A behaviourally informed chatbot increases vaccination rates in Argentina more than a one-way reminder.

Maintaining COVID-19 vaccine demand was key to ending the global health emergency. To help do this, many governments used chatbots that provided personalized information guiding people on where, when and how to get vaccinated. We designed and tested a WhatsApp chatbot to understand whether two-way interactive messaging incorporating behaviourally informed functionalities could perform better than one-way message reminders.

[Third Argentine Consensus statement on management Bipolar Disorders. Section3: Bipolar Disorder in the context of special situations].

This document constitutes the third and last part of the Third Argentine Consensus on the Management of Bipolar Disorders carried out by the Argentine Association of Biological Psychiatry (AAPB). Continuing with the initial objective, this section of the Consensus on the Management of Bipolar Disorders is focused on the management of bipolar disorders in special populations. This section constitutes a comprehensive review and expert consideration of the scientific evidence on: a) the management of bipolar disorders in treatment-resistant patients; b) the management of bipolar disorder in childhood and adolescence; c) the management of bipolar disorders in women during their perinatal period and, d) the management of bipolar disorders in older adults.

[Third Argentine Consensus statement on management Bipolar Disorders. Section 2 A: Comprehensive treatment of the bipolar disorders in adults].

This document constitutes the second section A of the Third Argentine Consensus on the Management of Bipolar Disorders, focused on synthesizing the most updated evidence on therapeutic approaches for adult patients. The aim of this section (2A) is to provide therapeutic recommendations for managing bipolar disorders in adults. In addition, the scope of this current manuscript outlines recommendations on the use of treatment guidelines, levels of evidence available to support these recommendations, general considerations for the treatment of bipolar disorders, the so-called pseudoresistance and adherence to treatment, general considerations on psychological therapies, as well as long term treatment of bipolar disorders.

[Third Argentine Consensus statement on management Bipolar Disorders. Section1: introduction and general concepts].

The Third Argentine Consensus on the management of bipolar disorders (TB) is an initiative of the Argentine Association of Biological Psychiatry (AAPB). As a reference document, this consensus pursues two main objectives: on the one hand, to summarize and systematize the best available evidence on the comprehensive management of this pathology; on the other, to provide a useful, up-to-date instrument for psychiatrists, multidisciplinary teams dedicated to mental health, and government agencies. During a period of approximately six months of work -that is, from May to October 2022- a committee of experts made up of 18 professionals and representatives of the three most important Psychiatry and Mental Health associations in Argentina (that is, the AAPB, the Argentine Association of Psychiatrists, AAP, and the Association of Argentine Psychiatrists, APSA) have focused on updating the information regarding TB.

Risk perception, but also political orientation, modulate behavioral response to COVID-19: A randomized survey experiment.

Prior work has shown that accurately perceiving the risk for COVID-19 is associated with higher adherence to protective health behaviors, like face mask use, and more acceptance of governmental restrictive measures such as partial or complete banning of indoor activities and social gatherings. In this study we explored these associations at the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19 in Argentina through a national representative probabilistic survey that evaluated personal and contextual risk perception, self-reported compliance with protective health behaviors, attitude to governmental restrictive measures, and political orientation and psychological distress as potential modulators. Also, going beyond measures of association, here we sought to test whether messages highlighting potential risks increased acceptance of restrictive measures.

Psychological symptoms, mental fatigue and behavioural adherence after 72 continuous days of strict lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina.

Background: An early and prolonged lockdown was adopted in Argentina during the first wave of COVID-19. Early reports evidenced elevated psychological symptoms.

Aims: To explore if the prolonged lockdown was associated with elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms; if mental fatigue was associated with lockdown adherence (a phenomenon called 'behavioural fatigue'); and if financial concerns were associated with lockdown adherence and emotional symptoms.

Development and validation of a multicultural Spanish-language version of the Muscularity-Oriented Eating Test (MOET) in Argentina.

