Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive, neuromodulatory technique with an emerging role for treating major depression.

To investigate the interactions between tDCS and drug therapy in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients who were refractory for at least one pharmacological treatment.

This was a naturalistic study using data from 54 female and 28 male patients (mean age of 54 years) that consecutively visited our psychiatric unit. They received active tDCS (five consecutive days, 2 mA, anodal stimulation over the left and cathodal over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, twice a day, 20 minutes). The outcome variable (mood) was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Predictor variables were age, gender, disorder and pharmacological treatment (seven dummy variables). We performed univariate and multivariate analyses as to identify predictors associated to the outcome.

After 5 days of treatment, BDI and HDRS scores decreased significantly (29% ± 36%, 18% ± 9%, respectively, P < 0.01 for both). Benzodiazepine use was independently associated with a worse outcome in both univariate (β = 4.92, P < 0.01) and multivariate (β = 5.8, P < 0.01) analyses; whereas use of dual-reuptake inhibitors positively changed tDCS effects in the multivariate model (β = –4.7, P = 0.02). A similar trend was observed for tricyclics (β = –4, P = 0.06) but not for antipsychotics, non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsants and other drugs.

tDCS over the DLPFC acutely improved depressive symptoms. Besides the inherent limitations of our naturalistic design, our results suggest that tDCS effects might vary according to prior pharmacological treatment, notably benzodiazepines and some antidepressant classes. This issue should be further explored in controlled studies.

The use of coercive measures in psychiatry is still poorly understood. Most empirical research has been limited to compulsory admission and to risk factors on an individual patient level. This study addresses three coercive measures and the role of predictive factors at both patient and institutional levels.

Using the central psychiatric register that covers all psychiatric hospitals in Canton Zurich (1.3 million people), Switzerland, we traced all inpatients in 2007 aged 18–70 (n = 9698). We used GEE models to analyse variation in rates between psychiatric hospitals.

Overall, we found quotas of 24.8% involuntary admissions, 6.4% seclusion/restraint and 4.2% coerced medication. Results suggest that the kind and severity of mental illness are the most important risk factors for being subjected to any form of coercion. Variation across the six psychiatric hospitals was high, even after accounting for risk factors on the patient level suggesting that centre effects are an important source of variability. However, effects of the hospital characteristics ‘size of the hospital’, ‘length of inpatient stay’, and ‘work load of the nursing staff’ were only weak (‘bed occupancy rate’ was not statistically significant).

The significant variation in use of coercive measures across psychiatric hospitals needs further study.

Anhedonia is a core symptom of major depression and a key prognostic factor that is often poorly explored in clinical trials of major depressive disorder (MDD). Beyond symptomatic remission, psychosocial functioning also reveals difficulty in achieving remission in patients with MDD. The main objective of this study was to explore the interrelationships between social functioning and anhedonia on a longitudinal basis.

In total, 1570 outpatients treated for MDD with agomelatine were included. Severity of depression and levels of anhedonia and of psychosocial functioning were assessed at inclusion and at 10–14 weeks, with specific standardized scales (MADRS, QFS, SHAPS, CGI). Multivariate regression and mediation analyses were performed.

Using multivariate regression, we showed that improvement of anhedonia was the strongest predictor of improvement in psychosocial functioning (odds ratio = 7.3 [4.3–12.1] P < 0.0001). In addition, mediation tests confirmed that the association between improvement of depressive symptoms and improvement of social functioning was significantly underpinned by the improvement of anhedonia over time. Finally, we explored the determinants of the dissociation of the response, i.e., the persistence of psychosocial dysfunctioning despite a symptomatic response to antidepressant treatment, which remains a widespread situation in clinical practice. We showed that this dissociation was strongly predicted by persistence of anhedonia.

Our results suggest that anhedonia is one of the strongest predictors of psychosocial functioning, along with symptomatic remission, and should be carefully assessed by health professionals, in order to optimize pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological management of depression.

The Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) was developed to address the main limitations of the existing scales for the assessment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The initial validation of the scale by the group involved in its development demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity, and a factor structure confirming the two domains of negative symptoms (reduced emotional/verbal expression and anhedonia/asociality/avolition). However, only relatively small samples of patients with schizophrenia were investigated. Further independent validation in large clinical samples might be instrumental to the broad diffusion of the scale in clinical research.

