Effects of a Single Dose of Ayahuasca in College Students With Harmful Alcohol Use: A Single-blind, Feasibility, Proof-of-Concept Trial.

Background: Ayahuasca is a South American plant hallucinogen rich in the psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine and β-carbolines (mainly harmine). Preclinical and observational studies suggest that ayahuasca exerts beneficial effects in substance use disorders, but these potentials were never assessed in a clinical trial.

Methods: Single-center, single-blind, feasibility, proof-of-concept study, assessing the effects of one dose of ayahuasca accompanied by psychological support (without psychotherapy) on the drinking patterns (primary variable) of 11 college students with harmful alcohol consumption.

Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET): Validity evidence for the Brazilian population concerning the computer-based (face-to-face) and online versions.

Background: The lack of empathy is associated with several psychological and behavioral disorders, and it is important to assess this construct broadly, through multi-methods.

Objective: To conduct a psychometric analysis of the Brazilian version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), a computerized task that assesses emotional and cognitive empathy.

Methods: The samples were recruited from the community using the snowball method (phase 1: face-to-face; N = 142) and through social media (phase 2: online; N = 519).

Effectiveness of exercise therapy for individuals diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

Background And Aims: Effective treatments for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease lack. Current treatments, such as ankle and foot surgery/orthoses, analgesics, and physiotherapy, focus on relieving the symptoms. Few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigated the effectiveness of exercise in patients with CMT, and a systematic review summarizing the effects of such treatments is outdated.

Mental health trajectories of Brazilian health workers during two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021).

This study aimed to: (a) monitor the progression of symptoms of mental health burden among frontline workers caring for COVID-19 patients in Brazil during the two waves of the pandemic, considering the number of new cases and deaths, and; (b) to verify the different mental health outcomes and potential associations with current burnout symptoms. A non-probabilistic sample of health professionals was assessed as the pandemic progressed in Brazil (May/2020 August/2021). Standardized instruments focusing on anxiety, depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, and burnout symptoms were applied online.

Efficacy and Safety of Cannabidiol Plus Standard Care vs Standard Care Alone for the Treatment of Emotional Exhaustion and Burnout Among Frontline Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Frontline health care professionals who work with patients with COVID-19 have an increased incidence of burnout symptoms. Cannabidiol (CBD) has anxiolytic and antidepressant properties and may be capable of reducing emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms.

Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of CBD therapy for the reduction of emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms among frontline health care professionals working with patients with COVID-19.

Effects of Ayahuasca on the Recognition of Facial Expressions of Emotions in Naive Healthy Volunteers: A Pilot, Proof-of-Concept, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The recognition of emotions in facial expressions (REFE) is a core aspect of social cognition. Previous studies with the serotonergic hallucinogens lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin showed that these drugs reduced the recognition of negative (fear) faces in healthy volunteers. This trial assessed the acute and prolonged effects of a single dose of ayahuasca on the REFE.

Modulation of the Endocannabinoid and Oxytocinergic Systems as a Potential Treatment Approach for Social Anxiety Disorder.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), or social phobia, is one of the most common types of anxiety disorder, with a lifetime prevalence that can reach 15%. Pharmacological treatments for SAD have moderate efficacy and are associated with significant adverse reactions. Therefore, recent studies have focused on searching for new treatments for this disorder.

A comparison of bivariate, multivariate random-effects, and Poisson correlated gamma-frailty models to meta-analyze individual patient data of ordinal scale diagnostic tests.

Individual patient data (IPD) meta-analyses are increasingly common in the literature. In the context of estimating the diagnostic accuracy of ordinal or semi-continuous scale tests, sensitivity and specificity are often reported for a given threshold or a small set of thresholds, and a meta-analysis is conducted via a bivariate approach to account for their correlation. When IPD are available, sensitivity and specificity can be pooled for every possible threshold.

Selective Cutoff Reporting in Studies of Diagnostic Test Accuracy: A Comparison of Conventional and Individual-Patient-Data Meta-Analyses of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Depression Screening Tool.

In studies of diagnostic test accuracy, authors sometimes report results only for a range of cutoff points around data-driven "optimal" cutoffs. We assessed selective cutoff reporting in studies of the diagnostic accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression screening tool. We compared conventional meta-analysis of published results only with individual-patient-data meta-analysis of results derived from all cutoff points, using data from 13 of 16 studies published during 2004-2009 that were included in a published conventional meta-analysis.

Antidepressant Effects of a Single Dose of Ayahuasca in Patients With Recurrent Depression: A SPECT Study.

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian botanical hallucinogenic brew which contains dimethyltryptamine, a 5-HT2A receptor agonist, and harmine, a monoamine-oxidase A inhibitor. Our group recently reported that ayahuasca administration was associated with fast-acting antidepressive effects in 6 depressive patients. The objective of the present work was to assess the antidepressive potentials of ayahuasca in a bigger sample and to investigate its effects on regional cerebral blood flow.