The utility of traditional eating disorder measures in the assessment of muscularity-oriented disordered eating has been questioned. To address this limitation, the Muscularity-Oriented Eating Test (MOET) was recently developed and validated in a sample of U.S.

Behavioural insights (BI) for childhood development and effective public policies in Latin America: a survey and a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: We developed (a) a survey to investigate the knowledge of childhood health experts on public policies and behavioural insights (BI), as well as its use in Latin American and the Caribbean countries (LACs), and (b) an intervention (randomised controlled trial) to test the influence of nudges on the effect of a simulated public health programme communication.

Participants And Settings: A total of 2003 LACs childhood health professionals participated in the study through a Hispanic online platform.

Primary And Secondary Outcomes: We used regression models analysing expertise-related information, individual differences and location.

The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America.

Background: In the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults from vulnerable ethnoracial groups are at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to explore the pandemic's impact on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States (US), Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

Methods: 1,608 (646 White, 852 Latino, 77 Black, 33 Asian; 72% female) individuals from the US and four Latin American countries aged ≥ 55 years completed an online survey regarding well-being and cognition during the pandemic between May and September 2020.

Effect of a Social Norm Email Feedback Program on the Unnecessary Prescription of Nimodipine in Ambulatory Care of Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Nimodipine is a highly prescribed drug for the treatment of cognitive impairment and dementia in Argentina. There is little evidence to support the use of nimodipine for cognitive impairment and dementia.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention based on social norm feedback to reduce prescription of nimodipine for cognitive impairment in Argentina.

The power of knowledge about dementia in Latin America across health professionals working on aging.

Introduction: Expert knowledge is critical to fight dementia in inequitable regions like Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs). However, the opinions of aging experts on public policies' accessibility and transmission, stigma, diagnostic manuals, data-sharing platforms, and use of behavioral insights (BIs) are not well known.

Methods: We investigated opinions among health professionals working on aging in LACs (N = 3365) with regression models including expertise-related information (public policies, BI), individual differences (work, age, academic degree), and location.

Assessment and validation of a Spanish version of the Muscle Dysmorphia Disorder Inventory in Argentinian men who exercise: Inventario de Dismorfia Muscular.

Despite an increase in body dissatisfaction and muscularity concerns among Latin American men, there is a paucity of research relating to muscle dysmorphia in this population. In this study we aimed to evaluate, for the first time in Latin America, the factor structure of the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI; Hildebrandt, Langenbucher, & Schlundt, 2004). A sample of 551 men who exercise completed measures of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and the MDDI.

Confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance of the eating disorders examination-questionnaire across four male samples in Argentina.

Objective: The eating disorder examination-questionnaire (EDE-Q) is among the most widely used instruments in eating disorder research and clinical practice. However, the underlying structure remains a source of confusion, and contradictory results have emerged in studies among male populations. In the current study, we examined previously proposed models of EDE-Q structure in four community samples of Argentinian men.

What position do you play? Eating disorder pathology among rugby players, and the understudied role of player position.

Objective: Male athletes appear to be at high risk for Eating Disorders (ED), given sport-related pressures. Although in some sports weight loss confers a competitive advantage, men also participate in sports where a large body is considered to enhance performance. In rugby a heavier body has been associated with sports success, however, physical demands vary given the position in the field (forward or back).

Cognitive-behavioural interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults.

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental condition characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, along with deficits in executive function, emotional regulation and motivation. The persistence of ADHD in adulthood is a serious clinical problem.ADHD significantly affects social interactions, study and employment performance.

Depressive symptoms and the role of affective temperament in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A comparison with bipolar disorder.

Objectives: To investigate the characteristics of depressive symptoms and the influence of affective temperament in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in comparison with bipolar disorder (BD) patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Method: Sixty patients with ADHD, 50 patients with BD, and 30 HCs were assessed with instruments for measuring depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and affective temperaments (Temperament Scale of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego, self-administered version; TEMPS-A). In addition, participants were evaluated with scales for measuring ADHD symptoms, impulsiveness, anxiety, executive dysfunction, and quality of life.