The present study aimed to examine the BNSS inter-rater reliability, convergent/discriminant validity and factor structure in a large Italian sample of outpatients with schizophrenia.

Our results confirmed the excellent inter-rater reliability of the BNSS (the intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.81 to 0.98 for individual items and was 0.98 for the total score). The convergent validity measures had r values from 0.62 to 0.77, while the divergent validity measures had r values from 0.20 to 0.28 in the main sample (n = 912) and in a subsample without clinically significant levels of depression and extrapyramidal symptoms (n = 496). The BNSS factor structure was supported in both groups.

The study confirms that the BNSS is a promising measure for quantifying negative symptoms of schizophrenia in large multicenter clinical studies.

Allostatic load (AL) relates to the neural and bodily “wear and tear” that emerge in the context of chronic stress. This paper aims to provide clinicians with a comprehensive overview of the role of AL in patophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) and its practical implications.

PubMed searches were conducted on English-language articles published from 1970 to June 2011 using the search terms allostatic load, oxidative stress, staging, and bipolar disorder cross-referenced with cognitive impairment, comorbidity, mediators, prevention.

Progressive neural and physical dysfunction consequent to mood episodes in BD can be construed as a cumulative state of AL. The concept of AL can help to reconcile cognitive impairment and increased rates of clinical comorbidities that occur over the course of cumulative BD episodes.

Data on transduction of psychosocial stress into the neurobiology of mood episodes converges to the concept of AL. Mood episodes prevention would not only alleviate emotional suffering, but also arrest the cycle of AL, cognitive decline, physical morbidities and, eventually, related mortality. These objectives can be achieved by focusing on effective prophylaxis from the first stages of the disorder, providing mood-stabilizing agents and standardized psychoeducation and, potentially, addressing cognitive deficits by the means of specific medication and neuropsychological interventions.

Peritraumatic dissociation is a risk factor for developing PTSD. The Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ) is a self-report inventory used to assess dissociation that occurred at the time of a trauma. The aim of this study was the validation the PDEQ in French.

Ninety French speaking traumatized victims presenting to the emergency department were recruited. They were administered the PDEQ shortly after exposure and others trauma-related measures 2 weeks and 1 month posttrauma.

Principal components factor analyses suggested a single factor solution for the PDEQ. Significant correlations between the PDEQ and acute and posttraumatic stress symptoms indicated moderate to strong convergent validity. The PDEQ also showed satisfactory test–retest reliability and internal consistency.

This study is the first one to investigate such detailed psychometric findings on the PDEQ. This confirms the unity of the concept of peritraumatic dissociation and the value of the PDEQ-French Version to assess it.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of agreement among parents, teachers and adolescents with respect to the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Teacher's Report Form (TRF), and the Youth Self Report (YSR). In addition we evaluated the suitability of these three forms (CBCL, TRF and YSR) in terms of their contribution to understanding internalizing and externalizing disorders in youths being referred to a child and adolescent unit of a psychiatric care facility.

A total of 611 patients aged 11–18 years (mean age 13.0, SD 1.6) were assessed using the CBCL, the TRF and the YSR.

Intraclass coefficients (ICC) showed low to moderate agreement among informants. Furthermore, the level of agreement was generally less among patients suffering from internalizing disorders than for young patients who displayed externalizing disorders. Logistic regression revealed that the TRF internalizing syndrome scale, the CBCL internalizing syndrome scale and gender were relevant prognostic factors for the occurrence of internalizing disorders in youth. The YSR internalizing syndrome scale, on the other hand, was not a relevant factor among adolescents of a clinical target population. Likewise, only the TRF externalizing syndrome scale, the CBCL externalizing syndrome scale and gender were relevant prognostic factors for the occurrence of externalizing disorders in youth.

Particularly the CBCL and TRF are useful instruments in assessing internalizing and externalizing disorders in adolescents referred to a mental health setting.

Cognitive dysfunction is increasingly considered to be the strongest clinical predictor of poor long-term outcome in schizophrenia. Associations have been found between the severity of cognitive deficits and social dysfunction, impairments in independent living, occupational limitations, and disturbances in quality of life (QOL).

In this cross-sectional study, the relationships of cognitive deficits and treatment outcomes in terms of QOL, needs, and psychosocial functioning were examined in 60 outpatients with schizophrenia who had a duration of illness over 2 years and had been treated with either clozapine or olanzapine for at least 6 months.

