Development of a Tool to Predict Risk of Behavioral Health Evacuation From Combat.

In the present study, we examined administrative data on 667,437 deployments of at least 30 days duration to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2011 through the end of 2016 to determine risk factors for evacuation from the combat zone for behavioral health reasons. Demographic data, military-specific data, responses on predeployment mental health assessments, and presence of previous treatment for psychiatric conditions were entered into a logistic regression based on expert determination, distinguishing the 2,133 behavioral health evacuations from those deployments that either did not end in evacuation or included evacuations for reasons other than behavioral health. The model, derived from a random half of the sample (training set), was verified on the other half (validation set).

Improving the understanding of the link between cognition and functional capacity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Objective: Deficits in cognitive functioning are related to functional disability in people with serious mental illness. Measures of functional capacity are commonly used as a proxy for functional disabilities for cognitive remediation programs, and robust linear relationships between functional capacity and cognitive deficits are frequently observed. This study aimed to determine whether a curvilinear relationship better approximates the association between cognitive functioning and functional capacity.

Association of obesity and treated hypertension and diabetes with cognitive ability in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Objectives: People with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia are at greater risk for obesity and other cardio-metabolic risk factors, and several prior studies have linked these risk factors to poorer cognitive ability. In a large ethnically homogenous outpatient sample, we examined associations among variables related to obesity, treated hypertension and/or diabetes and cognitive abilities in these two patient populations.

Methods: In a study cohort of outpatients with either bipolar disorder (n = 341) or schizophrenia (n = 417), we investigated the association of self-reported body mass index and current use of medications for hypertension or diabetes with performance on a comprehensive neurocognitive battery.

Determinants of occupational and residential functioning in bipolar disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder is associated with reduced rates of employment and residential independence. The influence of cognitive impairment and affective symptoms on these functional attainments has received little previous attention and is the focus of this study.

Method: A total of 229 adult outpatients with bipolar disorder without active substance use disorders and with an average of mild severity of affective symptoms were included in the analyses.

Social competence and observer-rated social functioning in bipolar disorder.

Objective:   Impairment in social functioning appears to be common in bipolar disorder, although estimates have been derived largely from self-report measures. We examined performance-based and observer-based ratings of social competence and functioning and assessed the contribution of symptoms and neurocognitive ability to social functioning in bipolar disorder.

Methods:   In this cross-sectional study, 164 subjects with bipolar disorder were administered the performance-based Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA), rated by an informant on the Specific Level of Functioning (SLOF)-Interpersonal subscale, received clinical ratings of depression and manic symptoms, and performed neurocognitive tests.

Prediction of real-world functional disability in chronic mental disorders: a comparison of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Objective: Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are associated with multidimensional disability. This study examined differential predictors of functional deficits in the two disorders.

Method: Community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia (N=161) or bipolar disorder (N=130) were assessed with neuropsychological tests, symptom measures, and performance-based social and adaptive (i.

Relationship of the Brief UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA-B) to multiple indicators of functioning in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Objective: This study assessed the relationship between multiple indicators of 'real-world' functioning and scores on a brief performance-based measure of functional capacity known as the Brief University of California San Diego (UCSD) Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA-B) in a sample of 205 patients with either serious bipolar disorder (n = 89) or schizophrenia (n = 116).

Methods: Participants were administered the UPSA-B and assessed on the following functional domains: (i) independent living status (e.g.

Familiality of novel factorial dimensions of schizophrenia.

Context: Factor analysis of the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia yields dimensional phenotypes that may relate to underlying genetic variation. Examination of familiality of factor scores can demonstrate whether they are likely to be of use in genetic research.

Objective: To produce a broader set of factorial phenotypes that are tested for familiality including core symptoms of schizophrenia and additional indicators of social, work, and educational dysfunction.

Five latent factors underlying schizophrenia: analysis and relationship to illnesses in relatives.

Clinical signs and symptoms in a sample of 1,043 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were subjected to latent class factor analysis. Positive, negative, disorganized, and affective factors were similar in content to factors described in a number of other studies, while a fifth factor representing early onset/developmental signs provided a new area for investigation. The five sets of factor scores were logistically regressed on psychiatric illness indicators in first and second degree relatives.