Predictors of treatment response trajectories to cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: A cohort study.

Background: The response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) varies greatly between patients, but predictors of treatment success remain to be elucidated. We aimed to identify patient subgroups based on fatigue trajectory during CBT, identify pre-treatment predictors of subgroup membership, and disentangle the direction of predictor - outcome relationships over time.

Methods: 297 individuals with CFS were enrolled in a standardized CBT program consisting of 17 sessions, with session timing variable between participants.

Investigating adverse daily life effects following a psychosocial laboratory stress task, and the moderating role of Psychopathology.

Laboratory stress tasks are necessary to closely investigate the stress response in a controlled environment. However, to our knowledge, no study has tested whether participating in such tasks can pose any daily life adverse effect. Fifty-three healthy participants (46 women) took part in a laboratory session where stress was induced using a typical psychosocial stressor: the repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Task (rMIST).

Exploring the role of OXTR gene methylation in attachment development: A longitudinal study.

The current study explored longitudinally whether oxytocin receptor gene methylation (OXTRm) changes moderated the association between parental sensitivity changes and children's attachment changes over three waves. Six hundred six Flemish children (10-12 years, 42.8%-44.

At the Head and Heart of Oxytocin's Stress-Regulatory Neural and Cardiac Effects: A Chronic Administration RCT in Children with Autism.

Introduction: Intranasal administration of oxytocin presents a promising new approach to reduce disability associated with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Previous investigations have emphasized the amygdala as the neural foundation for oxytocin's acute effects. However, to fully understand oxytocin's therapeutic potential, it is crucial to gain insight into the neuroplastic changes in amygdala circuitry induced from chronic oxytocin administrations, particularly in pediatric populations.

Endogenous oxytocin levels in children with autism: Associations with cortisol levels and oxytocin receptor gene methylation.

Alterations in the brain's oxytocinergic system have been suggested to play an important role in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but insights from pediatric populations are sparse. Here, salivary oxytocin was examined in the morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) in school-aged children with (n = 80) and without (n = 40) ASD (boys/girls 4/1), and also characterizations of DNA methylation (DNAm) of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) were obtained. Further, cortisol levels were assessed to examine links between the oxytocinergic system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis signaling.

Differential effect of panic on the DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene exon 1F in chronic subjective tinnitus with distress.

Objective: Tinnitus can be regarded as a chronic stressor, leading to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. There is important comorbidity with anxiety, particularly panic, potentially associated with differences in HPA axis functioning and methylation patterns of HPA axis-related genes. This study examines DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene ( NR3C1 ) exon 1F in adults with chronic subjective tinnitus and the possible differential effect of panic.

Mild daily stress, in interaction with NR3C1 DNA methylation levels, is linked to alterations in the HPA axis and ANS response to acute stress in early adolescents.

Background: Daily Hassles (DH) or daily stress - is a mild type of stressor with unique contributions to psychological distress. Yet, most prior studies that investigate the effects of stressful life experiences focus on childhood trauma or on early life stress and little is known about the effects of DH on epigenetic changes in stress system related genes and on the physiological response to social stressors.

Methods: In the present study, conducted among 101 early adolescents (mean age = 11.

Is daily-life stress reactivity a measure of stress recovery? An investigation of laboratory and daily-life stress.

Typical measures of laboratory reactivity (i.e. difference between control and stress) and recovery (i.

The cumulative effect of chronic stress and depressive symptoms affects heart rate in a working population.

Background: Chronic stress and depressive symptoms have both been linked to increased heart rate (HR) and reduced HR variability. However, up to date, it is not clear whether chronic stress, the mechanisms intrinsic to depression or a combination of both cause these alterations. Subclinical cases may help to answer these questions.

A Comparative Study Measuring the Difference of Healthcare Workers Reactions Among Those Involved in a Patent Safety Incident and Healthcare Professionals While Working During COVID-19.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the differences and similarities in the reaction of the healthcare worker involved in a patient safety incident or during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also compared the differences in support they need.

Methods: A secondary data analysis was performed based on 2 cross-sectional survey studies.

Exhausted Heart Rate Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in Women With Major Depressive Disorder.

Past research links depression and blunted cardiac vagal reactivity to chronic stress. Yet, to our knowledge no experiment investigates heart rate (variability) responses to a repeated laboratory stressor in patients with depression. Repeated exposure may provide valuable information on stress reactivity in depression.

Individual differences in environmental sensitivity at physiological and phenotypic level: Two sides of the same coin?

Young adolescents are hypothesized to differ in their environmental sensitivity, at both phenotypic (i.e., Sensory Processing Sensitivity [SPS]) and physiological (i.

