Delineating apathy profiles in Huntington's disease with the short-Lille Apathy Rating Scale.

Introduction: Apathy, a prevalent feature in neurological disorders including Huntington's disease (HD), is characterized by a reduction in goal-directed behavior across cognitive, auto-activation (i.e., self-activating thoughts/behavior), and emotional domains.

Acceptability and participation predictors for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to test a smoking cessation intervention after discharge from mental health wards.

Background And Aim: Hospitalization is an ideal time to promote smoking cessation, but interventions are limited for supporting cessation maintenance after discharge. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability of participating in a trial that tested the efficacy of an intensive telephone-based intervention for smokers after discharge.

Methods: Adult smokers admitted to mental health wards of six hospitals were invited to participate in the trial.

Personality traits as a risk factor for postpartum depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Certain personality traits increase vulnerability to depression, but the evidence linking personality and postpartum depression (PPD) is less robust. This systematic review aimed to identify personality traits that increase the risk of PPD.

Methods: We systematically reviewed studies retrieved from PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, and Cochrane, following the PRISMA guidelines for reporting.

Prevalence and risk factors for acute stress disorder in female victims of sexual assault.

Sexual assault is one of the most traumatic events a person can experience. Despite this, information regarding the risk factors associated with the development of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) in sexual assault victims is scarce. A follow-up prospective cohort study was designed to examine the prevalence and risk factors of ASD in women exposed to a recent sexual assault.

Gray Matter Vulnerabilities Predict Longitudinal Development of Apathy in Huntington's Disease.

Background: Apathy, a common neuropsychiatric disturbance in Huntington's disease (HD), is subserved by a complex neurobiological network. However, no study has yet employed a whole-brain approach to examine underlying regional vulnerabilities that may precipitate apathy changes over time.

Objectives: To identify whole-brain gray matter volume (GMV) vulnerabilities that may predict longitudinal apathy development in HD.

White matter cortico-striatal tracts predict apathy subtypes in Huntington's disease.

Background: Apathy is the neuropsychiatric syndrome that correlates most highly with Huntington's disease progression, and, like early patterns of neurodegeneration, is associated with lesions to cortico-striatal connections. However, due to its multidimensional nature and elusive etiology, treatment options are limited.

Objectives: To disentangle underlying white matter microstructural correlates across the apathy spectrum in Huntington's disease.

Specific patterns of brain alterations underlie distinct clinical profiles in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disease which involves a triad of motor, cognitive and psychiatric disturbances. However, there is great variability in the prominence of each type of symptom across individuals. The neurobiological basis of such variability remains poorly understood but would be crucial for better tailored treatments.

Course of a major postpartum depressive episode: A prospective 2 years naturalistic follow-up study.

Background: Survival methodology has not already been used in studies about postpartum depression (PPD) course. The aims of the present study were to estimate the duration of a Major Postpartum Depressive Episode (MPDE) during 2 years, as well as to explore factors associated with the course.

Method: This was a prospective, naturalistic, longitudinal study with a cohort of 165 women with a MPDE (DSM-IV criteria).

Effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention for smoking cessation in patients with severe mental disorders: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Up to 75% of inpatients with mental disorders smoke, and their life expectancy is decreased by up to 25 years compared to the general population. Hospitalized patients without monitoring after discharge quickly return to prehospitalization levels of tobacco use. The aim of the 061 QuitMental study is to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent and motivational telephone-based intervention to stop smoking through a quitline addressed to smokers discharged from mental health hospital wards.

An active cognitive lifestyle as a potential neuroprotective factor in Huntington's disease.

A cognitive stimulating lifestyle has been observed to confer cognitive benefits in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. However, the underlying neurobiological basis of this phenomenon remains unclear. Huntington's disease can provide a suitable model to study the effects and neural mechanisms of cognitive engagement in neurodegeneration.

Reduced striato-cortical and inhibitory transcallosal connectivity in the motor circuit of Huntington's disease patients.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which is primarily associated with striatal degeneration. However, the alterations in connectivity of this structure in HD have been underinvestigated. In this study, we analyzed the functional and structural connectivity of the left putamen, while participants performed a finger-tapping task.

