Faculty Bibliography

UNLABELLED: = 12.89, 55% female). They self-reported on CMC preferences and social media burden and on anxiety symptoms in two domains (generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety) and completed an eye-tracking assessment of attention bias. We tested the hypothesis that preferring CMC over face-to-face communications and perceiving greater social media burden would predict more severe anxiety symptoms, particularly among those with greater attention bias to threat. As predicted, greater feelings of social media burden predicted more severe anxiety symptom severity (GAD only) but only among those with greater attention bias to threat. The potential role of attention bias in associations between CMC and adolescent anxiety and the specificity of effects on GAD symptom severity is discussed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION/UNASSIGNED:The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-024-00253-1.

Fetal inflammation, typically measured indirectly through prenatal maternal cytokine markers, has been shown to impact early childhood executive functions (EFs), which are central to later cognitive and life outcomes. Here, we assessed the impact of prenatal inflammation on EF developmental trajectories using direct placenta histopathology measures in 131 mothers who predominantly self-identified as Black (90.8% Black; 0.8% Asian American, 1.5% biracial, 0.8% Latinx, 3.1% White, 3.1% Missing). We found that placental measures of inflammation were associated with limited gain in EF development from 3 to 5 years old. In follow up analyses, we addressed whether screening questionnaires in infancy might aid in classification of infants as higher risk for subsequent EF problems. We found that parent responses to the Ages & Stages Questionnaire and the Infant/Toddler Sensory Profile at 12 months predict the development of EF abilities in children exposed to chronic inflammation. These findings open promising opportunities for early screening of children at risk for poor executive functioning in children exposed to prenatal inflammation.

BACKGROUND:Placebo and nocebo effects are widely reported across psychiatric conditions, yet have seldom been examined in the context of gambling disorder. Through meta-analysis, we examined placebo effects, their moderating factors, and nocebo effects, from available randomised, controlled pharmacological clinical trials in gambling disorder. METHODS:We searched, up to 19 February 2024, a broad range of databases, for double-blind randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of medications for gambling disorder. Outcomes were gambling symptom severity and quality of life (for efficacy), and drop outs due to medication side effects in the placebo arms. RESULTS:= 833) in the meta-analysis. The overall effect size for gambling severity reduction in the placebo arms was 1.18 (95%CI 0.91-1.46) and for quality of life improvement was 0.63 (0.42-0.83). Medication class, study sponsorship, trial duration, baseline severity of gambling and publication year significantly moderated effect sizes for at least some of these outcome measures. Author conflict of interest, placebo run-in, gender split, severity scale choice, age of participants or unbalanced randomisation did not moderate effect sizes. Nocebo effects leading to drop out from the trial were observed in 6% of participants in trials involving antipsychotics, while this was less for other medication types. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Placebo effects in trials of pharmacological treatment of gambling disorder are large, and there are several moderators of this effect. Nocebo effects were measureable and may be influenced by medication class being studied. Practical implications of these new findings for the field are discussed, along with recommendations for future clinical trials.

BACKGROUND:Spontaneous thought is a universal, complex, and heterogeneous cognitive activity that significantly impacts mental activity and strongly correlates with mental disorders. METHODS:Utilizing the think-aloud method, we captured spontaneous thoughts during rest from 38 diagnosed with depression, alongside 36 healthy controls and 137 healthy individuals. Through a comprehensive assessment of various dimensions of thought content, we compared thought content between individuals with depression and healthy controls, and between healthy women and men. Finally, we employed natural language processing (NLP) to develop regression models for multidimensional content assessment and a classification model to differentiate between individuals with and without depression. RESULTS:Compared to healthy controls, individuals with depression had more internally oriented and less externally oriented spontaneous thoughts. They focused more on themselves and negative things, and less on positive things, experiencing higher levels of negative emotions and lower levels of positive emotions. Besides, we found that compared to healthy men, healthy women's spontaneous thoughts focus more on interoception, the self, past events, and negative events, and they experience higher levels of negative emotions. Meanwhile, we identified the potential application of the think-aloud method to collect spontaneous thoughts and integrate NLP in the field of depression. CONCLUSIONS:This study offers direct insights into the stream of thought during individuals' resting state, revealing differences between individuals with depression and healthy controls, as well as sex differences in the content of spontaneous thoughts. It enhances our understanding of spontaneous thought and offers a new perspective for preventing, diagnosing, and treating depression.