No evidence for a modulating effect of continuous transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on markers of noradrenergic activity.

Although transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is thought to increase central noradrenergic activity, findings supporting such mechanism are scarce and inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate whether taVNS modulates indirect markers of phasic and tonic noradrenergic activity. Sixty-six healthy participants performed a novelty auditory oddball task twice on separate days: once while receiving taVNS (left cymba concha), once during sham (left earlobe) stimulation.

Blood brain barrier permeability increases with age in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Unlabelled: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is characterised by high rates of psychotic disorders and immune abnormalities.

The association between self-reported stress and cardiovascular measures in daily life: A systematic review.

Background: Stress plays an important role in the development of mental illness, and an increasing number of studies is trying to detect moments of perceived stress in everyday life based on physiological data gathered using ambulatory devices. However, based on laboratory studies, there is only modest evidence for a relationship between self-reported stress and physiological ambulatory measures. This descriptive systematic review evaluates the evidence for studies investigating an association between self-reported stress and physiological measures under daily life conditions.

Role of NR3C1 and SLC6A4 methylation in the HPA axis regulation in burnout.

Background: Work-related stress and burnout have become major occupational health concerns. Dysregulation of HPA axis is considered one of the central mechanisms and is potentially moderated through epigenetics. In the present study, we aim to investigate epigenetic regulation of the HPA axis in burnout, by focusing on salivary cortisol and cortisone and DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4).

Twenty-Four-Hour Heart Rate Is a Trait but Not State Marker for Depression in a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial With a Single Infusion of Ketamine.

Abnormalities of heart rate (HR) and its variability are characteristic of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, circadian rhythm is rarely taken into account when statistically exploring state or trait markers for depression. A 4-day electrocardiogram was recorded for 16 treatment-resistant patients with MDD and 16 age- and sex-matched controls before, and for the patient group only, after a single treatment with the rapid-acting antidepressant ketamine or placebo (clinical trial registration available on https://www.

Monocyte mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammaging, and inflammatory pyroptosis in major depression.

Background: The macrophage theory of depression states that macrophages play an important role in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Methods: MDD patients (N = 140) and healthy controls (N = 120) participated in a cross-sectional study investigating the expression of apoptosis/growth and lipid/cholesterol pathway genes (BAX, BCL10, EGR1, EGR2, HB-EGF, NR1H3, ABCA1, ABCG1, MVK, CD163, HMOX1) in monocytes (macrophage/microglia precursors). Gene expressions were correlated to a set of previously determined and reported inflammation-regulating genes and analyzed with respect to various clinical parameters.

The repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Test (rMIST): Testing habituation, sensitization, and anticipation effects to repeated stress induction.

Background: A psychosocial task that can induce comparable levels of stress repeatedly is fundamental to effectively study changes in stress reactivity over time or as a result of an intervention. However, existing tasks have struggled to provide consistent stress responses across repeated trials.

Aim: The goal was to assess the efficacy of two different designs of the repeated Montreal Imaging Stress Test (rMIST) in reproducing the same pattern of reactivity over two separate sessions.

Investigating the stress-related fluctuations of level of personality functioning: A critical review and agenda for future research.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) proposed a dimensional approach to the assessment of personality disorders (PDs). Both models dictate that the clinician first determines PD severity before assessing maladaptive traits, invoking the level of personality functioning (LPF) construct. We consider LPF a promising dimensional construct for translational research because of its clinical importance and conceptual overlap with the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Social Processes.

Epigenetics in Families: Covariance between Mother and Child Methylation Patterns.

Theory and research both point at epigenetic processes affecting both parenting behavior and child functioning. However, little is known about the convergence of mother and child's epigenetic patterns in families. Therefore, the current study investigated epigenetic covariance in mother-child dyads' methylation levels regarding four stress-regulation related genes (, , and ).

Increased methylation of NR3C1 and SLC6A4 is associated with blunted cortisol reactivity to stress in major depression.

Background: Epigenetic changes are considered the main mechanisms behind the interplay of environment and genetic susceptibility in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, studies focusing on epigenetic dysregulation of the HPA axis stress response in MDD are lacking. Our objective was to simultaneously asses DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene () and serotonin transporter gene () and HPA axis response to stress in MDD.

COVID-19 is having a destructive impact on health-care workers' mental well-being.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may aggravate workplace conditions that impact health-care workers' mental health. However, it can also place other stresses on workers outside of their work. This study determines the effect of COVID-19 on symptoms of negative and positive mental health and the workforce's experience with various sources of support.