Positive affect training to reduce mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a proof-of-concept randomised clinical trial
Conclusions
This intervention was able to reduce depression and suicidality during adverse experiences when rewarding events were diminished, such as pandemics.
Clinical implications
Strategies to improve positive affect may be useful to reduce mental health issues.
Trial registration number
ACTRN12620000811909. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 28, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bryant, R., Dawson, K., Azevedo, S., Yadav, S., Tran, J., Choi-Christou, J., Andrew, E., Beames, J., Keyan, D. Tags: Open access, COVID-19 Psychosocial interventions Source Type: research
Physical injuries as triggers for self-harm: a within-individual study of nearly 250 000 injured people with a major psychiatric disorder
Conclusions
Physical injuries are important proximal risk factors for self-harm in people with psychiatric disorders.
Clinical implications
Mechanisms underlying the associations could provide treatment targets. When treating patients with psychiatric illnesses, emergency and trauma medical services should actively work in liaison with psychiatric services to implement self-harm prevention strategies. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 28, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Sariaslan, A., Larsson, H., Hawton, K., Pitkänen, J., Lichtenstein, P., Martikainen, P., Fazel, S. Tags: Open access Adult mental health Source Type: research
Population health surveys and screening tools for depressive disorders: aims and uses
The article by Fischer and colleagues,1 based on data from the second wave of the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS-2), proposes the use of a Bayesian framework to account for the ‘imperfect diagnostic accuracy’ of the eight-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), and to improve estimations of the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD). It is well-known that estimating the prevalence of specific mental disorders directly using the results from screening tools (ie, without attending at the possible false positives and negatives) could lead to overestimations.2 It should also be note...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 26, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Arias de la Torre, J., Ronaldson, A., Serrano-Blanco, A., Martin, V., Bellon, J. A., Valderas, J. M., Alonso, J. Tags: Open access Correspondence Source Type: research
Predicting outcomes at the individual patient level: what is the best method?
Conclusions
The end-to-end and the similarity-based model yielded comparable performance. Due to its simplicity, the end-to-end approach can be favoured when using demographic and clinical data to build prediction models on pharmacological treatments for depression. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 14, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Liu, Q., Ostinelli, E. G., De Crescenzo, F., Li, Z., Tomlinson, A., Salanti, G., Cipriani, A., Efthimiou, O. Tags: Open access, EBMH Statistics in Practice Source Type: research
Assessing violence risk in first-episode psychosis: external validation, updating and net benefit of a prediction tool (OxMIV)
Conclusions
OxMIV performed well in this real-world validation, with improved sensitivity compared with unstructured assessments.
Clinical implications
Structured tools to assess violence risk, such as OxMIV, have potential in first-episode psychosis to support a stratified approach to allocating non-harmful interventions to individuals who may benefit from the largest absolute risk reduction. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 14, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Whiting, D., Mallett, S., Lennox, B., Fazel, S. Tags: Open access Adult mental health Source Type: research
New living evidence resource of human and non-human studies for early intervention and research prioritisation in anxiety, depression and psychosis
In anxiety, depression and psychosis, there has been frustratingly slow progress in developing novel therapies that make a substantial difference in practice, as well as in predicting which treatments will work for whom and in what contexts. To intervene early in the process and deliver optimal care to patients, we need to understand the underlying mechanisms of mental health conditions, develop safe and effective interventions that target these mechanisms, and improve our capabilities in timely diagnosis and reliable prediction of symptom trajectories. Better synthesis of existing evidence is one way to reduce waste and i...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 8, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Cipriani, A., Seedat, S., Milligan, L., Salanti, G., Macleod, M., Hastings, J., Thomas, J., Michie, S., Furukawa, T. A., Gilbert, D., Soares-Weiser, K., Moreno, C., Leucht, S., Egger, M., Mansoori, P., Barker, J. M., Siafis, S., Ostinelli, E. G., McCutche Tags: Open access Perspective Source Type: research
Associations between antipsychotics and the risk of incident cardiovascular diseases in individuals with schizophrenia: a nested case-control study
Conclusions
Use of antipsychotics was associated with increased risk of incident CVDs among individuals with schizophrenia, and the risk varied substantially among different antipsychotics and specific CVDs.
Clinical implications
Clinicians should consider the cardiovascular risk of antipsychotics and choose the appropriate type and dose of drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 8, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Peng, P., Li, J., Chen, Y., Li, M., Ma, F., Ji, S., Sun, S., Tang, F. Tags: Open access Pharmacological treatments Source Type: research
Effectiveness of a mental health stepped-care programme for healthcare workers with psychological distress in crisis settings: a multicentre randomised controlled trial
Conclusions
Brief stepped-care psychological interventions reduce anxiety and depression during a period of stress among HCWs.
Clinical implications
Our results can inform policies and actions to protect the mental health of HCWs during major health crises and are potentially rapidly replicable in other settings where workers are affected by global emergencies.
