Machine learning predictive models to guide prevention and intervention allocation for anxiety and depressive disorders among college students

The experience of the United States, where in higher education students are trained for conscious social activities and independent responsibility for the benefit of the community and society as a whole, seems to be significant for the theory and practice of higher education in Ukraine. The appeal to the American educational experience is due to the fact that today the United States as a state governed by the rule of law is a reliable guarantor of individual rights and freedoms, provided by strong traditions of civic education – the key to educating students' social values. At the same time, the interest in higher education in the United States is due to its high prestige within the world educational environment, its well-known democratic orientation and constant content and methodological improvement. In the United States, training graduates in adapting to their social life as responsible citizens-members of certain communities and professionals in society has historically been a duty of higher education. The purpose of the article is to highlight the features of the educational process in the course of general education in the framework of undergraduate studies within the US higher education, institutions, which contribute to the development of students’ social values. It is noted that the pedagogical experience of the United States, where students are being trained in conscious social activities and independent responsible activities for the benefit of society in higher education institutions, is useful for the theory and practice of higher education in Ukraine. The methodology of the research is based on the analysis of scholarly and pedagogical sources of the USA and Ukraine on the problem under study with the elements of induction and deduction to characterise the state of its development in the USA; the summarising of the organisation of various types of training in the US higher education institutions, which provide for the formation of students’ social values. The originality of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in the Ukrainian pedagogical science, the views of American scholars on the types of training, as well as the civic engagement of students in the U.S. higher education institutions which contribute to the development of their social values have been summarised. It has been found out that today, in higher education in the United States, students’ engagement into social activities during their general education ensures their readiness for a meaningful and responsible life in an interdependent world characterised by uncertainty and rapid changes. By teaching leadership and community service through dialogue and collaboration, the U.S. colleges and universities contribute to the development of students’ social values, social and intellectual development of students who, moving from a comfort zone to a contact zone, are able to interact effectively within a variety of situations.

Work functioning in persons with depressive and anxiety disorders: The role of specific psychopathological characteristics

Seasonality contributes to depressive, anxiety and alcohol use disorders in the Finnish general adult population

We studied the associations between comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders in treated alcoholics, the course of current anxiety and depression during the early and late post-detoxification periods, and drinking behaviours after discharge. Lifetime psychiatric comorbidity was assessed in 100 alcoholics using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Three subgroups defined as group DA (comorbid depressive and anxiety disorders, n = 15), group A (anxiety disorder only, n = 23), and group NO (no comorbid disorder, n = 62) were studied. Beginning 21 +/- 13 days after cessation of drinking, state anxiety (STAI-X1), trait anxiety (STAI-X2) and depression (BDI) were assessed once per week (t1 to t4) and once more 6 months after discharge (t5, n = 68). The severity of psychopathology decreased during the first 4 weeks after detoxification in all subgroups. However, trait anxiety remained at higher levels in both the comorbid subgroups from t1 to t4. In the follow-up sample, 60.5% of the non-comorbid subjects remained abstinent, but only 26.7% of all comorbid patients and only 12.5% of those with comorbid depressive disorder plus severe current trait anxiety or depression at t1. Independent of their comorbidity status, relapsers at t5 had already reported more trait anxiety than abstainers at t1. We conclude that severe trait anxiety persisting after 3 weeks of abstinence, comorbid depressive and/or anxiety disorders, and combinations of these with moderate or severe current anxiety and depressive states represent the greatest risks of relapse and therefore may indicate a treatment need.

Anxiety and depression in bariatric surgery patients: A prospective, follow-up study using structured clinical interviews

