This meta-analysis is very relevant for those working within mental health services and delivering mental health interventions with clients or community members. It suggests that transdiagnostic mental health interventions should be considered as an effective way of treating anxiety and depression, at least in the short term, as they might have an edge over other treatments, especially when treating co-morbidity or mixed anxiety and depression symptoms.
The International Anxiety Questionnaire (IAQ) and International Depression Questionnaire (IDQ) are self-report measures of ICD-11 Generalized Anxiety Disorder (ICD-11 GAD) and ICD-11 Single Episode Depressive Disorder (ICD-11 DD). This study tested the psychometric properties of these scales in two samples of bereaved adults from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Dysfunctional attitudes (DA) are higher in depression; however, less is understood about their role in bipolar disorder (BD). This paper aimed to explore the presence of DA in BD in comparison to clinical and non-clinical groups. Also explored were the associations between DA and mood states of depression, mania or euthymia in BD.
Concludes that there is little uptake of psychological interventions for depression. Strategies currently in development that could change this include single session interventions and task sharing which involves using lay counsellors to deliver the intervention. Digital interventions could improve access to treatment and have shown some positive outcomes.
This meta-analysis evaluated the relationship between overweight/obesity and depressive disorders in children and adolescents. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
The associations among psychotic experiences (i.e., hallucinations and delusions), trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress symptoms are complex and multidirectional. Using network analysis to understand how psychotic experiences and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relate to one another may identify new interventional targets to treat comorbidity and its underlying pathological processes. This study aimed to use network analysis to examine the associations among psychotic experiences; negative symptoms of psychosis; and symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
In the general population, low self-esteem has been linked with poorer mental and physical health. This systematic literature review aimed to summarise and evaluate the findings of studies that examined self-esteem in adults with intellectual disabilities and links with mental health outcomes. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Growing evidence suggests that community-based interventions may be effective for anxiety and depression. This study aimed to describe studies of community interventions delivered to adults and/or young people, either in person or online, evaluated in randomised controlled trials and provide an indication as to their effectiveness, acceptability, quality of data and where possible, mechanisms of action. We included interventions delivered at and/or by museums, art galleries, libraries, gardens, music groups/choirs and sports clubs.
Depression is a major source of symptoms and disability. In adults, maladaptive coping (usually characterized as personality dysfunction) has been shown to be associated with a depression diagnosis and poorer depression outcome. As adults with maladaptive coping difficulties are more prone to depression, we hypothesized that children with childhood disorders that involve poor coping would increase the risk of later developing depressive disorders. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Cyberbullying is becoming increasingly widespread as individuals use technology more widely and frequently. Recent studies have shown a growing vulnerability for cyberbullying and cybervictimization, particularly in the adolescent population. We argue that dysfunctional metacognitions, which have been found to be prominent in various psychiatric disorders, may also play a role in predicting cyberbullying and cybervictimization over and above a variety of established factors including daily Internet use, social media use, depression, and anxiety. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
CBT treatment for children and young people with anxiety appears to be equally effective with and without family/parental involvement. This suggests that it is appropriate to offer both approaches to patients under the age of 17. In deciding which approach to offer it would be helpful to consider the child’s age and developmental level, as well as the child’s preferences. It’s likely that treatment adherence and engagement can be improved if the child feels their voice is heard and that their views are considered during treatment.
Emotional stress reactivity may be a mediating factor in the association between trauma and psychosis. This review aimed to (i) identify, summarise and critically evaluate the link between emotional stress reactivity and psychotic experiences (ii) examine evidence for a 'dose–response' relationship between stress reactivity and psychosis in the wider psychosis phenotype (i.e., sub-clinical symptoms).
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Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses globally and a leading cause of disability. It is often established by late adolescence and thus identifying which adolescents are most at risk is crucial to enable early intervention to prevent depression onset. We have previously developed a risk calculator to stratify which adolescents are at high risk of developing depression and in this study explore the views of stakeholders to ascertain the acceptability and feasibility of implementing such a tool in the UK. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The authors concluded that several issues are influencing older Black Caribbean adults’ views on depression and help-seeking. This included participants’ past personal experiences of coping with depression, migratory histories, cultural and religious views, and personal relationships.
The authors concluded that the evidence quality was low for omega-3 preventing or reducing depression or anxiety and that it should not be recommended by clinicians for this purpose. Additional research is needed to confirm how omega-3 may affect other aspects of mental health.
This research provides reassuring evidence that DBS can have long-term benefits. This intervention is still only suitable for those with severe ‘treatment-resistant depression’, due to the highly invasive nature of the surgical procedure and the risk of complications.
Too late to be included in this review, NICE Guideline Depression in adults, was issued in 2022 with more complete tapering information, including an exponential taper to be adjusted to the tolerance of the individual patient. It advised clinicians “slowly reduce the dose to zero in a step-wise fashion, at each step prescribing a proportion of the previous dose” and “consider using smaller reductions”. While this is still not very specific, it is a significant improvement over the guidance reviewed in this paper.
Individuals with physical comorbidities and polypharmacy may be at higher risk of depression relapse, however, they are not included in the ‘high risk of relapse’ group for whom longer antidepressant treatment durations are recommended. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.