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Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical... Apr 2023This special section on theories of psychopathology provides an opportunity to collect the emergent, cross-cutting scholarship that is challenging traditional approaches...
This special section on theories of psychopathology provides an opportunity to collect the emergent, cross-cutting scholarship that is challenging traditional approaches to understanding mental illness. Here, we appraise the state of theory in the field and emphasize the pitfalls of working in the context of overly flexible, unchallenged, and essentially unchallengeable theoretic models, such as the biopsychosocial model, which we argue has become the de facto theoretic model for our field. We further posit that theoretic shortcomings are contributing to the often-referenced pessimism regarding our progress in understanding and treating mental illness, and introduce the charge of the authors of the papers in this section to articulate novel, falsifiable theories of psychopathology. We briefly touch on the intertwined issue of how to define psychopathology and discuss a key issue raised by the array of papers comprising the section, namely how to conceptualize the spatiotemporal boundaries of complex causal systems. We then use this schematic for understanding how these theories relate to each other and to the vanilla biopsychosocial model they are vying to replace. Ultimately, it is our belief and hope that progress in theoretic thinking will catalyze faster progress in research and improvements to and novel developments in clinical prevention and intervention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Mental Disorders; Psychopathology; Models, Theoretical; Models, Biopsychosocial; Personality Inventory
PubMed: 37126055
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000824 -
Trials Apr 2023The first onset of common mental health disorders, such as mood and anxiety disorders, mostly lies in adolescence or young adulthood. Hence, effective and scalable... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
The first onset of common mental health disorders, such as mood and anxiety disorders, mostly lies in adolescence or young adulthood. Hence, effective and scalable prevention programs for this age group are urgently needed. Interventions focusing on repetitive negative thinking (RNT) appear especially promising as RNT is an important transdiagnostic process involved in the development of depression and anxiety disorders. First clinical trials indeed show positive effects of preventative interventions targeting RNT on adult as well as adolescent mental health. Self-help interventions that can be delivered via a mobile phone app may have the advantage of being highly scalable, thus facilitating prevention on a large scale. This trial aims to investigate whether an app-based RNT-focused intervention can reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms in young people at risk for mental health disorders.
METHODS
The trial will be conducted in a sample (planned N = 351) of individuals aged 16-22 years with elevated levels of RNT but no current depression or anxiety disorder. In a randomized controlled between-subjects design, two versions of the app-based self-help intervention will be compared to a waiting list control condition. The full RNT-focused intervention encompasses a variety of RNT-reducing strategies, whereas the concreteness training intervention focuses on only one of these strategies, i.e., concrete thinking. The primary outcome (depressive symptoms) and secondary outcomes (anxiety symptoms and RNT) will be measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention (6 weeks after pre-intervention), and follow-up (18 weeks after pre-intervention).
DISCUSSION
This trial aims to find out whether targeting RNT via an app is an effective and feasible way of preventing depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents. Since app-based interventions are highly scalable, this trial might contribute to tackling challenges related to the increasing rates of mental health disorders among young people.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
https://www.drks.de , DRKS00027384. Registered on 21 February 2022-prospectively registered.
Topics: Adult; Adolescent; Humans; Young Adult; Depression; Pessimism; Mobile Applications; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders
PubMed: 37098547
DOI: 10.1186/s13063-023-07295-z -
Management Decision Apr 2023Research consistently shows that non-scientific bias, equity, and diversity trainings do not work, and often make bias and diversity problems worse. Despite these...
PURPOSE –
Research consistently shows that non-scientific bias, equity, and diversity trainings do not work, and often make bias and diversity problems worse. Despite these widespread failures, there is considerable reason for hope that effective, meaningful DEI efforts can be developed. One approach in particular, the bias habit-breaking training, has 15 years of experimental evidence demonstrating its widespread effectiveness and efficacy.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH –
This article discusses bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts from the author's perspective as a scientist-practitioner - the author draws primarily on the scientific literature, but also integrates insights from practical experiences working in DEI. The author provides a roadmap for adapting effective, evidence-based approaches from other disciplines (e.g. cognitive-behavioral therapy) into the DEI context and reviews evidence related to the bias habit-breaking training as one prominent demonstration of a scientifically-validated approach that effects lasting, meaningful improvements on DEI issues within both individuals and institutions.
FINDINGS –
DEI trainings fail due to widespread adoption of the information deficit model, which is well-known as a highly ineffective approach. Empowerment-based approaches, in contrast, are highly promising for making meaningful, lasting changes in the DEI realm. Evidence indicates that the bias habit-breaking training is effective at empowering individuals as agents of change to reduce bias, create inclusion, and promote equity, both within themselves and the social contexts they inhabit.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE –
In contrast to the considerable despair and pessimism around DEI efforts, the present analysis provides hope and optimism, and an empirically-validated path forward, to develop and test DEI approaches that empower individuals as agents of change.
PubMed: 37090785
DOI: 10.1108/md-06-2021-0839 -
BMC Psychiatry Apr 2023Previous studies have investigated the relationships between psychache or meaning in life and suicidal ideation based on sum score of corresponding scale. However, this...
