Large normal-range TBP and ATXN7 CAG repeat lengths are associated with increased lifetime risk of depression.

Depression is one of the most prevalent and debilitating psychiatric disorders worldwide. Recently, we showed that both relatively short and relatively long cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats in the huntingtin gene (HTT) are associated with an increased risk of lifetime depression. However, to what extent the variations in CAG repeat length in the other eight polyglutamine disease-associated genes (PDAGs) are associated with depression is still unknown.

Adherence to a web-based pre-treatment for phobias in outpatient clinics.

Background: Non-adherence in Internet interventions is a persistent and multifaceted issue and potentially limits the applicability and effectiveness of these interventions. Factors that influence non-adherence are poorly understood, especially in outpatient samples with more complex symptoms.

Objective: The current study is a secondary analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial that examined the cost-effectiveness of offering an Internet-based exposure treatment to phobic outpatients on a wait-list to receive face-to-face psychotherapy.

Risk Factors for Depression: Differential Across Age?

Introduction: The occurrence of well-established risk factors for depression differs across the lifespan. Risk factors may be more strongly associated with depression at ages when occurrence, and therefore expectance, is relatively low ("on-time off-time" hypothesis). This large-scale study examined absolute and relative risks of established risk factors for depression across the lifespan.

A National Quality Improvement Collaborative for the clinical use of outcome measurement in specialised mental healthcare: results from a parallel group design and a nested cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Although the importance and advantages of measurement-based care in mental healthcare are well established, implementation in daily practice is complex and far from optimal.

Aims: To accelerate the implementation of outcome measurement in routine clinical practice, a government-sponsored National Quality Improvement Collaborative was initiated in Dutch-specialised mental healthcare.

Method: To investigate the effects of this initiative, we combined a matched-pair parallel group design (21 teams) with a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) (6 teams).

Does the number of previous mood episodes moderate the relationship between alcohol use, smoking and mood in bipolar outpatients?

Background: Evidence suggests that alcohol use and smoking are negatively associated with mood in bipolar disorders (BD). It is unknown if this relationship is moderated by the number of previous mood episodes. Therefore, this paper aims to examine whether the number of previous mood episodes moderates the relationship between alcohol use and smoking, and mood.

Accelerometer-measured sedentary behaviour and physical activity of inpatients with severe mental illness.

Sedentary behaviour and lack of physical activity threatens health. Research concerning these behaviours of inpatients with severe mental illness is limited but urgently needed to reveal prevalence and magnitude. In total, 184 inpatients (men n =108, women n =76, mean age 57,4, 20% first generation antipsychotics, 40% second generation antipsychotics, 43% antidepressants, mean years hospitalisation 13 years), with severe mental illness of a Dutch psychiatric hospital wore an accelerometer for five days to objectively measure total activity counts per hour and percentages in sedentary behaviour, light intensity physical activity and moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Genetic effects influencing risk for major depressive disorder in China and Europe.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, complex psychiatric disorder and a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite twin studies indicating its modest heritability (~30-40%), extensive heterogeneity and a complex genetic architecture have complicated efforts to detect associated genetic risk variants. We combined single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) summary statistics from the CONVERGE and PGC studies of MDD, representing 10 502 Chinese (5282 cases and 5220 controls) and 18 663 European (9447 cases and 9215 controls) subjects.

A digital intake approach in specialized mental health care: study protocol of a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Enhancing patient participation is becoming increasingly important in mental health care as patients use to have a dependent, inactive role and nonadherence to treatment is a regular problem. Research shows promising results of initiatives stimulating patient participation in partnership with their clinicians. However, few initiatives targeting both patients' and clinicians' behaviour have been evaluated in randomised trials (RCT).

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and stress-related biomarkers.

Objective: The current study examined whether (a) Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms were associated with dysregulation of stress-related mechanisms, and (b) whether ADHD symptoms interact with affective disorders in their association with dysregulated stress-related mechanisms.

Methods: Data were obtained from 2307 subjects participating in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. Stress-related mechanisms were reflected by the following biomarkers: (1) hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis indicators (salivary cortisol awakening curve, evening cortisol, cortisol suppression after a 0.

Gait Speed and Processing Speed as Clinical Markers for Geriatric Health Outcomes.

Objective: This study investigates the independent and combined potential of slowed gait speed and slowed processing speed as predictors of adverse health outcomes. The role of depressive symptoms in these associations is also investigated.

Methods: In the prospective cohort study, using the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam database, three study samples for each outcome variable were defined: persistent cognitive decline (PCD; N = 1,271, 13 years of follow-up), falls (N = 1,282, 6 years of follow-up), and mortality (N = 1,559, age 74.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety in Multiple Sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Prevalence rates of depression and anxiety in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) vary widely across studies. Aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to a) estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety in MS, and specifically b) explore sources of heterogeneity (assessment method, prevalence period, study quality, recruitment resource, region) by extensive analyses.