A two-stage epidemiological study of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia in male university students in Buenos Aires.

Objective: Studies using traditional screening instruments tend to report a lower prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) in men than is observed in women. It is therefore unclear whether such instruments are valid for the assessment of ED in males. Lack of a formal diagnostic definition of muscle dysmorphia syndrome (MD) makes it difficult to identify men at risk.

Personality changes in dementia: are they disease specific and universal?

Previous studies about personality changes in dementia suggest that they may be due to the disruption of the biological basis of personality traits, and hence, that they are disease specific and universal. However, evidence about its specificity is still limited and scarce regarding culturally diverse populations. Accordingly, our aim was to compare personality changes in Argentinean patients with Alzheimer disease, behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia.

Functional connectivity and temporal variability of brain connections in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.

Objectives: To assess brain functional connectivity and variability in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) relative to a control (CT) group.

Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) was measured in 35 participants (BD = 11; ADHD = 9; CT = 15) during an eyes-closed 10-min rest period, and connectivity and graph theory metrics were computed. A coefficient of variation (CV) computed also the connectivity's temporal variability of EEG.

From neural signatures of emotional modulation to social cognition: individual differences in healthy volunteers and psychiatric participants.

It is commonly assumed that early emotional signals provide relevant information for social cognition tasks. The goal of this study was to test the association between (a) cortical markers of face emotional processing and (b) social-cognitive measures, and also to build a model which can predict this association (a and b) in healthy volunteers as well as in different groups of psychiatric patients. Thus, we investigated the early cortical processing of emotional stimuli (N170, using a face and word valence task) and their relationship with the social-cognitive profiles (SCPs, indexed by measures of theory of mind, fluid intelligence, speed processing and executive functions).

[Psychometric properties of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale in a sample of the city of Buenos Aires].

The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale was designed to assess the impulsivity construct in three dimensions: attentional, motor and unplanned. The scale has been applied to patients with different diagnoses in which the impulsivity symptoms are characteristic. In Argentina there aren't studies that evaluate the psychometrics properties of the scale in clinical population.

Neural processing of emotional facial and semantic expressions in euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) and its association with theory of mind (ToM).

Background: Adults with bipolar disorder (BD) have cognitive impairments that affect face processing and social cognition. However, it remains unknown whether these deficits in euthymic BD have impaired brain markers of emotional processing.

Methodology/principal Findings: We recruited twenty six participants, 13 controls subjects with an equal number of euthymic BD participants.

Dysfunctional cognitions and their emotional, behavioral, and functional correlates in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): is the cognitive-behavioral model valid?

Objective: To investigate the presence of dysfunctional cognitions in adults with ADHD and to determine whether these cognitions are associated with emotional symptoms, maladaptive coping, and functional impairment, as predicted by the cognitive-behavioral model.

Method: A total of 35 adult participants with ADHD, 20 nonclinical controls, and 20 non-ADHD clinical controls were assessed with measures of ADHD symptoms, dysfunctional cognitions, depression and anxiety symptoms, coping strategies, and quality of life.

Results: ADHD group showed elevated scores of dysfunctional cognitions relative to nonclinical control group and comparable with clinical control group.

The neural basis of decision-making and reward processing in adults with euthymic bipolar disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD) share DSM-IV criteria in adults and cause problems in decision-making. Nevertheless, no previous report has assessed a decision-making task that includes the examination of the neural correlates of reward and gambling in adults with ADHD and those with BD.

Methodology/principal Findings: We used the Iowa gambling task (IGT), a task of rational decision-making under risk (RDMUR) and a rapid-decision gambling task (RDGT) which elicits behavioral measures as well as event-related potentials (ERPs: fERN and P3) in connection to the motivational impact of events.