Be a Mom, a Web-Based Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Depression: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Be a Mom is a self-guided web-based intervention, grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy, delivered to postpartum women to prevent persistent postpartum depression [PPD] symptoms. We aimed to evaluate Be a Mom in terms of its preliminary efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability. A pilot randomized, two-arm controlled trial was conducted.

Use of Sham Interventions in Randomized Controlled Trials in Neurosurgery.

Background:  The use of sham interventions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is essential to minimize bias. However, their use in surgical RCTs is rare and subject to ethical concerns. To date, no studies have looked at the use of sham interventions in RCTs in neurosurgery.

Electronic search strategies fail to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in neurosurgery.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard studies to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Although they are frequently identified through open searches in electronic databases, no studies have evaluated how easy it is to identify RCTs in neurosurgery using electronic search strategies. The present study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of different search strategies applied to commonly used databases to identify RCTs in neurosurgery.

Be a Mom, a Web-Based Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Depression: The Enhancement of Self-Regulatory Skills and Its Association With Postpartum Depressive Symptoms.

Be a Mom is a self-guided, web-based intervention to prevent persistent postpartum depression symptoms [PPD], targeting both at-risk postpartum women and/or women presenting early-onset postpartum depressive symptoms (selective/indicated preventive intervention). Be a Mom is grounded on the principles of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and incorporates the recent contributions of acceptance and compassion-based approaches (third-wave approaches) applied to the perinatal context. This study aimed to explore the processes underlying therapeutic change in the Be a Mom intervention, by: (1) exploring whether participation in the Be a Mom promotes the enhancement of self-regulatory skills (emotion regulation abilities, psychological flexibility and self-compassion) in comparison with women who did not participate in the program; and (2) exploring whether changes in self-regulatory skills are associated with changes in depressive symptoms, among women who participated in the Be a Mom program.

Women's use of online resources and acceptance of e-mental health tools during the perinatal period.

Objectives: The women's professional help-seeking rate for perinatal depression is low, despite the prevalent and disabling nature of this condition. Therefore, new approaches should be implemented to increase women's access and utilization of treatment resources, namely e-mental health tools. This study aimed to characterize women's current pattern of use of online resources for mental heal issues and women's acceptance of e-mental health tools during the perinatal period, and to investigate its main determinants.

Women׳s help-seeking behaviours for depressive symptoms during the perinatal period: Socio-demographic and clinical correlates and perceived barriers to seeking professional help.

Objective: This study aims to characterize the help-seeking behaviours of women who were screened positive for perinatal depression, to investigate its sociodemographic and clinical correlates, and to characterize the perceived barriers that prevent women from seeking professional help.

Design: Cross-sectional internet survey.

Setting: Participants were recruited through advertisements published in pamphlets and posted on social media websites (e.

Human experimental anxiety: actual public speaking induces more intense physiological responses than simulated public speaking.

Objectives: a) To perform a systematic and meta-analytic review to verify whether the Simulated Public Speaking Task (SPST) leads to a greater increase in self-rated anxiety than in physiological correlates of anxiety; and b) to compare the results obtained with the SPST with an actual public speaking task involving healthy volunteers.

Methods: a) The PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge databases were searched for studies involving the SPST prior to 2012. Eleven publications were eligible and provided data from 143 healthy volunteers for meta-analysis; b) 48 university students without somatic or psychiatric disorders were divided into three experimental groups of 16 subjects to undergo one of the following: SPST, real-world public speaking task (real-world), and control situation (control).

Effectiveness of psychological intervention for treating symptoms of anxiety and depression among pregnant women diagnosed with fetal malformation.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a psychological intervention targeting pregnant women with fetal malformation.

Methods: A clinical study was conducted that enrolled 65 pregnant women attending Clinics Hospital at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil, between February 2004 and May 2008. Participants were allocated to 1 of 4 groups: normal pregnancy (NP), fetal malformation (FM), fetal or neonatal death (FD), and control (CG).

Fungal meningoencephalitis caused by Alternaria: a clinical case.

Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis is an infrequent infectious condition associated with a high mortality rate. The authors describe a very rare case that occurred in an immunocompetent 18-year-old man who developed severe meningoencephalitis and arachnoiditis caused by Alternaria alternata, which were diagnosed in the context of difficult-to-treat hydrocephalus. Etiological diagnosis was made based on fungal culture and histopathologic examination.

Brief cognitive behavioral intervention in groups in a Brazilian assisted reproduction program.

