The Hold me Tight Program for Couples Facing Huntington's Disease.

Background: A positive predictive genetic test for Huntington's disease (HD) can be a life-changing event for both carriers and their partners, leading to lower wellbeing and increasing the risk for separation and divorce. The 'Hold me Tight' program (HmT), based on emotionally focused couples' therapy, aims at strengthening the couple bond by targeting attachment needs.

Objective: This study investigates whether the HmT program helps couples strengthen their relationship, as an investment in a future where the disease will affect life in many ways.

[Psychological and psychiatric care for hereditary brain disorders].

Hereditary neurological disorders are characterised by a combination of neurocognitive, neuropsychiatric and somatic symptoms, with average onset in mid-adulthood. Offspring of gene carriers is at risk of developing the disorder. Patients, partners and family members may present with various psychological problems that engender several care demands throughout life.

Do Attachment Style and Emotion Regulation Strategies Indicate Distress in Predictive Testing?

Predictive genetic testing for a neurogenetic disorder evokes strong emotions, and may lead to distress. The aim of this study is to investigate whether attachment style and emotion regulation strategies are associated with distress in persons who present for predictive testing for a neurogenetic disorder, and whether these psychological traits predict distress after receiving test results. Self-report scales were used to assess attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing) in adults at 50 % risk for Huntington's Disease (HD), Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), and Hereditary Cerebral Hemorrhage With Amyloidosis - Dutch type (HCHWA-D), when they presented for predictive testing.