Screening tools for psychiatry disorders in cancer setting: Caution when using.

This study evaluated sensitivity/specificity of self-report instruments for the screening of psychiatric disorders/symptoms in cancer outpatients like: current/past major depression, dysthymia, alcohol abuse and dependence, tobacco abuse and dependence, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, phobias, current mania, delusion and hallucination. First, 1384 patients responded to several self-assessment instruments. Then, 400 patients, were then interviewed by telephone to confirm the presence/absence of psychiatric diagnosis.

Facial emotion processing and recognition among maltreated children: a systematic literature review.

Exposure to maltreatment is associated with biological, psychological, and social development impairments in children. This systematic literature review sought to determine whether an association exists between child maltreatment and facial emotion processing and recognition. The search was conducted using the databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and SciELO using the following keywords: "maltreatment," "adversity," "neglect," "sexual abuse," "emotional abuse," "physical abuse," "child(*)," "early," "infant," "face," "facial," "recognition," "expression," "emotion(*)," and "impairment.

Performance anxiety in Brazilian musicians: prevalence and association with psychopathology indicators.

Background: Musical performance anxiety (MPA) refers to persistent and distressing apprehension associated with performing to an audience. Our objective was to assess the presence of MPA and other psychopathologies in musicians and find correlations between socio-demographic and clinical variables.

Methods: We assessed 230 musicians using self-rated instruments whose results were statistically compared.

Adaptation and initial psychometric study of the self-report version of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS-SR).

Objective: The objectives of the present study were to adapt the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale from the clinician administered to the self-report version (LSAS-SR) and to perform the initial psychometric studies concerning internal consistency and item analysis.

Methods: The phase of adaptation was performed by two specialists in the Mental Health area and the face validity was tested by a group of 30 university students. As part of the psychometric study of the LSAS-SR, the internal consistency was assessed and the items were analyzed by applying the scale to 682 university students.

Further psychometric study of the Beck Anxiety Inventory including factorial analysis and social anxiety disorder screening.

Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in terms of its internal consistency, scores distribution, concurrent and discriminant validity, and factorial analysis in a sample of university students and social anxiety disorder (SAD) cases and non-cases.

Methods: A sample of Brazilian university students from the general population (N = 2314) and a sample of university students identified as cases (N = 88) and non-cases (N = 90) of SAD were assessed, using as a parameter the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV. The different instruments were completed individually in the presence of an experienced rater.

Social phobia in Brazilian university students: prevalence, under-recognition and academic impairment in women.

Background: Despite the fact that public speaking is a common academic activity and that social phobia has been associated with lower educational achievement and impaired academic performance, little research has examined the prevalence of social phobia in college students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of social phobia in a large sample of Brazilian college students and to examine the academic impact of this disorder.

Methods: The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and the MINI-SPIN, used as the indicator of social phobia in the screening phase, were applied to 2319 randomly selected students from two Brazilian universities.

[A comparison of consultative psychiatric services in two Brazilian university hospitals using a standardized protocol for recording liaison consultations].

The objective of the present report was to compare consultative psychiatric services in two Brazilian university hospitals and to evaluate the applicability of a standardized protocol (PRISMe) for recording psychiatric liaison consultations. Analyses of psychiatric consultations and the attached protocol were performed. 541 consecutive liaison consultations were included in the final sample (438 consecutive consultations from the Federal university hospital in São Paulo and 103 from the Federal university hospital in Santa Catarina).

Study of the discriminative validity of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 in a sample of Brazilian women in the context of primary health care.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the discriminative validity of the Brazilian version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and of its reduced version (PHQ-2).

Design And Methods: The sample consisted of 177 women (60 cases of depression and 117 noncases). The SCID-IV was used as the gold standard.

Comparability between telephone and face-to-face structured clinical interview for DSM-IV in assessing social anxiety disorder.

Purpose: This article evaluates the comparability of the telephone and in-person Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) interviews in assessing patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) as an independent anxiety diagnosis.

Design And Methods: One hundred subjects were randomly selected and interviewed with the SCID, once by telephone and once in person (1-3 months later).

Findings: The prevalence of SAD assessed with the telephone interviews was 56%, whereas the in-person prevalence was 52%, with no statistically significant difference.

A study of the discriminative validity of a screening tool (MINI-SPIN) for social anxiety disorder applied to Brazilian university students.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the discriminative validity of MINI-SPIN (MS) as a screening tool for social anxiety disorder (SAD) in a group of Brazilian university students.

Method: SPIN was collectively applied to 2320 university students. Among them, 656 individuals who fulfilled the criteria for positive MS (N=473) and negative MS (N=183) were selected and divided into two groups.