Predictors of dropout in cognitive behavior and interpersonal online brief psychotherapies for essential professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premature dropout from psychotherapy can harm patients and increase mental health costs. This study identified predictors of dropout in brief online psychotherapy for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a secondary analysis of a randomized trial on 4-week CBT or IPT protocols.

Non-attendance in randomized remote mental health clinical trial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant increase in psychiatric symptoms was found among essential service professionals (professionals or interns from the health and educational sector) who were exposed to high-risk contamination areas. These symptoms impair functionality, impacting quality of life, work, autonomy, and relationships. Recent data show that brief interventions are effective; however, between 20 and 30% of those individuals often do not attend their scheduled appointments.

Is digital psychiatry really for all? A cross-sectional analysis from two randomized clinical trials.

Introduction: Digital psychiatry holds promise for expanding accessibility to mental health treatment, but concerns exist regarding its inclusivity and the potential for exacerbation of digital exclusion among vulnerable populations. This study aims to evaluate the inclusivity of digital psychiatry research and interventions, and to explore their potential to worsen digital exclusion.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of sociodemographic data from two clinical trials that utilize psychiatric online treatment modalities in Brazil.

The impact of poor fetal growth and chronic hyperpalatable diet exposure in adulthood on hippocampal function and feeding patterns in male rats.

Poor fetal growth affects eating behavior and the mesocorticolimbic system; however, its influence on the hippocampus has been less explored. Brain insulin sensitivity has been linked to developmental plasticity in response to fetal adversity and to cognitive performance following high-fat diet intake. We investigated whether poor fetal growth and exposure to chronic hyperpalatable food in adulthood could influence the recognition of environmental and food cues, eating behavior patterns, and hippocampal insulin signaling.

Incidence of adverse events and comparative tolerability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and stress disorders: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) show similar efficacy as treatments for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and stress-related disorders. Hence, comparisons of adverse event rates across medications are an essential component of clinical decision-making. We aimed to compare patterns of adverse events associated with SSRIs and SNRIs in the treatment of children and adults diagnosed with these disorders through a network meta-analysis.

Placebo response in trials with patients with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and stress disorders across the lifespan: a three-level meta-analysis.

Question: Randomised controlled trials assessing treatments for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and stress-related disorders often present high placebo response rates in placebo groups. Understanding the placebo response is essential in accurately estimating the benefits of pharmacological agents; nevertheless, no studies have evaluated the placebo response across these disorders using a lifespan approach.

Study Selection And Analysis: We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane, websites of regulatory agencies and international registers from inception to 9 September 2022.

Comorbidity of psychiatric and dermatologic disorders with skin picking disorder and validation of the Skin Picking Scale Revised for Brazilian Portuguese.

Objective: Skin picking disorder (SPD) affects up to 5.4% of the population. Less than half of patients are correctly diagnosed and treated.

Mechanisms of improvement in generalized anxiety disorder: A mediation and moderated mediation analysis from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with the lowest treatment response rate among all anxiety disorders. Understanding mechanisms of improvement may help to develop more effective and personalized treatments.

Aim: The objective of the study was to investigate different improvement mechanisms in the treatment of individuals diagnosed with GAD.

Early emotional memories and bonding as predictors of short-term and long-term outcome in adults with generalized anxiety disorder.

The impact of childhood experiences on the development of psychopathology is well established in the literature. Few studies, however, have assessed parental bonding during childhood as a predictor of response to anxiety disorders treatment. The aim of the study was to examine whether emotional memories of childhood parenting could predict short-term and long-term outcome in three different interventions for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): mindfulness-based intervention (Body in Mind Training [BMT]), fluoxetine (FLX), and an active control group (quality of life [QoL]).

Habituating to pandemic anxiety: Temporal trends of COVID-19 anxiety over sixteen months of COVID-19.

The impact of COVID-19 anxiety on mental health and its association with preventive measures is well-established. We aimed to study how COVID-19 anxiety and its dimensions vary over time (16 months) in a sample of individuals (N = 2717) suffering from mental distress in the pandemic context that participated in a randomized clinical trial testing psychosocial interventions in Brazil. Results showed that pandemic anxiety reduced over time.

Thrifty-Eating Behavior Phenotype at the Food Court - Programming Goes Beyond Food Preferences.