BACKGROUND:Available empirical evidence on participant-level factors associated with dropout from psychotherapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is both limited and inconclusive. More comprehensive understanding of the various factors that contribute to study dropout from cognitive-behavioural therapy with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) is crucial for enhancing treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE:Using an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPD-MA) design, we examined participant-level predictors of study dropout from CBT-TF interventions for PTSD. METHODS:A comprehensive systematic literature search was undertaken to identify randomised controlled trials comparing CBT-TF with waitlist control, treatment-as-usual or another therapy. Academic databases were screened from conception until 11 January 2021. Eligible interventions were required to be individual and in-person delivered. Participants were considered dropouts if they did not complete the post-treatment assessment. FINDINGS/RESULTS:The systematic literature search identified 81 eligible studies (n=3330). Data were pooled from 25 available CBT-TF studies comprising 823 participants. Overall, 221 (27%) of the 823 dropped out. Of 581 civilians, 133 (23%) dropped out, as did 75 (42%) of 178 military personnel/veterans. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that military personnel/veterans (RR 2.37) had a significantly greater risk of dropout than civilians. Furthermore, the chance of dropping out significantly decreased with advancing age (continuous; RR 0.98). CONCLUSIONS:These findings underscore the risk of premature termination from CBT-TF among younger adults and military veterans/personnel. CLINICAL IMPLICATION/CONCLUSIONS:Understanding predictors can inform the development of retention strategies tailored to at-risk subgroups, enhance engagement, improve adherence and yield better treatment outcomes.

To date, sparse attention has been paid to the importance of the "lived experience" of participants and their caregivers in pediatric gene therapy (GT) trials for rare genetic neurological disorders. Pediatric GT studies differ meaningfully from adult GT studies as the decision to participate involves a dyad: the child participant and their caregiver(s). As a multistakeholder group of authors, we are a diverse group with expert perspectives on the social, emotional, physical, and logistical burdens/benefits of trial participation and the myriad ways they affect pediatric GT research. For both pragmatic and ethical reasons, it is essential to prioritize addressing child participant and adult caregiver needs and concerns when designing and conducting GT clinical trials in pediatric populations with rare genetic neurological disorders. We use the term "lived experience" in reference to how people think about and make decisions regarding participation in research studies and how they articulate the emotional, social, ethical, and equity tradeoffs that impact their lives and illness experience. In this article, we describe why accounting for child participants' and adult caregivers' lived experience and addressing pertinent equity issues are essential when designing and conducting pediatric GT trials for rare genetic neurological diseases.

In the past decade, there have been substantial changes in diagnostic nomenclature. This study investigated sex differences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom severity based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV, DSM-IV(TR), and DSM-5 criteria, separating rating scale and clinical interview data in children and adults with ADHD. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for published studies (1996-2021) reporting severity of attention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity in males and females. We compared data: (1) across the entire lifespan aggregating rating scale and clinical interview data (51 studies), (2) drawing solely on rating scale data (18 studies), and (3) drawing solely on clinical interview data (33 studies). Fifty-two studies met inclusion criteria comparing data for females (n = 8423) and males (n = 9985) with ADHD across childhood and/or adulthood. In total, 15 meta-analyses were conducted. Pooled data across the lifespan aggregating both rating scale and clinical diagnostic interview data, showed males had significantly more severe hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms than females. Rating scale data were similar; boys had significantly more severe hyperactivity/impulsivity than girls. In adulthood, men were rated to have significantly more severe inattention than women with no difference in the hyperactivity/impulsivity dimension. All significant differences were of small effect size. No significant sex differences in the severity of symptoms emerged for clinical interview data for children or adults, in contrast. Possible reasons for the discrepancy in findings between rating scales and clinical diagnostic interviews are discussed.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:Stronger Together is a peer mentoring model that seeks to address the severe lack of mental health and psychosocial support for patients with cancer in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This article presents the results of the Stronger Together pilot study among patients with breast and gynecologic cancer in Viet Nam (VN). METHODS:Eligible participants comprised women age 25 years or older with a diagnosis of breast or gynecologic cancers and receiving treatment at four participating hospitals. Participants were asked whether they wanted to proceed with usual care or be matched with a trained and supervised peer mentor (a cancer survivor). Surveys were administered at baseline (0) and 2, 4, and 6 months and assessed depression, anxiety, stress, mental health and physical health components of quality of life (QOL), self-efficacy, and social support. We computed and compared 2-, 4-, and 6-month changes in scores from baseline and conducted difference-in-difference analyses to estimate the intervention effect at 6 months. RESULTS:The sample size included N = 186 participants. Mentees (n = 91) exhibited improvements in depression, anxiety, stress, and mental health QOL across all time points, whereas usual care participants (n = 95) experienced these improvements at later periods (4 and 6 months). Compared with usual care participants, mentees reported greater improvements in depression at 2 and 4 months, mental health QOL at all time points, and self-efficacy and social support at 4 and 6 months. Greater improvements in stress were also seen in the breast cancer subsample. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Stronger Together is a promising model to improve mental health and psychosocial outcomes among patients with breast and gynecologic cancer in VN and can help fill gaps in cancer peer support interventions in many LMICs.