Trial registration number
NCT04980326. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - June 1, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mediavilla, R., Felez-Nobrega, M., McGreevy, K. R., Monistrol-Mula, A., Bravo-Ortiz, M.-F., Bayon, C., Gine-Vazquez, I., Villaescusa, R., Munoz-Sanjose, A., Aguilar-Ortiz, S., Figueiredo, N., Nicaise, P., Park, A.-L., Petri-Romao, P., Purgato, M., Witteve Tags: Open access Psychotherapies Source Type: research
Insulin resistance, age and depressions impact on cognition in middle-aged adults from the PREVENT cohort
Conclusions
Together, we demonstrate the inter-relations between three common non-communicable diseases in middle-aged adults.
Clinical implications
We emphasise the need for combined interventions and the use of resources to help adults in mid-life to modify risk factors for cognitive impairment, such as depression and diabetes. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - May 26, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Bauermeister, S. D., Ben Yehuda, M., Reid, G., Howgego, G., Ritchie, K., Watermeyer, T., Gregory, S., Terrera, G. M., Koychev, I. Tags: Open access Adult mental health Source Type: research
Increasing the value of digital phenotyping through reducing missingness: a retrospective review and analysis of prior studies
Conclusions
Digital phenotyping data quality requires ongoing technical and protocol efforts to minimise missingness. Adding run-in periods, education with hands-on support and tools to easily monitor data coverage are all productive strategies studies can use today.
Clinical implications
While it is feasible to capture digital phenotyping data from diverse populations, clinicians should consider the degree of missingness in the data before using them for clinical decision-making. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Currey, D., Torous, J. Tags: Open access Digital mental health Source Type: research
Crossroads of methodological choices in research synthesis: insights from two network meta-analyses on preventing relapse in schizophrenia
In recent years, network meta-analyses have been increasingly carried out to inform clinical guidelines and policy. This approach is under constant development, and a broad consensus on how to carry out several of its methodological and statistical steps is still lacking. Therefore, different working groups might often make different methodological choices based on their clinical and research experience, with possible advantages and shortcomings. In this contribution, we will critically assess two network meta-analyses on the topic of pharmacological prevention of relapse in schizophrenia, carried out by two different rese...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Ostuzzi, G., Schneider-Thoma, J., Tedeschi, F., Leucht, S., Barbui, C. Tags: Open access Perspective Source Type: research
Digital mental health: challenges and next steps
Digital innovations in mental health offer great potential, but present unique challenges. Using a consensus development panel approach, an expert, international, cross-disciplinary panel met to provide a framework to conceptualise digital mental health innovations, research into mechanisms and effectiveness and approaches for clinical implementation. Key questions and outputs from the group were agreed by consensus, and are presented and discussed in the text and supported by case examples in an accompanying appendix. A number of key themes emerged. (1) Digital approaches may work best across traditional diagnostic system...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Smith, K. A., Blease, C., Faurholt-Jepsen, M., Firth, J., Van Daele, T., Moreno, C., Carlbring, P., Ebner-Priemer, U. W., Koutsouleris, N., Riper, H., Mouchabac, S., Torous, J., Cipriani, A. Tags: Open access Digital mental health Source Type: research
Placebo response in trials with patients with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and stress disorders across the lifespan: a three-level meta-analysis
Conclusions
Placebo response is substantial in SSRI and SNRI trials for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and stress-related disorders. Clinicians and researchers should accurately interpret the benefits of pharmacological agents in contrast to placebo response.
PROSPERO registration number
CRD42017069090. (Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health)
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - May 4, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Motta, L. S., Gosmann, N. P., Costa, M. d. A., Jaeger, M. d. B., Frozi, J., Grevet, L. T., Spanemberg, L., Manfro, G. G., Cuijpers, P., Pine, D. S., Salum, G. Tags: Open access Pharmacological treatments Source Type: research
Blinding successfulness in antipsychotic trials of acute treatment for schizophrenia: a systematic review
Background Blinding of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is very important for the accurate assessment of drug efficacy. Without proper blinding, the effect of the intervention may be overestimated. Fergusson et al investigated the top journals in psychiatry from 1998 to 2001 and reported that blinding assessments were conducted in only 8 of 94 studies across psychiatric disorders.1 However, no studies on antipsychotic drugs were included among these eight. Hróbjartsson et al investigated RCTs published in 2001, and blinding assessments were conducted in 12 psychiatric studies.2 There were only two studies on anti...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - April 21, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tajika, A., Furukawa, T. A., Shinohara, K., Kikuchi, S., Toyomoto, R., Furukawa, Y., Ito, M., Yoshida, K., Honda, Y., Takayama, T., Schneider-Thoma, J., Leucht, S. Tags: Open access Correspondence Source Type: research
Police-led real-time surveillance system for suspected suicides in Great Britain
It has become increasingly apparent that rapidly available information about the occurrence of suicides is needed, particularly to support suicide prevention efforts. Concerns about the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerability to suicide highlighted the need for such early data internationally. Here, we set out the nature, current status and content of a real-time suicide monitoring system in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), and explore its potential to contribute to timely and targeted suicide prevention initiatives. We also discuss the challenges to successful implementation. (Source: Eviden...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - April 21, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Marzano, L., Norman, H., Sohal, B., Hawton, K., Mann, R. Tags: Open access Perspective Source Type: research
