[The Signature Biobank: History and perspectives of a longitudinal project investigating the biological, psychological, and social signatures of patients visiting the emergency of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal].

Objectives In 2008, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) published its strategic plan to structure future research aims and objectives including the development of a new method of classifying mental health disorders. This strategic plan gave rise to the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, a framework aimed at establishing major functional domains of the human psyche ranging from normal to pathological. The Signature Consortium was created in 2009 to develop a data bank capable of contributing to the development of RDoC by identifying profiles, or Signatures, of a psychiatric population, collecting biological, psychosocial, and clinical indicators at critical moments in the care and follow-up of patients visiting the care structures of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (IUSMM).

Effects of antidepressant type on allostatic load of male and female psychiatric outpatients.

Sex differences and antidepressant use are not systematically accounted for in studies measuring physiological dysregulations associated with chronic stress and allostatic load (AL) in neuropsychiatry. Critically, assessing commonly prescribed antidepressant medications, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) could help monitor potential iatrogenic effects on AL and health that are associated with prolonged antidepressant use. The objective of this exploratory analysis was to investigate how male and female psychiatric outpatients using either SSRIs or SNRIs differ in their AL indices.

Elevated allostatic load is associated with poorer response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression.

This cohort study investigated whether allostatic load (AL) is associated with treatment response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Pre-treatment blood samples measured AL across multiple systems. Pre- and post-treatment mood changes were assessed using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).

Affect regulation and allostatic load over time.

Objective: Emerging work suggests that affect regulation strategies (e.g., active coping, anger expression) predict disease and mortality risk, with sometimes divergent estimates by sex or education levels.

The impact of marriage equality campaigns on stress: Did a Swiss public vote get under the skin?

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) individuals encounter persistent structural inequalities and discrimination that can lead to detrimental psychological and physiological health outcomes. Amid evolving legal landscapes, little attention has been directed toward understanding the physiological health effects of societal shifts on these communities. This study aims to explore the impact of a national marriage equality vote and associated debates on psychological and biological stress among LGBTIQ+ individuals and cisgender, heterosexual, endosex individuals (termed cis-heterosexual) in Switzerland.

Beyond struggle: A strengths-based qualitative study of cannabis use among queer and trans youth in Québec.

Background: Queer and trans (QT) youth report higher rates of cannabis use than their cisgender and heterosexual peers. Explanations for this have overwhelmingly focused on the difficulties QT youth face, while little research has examined how cannabis use can relate to QT youth's strengths. We sought to explore how cannabis use could be involved in the experiences of QT youth from a strengths-based perspective.

The Energetic Stress Marker GDF15 is Induced by Acute Psychosocial Stress.

GDF15 (growth differentiation factor 15) is a marker of cellular and mitochondrial energetic stress linked to physical-mental illness, aging, and mortality. Here, we describe the psychobiological regulation of plasma and saliva GDF15 in four human studies including 3,599 samples from 148 healthy individuals. We report two main observations establishing GDF15 as a novel tractable biomarker of psychosocial stress.

Exploring ecosocial contexts of alcohol use and misuse during the COVID-19 pandemic among urban refugee youth in Kampala, Uganda: Multi-method findings.

Urban refugees may be disproportionately affected by socio-environmental stressors that shape alcohol use, and this may have been exacerbated by additional stressors in the COVID-19 pandemic. This multi-method study aimed to understand experiences of, and contextual factors associated with, alcohol use during the pandemic among urban refugee youth in Kampala, Uganda. We conducted a cross-sectional survey ( = 335), in-depth individual interviews (IDI) ( = 24), and focus groups ( = 4) with urban refugee youth in Kampala.

Associations Between Structural Stigma and Allostatic Load Among Sexual Minorities: Results From a Population-Based Study.

Objective: Structural forms of stigma and discrimination are associated with adverse health outcomes across numerous stigmatized groups, including lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. However, the biological consequences of structural stigma among LGB populations are understudied. To begin to address this gap, we assessed associations between indicators of structural stigma (i.

Transgender and Gender-Diverse People's Experiences of Minority Stress, Mental Health, and Resilience in Relation to Perceptions of Sociopolitical Contexts.

Purpose: The sociopolitical context in which transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people live has significant effects on mental health. We examined whether perceptions of context (TGD people's perceptions of how TGD people were viewed) differed across four United States (U.S.

A step-by-step and data-driven guide to index gender in psychiatry.

Beyond sex as a binary or biological variable, within-sex variations related to sociocultural gender variables are of increasing interest in psychiatric research to better understand individual differences. Using a data-driven approach, we developed a composite gender score based on sociodemographic and psychosocial variables showing sex differences in a sample of psychiatric emergency patients upon admission (N = 1708; 39.4% birth-assigned females; mean age = 40 years; age standard deviation = 14).

Associations of allostatic load with sociodemographic factors, depressive symptoms, lifestyle, and health characteristics in a large general population-based sample.

Objective: We examined the associations between allostatic load (AL) and sociodemographic factors, depressive symptoms, lifestyle and health characteristics in a population-based sample of 4993 adults in Finland.

Methods: Thirteen biomarkers were used to construct AL. High AL was defined as scoring highly in ≥4 items.

The Signature Biobank: A longitudinal biopsychosocial repository of psychiatric emergency patients.

The Signature Biobank is a longitudinal repository of biospecimen, psychological, sociodemographic, and diagnostic data that was created in 2012. The Signature Consortium represents a group of approximately one hundred Quebec-based transdisciplinary clinicians and research scientists with various expertise in the field of psychiatry. The objective of the Signature Biobank is to investigate the multi-faceted underpinnings of psychiatric disorders among patients in crisis.

Sex and gender correlates of sexually polymorphic cognition.

Background: Sexually polymorphic cognition (SPC) results from the interaction between biological (birth-assigned sex (BAS), sex hormones) and socio-cultural (gender identity, gender roles, sexual orientation) factors. The literature remains quite mixed regarding the magnitude of the effects of these variables. This project used a battery of classic cognitive tests designed to assess the influence of sex hormones on cognitive performance.

Gender minority stress and diurnal cortisol profiles among transgender and gender diverse people in the United States.

The field of behavioral neuroendocrinology has only begun to explore the lived experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people exposed to stigma. In light of escalating attacks and legislation targeting TGD people in the United States, it is crucial to examine the physiological pathways through which gender minority stressors become embodied, impact health, and contribute to health inequities. The Trans Resilience and Health Study included baseline data collection from fall 2019 to spring 2020 from a sample of 124 TGD people, reflecting a diversity of gender identities (e.

The role of sex hormones, oral contraceptive use, and its parameters on visuospatial abilities, verbal fluency, and verbal memory.

Sex hormones can cross the blood-brain barrier and access brain regions underlying higher-order cognition. Containing synthetic sex hormones, oral contraceptives (OC) have been found to modulate visuospatial and verbal abilities, though inconsistencies have been found in the literature. Among possible explanations, certain OC use parameters (progestin androgenicity, synthetic hormone levels, duration of use) have not received consistent consideration.

Gender roles and gender norms associated with psychological distress in women and men among the Dutch general population.

Women report more psychological distress than men, which may be related to both biological sex and socio-cultural gender. We tested whether associations between gender and distress differ for women and men. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 678 Dutch people (54% women).

Sex/gender differences in cognitive abilities.

Sex/gender differences in cognitive sciences are riddled by conflicting perspectives. At the center of debates are clinical, social, and political perspectives. Front and center, evolutionary and biological perspectives have often focused on 'nature' arguments, while feminist and constructivist views have often focused on 'nurture arguments regarding cognitive sex differences.