Facial emotion processing in patients with social anxiety disorder and Williams-Beuren syndrome: an fMRI study.

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) are 2 conditions with major differences in terms of genetics, development and cognitive profiles. Both conditions are associated with compromised abilities in overlapping areas, including social approach, processing of social emotional cues and gaze behaviour, and to some extent they are associated with opposite behaviours in these domains. We examined common and distinct patterns of brain activation during a facial emotion processing paradigm in patients with SAD and WBS.

Assessment of psychometric properties of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) in Spanish mothers.

The Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) was developed to assess mother-infant bonding disturbances in the postpartum period. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the PBQ in a sample of Spanish postpartum women. Eight hundred forty mothers were recruited in the postpartum visit (4-6 weeks after delivery): 513 from a gynecology unit (forming the general population sample) and 327 mothers from a perinatal psychiatry program (forming the clinical sample).

New evidence of heterogeneity in social anxiety disorder: defining two qualitatively different personality profiles taking into account clinical, environmental and genetic factors.

Purpose: To study qualitatively different subgroups of social anxiety disorder (SAD) based on harm avoidance (HA) and novelty seeking (NS) dimensions.

Method: One hundred and forty-two university students with SAD (SCID-DSM-IV) were included in the study. The temperament dimensions HA and NS from the Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory were subjected to cluster analysis to identify meaningful subgroups.

Common and distinct neural correlates of facial emotion processing in social anxiety disorder and Williams syndrome: A systematic review and voxel-based meta-analysis of functional resonance imaging studies.

Background: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WS) are two conditions which seem to be at opposite ends in the continuum of social fear but show compromised abilities in some overlapping areas, including some social interactions, gaze contact and processing of facial emotional cues. The increase in the number of neuroimaging studies has greatly expanded our knowledge of the neural bases of facial emotion processing in both conditions. However, to date, SAD and WS have not been compared.

Unplanned pregnancy and discontinuation of SSRIs in pregnant women with previously treated affective disorder.

Objective: To identify the factors associated with discontinuation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnant women and to determine the rates of SSRI reintroduction during pregnancy.

Method: A prospective study was conducted in the Perinatal Psychiatry Service of the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. The total sample comprised 132 consecutive pregnant women with depressive or anxiety disorder (DSM-IV criteria), seen between January 2005 and December 2008 and who were receiving SSRIs at the time of conception.

Decision-making and impulsivity in eating disorder patients.

Impairment in decision-making can be related to some pathological behaviors in eating disorders. This ability was assessed in 71 eating disorder patients (27 restricting type patients and 44 binge/purging type patients) and compared with 38 healthy controls using the Iowa Gambling Task. This task simulates real-life decision-making by assessing the ability to sacrifice immediate rewards in favor of long term gains.

Social anxiety and negative early life events in university students.

Introduction: There is substantial evidence regarding the impact of negative life events during childhood on the aetiology of psychiatric disorders. We examined the association between negative early life events and social anxiety in a sample of 571 Spanish University students.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2007, we collected data through a semistructured questionnaire of sociodemographic variables, personal and family psychiatric history, and substance abuse.

Perfectionism dimensions in major postpartum depression.

Background: Although perfectionism from a multidimensional perspective has generally been associated with depressive illness, there are not many studies on its role in major depression in the postnatal period. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between perfectionism dimensions using the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) and major postpartum depression.

Methods: One-hundred-twenty-two women with major postpartum depression (SCID-I; DSM-IV) and 115 healthy postpartum women were evaluated using the FMPS, an instrument for the assessment of six perfectionism dimensions: concern over mistakes, personal standards, parental expectations, parental criticism, doubt about actions and organisation.

Obstetrical and neonatal outcomes after prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: the relevance of dose.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on obstetrical and neonatal outcomes.

Method: A case-control study was conducted to compare perinatal outcomes among pregnant women with affective disorder (DSM-IV criteria) and who received SSRIs during pregnancy with those of women without an active psychiatric disorder during pregnancy who were non-exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy. Each case was matched to two controls for maternal age (± 2 years) and parity.

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale in women.

This instrumental study was designed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS). The total sample was made up of 582 female college students, with a mean age of 21.68 (SD= 4.