Anxiety Disorders (AD) often co-exist with the heterotypic co-morbidity of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Dysthymia (DysD). This study documents the prevalence of concurrent Depressive Disorder and its subtypes among AD, relationship between specific AD and Depressive Disorders, influence of severity of Depressive Disorders (DD) on AD and vice-versa, as well as the effect of age and gender on this co-morbidity. In a prospective community survey of 500 adolescents, independent raters administered the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Beck Depression Inventory and Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children/Present and Lifetime Version to collect the required data. Descriptive statistics, Independent t tests and Chi-square tests were done to evaluate the prevalence of concurrent Depressive Disorders among AD, relationship between specific AD and Depressive Disorders, severity of DD, and effect of age and gender on this co-morbidity. Depressive Disorders were concurrently present in 23.7% of adolescents with AD, while 13.9% had concurrently only MDD, 8.3% had only DysD and 1.5% had both. More adolescents with AD had multiple mood disorders than otherwise. Twenty percent of adolescents with Panic Disorder, 12.1% with Generalised anxiety Disorder, 5.3% with Separation Anxiety Disorder and 12% with Social Anxiety Disorder had Depressive Disorders. Dysthymic disorder was statistically significantly more among those with PD (P = 0.009). Depressive Disorders were more severe among those with AD (P = 0.001) and the AD was more severe in those with DD (P = 0.01). As the severity of AD increased the severity of the DD also increased (P = 0.001). While DD were more prevalent among the late adolescence (P = 0.001), gender did not have any influence. The two-way overlap between AD and DD is prevalent. Adolescents with Anxiety Disorders should be screened for Depressive Disorders, and when present should be treated.

Data on the impact of childhood life events and childhood trauma on the clinical course of depressive and anxiety disorders are limited. Longitudinal data were collected from 1209 adult participants in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Childhood life events and trauma at baseline were assessed with a semi-structured interview and the clinical course after 2 years with a DSM-IV-based diagnostic interview and Life Chart Interview. At baseline, 18.4% reported at least one childhood life event and 57.8% any childhood trauma. Childhood life events were not predictive of any measures of course trajectory. Emotional neglect, psychological and physical abuse, but not sexual abuse, were associated with persistence of both depressive and comorbid anxiety and depressive disorder at follow-up. Emotional neglect and psychological abuse were associated with a higher occurrence of a chronic course. Poor course outcomes were mediated mainly through a higher baseline severity of depressive symptoms. Childhood trauma, but not childhood life events, was associated with an increased persistence of comorbidity and chronicity in adults with anxiety and/or depressive disorders. More unfavourable clinical characteristics at baseline mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and a poorer course of depressive and anxiety disorders.

A sample of 223 psychiatric outpatients with diagnoses according to DSM-III-R criteria of depressive (major depression or dysthymia) and/or anxiety disorders was divided into three subsamples: depressive disorders (N = 100), depressive disorders in combination with anxiety disorders (N = 49), and pure anxiety disorders (N = 74). The combined anxiety-depressive (CAD) group manifested a statistically significantly higher frequency of “any” personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder (PD), and borderline PD, and also had significantly higher scores on the majority of the clinical scales and on some of the research scales of the MMPI, compared to the two other groups. The presence of an additional diagnosis of a personality disorder was related to significantly higher scores on almost all the MMPI clinical and research scales and that was the case for the total sample and for the three subsamples, as well. The findings of the present study imply that: (1) A concomitant diagnosis of a personality disorder (Axis II) in patients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders (Axis I) is related to more severe psychopathology, as measured by the MMPI. This underscores the importance of personality assessment in the evaluation of the above syndromes in clinical practice. (2) The CAD group appeared to be the more deviant, with a higher rate and more severe personality disorders, and also with greater psychopathological loading, as measured by the MMPI. Therefore it is important these cases be distinguished in both clinical and research practice, and that special attention be paid to the interaction between anxiety, depression, and personality disorder.

This randomized clinical trial aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) in the treatment of patients suffering from anxiety or depressive disorders, as compared with a control case sample composed of patients undergoing treatment as usual (TAU). Sixty patients with depressive or anxiety disorders according to DSM IV-TR were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to an intervention group (STPP) or control group for 12 months (T1). Primary outcome measures were the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), and the Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale. Intention to treat analysis revealed that patients who received STPP showed significantly more improvements in comparison with those who were in the TAU group on Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale and IIP measures. This study offers evidence that STPP is an effective treatment for patients with anxiety or depressive disorders, and it could be more effective than TAU in improving interpersonal problems as measured by IIP.

Although there have been many changes in the diagnosis of anxiety and depressive disorders in the past 20 years there have been few comparative enquiries into the clinical outcome of greater diagnostic categories. We therefore compared the outcome of all studies which compared the outcome of specific anxiety and depressive disorders using the standard procedures of systematic review. A Medline search was carried out of all studies comparing the outcome of anxiety and depressive disorders or mixed anxiety--depressive disorders in which information was available separately for each disorder. Eight studies satisfied the search criteria (all involving a period of observation of two years or greater); only one of these included randomisation of treatment and comparison between specific anxiety disorder outcome. There was a somewhat better outcome in patients with depressive disorders compared with anxiety ones, and strong evidence that both anxiety and depressive disorders singly had better outcomes than comorbid mixed disorders. Comorbid anxiety--depressive disorders have a poor outcome compared with single anxiety and depressive disorders, and there is some evidence that anxiety disorders have a worse outcome than depressive ones.

