Advancing psychotherapy and evidence-based psychological interventions.

Psychological models of mental disorders guide research into psychological and environmental factors that elicit and maintain mental disorders as well as interventions to reduce them. This paper addresses four areas. (1) Psychological models of mental disorders have become increasingly transdiagnostic, focusing on core cognitive endophenotypes of psychopathology from an integrative cognitive psychology perspective rather than offering explanations for unitary mental disorders.

The need for a behavioural science focus in research on mental health and mental disorders.

Psychology as a science offers an enormous diversity of theories, principles, and methodological approaches to understand mental health, abnormal functions and behaviours and mental disorders. A selected overview of the scope, current topics as well as strength and gaps in Psychological Science may help to depict the advances needed to inform future research agendas specifically on mental health and mental disorders. From an integrative psychological perspective, most maladaptive health behaviours and mental disorders can be conceptualized as the result of developmental dysfunctions of psychological functions and processes as well as neurobiological and genetic processes that interact with the environment.

Cortisol awakening response and subsequent depression: prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Some studies have found an association between elevated cortisol and subsequent depression, but findings are inconsistent. The cortisol awakening response may be a more stable measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and potentially of stress reactivity.

Aims: To investigate whether salivary cortisol, particularly the cortisol awakening response, is associated with subsequent depression in a large population cohort.

Spatial light modulator microscopy.

The use of spatial light modulators (SLMs) for two-photon laser microscopy is described. SLM phase modulation can be used to generate nearly any spatiotemporal pattern of light, enabling simultaneous illumination of any number of selected regions of interest. We take advantage of this flexibility to perform fast two-photon imaging or uncaging experiments on dendritic spines and neocortical neurons.

A cluster randomised controlled trial to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of classroom-based cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in reducing symptoms of depression in high-risk adolescents.

Background: Depression in adolescents is a significant problem that impairs everyday functioning and increases the risk of severe mental health disorders in adulthood. Although this is a major problem, relatively few adolescents with, or at risk of developing, depression are identified and referred for treatment. This suggests the need to investigate alternative approaches whereby preventative interventions are made widely available in schools.

Cross-cultural patterns of the association between varying levels of alcohol consumption and the common mental disorders of depression and anxiety: secondary analysis of the WHO Collaborative Study on Psychological Problems in General Health Care.

Background: Alcohol consumption is associated with several complications of both physical and mental health. Light or moderate alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on physical or mental health but this effect is still controversial and research in the mental health field is relatively scarce. Our aim was to investigate the association between varying levels of alcohol consumption and the common mental disorders of depression and anxiety in a large international primary care sample.

Depression symptom trajectories and associated risk factors among adolescents in Chile.

Adolescence is a key period for studying the development of depression, with studies in Europe and North America showing a pattern of elevated risk that begins in early adolescence and continues to increase as adolescents age. Few studies have examined the course of adolescent depression and associated risk factors in low and middle-income countries. This longitudinal cohort study examined depression symptom trajectories and risk factors in a sample of socio-economically disadvantaged adolescents in Chile (n = 2,508).

World region of origin and common mental disorders among migrant women in Spain.

Migration can affect the mental health of migrants. This cross-sectional study has two objectives: (1) to compare the prevalence of common mental disorder (CMD) between migrants (n = 458) living in Granada (Spain) and Spanish-born women (n = 448); (2) within migrants, to analyse the associations of world region of origin, other sociodemographic factors and post-migration features with the presence of CMD. Participants answered a questionnaire, including sociodemographic characteristics, post-migration features and CMD that was measured by Kessler K6-scale.

Factors associated with the development of self-harm amongst a socio-economically deprived cohort of adolescents in Santiago, Chile.

Purpose: Studies carried out in the West indicate that the incidence of self-harm (SH) is particularly high amongst adolescents, but few studies have investigated its incidence and aetiology in low-income countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate risk factors associated with new onset episodes of SH, amongst Chilean adolescents from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Methods: Prospective cohort study nested within a cluster randomised controlled trial.

School intervention to improve mental health of students in Santiago, Chile: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Depression can have devastating effects unless prevented or treated early and effectively. Schools offer an excellent opportunity to intervene with adolescents presenting emotional problems. There are very few universal school-based depression interventions conducted in low- and middle-income countries.

Clinical effectiveness of collaborative care for depression in UK primary care (CADET): cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the clinical effectiveness of collaborative care with usual care in the management of patients with moderate to severe depression.

Design: Cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 51 primary care practices in three primary care districts in the United Kingdom.

Enhancing psychosocial support for HIV positive adolescents in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Background: There is a recognized gap in the evidence base relating to the nature and components of interventions to address the psycho-social needs of HIV positive young people. We used mixed methods research to strengthen a community support group intervention for HIV positive young people based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Methods: A quantitative questionnaire was administered to HIV positive Africaid support group attendees.