The present study suggests that cognitive functioning might be a predictor of work functioning/independent living outcome in stabilized patients with schizophrenia: deficits of visual memory and working memory were negatively associated with occupational functioning, and older patients lived independently and/or in a stable partnership more often. The patients' assessments of QOL and needs for care did not show any significant associations with cognitive functioning.

These findings suggest that cognitive functioning is a key determinant of work functioning/independent living for stable outpatients with schizophrenia.

Background We aimed to determine the prevalence and gap in use of mental health services for late-life depression in four European regions (Western Europe, Scandinavia, Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe) and explore socio-demographic, social and health-related factors associated with it.

Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study based on data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Participants were a population-based sample of 28 796 persons (53% women, mean age 74 years old) residing in Europe. Mental health service use was estimated using information about the diagnosis or treatment for depression.

Results The prevalence of late-life depression was 29% in the whole sample and was highest in Southern Europe (35%), followed by Central and Eastern Europe (32%), Western Europe (26%) and lowest in Scandinavia (17%). Factors that had the strongest association with depression were total number of chronic diseases, pain, limitations in instrumental activities of daily living, grip strength and cognitive impairment. The gap in mental health service use was 79%.

Conclusions We suggest that interventions to decrease the burden of late-life depression should be targeted at individuals that are affected by chronic somatic comorbidities and are limited in mental and physical functioning. Promotion of help-seeking of older adults, de-stigmatization of mental illness and education of general practitioners could help decrease the gap in mental health service utilization.

The electronic Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry (e-STAR) is a prospective, observational study of patients with schizophrenia designed to evaluate long-term treatment outcomes in routine clinical practice.

Parameters were assessed at baseline and at 3 month intervals for 2 years in patients initiated on risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) (n = 1345) or a new oral antipsychotic (AP) (n = 277; 35.7% and 36.5% on risperidone and olanzapine, respectively) in Spain. Hospitalization prior to therapy was assessed by a retrospective chart review.

At 24 months, treatment retention (81.8% for RLAI versus 63.4% for oral APs, p < 0.0001) and reduction in Clinical Global Impression Severity scores (−1.14 for RLAI versus −0.94 for APs, p = 0.0165) were significantly higher with RLAI. Compared to the pre-switch period, RLAI patients had greater reductions in the number (reduction of 0.37 stays per patient versus 0.2, p < 0.05) and days (18.74 versus 13.02, p < 0.01) of hospitalizations at 24 months than oral AP patients.

This 2 year, prospective, observational study showed that, compared to oral antipsychotics, RLAI was associated with better treatment retention, greater improvement in clinical symptoms and functioning, and greater reduction in hospital stays and days in hospital in patients with schizophrenia. Improved treatment adherence, increased efficacy and reduced hospitalization with RLAI offer the opportunity of substantial therapeutic improvement in schizophrenia.

Previous studies of patients with unipolar depression have shown that early decrease of prefrontal EEG cordance in theta band can predict clinical response to various antidepressants. We have now examined whether decrease of prefrontal quantitative EEG (QEEG) cordance value after 1 week of venlafaxine treatment predicts clinical response to venlafaxine in resistant patients.

We analyzed 25 inpatients who finished 4-week venlafaxine treatment. EEG data were monitored at baseline and after 1 week of treatment. QEEG cordance was computed at three frontal electrodes in theta frequency band. Depressive symptoms and clinical status were assessed using Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form (BDI-S) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI).

Eleven of 12 responders (reduction of MADRS ≥50%) and only 5 of 13 non-responders had decreased prefrontal QEEG cordance value after the first week of treatment (p = 0.01). The decrease of prefrontal cordance after week 1 in responders was significant (p = 0.03) and there was no significant change in non-responders. Positive and negative predictive values of cordance reduction for response were 0.7 and 0.9, respectively.

The reduction of prefrontal theta QEEG cordance value after first week of treatment might be helpful in the prediction of response to venlafaxine.

To date, nearly all research of subtype differences in ADHD has been performed in children and only two studies, with conflicting results, have covered this subject in adults with ADHD.

This study examined subtype differences in the clinical presentation of ADHD-symptoms, related psychopathological features, psychosocial functioning and comorbid psychiatric disorders in adults with ADHD.

