Impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on dispensing of psychiatric medication for children and adolescents: longitudinal quantitative study.

Background: Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and impact; they cause widespread disruption and adversity throughout the world. The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-2011 were devastating for the people of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is important to understand the impact of this disaster on the mental health of children and adolescents.

Traumatic imagery following glucocorticoid administration in earthquake-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Objective: Post-traumatic stress disorder involves excessive retrieval of traumatic memories. Glucocorticoids impair declarative memory retrieval. This preliminary study examined the effect of acute hydrocortisone administration on brain activation in individuals with earthquake-related post-traumatic stress disorder compared with earthquake-exposed healthy individuals, during retrieval of traumatic memories.

A systematic review of the psychological impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes on mental health.

Objective: This systematic review aims to identify and evaluate all studies that measured psychological distress or mental disorder following the Canterbury earthquakes to establish the psychological consequences of the earthquakes on those exposed. A secondary aim is to outline and emphasise key methodological factors in disaster research.

Method: Eligible studies were identified following a comprehensive literature search.

Childhood abuse and psychotic experiences in adulthood: findings from a 35-year longitudinal study.

Background: The extent to which exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse increases the risk of psychotic experiences in adulthood is currently unclear.AimsTo examine the relationship between childhood sexual and physical abuse and psychotic experiences in adulthood taking into account potential confounding and time-dynamic covariate factors.

Method: Data were from a cohort of 1265 participants studied from birth to 35 years.

Psychological distress and psychiatric disorder after natural disasters: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and severity. They cause widespread hardship and are associated with detrimental effects on mental health.AimsOur aim is to provide the best estimate of the effects of natural disasters on mental health through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the rates of psychological distress and psychiatric disorder after natural disasters.

Earthquake brain: Impairment of spatial memory following long-term earthquake-related stress.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to investigate neuropsychological function in patients with earthquake-related posttraumatic stress disorder, compared with earthquake-exposed but resilient controls. We hypothesised that individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder would have poorer neuropsychological performance on tests of verbal and visuospatial learning and memory compared with the earthquake-exposed control group. The availability of groups of healthy patients from previous studies who had been tested on similar neuropsychological tasks prior to the earthquakes allowed a further non-exposed comparison.

Earthquake Brain: Altered Recognition and Misclassification of Facial Expressions Are Related to Trauma Exposure but Not Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Objectives: The study investigated facial expression recognition (FER) in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by exposure to earthquakes, and in particular whether people with this condition showed a bias toward interpreting facial expressions as threat-related emotions (i.e., as anger, fear, or disgust).

An evaluation of Health of the Nation Outcome Scales data to inform psychiatric morbidity following the Canterbury earthquakes.

Objective: Following the onset of the Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes, there were widespread concerns that mental health services were under severe strain as a result of adverse consequences on mental health. We therefore examined Health of the Nation Outcome Scales data to see whether this could inform our understanding of the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on patients attending local specialist mental health services.

Method: Health of the Nation Outcome Scales admission data were analysed for Canterbury mental health services prior to and following the Canterbury earthquakes.

The role of peri-traumatic stress and disruption distress in predicting symptoms of major depression following exposure to a natural disaster.

Objective: Few studies have examined the contribution of specific disaster-related experiences to symptoms of depression. The aims of this study were to do this by examining the roles of peri-traumatic stress and distress due to lingering disaster-related disruption in explaining linkages between disaster exposure and major depressive disorder symptoms among a cohort exposed to the 2010-2011 Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquakes.

Methods: Structural equation models were fitted to data obtained from the Christchurch Health and Development Study at age 35 ( n = 495), 20-24 months following the onset of the disaster.

Identifying medical students at risk of underperformance from significant stressors.

Background: Stress is associated with poorer academic performance but identifying vulnerable students is less clear. A series of earthquakes and disrupted learning environments created an opportunity to explore the relationships among stress, student factors, support and academic performance within a medical course.

Methods: The outcomes were deviations from expected performances on end of year written and clinical examinations.

The impact of major earthquakes on the psychological functioning of medical students: a Christchurch, New Zealand study.

Background: No previous studies have systematically assessed the psychological functioning of medical students following a major disaster.

