Collaborative Outcomes Study on Health and Functioning During Infection Times (COH-FIT): Global and Risk-Group Stratified Course of Well-Being and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Adolescents.

Objective: To identify the COVID-19 pandemic impact on well-being/mental health, coping strategies, and risk factors in adolescents worldwide.

Method: This study was based on an anonymous online multi-national/multi-language survey in the general population (representative/weighted non-representative samples, 14-17 years of age), measuring change in well-being (World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index [WHO-5]/range = 0-100) and psychopathology (validated composite P-score/range = 0-100), WHO-5 <50 and <29, pre- vs during COVID-19 pandemic (April 26, 2020-June 26, 2022). Coping strategies and 9 a priori- defined individual/cumulative risk factors were measured.

SITUATIONAL AND PERSONAL PREDICTORS OF MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS DURING COVID-19: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NURSES AND PHYSICIANS.

Caregivers have been exposed to important stresses during the COVID-19 pandemic leading to important mental health issues. Previous researches showed that nurses were particularly emotionally affected compared to physicians. To study the differences in psychological symptoms between nurses and physicians during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as three months later and to compare the predictors of these symptoms between both professions.

Clinical Application of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry, with a Focus on Belgium.

Response rate to treatment is generally not as high as expected in psychiatric disorders. The lack of clinical improvement under a well-conducted treatment, that complies with guidelines, may be the consequence of genetic abnormalities that impact the metabolizing pathways of the drug. Genetic polymorphism of metabolizing enzymes is frequent in the population and has been proven to have a clinical impact.

Social episodic memory in severe alcohol use disorder: Positive encoding bias and negative bias in accessibility of interpersonal information.

Background: Alterations in higher-order social cognition are well documented in individuals with severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD). However, the basic mechanisms underpinning them are not well understood. This knowledge gap hampers the development of targeted therapeutic interventions.

Role of the Microbiome and the Gut-Brain Axis in Alcohol Use Disorder: Potential Implication for Treatment Development.

The gut microbiota is constituted by trillions of microorganisms colonizing the human intestine. Studies conducted in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) have shown altered microbial composition related to bacteria, viruses, and fungi.This review describes the communication pathways between the gut and the brain, including the ones related to the bacterial metabolites, the inflammatory cytokines, and the vagus nerve.

Relationship between transcranial magnetic stimulation markers of motor control and clinical recovery in obsessive compulsive disorder/Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: a proof of concept case study.

Background: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by difficulties in controlling intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and undesired actions (tics), respectively. Both conditions have been associated with abnormal inhibition but a tangible deficit of inhibitory control abilities is controversial in GTS.

Methods: Here, we examined a 25 years-old male patient with severe OCD symptoms and a mild form of GTS, where impairments in motor control were central.

Mental Health Nurses' Social Representations of People Who Experience Mental Illness: A Story of Paradoxes.

Public representations of people who experience mental illness (PEMI) have been well documented within the stigma literature. However, studies about mental health nurses' representations of PEMI are still scarce and characterized by contradictions. Using the theoretical concept of social representation instead of stigma, the current study aims to explore and understand mental health nurses' social representations of PEMI.

Split Hospitalization as an Inpatient Care Proposal for Severe Alcohol-Use-Disorder: Considering Hospitalization as a Transition Towards Recovery.

Background: The clinical dimensions of alcohol-use-disorder are complex and require sensitivity to these specificities. There are currently many inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities for severe alcohol-use-disorder patients (SAUD). We are also looking at the lack of access to care for this population.

Split Hospitalizations: a Model for Mood Disorders.

Depression is a major burden for society. While most mood disorders are treated on an outpatient basis, specific indications warrant hospitalization. Besides progresses in pharmacology, psychotherapy, or interventional procedures, we suggest that the hospital setting could also be used as a tool to address specific aspects of the mood disorder problem.

Personal and Interpersonal Factors Moderate the Relation Between Human-Made Trauma and Hypertension: A Path Analysis Approach.

Background: Although the link between trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and hypertension is established, its underlying mechanisms remain underexplored.

Objective: This study tested a theoretical model exploring the moderating influence of psychological (emotion regulation) and interpersonal (social support) factors on the mediation between trauma and hypertension, through PTSD.