The study's objective was to assess the effect of a cognitive behavioral group intervention on the pregnancy rates of patients submitted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques or to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The study was conducted on 188 patients, 93 who participated in a group of psychological intervention before the IVF and ICSI procedures and 95 patients submitted to IVF and ICSI during the same period of time, who did not participate in the intervention (control group). Clinical pregnancy was the outcome measure.

Chronic pelvic pain: multifactorial influences.

Rationale: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common and complex disease whose cause is often clinically inexplicable, with diagnosis and treatment being more difficult. From a clinical viewpoint, CPP is defined as non-cyclic, non-menstrual pain lasting at least 6 months and sufficiently severe to interfere with habitual activities and requiring clinical or surgical treatment. Thus, CPP is a syndrome resulting from a complex interaction of the nervous, musculoskeletal and endocrine systems and also influenced by psychological and sociocultural factors.

Importance of psychological intervention for the recovery of children submitted to elective surgery.

Purpose: The effects of anxiety on the patient and his/her family are known to be the main factors that influence health recovery in child surgery. When the whole family can be prepared and supported by psychologic intervention, the damage to child behavior and family anxiety is attenuated.

Methods: This study was conducted in children between 2 and 6 years old, divided into 2 groups of 10 pairs each.

Coping by relatives of critical care patients.

Objective: To describe the coping strategies used by the relatives of patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit.

Methods: This is a descriptive study that uses a convenience sample and both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study was conducted at a tertiary university hospital in Brazil.

High levels of anxiety and depression have a negative effect on quality of life of women with chronic pelvic pain.

Background: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common and complex disease whose cause is often clinically inexplicable, with consequent difficulty in diagnosis and treatment. Patients with CPP have high levels of anxiety and depression, with a consequent impairment of their quality of life.

Aims: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression and their impact on the quality of life of women with CPP.

Psychological characteristics associated with tobacco smoking behavior.

This article is a literature review of the psychological aspects of smoking behavior, highlighting personality characteristics of the smoker as an obstacle to smoking cessation. It describes the relation between smoking behavior and personality, and between smoking and the principal psychiatric disorders. Studies reveal that smokers tend to be more extroverted, anxious, tense, and impulsive, and show more traits of neuroticism and psychoticism than do ex-smokers or nonsmokers.

Psychological distress in patients listed for liver transplantation.

Purpose: To assess the level of depression in patients listed for liver transplantation.

Methods: Sixty-four adult patients, listed for liver transplantation, were submitted to psychological evaluation, including assessment of depression by means of the Beck Depression Inventory.

Results: Twenty-two percent of the patients had mild/major depression.

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy in children younger than 1 year of age.

Object: The authors analyzed data obtained in 36 patients younger than 1 year of age who were treated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) for obstructive hydrocephalus at their institution.

Methods: There were 17 boys and 19 girls who ranged in age from 3 days to 11 months (mean 4.7 months).

[Association between headache and anxiety disorders indicators in a school sample from Ribeirão Preto, Brazil].

A sample of 374 public elementary and junior high school students aged 8 to 13 years were evaluated to assess the prevalence of frequent headache complaints, associated with indications of anxiety disorder. Parents answered a questionnaire to investigate the presence and frequency of headache and of behaviors/symptoms that might indicate the presence of anxiety disorders. Children were evaluated using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale adapted to this population.

The utility of the Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist among hospitalized patients.

We examined the utility of the Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist in an inpatient medical setting with particular emphasis on the putative ability of the PSC to discriminate psychosomatic from nonpsychosomatic patients. First, 80 hospitalized psychosomatic patients were compared to 80 hospitalized medical patients on the PSC. Second, a sample of 187 psychosomatic patients was studied to examine the relationship among psychosomatic distress, depression, and functional impairment.

Evaluation of a multicomponent group smoking cessation program.

Background: Participants who had completed a multicomponent group smoking cessation program were interviewed to determine their smoking status and satisfaction with the program.

Methods: The follow-up interviews occurred an average of 20 months after entry to the program, with a response rate of 80% (89 out of 111 enrollees). Most individuals interviewed (82%) were able to quit for at least 24 hr; 25% were able to maintain nonsmoking status for 1 year or longer.

Child rearing patterns in Brazil.

Perceived childrearing patterns have been studied in Brazilian samples of college students, normal population and depressives. Furthermore comparisons were made with the original Swedish normative sample, showing the Brazilian parents as more tolerant, affectionate, performance oriented and punitive. As concerns the depressed patients they experienced their parents among others as more guilt engendering, more depriving and less affectionate.