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have investigated the relationships between psychache or meaning in life and suicidal ideation based on sum score of corresponding scale. However, this practice has hampered the fine-grained understanding of their relationships. This network analysis study aimed to conduct a dimension-level analysis of these constructs and the relationships among them in a joint framework, and identify potential intervention targets to address suicidal ideation.
METHODS
Suicidal ideation, psychache, and meaning in life were measured using self-rating scales among 738 adults. A network of suicidal ideation, psychache, and meaning in life was constructed to investigate the connections between dimensions and calculate the expected influence and bridge expected influence of each node.
RESULTS
"Psychache" was positively linked to "sleep" and "despair", while "presence of meaning in life" had negative associations with "psychache", "despair", and "pessimism". The most important central nodes were "sleep" and "despair", and the critical bridge nodes were "presence of meaning in life" and "psychache".
CONCLUSION
These preliminary findings uncover the pathological pathways underlying the relationships between psychache, meaning in life, and suicidal ideation. The central nodes and bridge nodes identified may be potential targets for effectively preventing and intervening against the development and maintenance of suicidal ideation.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Suicidal Ideation; Models, Psychological
PubMed: 37069569
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-023-04700-4 -
BMC Medical Education Apr 2023Mental health services are not sufficient for depression patients in rural areas of China, training in mental health knowledge for primary healthcare providers has been...
BACKGROUND
Mental health services are not sufficient for depression patients in rural areas of China, training in mental health knowledge for primary healthcare providers has been encouraged, but the effect of this encouragement has rarely been reported.
METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in primary healthcare facilities that sought to include all the primary healthcare providers (registered physicians and nurses) in two cities in Hunan province, China by administering questionnaires that covered depression symptoms, typical depression cases, and the Revised Depression Attitude Questionnaire.
RESULTS
In total, 315 primary healthcare providers agreed to participate in the study and finished the questionnaires, of which 12.1% had training in depression. In addition, 62.9% of the rural primary healthcare providers were able to recognize most general depression symptoms, and 8.3% were able to recognize all general depression symptoms. The primary healthcare providers in the survey held a neutral to slightly negative attitude towards depression as indicated by their professional confidence (mean scores 16.51 ± 4.30), therapeutic optimism/pessimism (mean scores 29.02 ± 5.98), and general perspective (mean scores 18.12 ± 3.12) scores. Fewer rural primary healthcare providers knew (28.3%) or applied (2.9%) psychological intervention in the clinic.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study indicated that primary healthcare providers knew about general depression symptoms, but lacked psychological intervention skills and held low confidence in and pessimistic attitudes toward depression care. We therefore speculate that existing psychological training for primary healthcare providers is insufficient in quantity and quality, making the need to explore more effective types of training urgently.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Physicians; Attitude of Health Personnel; China; Surveys and Questionnaires; Health Personnel
PubMed: 37038143
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04197-1 -
Royal Society Open Science Apr 2023Judgement bias, or 'optimism' and 'pessimism', has been demonstrated across many taxa, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying this behaviour remain unclear. In an...
Judgement bias, or 'optimism' and 'pessimism', has been demonstrated across many taxa, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying this behaviour remain unclear. In an optimism paradigm, animals are trained to an association, and, if given a positive experience, behave more favourably towards 'ambiguous' stimuli. We tested whether this effect could be explained by changes to stimulus response gradients by giving bees a task where their response was tested across a wider gradient of stimuli than typically tested. In line with previous work, we found that bees given a positive experience demonstrated judgement bias, being more likely to visit ambiguous stimuli. However, bees were also less likely to visit a stimulus on the other side of the rewarded stimulus (S+), and as such had a shifted stimulus response curve, showing a diminished peak shift response. In two follow-up experiments we tested the hypothesis that our manipulation altered bees' stimulus response curves via changes to the peak shift response by reducing peak shift in controls. We found that, in support of our hypothesis, elimination of peak shift also eliminated differences between treatments. Our results point towards a cognitive explanation of 'optimistic' behaviour in non-human animals and offer a new paradigm for considering emotion-like states.
PubMed: 37035286
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221322 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2023Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher rates of emotional disorders in childhood and beyond. Here we assessed one possible contributor to this...
Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher rates of emotional disorders in childhood and beyond. Here we assessed one possible contributor to this disparity, a cognitive bias in the interpretation of negative events, in a group of 341 9-year-olds (49% female, 94% White) ranging widely in SES. This cognitive bias, known as pessimism in the attributional style literature, is the tendency to interpret negative events as persistent (Stable) and pervasive (Global). It was found to be more common among lower SES children (effect sizes = 0.18-0.24 depending on SES measures: income to needs ratio, proportion of poverty from birth to age 9, and parental educational attainment). Moreover, persistent, pervasive adversity in children's lives predicted this bias and mediated the SES-pessimism link. Pessimistic attributional style, in turn, was related to childhood emotional problems and mediated the relation between SES and these problems. Finally, evidence for serial mediation of the SES-mental health problems relationship was found via persistent, pervasive adversity and pessimism, respectively.