Introduction: Prenatal growth impairment leads to higher preference for palatable foods in comparison to normal prenatal growth subjects, which can contribute to increased body fat mass and a higher risk for developing chronic diseases in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) individuals throughout life. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SGA on feeding behavior in children and adolescents, as well as resting-state connectivity between areas related to reward, self-control, and value determination, such as orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DL-PFC), amygdala and dorsal striatum (DS).

Methods: Caregivers and their offspring were recruited from two independent cohorts in Brazil (PROTAIA) and Canada (MAVAN).

Validation and clinical application of the Metacognitions Questionnaire in a sample of Brazilian generalized anxiety disorder patients: the effects of different treatment interventions.

Introduction: Metacognitive beliefs about worry may trigger anxiety. However, the effect of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) treatment on metacognition has not yet been investigated.

Objectives: To validate the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) in a Brazilian GAD sample and verify whether different interventions reduce metacognitive beliefs.

Threat and deprivation are associated with distinct aspects of cognition, emotional processing, and psychopathology in children and adolescents.

Exposure to childhood adversity has been consistently associated with poor developmental outcomes, but it is unclear whether these associations vary across different forms of adversity. We examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between threat and deprivation with cognition, emotional processing, and psychopathology in a middle-income country. The sample consisted of 2511 children and adolescents (6-17 years old) from the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort for Mental Conditions.

Psychiatric outcomes and overall functioning in healthcare students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: There is evidence that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted students on health care courses, including evidence of associations between anxiety or depression and inadequate coping mechanisms or unhealthy habits. However, little is known about possible predictors of mental health or psychiatric symptoms in Brazilian health care students during this period.

Objective: To evaluate possible factors associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, used to measure psychiatric outcomes, and quality of life, used as a parameter of overall functionality, in Brazilian students on health care courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emotional eating in women with generalized anxiety disorder.

Introduction: Individuals diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) seek pleasurable foods to avoid their negative emotional experiences. Ineffective regulation of negative emotions may be a risk factor for emotional eating (EE), leading to suffering, dysfunctional behaviors, and weight gain.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between emotional dysregulation and EE, investigating potential mediators such as the intensity of the worry, avoidance of internal experiences, mindfulness, and self-compassion in female patients with anxiety.

Diminished insulin sensitivity is associated with altered brain activation to food cues and with risk for obesity - Implications for individuals born small for gestational age.

While classically linked to memory, the hippocampus is also a feeding behavior modulator due to its multiple interconnected pathways with other brain regions and expression of receptors for metabolic hormones. Here we tested whether variations in insulin sensitivity would be correlated with differential brain activation following exposure to palatable food cues, as well as with variations in implicit food memory in a cohort of healthy adolescents, some of whom were born small for gestational age (SGA). Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was positively correlated with activation in the cuneus, and negatively correlated with activation in the middle frontal lobe, superior frontal gyrus and precuneus when presented with palatable food images versus non-food images in healthy adolescents.

Heart rate variability: A biomarker of selective response to mindfulness-based treatment versus fluoxetine in generalized anxiety disorder.

Background: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are effective for some, but not all patients with anxiety disorders, but no clinical features have been consistently able to differentiate which patients are more likely to respond. In this study, we tested heart rate variability (HRV), a proposed correlate of regulated emotional response, as a moderator of treatment response to an MBI compared with pharmacotherapy.

Methods: Seventy-seven patients with GAD had HRV data collected before randomization to pharmacological treatment with fluoxetine or Body-in-Mind Training (an MBI focused on bodily movement attention).

Cortical and subcortical brain structure in generalized anxiety disorder: findings from 28 research sites in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group.

The goal of this study was to compare brain structure between individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and healthy controls. Previous studies have generated inconsistent findings, possibly due to small sample sizes, or clinical/analytic heterogeneity. To address these concerns, we combined data from 28 research sites worldwide through the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group, using a single, pre-registered mega-analysis.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and stress disorders: A 3-level network meta-analysis.

Background: Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and stress-related disorders frequently co-occur, and patients often present symptoms of several domains. Treatment involves the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), but data on comparative efficacy and acceptability are lacking. We aimed to compare the efficacy of SSRIs, SNRIs, and placebo in multiple symptom domains in patients with these diagnoses over the lifespan through a 3-level network meta-analysis.