Longitudinal associations among resilience, social isolation, and gender in U.S. Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans.

Negative mental health outcomes are prevalent among veterans exposed to military-related stressors and are associated with social isolation. Limited research exists on resilience following military separation and its impact on social isolation in veterans. We examined resilience against military-related stressors and 2-year longitudinal associations with social isolation indicators; gender differences were also explored.

Protocol for a randomized clinical trial of strength at home parents: A trauma informed parenting intervention for veterans.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly prevalent in veterans and associated with impairments in family functioning, including parenting. There is a bidirectional relationship between PTSD and familial functioning such that impaired functioning is related to increases in trauma-related symptoms, and vice versa. Despite this known bidirectional association, there is currently no trauma-informed parenting intervention available for veterans within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Trauma-informed parenting intervention for veterans: A preliminary uncontrolled trial of Strength at Home-Parents.

Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly prevalent in military and veteran populations and are associated with parenting difficulties. Unfortunately, there is a lack of accessible, trauma-informed, and evidence-based parenting support interventions within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Strength at Home-Parents (SAHP) is a trauma-informed psychotherapy group that aims to improve parenting behaviors and overall parent-child and family functioning among U.

Pilot trial of , a trauma-informed parenting support treatment for veterans.

PTSD is associated with compromised parenting which is not adequately addressed in available evidence-based PTSD treatments. is a trauma-informed parenting intervention which aims to improve parenting behaviors and overall parent-child functioning. Here we report pilot data obtained in a sample of veterans (=21) with PTSD and parent-child functioning difficulties.

Computerized Psychological Interventions in Veterans and Service Members: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Computerized psychological interventions can overcome logistical and psychosocial barriers to the use of mental health care in the Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense settings.

Objective: In this systematic review, we aim to outline the existing literature, with the goal of describing: the scope and quality of the available literature, intervention characteristics, study methods, study efficacy, and study limitations and potential directions for future research.

Methods: Systematic searches of two databases (PsycINFO and PubMed) using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were conducted from inception until November 15, 2020.

Network analyses reveal which symptoms improve (or not) following an Internet intervention (Deprexis) for depression.

Background: Depression is a heterogeneous collection of symptoms. Prior meta-analyses using symptom sum scores have shown the Internet intervention, Deprexis, to be an efficacious treatment for depression. However, no prior research has investigated how Deprexis (or any other Internet intervention for depression) impacts specific symptoms of depression.

A machine learning ensemble to predict treatment outcomes following an Internet intervention for depression.

Background: Some Internet interventions are regarded as effective treatments for adult depression, but less is known about who responds to this form of treatment.

Method: An elastic net and random forest were trained to predict depression symptoms and related disability after an 8-week course of an Internet intervention, Deprexis, involving adults (N = 283) from across the USA. Candidate predictors included psychopathology, demographics, treatment expectancies, treatment usage, and environmental context obtained from population databases.

Acetaminophen enhances the reflective learning process.

Acetaminophen has been shown to influence cognitive and affective behavior possibly via alterations in serotonin function. This study builds upon this previous work by examining the relationship between acetaminophen and dual-learning systems, comprising reflective (rule-based) and reflexive (information-integration) processing. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, a sample of community-recruited adults (N = 87) were randomly administered acetaminophen (1000 mg) or placebo and then completed reflective-optimal and reflexive-optimal category learning tasks.

Childhood trauma and clinical high risk for psychosis.

As a risk factor for psychosis, childhood trauma rates are elevated in the clinical-high-risk (CHR) syndrome compared to the general population. However, it is unknown whether trauma is typically experienced in childhood or adolescence/young adulthood, whether it occurred prior to CHR syndrome onset, and how severe trauma relates to presenting symptoms. In this study, we examined the relationship of trauma history to symptoms and functioning in individuals diagnosed with the CHR syndrome on the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (N = 103).

Effectiveness of an internet intervention (Deprexis) for depression in a united states adult sample: A parallel-group pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of an Internet intervention for depression with a randomized, controlled trial in a large sample of adults recruited from the United States.

Method: The current study examines the effectiveness of Deprexis, an Internet treatment for depression that was provided with relatively minimal support. There were 376 treatment-seeking adults (mean age = 32 years; 74% female; 77% Caucasian, 7% Asian, 7% multiple races, 4% African American, and 11% Hispanic/Latino) with elevated depression (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms-Self-Report [QIDS-SR] > = 10) who were randomized to receive an 8-week course of treatment immediately (n = 285) or after an 8-week delay (n = 91; i.

Additive genetic contribution to symptom dimensions in major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a phenotypically heterogeneous disorder with a complex genetic architecture. In this study, genomic-relatedness-matrix restricted maximum-likelihood analysis (GREML) was used to investigate the extent to which variance in depression symptoms/symptom dimensions can be explained by variation in common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a sample of individuals with MDD (N = 1,558) who participated in the National Institute of Mental Health Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study. A principal components analysis of items from the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) obtained prior to treatment revealed 4 depression symptom components: (a) appetite, (b) core depression symptoms (e.

Serotonin promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) predicts biased attention for emotion stimuli: Preliminary evidence of moderation by the social environment.

A number of studies have found an association between attentional bias for negative stimuli and variation in the serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). The current project examined whether a positive social environment mitigates this association. More specifically, we examined the relationship between attentional bias on the dot-probe task, variation in the 5-HTTLPR and current social support among a community sample of adults (N=216).

Symptom assessment in early psychosis: the use of well-established rating scales in clinical high-risk and recent-onset populations.

Symptom assessment in early psychosis research typically relies on scales validated in chronic schizophrenia samples. Our goal was to inform investigators who are selecting symptom scales for early psychosis research. We described measure characteristics, baseline scores, and scale inter-relationships in clinical-high-risk (CHR) and recent-onset psychotic disorder (RO) samples using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; for the CHR group only, we included the Scale of Prodromal Symptoms.

Association between serotonin cumulative genetic score and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS): Moderation by early life environment.

The present study investigates if genetic variation in the serotonergic system interacts with early adversity to predict changes in the Behavioral Approach System (BAS), a system that taps into reward processing. In a sample of community adults (N= 236) the influence of single serotonergic candidate polymorphisms on BAS was analyzed, we also examined the aggregate contribution of these genetic variants by creating a Cumulative Genetic Score (CGS). A CGS quantifies an individual's cumulative risk by aggregating the number of risk alleles across the candidate polymorphisms.

Environmental Risk and Protective Factors and Their Influence on the Emergence of Psychosis.

Environmental risk and protective factors in schizophrenia play a significant role in the development and course of the disorder. The following article reviews the current state of evidence linking a variety of environmental factors and their impact on the emergence of psychotic disorders. The environmental factors include pre- and perinatal insults, stress and trauma, family environment, and cannabis use.

Psychosis risk screening with the Prodromal Questionnaire--brief version (PQ-B).

In this study, we examined the preliminary concurrent validity of a brief version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-B), a self-report screening measure for psychosis risk syndromes. Adolescents and young adults (N=141) who presented consecutively for clinical assessment to one of two early psychosis research clinics at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Los Angeles completed the PQ-B and the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) at intake. Endorsement of three or more positive symptoms on the PQ-B differentiated between those with prodromal syndrome and psychotic syndrome diagnoses on the SIPS versus those with no SIPS diagnoses with 89% sensitivity, 58% specificity, and a positive Likelihood Ratio of 2.