Methods: A computerized search in PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO for studies on depression and anxiety in MS was performed up to December 2014.

Cost-Utility of Stepped Care Targeting Psychological Distress in Patients With Head and Neck or Lung Cancer.

Purpose A stepped care (SC) program in which an effective yet least resource-intensive treatment is delivered to patients first and followed, when necessary, by more resource-intensive treatments was found to be effective in improving distress levels of patients with head and neck cancer or lung cancer. Information on the value of this program for its cost is now called for. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the cost-utility of the SC program compared with care-as-usual (CAU) in patients with head and neck cancer or lung cancer who have psychological distress.

Homesick: residential and care patterns in patients with severe mental illness.

Background: Changes in the residential and care settings of patients with severe mental illness (SMI) are a concern because of the large variety of possible negative consequences. This study describes patterns of changes in the residential and care settings of SMI patients and explores associations between these changes, sociodemographics, and clinical characteristics.

Methods: From January 2006 to January 2012, all data relating to changes in residential and/or care setting by SMI patients (N = 262) were collected from electronic case files.

Longitudinal associations between late-life depression dimensions and cognitive functioning: a cross-domain latent growth curve analysis.

Background: Cognitive impairment and depression often co-occur in older adults, but it is not clear whether depression is a risk factor for cognitive decline, a psychological reaction to cognitive decline, or whether changes in depressive symptoms correlate with changes in cognitive performance over time. The co-morbid manifestation of depression and cognitive impairment may reflect either a causal effect or a common cause, depending on the specific symptoms experienced and the cognitive functions affected.

Method: The study sample comprised 1506 community-dwelling older adults aged ⩾65 years from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA).

Age-related variability in the presentation of symptoms of major depressive disorder.

Background: The heterogeneous aetiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) might affect the presentation of depressive symptoms across the lifespan. We examined to what extent a range of mood, cognitive, and somatic/vegetative depressive symptoms were differentially present depending on patient's age.

Method: Data came from 1404 participants with current MDD (aged 18-88 years) from two cohort studies: the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) and the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO).

[Comparison of efficacy of psychiatric treatment versus treatment in general medicine].

There is increasing attention to the costs and efficacy of health care and in particular to psychiatry. To weigh the costs and benefits appropriately, it is important to be able to compare effects.
AIM: To describe the efficacy of psychiatric treatment compared to treatment in general medicine.

Anxious distress predicts subsequent treatment outcome and side effects in depressed patients starting antidepressant treatment.

Evidence has shown that the DSM-5 anxious distress specifier captures a clinically valid construct that predicts a worse clinical course. Although of importance for treatment planning and monitoring, however, the specifier's ability to predict treatment outcome is unknown. This is the first study to examine the ability of the DSM-5 anxious distress specifier to predict treatment response and side effects in depressed patients who recently initiated antidepressant treatment.

Internet-based treatment for depression in multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Depression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is common but may stay untreated. Physical limitations impede face-to-face treatment. Internet-based treatment is therefore a promising tool for treating depression in MS.

Using Clinical Characteristics to Identify Which Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Have a Higher Genetic Load for Three Psychiatric Disorders.

Background: Limited successes of gene finding for major depressive disorder (MDD) may be partly due to phenotypic heterogeneity. We tested whether the genetic load for MDD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia (SCZ) is increased in phenotypically more homogenous MDD patients identified by specific clinical characteristics.

Methods: Patients (n = 1539) with a DSM-IV MDD diagnosis and control subjects (n = 1792) were from two large cohort studies (Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety and Netherlands Twin Register).

Ravynic acid, an antibiotic polyeneyne tetramic acid from Penicillium sp. elucidated through synthesis.

A new antibiotic natural product, ravynic acid, has been isolated from a Penicillium sp. of fungus, collected from Ravensbourne National Park. The 3-acylpolyenyne tetramic acid structure was definitively elucidated via synthesis.

The long-term outcome of subthreshold depression in later life.

Background: Subthreshold depression (SUBD) in later life is common and important as prodromal state and prominent risk factor in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). Indicated prevention can reduce the incidence of MDD among people with SUBD substantially, but needs to be targeted to those that are truly at risk of developing MDD.

Method: N = 341 eligible participants with SUBD were included from the first (1992/1993), second (1995/1996) and third (1998/1999) cycle from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) by using a two-stage screening design.

Is duration of psychological treatment for depression related to return into treatment?

Purpose: There is increasing pressure on mental health providers to reduce the duration of treatments, while retaining level of quality and effectiveness. The risk is that the population is underserved and therefore needs new treatment episodes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether duration of treatment and return into mental health care were related.