Background: Multiple genetic and environmental risk factors play a role in the development of both schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and affective psychoses. How they act in combination is yet to be clarified.
Methods: We analyzed 573 first episode psychosis cases and 1005 controls, of European ancestry.
Background: The association between cannabis and psychosis is established, but the role of underlying genetics is unclear. We used data from the EU-GEI case-control study and UK Biobank to examine the independent and combined effect of heavy cannabis use and schizophrenia polygenic risk score (PRS) on risk for psychosis.
Methods: Genome-wide association study summary statistics from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and the Genomic Psychiatry Cohort were used to calculate schizophrenia and cannabis use disorder (CUD) PRS for 1098 participants from the EU-GEI study and 143600 from the UK Biobank.
Healthcare professionals can be sources of stigma for people with mental illness. Ambulance personnel are often the first healthcare providers that people with mental illness encounter during physical and mental health crises and their attitudes may be influenced by misconceptions and stereotyping views. This study aimed to assess the attitudes of ambulance personnel toward people with mental illness using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) and to evaluate its psychometric properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildhood adversity is associated with various clinical dimensions in psychosis; however, how genetic vulnerability shapes the adversity-associated psychopathological signature is yet to be studied. We studied data of 583 First Episode Psychosis (FEP) cases from the EU-GEI FEP case-control study, including Polygenic risk scores for major depressive disorder (MDD-PRS), bipolar disorder (BD-PRS) and schizophrenia (SZ-PRS); childhood adversity measured with the total score of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ); and positive, negative, depressive and manic psychopathological domains from a factor model of transdiagnostic dimensions. Genes and environment interactions were explored as a departure from a multiplicative effect of PRSs and total CTQ on each dimension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeople surviving COVID-19 may experience social stigma related to their condition even after clinical recovery. This study aimed to: (1) investigate COVID-19-related experienced discrimination and internalized stigma, and (2) explore their association with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. We conducted an online survey of people who survived COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Lower socioeconomic status increases psychiatric service use, exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic by environmental stressors like air pollution and limited green spaces. This study aims to assess the influence of sociodemographic and environmental factors on mental health service utilisation. (2) Methods: This retrospective study uses an administrative database focusing on community mental health services in Northeast Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Workplace stigmatisation and discrimination are significant barriers to accessing employment opportunities, reintegration and promotion in the workforce for people with mental illnesses in comparison to other disabilities. This paper presents qualitative evidence of anticipated and experienced workplace stigma and discrimination among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) in 35 countries, and how these experiences differ across countries based on their Human Development Index (HDI) level.
Design: Mixed-method cross-sectional survey.
Background: Childhood adversity and cannabis use are considered independent risk factors for psychosis, but whether different patterns of cannabis use may be acting as mediator between adversity and psychotic disorders has not yet been explored. The aim of this study is to examine whether cannabis use mediates the relationship between childhood adversity and psychosis.
Methods: Data were utilised on 881 first-episode psychosis patients and 1231 controls from the European network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study.
Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci
December 2023
This article discusses advance statements in mental health care, which allow individuals with mental disorders to express their preferences for treatment during mental health crises. Despite the evidence supporting their effectiveness, their implementation in clinical practice remains limited. This article explores variations among advance statements, such as psychiatric advance directives (PADs), joint crisis plans (JCPs) and self-binding directives (SBDs), highlighting their content, development process and legal status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: People with mental disorders frequently report experiences of discrimination within mental health services, which can have significant detrimental effects on individuals' well-being and recovery. This study aimed to develop and validate a new standardized measure aiming to assess experiences of stigmatization among people with mental disorders within mental health services.
Methods: The scale was developed in Italian and tested for ease of use, comprehension, acceptability, relevance of items and response options within focus group session.
Introduction: Functional neurological disorder (FND) presents motor, sensory, and cognitive symptoms characterized by clinical signs incongruent with known neurological disease. Together with other health professionals, like neurologists, psychiatrists can play an essential role in diagnosing and managing these disorders. Hence, understanding their opinion and clinical experience with FND is of utmost importance to catch potential educational needs and improve healthcare services for patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The coronavirus pandemic imposed significant changes in the care of patients in psychiatric residential facilities, especially during lockdown periods. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the pandemic on patients and staff of psychiatric residential facilities (RFs). This cross-sectional survey was conducted between 30 June and 30 July 2021 and involved 31 RFs located in the province of Verona (Italy).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated if the association between childhood maltreatment and cognition among psychosis patients and community controls was partially accounted for by genetic liability for psychosis. Patients with first-episode psychosis (N = 755) and unaffected controls (N = 1219) from the EU-GEI study were assessed for childhood maltreatment, intelligence quotient (IQ), family history of psychosis (FH), and polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (SZ-PRS). Controlling for FH and SZ-PRS did not attenuate the association between childhood maltreatment and IQ in cases or controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the DISCUS (DISC-Ultra Short), a measure which assesses experienced discrimination among persons with mental disorders.
Methods: Data collected in the three Italian sites (Brescia, Napoli, and Verona) participating at the international project INDIGO-DISCUS. Each Italian site recruited a sample of 50 individuals.
Background: A history of childhood adversity is associated with psychotic disorder, with an increase in risk according to the number of exposures. However, it is not known why only some exposed individuals go on to develop psychosis. One possibility is pre-existing polygenic vulnerability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: While cannabis use is a well-established risk factor for psychosis, little is known about any association between reasons for first using cannabis (RFUC) and later patterns of use and risk of psychosis.
Methods: We used data from 11 sites of the multicentre European Gene-Environment Interaction (EU-GEI) case-control study. 558 first-episode psychosis patients (FEPp) and 567 population controls who had used cannabis and reported their RFUC.
Serotonergic and dopaminergic systems are involved in the regulation of mood and reactivity to psychological stress. This study explores, in a sample of first episode psychosis (FEP) patients, whether more severe depressive symptoms were found in those who: (1) experienced a major stressful event in the 6 months preceding illness onset; and (2) were homozygous for the COMT Val158 allele or carrying the S allele of 5-HTTLPR. A total of 186 FEP patients recruited were assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) for depressive symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, local health authorities in most Italian regions prescribed a reduction of ordinary outpatient and community mental health care. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to the emergency departments (ED) for psychiatric consultation in the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019.
Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted by using routinely collected administrative data of the two EDs of the Verona Academic Hospital Trust (Verona, Italy).