Using a purposive sample of 265 US colleges and universities, the analysis identified 378 Asian models from 8,319 human models. Results showed Asian students to be under-represented on the web compared to their proportion in the student body, whereas African Americans were proportionately represented. Instead of stereotypical portrayals, Asians appeared neutral in terms of power positions.

Impact of psychiatric morbidity on parent-rated quality of life in Nigerian adolescents with epilepsy

Depression and anxiety disorders are one of the main limiting psychopathologies in the world today. This pathology is linked to an inflammatory state and a dysregulation of both neurotransmitters and autonomic nervous system. Various treatments from psychiatric and psychological areas have shown different degrees of efficacy in their treatment, being Cognitive Behavioral Therapy one of the most successful. In addition, various interventions from other areas of knowledge are showing significant improvements in this pathology. This research aimed to analyze the psychological and physiological modifications of a multidisciplinary intervention that combines psychological treatment (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), physical activity and nutritional intervention in a mixed anxiety and depression disorder (DSM-V). We analyzed modifications in the HAM-D depression, STAI anxiety questionnaire, subjective perceptions of anxiety, happiness, sleep and motivation and the autonomous modulation before and after a 6 multidisciplinary sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy, aerobic physical activity and nutritional intervention in a subject with a mixed anxiety and depression disorder. The results showed a reduction in the values of depression in HAM-D until the classification of non-depression, a reduction in both state and trait anxiety, an increase in the subjective perceptions of sleep, happiness and motivation and a greater parasympathetic modulation after the six intervention sessions. The combination of psychological therapy with aerobic physical activity and nutritional recommendations to treat mixed anxiety and depression disorder produced an increased parasympathetic tone and a decreased anxiety and depression symptoms in six sessions. This is a novel research that allows us to open the study of a new multidisciplinary field in the treatment of this disease that is highly present today.

Anxiety and depression are some of the most common psychiatric comorbidities, and at the same time the psychiatric disorders with the highest prevalence in the general population (between 30 % and 50 % of adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder associate an anxiety disorder spectrum, and about 50 % of patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder also meet the diagnostic criteria for depressive disorder ). Only a few therapeutic strategies address both the anxiety and depressive disorders and the existing ones are far from being satisfactory due to the latency of onset of action, poor tolerability and the potential for addiction phenomena. Although part of the latest psychotropic class, Agomelatine has demonstrated efficacy on depressive symptoms and associated sleep disorders. Increasingly numerous recent studies demonstrate the anxiolytic effect of Agomelatine, both on depressive disorders associated with anxiety disorders and on anxiety symptoms ( generalized anxiety disorder). Keywords:Valdoxan, depressive, anxiety disorders

Longitudinal studies examining the risk of depressive and anxiety disorders associated with diabetes are limited. This study examined the association between diabetes and the risk of depressive and anxiety disorders in Australian women using longitudinal data. Data were from a sample of women who were part of an Australian pregnancy and birth cohort study. Data comprised self-reported diabetes mellitus and the subsequent reporting of depressive and anxiety disorders. Mood disorders were assessed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, obtained from participants using Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)-Auto (WHO WMH-CIDI CAPI, version 21.1.3). Multiple regression models with adjustment for important covariates were used. Women with diabetes had a higher lifetime prevalence of any depressive and/or anxiety disorder than women without diabetes. About 3 in 10 women with diabetes experienced a lifetime event of any depressive disorder, while 1 in 2 women with diabetes experienced a lifetime event of any anxiety disorder. In prospective analyses, diabetes was only significantly associated with a 30-day episode of any anxiety disorder (odds ratio [OR] 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.15). In the case of lifetime disorders, diabetes was significantly associated with any depressive disorder (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.03-1.84), major depressive disorder (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.01-1.85), and posttraumatic stress disorder (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01-2.02). The findings suggest that the presence of diabetes is a significant risk factor for women experiencing current anxiety disorders. However, in the case of depression, the association with diabetes only held for women who had experienced past episodes, there was no association with current depression. This suggests that the evidence is not strong enough to support a direct effect of diabetes as a cause of mood disorders.