Aim: To describe the psychological functioning of medical students following the earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, and identify predictors of adverse psychological functioning.

Method: 7 months following the most severe earthquake, medical students completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale, the Work and Adjustment Scale, and Likert scales assessing psychological functioning at worst and currently.

The impact of learning environment disruption on medical student performance.

Objectives: This study aimed to quantify the effects of two distinct and separate disruptions caused by earthquakes to a medical school learning environment on two separate cohorts of Year 5 medical students.

Methods: The first disruption was caused by an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 that occurred near the end of the academic year but caused minimal physical damage.

Suitability and acceptability of computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety disorders in secondary care.

Objective: To evaluate the suitability and acceptability of computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (CCBT).

Method: Participants were patients who had been referred to a secondary care service in the usual manner, and then offered participation in a randomised controlled trial comparing the efficacy of CCBT with a control condition (waitlist) for patients with a current primary diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder or social phobia. Data were collected regarding the recruitment and retention of patients, and patient ratings (anchored Likert scales) of treatment credibility, treatment satisfaction, treatment acceptability and telephone support.

Effectiveness of computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety disorders in secondary care.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (CCBT) with a wait list control (WLC) for the treatment of patients with an anxiety disorder (social phobia, panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder) referred to a specialist, publically funded, outpatient anxiety service.

Method: Patients with social phobia (n = 37), panic disorder (n = 32) or generalised anxiety disorder (n = 14) were randomised to treatment with either CCBT (n = 40) or WLC (n = 43). Self-report rating scale assessments were conducted at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks.

Redistribution of slow wave activity of sleep during pharmacological treatment of depression with paroxetine but not with nefazodone.

It has been suggested that increase in delta sleep ratio (DSR), a marker for the relative distribution of slow wave activity (SWA) over night time, is associated with clinical response to antidepressant treatment. We examined this index and its relationship to rapid eye movement (REM) suppression before and during long-term treatment with nefazodone, which does not suppress REM sleep, and paroxetine which does. The effect of serotonin (5-HT(2A)) receptor blockade on the evolution of SWA during treatment was also investigated.

Plasma oxytocin levels in depression and their correlation with the temperament dimension of reward dependence.

Evidence suggests that the neuropeptide oxytocin plays a role in social affiliation. This behaviour may be related more to personality dimensions than specific psychiatric diagnoses. This study investigated the relationship between plasma oxytocin levels and personality dimensions using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in 60 outpatients with major depression.

Acute tryptophan depletion. Part II: clinical effects and implications.

Objective: This is the second of two articles reviewing the modern dietary technique of acute tryptophan depletion (ATD), a method of transiently reducing central serotonin levels in both healthy volunteers and clinical populations. This article details the clinical studies to date and discusses the implications of this research methodology.

Method: The authors present a review of clinical ATD studies collated from a MEDLINE search, unpublished communications and the authors' considerable experience with this paradigm.

Acute tryptophan depletion. Part I: rationale and methodology.

Objective: Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) is an experimental technique that has been widely used over the last decade to investigate the role of serotonin (5-HT) in a variety of disorders. This review, the first of two articles, describes the rationale behind this technique and provides detail on how it is applied in research settings.

Method: The authors outline the development of this technique with reference to the seminal literature and more recent findings from neuroimaging and neuroendocrine studies.

Tryptophan depletion reverses the therapeutic effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in social anxiety disorder.

Background: Tryptophan depletion studies have suggested that central serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) function mediates the therapeutic effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in depression and panic disorder. The present study tested the hypothesis that temporary reduction in central 5-HT transmission, through acute tryptophan depletion, could reverse the therapeutic effect of the SSRIs in social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients.

Methods: Fourteen patients with SAD who showed sustained clinical improvement with SSRI treatment underwent tryptophan depletion in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, over 2 days 1 week apart.

Correlation of subjective and objective sleep measurements at different stages of the treatment of depression.

Studies of the correlation of subjective and objective sleep measures in depressed patients have produced mixed results so far. Further, they were carried out in sleep laboratories and tended to obtain one-off assessments, thus not taking into account the effect of treatment. We investigated forty (40) patients over the course of 8-week treatment of depression with either paroxetine or nefazodone.