The methods and outcomes of cultural adaptations of psychological treatments for depressive disorders: a systematic review.

Background: Cultural adaptations of evidence-based psychological treatments (PTs) are important to enhance their universal applicability. The aim of this study was to review systematically the literature on adaptations of PTs for depressive disorders for ethnic minorities in Western countries and for any population in non-Western countries to describe the process, extent and nature of the adaptations and the effectiveness of the adapted treatments.

Method: Controlled trials were identified using database searches, key informants, previous reviews and reference lists.

Do depressed and anxious men do groups? What works and what are the barriers to help seeking?

Aim: To map the availability and types of depression and anxiety groups, to examine men's experiences and perception of this support as well as the role of health professionals in accessing support.

Background: The best ways to support men with depression and anxiety in primary care are not well understood. Group-based interventions are sometimes offered but it is unknown whether this type of support is acceptable to men.

Early menarche and depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood in a UK cohort.

Objective: To examine whether early menarche is associated with depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood.

Method: The study is based on 3,648 girls from a large UK birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) who provided data on age at onset of menarche and at least 1 measure of depressive symptoms assessed using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire at ages 13, 14, 16.5, 18, and 19 years.

Father absence and depressive symptoms in adolescence: findings from a UK cohort.

Background: Previous studies suggest a link between parental separation or divorce and risk of depression in adolescence. There are, however, few studies that have prospectively examined the effects of timing of biological father absence on risk for depressive symptoms in adolescence while controlling for a range of confounding factors.

Method: We examine the association between father absence occurring in early (the first 5 years) and middle childhood (5-10 years) and adolescent depressive symptoms in a sample comprising 5631 children from the UK-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Two-photon optical interrogation of individual dendritic spines with caged dopamine.

We introduce a novel caged dopamine compound (RuBi-Dopa) based on ruthenium photochemistry. RuBi-Dopa has a high uncaging efficiency and can be released with visible (blue-green) and IR light in a two-photon regime. We combine two-photon photorelease of RuBi-Dopa with two-photon calcium imaging for an optical imaging and manipulation of dendritic spines in living brain slices, demonstrating that spines can express functional dopamine receptors.

Detecting depression among adolescents in Santiago, Chile: sex differences.

Background: Depression among adolescents is common but most cases go undetected. Brief questionnaires offer an opportunity to identify probable cases but properly validated cut-off points are often unavailable, especially in non-western countries. Sex differences in the prevalence of depression become marked in adolescence and this needs to be accounted when establishing cut-off points.

Expectations, experiences and attitudes of patients and primary care health professionals regarding online psychotherapeutic interventions for depression: protocol for a qualitative study.

Background: In the year 2020, depression will cause the second highest amount of disability worldwide. One quarter of the population will suffer from depression symptoms at some point in their lives. Mental health services in Western countries are overburdened.

Country- and individual-level socioeconomic determinants of depression: multilevel cross-national comparison.

Background: The prevalence and correlates of depression vary across countries. Contextual factors such as country-level income or income inequalities have been hypothesised to contribute to these differences.

Aims: To investigate associations of depression with socioeconomic factors at the country level (income inequality, gross national income) and individual (education, employment, assets and spending) level, and to investigate their relative contribution in explaining the cross-national variation in the prevalence of depression.

Low intensity vs. self-guided internet-delivered psychotherapy for major depression: a multicenter, controlled, randomized study.

Background: Major depression will become the second most important cause of disability in 2020. Computerized cognitive-behaviour therapy could be an efficacious and cost-effective option for its treatment. No studies on cost-effectiveness of low intensity vs self-guided psychotherapy has been carried out.

Economic evaluation of a task-shifting intervention for common mental disorders in India.

Objective: To carry out an economic evaluation of a task-shifting intervention for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders in primary-care settings in Goa, India.

Methods: Cost-utility and cost-effectiveness analyses based on generalized linear models were performed within a trial set in 24 public and private primary-care facilities. Subjects were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control arm.

Lessons from scaling up a depression treatment program in primary care in Chile.

In Chile, the National Depression Detection and Treatment Program (Programa Nacional de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento de la Depresión, PNDTD) in primary care is a rare example of an evidence-based mental health program that was scaled up to the national level in a low- or middle-income country. This retrospective qualitative study aimed to better understand how policymakers made the decision to scale up mental health services to the national level, and to explore the elements, contexts, and processes that facilitated the decision to implement and sustain PNDTD. In-depth semistructured interviews with six key informants selected through intentional sampling were conducted in August-December 2008.