Methods: We measured these variables through self-reported questionnaire on 212 patients, recruited from internal medicine in a general hospital of Bukavu, a region affected by more than 25 years of armed conflicts.

Links between psychopathological symptoms and cortical thickness in men with severe alcohol use disorder: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging study.

Background: Anxiety and depression are psychopathological states frequently co-occurring with severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD). These symptoms generally disappear with abstinence but may persist in some patients, increasing the relapse risk.

Methods: The cerebral cortex thickness of 94 male patients with SAUD was correlated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, both measured at the end (2-3 weeks) of the detoxification treatment.

Prescribing and deprescribing trends in schizophrenia: An overview of inpatients in Belgium and in the Canadian province of Québec.

Although switching to antipsychotic monotherapy improves patient outcomes in schizophrenia, antipsychotic deprescribing is rarely performed, and its use varies between countries, as do psychotropic prescribing patterns. This study aimed to determine factors associated with antipsychotic deprescribing at discharge after a psychiatric hospitalization and to compare psychotropic prescribing patterns between Belgium and Québec, Canada. Data on adult inpatients with schizophrenia were collected retrospectively in seven hospitals.

Physical Exercise to Redynamize Interoception in Substance use Disorders.

Physical exercise is considered a promising medication-free and cost-effective adjunct treatment for substance use disorders (SUD). Nevertheless, evidence regarding the effectiveness of these interventions is currently limited, thereby signaling the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying their impact on SUD, in order to reframe and optimize them. Here we advance that physical exercise could be re-conceptualized as an "interoception booster", namely as a way to help people with SUD to better decode and interpret bodily-related signals associated with transient states of homeostatic imbalances that usually trigger consumption.

Impact of a Caffeine Restriction Policy on Inpatients With Schizophrenia: A Pre-Post Comparison Using Electronic Health Records.

Background/purpose: Caffeine is the most commonly used psychostimulant worldwide. Although its large intake is suspected to worsen psychotic symptoms because of increasing dopamine neurotransmission, schizophrenic patients are heavier caffeine consumers than the general population. This study aims to assess the impact of a caffeine restriction policy in a psychiatric hospital on patient psychopathology, hospitalization characteristics, and psychotropic prescribing patterns.

Molecular Imaging Studies of Alcohol Use Disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious public health problem in many countries, bringing a gamut of health risks and impairments to individuals and a great burden to society. Despite the prevalence of a disease model of AUD, the current pharmacopeia does not present reliable treatments for AUD; approved treatments are confined to a narrow spectrum of medications engaging inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission and possibly excitatory N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and opioid receptor antagonists. Molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can open a window into the living brain and has provided diverse insights into the pathology of AUD.

Validation of the Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT) questionnaire for adults.

Background: The Collaborative Outcome study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT; www.coh-fit.com) is an anonymous and global online survey measuring health and functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploring the links between gut microbiota and excitatory and inhibitory brain processes in alcohol use disorder: A TMS study.

While the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behavior is increasingly recognized, human studies examining this question are still scarce. The primary objective of the current study was to explore the potential relationships between the gut microbiota composition, motor cortical excitability at rest and during inhibitory control, as well as behavioral inhibition, in healthy volunteers and in patients suffering from alcohol use disorder. Motor cortical excitability was examined using a range of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures probed at rest, including the recruitment curve, short and long intracortical inhibition, and intracortical facilitation within the primary motor cortex.

An eye-tracking study of biased attentional processing of emotional faces in severe alcohol use disorder.

Background: Social cognition impairments in severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) are increasingly established. However, fundamental aspects of social cognition, and notably the attentional processing of socio-affective information, remain unexplored, limiting our understanding of underlying mechanisms. Here, we determined whether patients with SAUD show attentional biases to specific socio-affective cues, namely emotional faces.

Drug adherence and psychological factors in patients with apparently treatment-resistant hypertension: Yes but which ones?

The aim of the study was to assess drug adherence, as well as association of psychological factors with both drug adherence and severity of hypertension in two subtypes of patients with apparently treatment-resistant hypertension (ATRH): younger patients with uncomplicated hypertension (YURHTN) versus patients ≥60-year-old and/or with a history of cardio- or cerebrovascular complication (OCRHTN). Drug adherence was assessed in urine by targeted Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The severity of hypertension was assessed by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure adjusted for the number of antihypertensive drugs and for drug adherence.