nature of the relationship between Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and psychosis is unclear so far. There is evidence that greater time spent in playing video games may expose players to both insomnia and a toxic online environment with widespread cyberbullying. These two possible consequences of IGD may, in turn, be associated with greater psychotic experiences (PE).

Mental illness stigma as a moderator in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslims from 16 Arab countries.

Background: Determining the potential barriers responsible for delaying access to care, and elucidating pathways to early intervention should be a priority, especially in Arab countries where mental health resources are limited. To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the relationship between religiosity, stigma and help-seeking in an Arab Muslim cultural background. Hence, we propose in the present study to test the moderating role of stigma toward mental illness in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslim community people living in different Arab countries.

Plasma levels of neurotrophin 4/5, NGF and pro-BDNF influence transition to mental disorders in a sample of individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis.

Background: Neurotrophins (NTs) and their precursors (pro-NTs) are polypeptides with important roles in neuronal development, differentiation, growth, survival and plasticity, as well as apoptosis and neuronal death. Imbalance in NT levels were observed in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, but evidence in ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) samples is scarce.

Methods: A naturalistic sample of 87 non-help-seeking UHR subjects and 55 healthy controls was drawn from the general population.

Gesticulation in individuals with at risk mental states for psychosis.

Nonverbal communication (NVC) is a complex behavior that involves different modalities that are impaired in the schizophrenia spectrum, including gesticulation. However, there are few studies that evaluate it in individuals with at-risk mental states (ARMS) for psychosis, mostly in developed countries. Given our prior findings of reduced movement during speech seen in Brazilian individuals with ARMS, we now aim to determine if this can be accounted for by reduced gesticulation behavior.

Inequality and barriers in psychosis prevention: A systematic review on clinical high-risk for psychosis studies from developing countries.

Background: The clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR) paradigm is one of the best studied preventive paradigms in psychiatry. However, most studies have been conducted in high-income countries. It is unclear if knowledge from such countries applies to low and middle-income countries (LAMIC), and if there are specific limitations hindering CHR research there.

A dopamine receptor D2 genetic polymorphism associated with transition to mental disorders in a cohort of individuals with at-risk mental state for psychosis.

Objectives: To test the association of 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with transition to psychiatric disorders in a cohort of individuals at ultrahigh risk (UHR) mental state for psychosis.

Methods: Through general population screening, 88 non-help-seeking UHR subjects and 130 healthy control individuals were genotyped for 45 SNPs related to psychosis. They were followed for a mean of 2.