Topics: Humans; Child; Female; Male; Mental Health; Pessimism; Social Class; Poverty; Cognition
PubMed: 36997593
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32482-y -
East Asian Archives of Psychiatry :... Mar 2023This study aims to investigate depressive symptoms and its association with resilience, pessimistic bias of COVID-19, lifestyle changes, and family conflicts among...
INTRODUCTION
This study aims to investigate depressive symptoms and its association with resilience, pessimistic bias of COVID-19, lifestyle changes, and family conflicts among undergraduates in a Hong Kong university.
METHODS
1020 undergraduates in The University of Hong Kong completed the online survey between May and August 2020. Severity of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Resilience was assessed using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Pessimistic bias was assessed using two questions on the perceived risks of contracting COVID-19 and of dying from COVID-19. Changes in lifestyles and the presence of family conflicts were measured. Multivariable and mediation analyses were performed to examine association of depressive symptoms with other variables.
RESULTS
61.7% of the respondents reported having mild to severe depressive symptoms. 18.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms was explained by resilience, pessimistic bias, changes in the frequency of sleep, studying at home, and family conflict. Pessimistic bias partially mediated the association between resilience and depressive symptoms.
CONCLUSION
The proportion of undergraduates with mild to severe depressive symptoms during the pandemic was high. Measures to reduce family conflict, maintain healthy daily habits, adjust pessimistic bias, and enhance resilience may help to improve the mental well-being of undergraduates during the pandemic.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Depression; Pandemics; Resilience, Psychological; Hong Kong
PubMed: 36991552
DOI: 10.12809/eaap2257 -
Otolaryngology--head and Neck Surgery :... May 2023Hearing loss (HL) has been linked to commonly studied detrimental mood states, such as loneliness and depression. However, its relationship with other negative emotions...
OBJECTIVE
Hearing loss (HL) has been linked to commonly studied detrimental mood states, such as loneliness and depression. However, its relationship with other negative emotions remained largely unstudied. We explore the association between HL and anxiety, anger, hostility, poor self-esteem, and pessimism in a national cohort of US Hispanic adults.
STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.
SETTING
Multicentered US national epidemiologic study (Hispanic Community Health Study).
METHODS
Subjects were ages 18 to 75 with completed audiometric and emotional survey data. Multivariable regressions controlling for age, gender, and education were conducted to analyze the association between HL, measured by 4-frequency pure-tone average (PTA), and emotional states. States included anxiety (Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale-10), anger (Spielberger Trait Anger Scale), hostility (Cook Medley Cynicism Scale-13), poor self-esteem (Self-Esteem Scale-10), and pessimism (Revised Life Orientation Test).
RESULTS
A total of 4120 to 4341 participants met inclusion criteria, depending on the specific survey; the average age was 46.7 years (standard deviation [SD] = 13.7), and the average PTA was 13.8 dB (SD = 10.1). Controlling for age, gender, and education, HL was associated with all outcomes. Specifically, for every 10 dB worsening in HL, the anxiety score worsened by 0.41 (0.23-0.60), the anger score worsened by 0.40 (0.22-0.58), the hostility score worsened by 0.16 (0.04-0.27), the self-esteem score worsened by 0.25 (0.12-0.38), and the pessimism score worsened by 0.17 (0.04-0.30) (all p < .01).
CONCLUSION
HL is related to numerous negative mood states beyond loneliness and depression. This includes worse anxiety, anger, hostility, self-esteem, and pessimism. Future studies should investigate whether treating HL improves negative emotional states.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Humans; Middle Aged; Young Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hearing Loss; Hispanic or Latino; Hostility; Emotions; Self Concept; Pessimism; United States
PubMed: 36939491
DOI: 10.1002/ohn.208 -
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral... Apr 2023During the past 60 years, perceptions about the origins of mental illness have shifted toward a biomedical model, depicting depression as a biological disorder caused by... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
During the past 60 years, perceptions about the origins of mental illness have shifted toward a biomedical model, depicting depression as a biological disorder caused by genetic abnormalities and/or chemical imbalances. Despite benevolent intentions to reduce stigma, biogenetic messages promote prognostic pessimism, reduce feelings of agency, and alter treatment preferences, motivations, and expectations. However, no research has examined how these messages influence neural markers of ruminative activity or decision-making, a gap this study sought to fill. In this pre-registered, clinical trial (NCT03998748), 49 participants with current or past depressive experiences completed a sham saliva test and were randomly assigned to receive feedback that they either have (gene-present; n = 24) or do not have (gene-absent; n = 25) a genetic predisposition to depression. Before and after receiving the feedback, resting-state activity and neural correlates of cognitive control (error-related negativity [ERN] and error positivity [Pe]) were measured using high-density electroencephalogram (EEG). Participants also completed self-report measures of beliefs about the malleability and prognosis of depression and treatment motivation. Contrary to hypotheses, biogenetic feedback did not alter perceptions or beliefs about depression, nor did it alter EEG markers of self-directed rumination nor neurophysiological correlates of cognitive control. Explanations of these null findings are discussed in the context of prior studies.
Topics: Humans; Depression; Social Stigma; Self Report; Intention; Cognition
PubMed: 36869258
DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01073-9