One hundred and eighteen adults with ADHD, diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria, and a population based control group underwent diagnostic evaluations with clinical interviews for ADHD, DSM-IV disorders and demographic features. Comparisons were made between ADHD combined type (n = 64), predominantly inattentive type (n = 30) and predominantly inattentive type, anamnestically combined type (n = 24), relative to each other and to a community control group (n = 70).

The four groups did not differ in age and gender composition. All ADHD groups had significantly less education, were significantly more often unemployed and reported significantly more lifetime psychiatric comorbidity than controls. In comparison to each other, the three ADHD groups differed mainly in core symptoms and the pattern of comorbid psychiatric disorders, whereas no prominent differences in associated psychopathological features and most of the assessed psychosocial functions could be found. Patients with ADHD combined type and inattentive, anamnestically combined type both presented with significantly more hyperactive symptoms and also showed more impulsive symptoms than those with the predominantly inattentive type. With a similar overall lifetime psychiatric comorbidity in the three groups, patients with ADHD combined type and inattentive, anamnestically combined type suffered significantly more from lifetime substance use disorders than patients with predominantly inattentive type.

Our results clearly show impaired psychosocial adjustment and elevated risk for additional psychiatric disorders in adults with all subtypes of ADHD, compared to healthy controls. They provide preliminary evidence that in adult ADHD there might be a subgroup of patients, which is classified as predominantly inattentive subtype according to current diagnostic criteria, but which in its clinical presentation is in between ADHD combined and inattentive type. Further studies are needed to evaluate this finding and to gain a clear picture of its validity.

Many patients with schizophrenia suffer from poor social functioning, with high levels of unemployment being one particular consequence. Negative symptoms tend to persist during periods of clinical stability and may have a detrimental effect on function. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between negative symptoms and ability to function.

The EGOFORS study measured negative symptoms in 295 schizophrenia patients in 11 European sites using the PANSS Negative Subscale and assessment scales for psychosocial function: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Personal and Social Performance (PSP), Quality of Life Scale (QLS), Functional Remission of General Schizophrenia (FROGS), Psychosocial Remission in Schizophrenia (PSRS) and Subjective Wellbeing under Neuroleptics (SWN). The relationships between the PANSS Negative Subscale and the functional scales were investigated, adjusting for differences between study sites. Being in work, duration of illness, age of onset and number of years of education were also investigated for a relationship with function.

There were strong, statistically significant correlations between PANSS Negative Subscale and all of the function scales (95% confidence intervals for the correlation coefficients: PSRS 0.77–0.91; FROGS 0.74–0.89; QLS 0.74–0.92; GAF 0.64–0.78; PSP 0.63–0.80) except the SWN. All of the functional scales except SWN were at least moderately related to one another. All of the items in each of the PANSS Negative Subscale and the function scales contributed to the relationships between them. Better functioning correlated strongly with participants being in work.

This study shows a strong and significant relationship between negative symptoms and psychosocial functioning. Given the impact of negative symptoms on psychosocial function, much more emphasis should be placed on developing effective treatments for negative symptoms, given that most patients with schizophrenia now live in community settings and require to function adequately to support their quality of life.

Although somatoform disorders are assumed to be chronic clinical conditions, epidemiological knowledge on their natural course based on representative samples is not available.

Data come from a prospective epidemiologic study of adolescents and young adults in Munich, Germany. Respondents’ diagnoses (N = 2548) at baseline and follow-up on average 42 months later are considered. The follow-up incidence, stability as well as selected baseline risk factors (sociodemographics, psychopathology, trauma exposure) for the incidence and stability of somatoform disorders and syndromes are prospectively examined. Diagnostic information was assessed by using the standardized Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI).

Over the follow-up period, incidence rate for any of the covered somatoform diagnoses was 25.7%. Stability for the overall group of any somatoform disorder/syndrome was 48%. Female gender, lower social class, the experience of any substance use, anxiety and affective disorder as well as the experience of traumatic sexual and physical threat events predicted new onsets of somatoform conditions, while stability was predicted by being female, prior existing substance use, affective and eating disorders as well as the experience of a serious accident.

At least for a substantial proportion of individuals, the overall picture of somatization seems to be relatively stable, but with fluctuation in the symptom picture over time. Being female, the experience of substance use as well as anxiety disorder seem to constitute risk factors for the onset of new somatoform conditions as well as for a stable course over time.