Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) for adolescent depression: a pilot study

Background: Depression in adolescence is a common and serious mental health problem. In the UK, access to evidence based psychological treatments is limited and training and employing therapists to deliver these is expensive. Brief Behavioral Activation for the Treatment of Depression (BATD) has great potential for use with adolescents and to be delivered by a range of healthcare professionals, but there is limited empirical investigation with this group. Aims: To adapt BATD for depressed adolescents (Brief BA) and conduct a pilot study to assess feasibility, acceptability and clinical effectiveness. Methods: Twenty depressed adolescents referred to the local NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHs) were offered 8 sessions of Brief BA followed by a review around one month later. Self- and parent- reported Routine Outcome Measures (ROMs) were collected at every session. Results: Nineteen of the 20 young people fully engaged with the treatment and all reported finding some aspect of Brief BA helpful. Thirteen (65%) required no further psychological intervention following Brief BA, and both young people and parents reported high levels of acceptability and satisfaction with the approach. The pre-post effect size of Brief BA treatment was large. Conclusions: Brief BA is a promising innovation in the treatment of adolescent depression. This approach requires further evaluation to establish effectiveness and cost effectiveness compared with existing evidence-based treatments for adolescent depression. Other questions concern the effectiveness of delivery in other settings and when delivered by a range of professionals

Editorial: The aging decision-maker: advances in understanding the impact of cognitive change on decision-making

No abstract availabl

Preference between predictable and unpredictable administrations of carbon dioxide-enriched air

Predictability of panic attacks has been identified as an important factor in the development, maintenance, and treatment of panic disorder. Although animal studies typically have found a preference for signaled (predictable) over unsignaled (unpredictable) aversive events, results with human participants have been less clear. Because preference for predictability has a wide range of clinical implications, we examined human preference for predictability in a biological challenge paradigm. Further, we examined the differential effects of predictability as a function of anxiety sensitivity and gender. In general, females showed a significantly greater preference for predictability compared to males, as did high anxious participants compared to their low anxious counterparts. Specifically, high anxious females showed the greatest preference for predictability, high anxious males and low anxious females showed moderate preference for predictability, and low anxious males were indifferent. Although the results suggest the necessity of considering individual difference variables such as gender and anxiety sensitivity, support is provided for the use of prediction testing and other strategies to enhance an individual\u27s prediction of panic attacks in the treatment of panic disorder

Impulsiveness mediates the association between GABRA2 SNPs and lifetime alcohol problems

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98765/1/gbb12039.pd

Examining risk for frequent cocaine use: Focus on an African American treatment population

BACKGROUND: Cocaine use and its consequences are disproportionately higher and more severe among African Americans compared to other ethnic/racial groups. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to examine a risk model specific for African American users and assess whether risk varies as a function of sex. METHODS: 270 African American adults in a residential drug treatment facility completed measurements assessing first and past year crack/cocaine use frequency, childhood trauma, and stress reactivity. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the unique effect of each predictor variable on past year crack/cocaine frequency. Sex was included as a moderator variable in the regression analysis. RESULTS: All predictor variables were positively correlated with past year crack/cocaine use. However, sex differences were also observed: females reported higher rates of childhood emotional abuse, childhood sexual abuse, and stress reactivity-as well as past year crack use and cocaine use-than males. Regression analyses were performed with sex, first year use, and stress reactivity emerging as the only significant predictors for frequency of crack and cocaine use among all study participants. Moreover, sex differences were observed in the influence of first year crack use frequency on past year crack use frequency, such that the effect was stronger for males than for females. Conclusion/Importance: This study offers a clearer understanding of the risk factors for crack and cocaine abuse specific to African Americans, as well as sex specific pathways to risk, providing useful implications for future prevention and treatment efforts

Risk-taking, delay discounting, and time perspective in adolescent gamblers: an experimental study

Previous research has demonstrated that adult pathological gamblers (compared to controls) show risk-proneness, foreshortened time horizon, and preference for immediate rewards. No study has ever examined the interplay of these factors in adolescent gambling. A total of 104 adolescents took part in the research. Two equal-number groups of adolescent non-problem and problem gamblers, defined using the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA), were administered the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC-14) Scale, and the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ). Adolescent problem gamblers were found to be more risk-prone, more oriented to the present, and to discount delay rewards more steeply than adolescent non-problem gamblers. Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that BART, MCQ, and CFC scores predicted gambling severity. These novel finding provides the first evidence of an association among problematic gambling, high risk-taking proneness, steep delay discounting, and foreshortened time horizon among adolescents. It may be that excessive gambling induces shortsighted behaviors that, in turn, facilitate gambling involvement

The role of emotions and physiological arousal in modulating impulsive behaviour.

Impulsivity received considerable attention in the context of drug misuse and certain neuropsychiatric conditions. Because of its great health and well-being importance, it is crucial to understand factors which modulate impulsive behaviour. As a growing body of literature indicates the role of emotional and physiological states in guiding our actions and decisions, we argue that current affective state and physiological arousal exert a significant influence on behavioural impulsivity. As 'impulsivity' is a heterogeneous concept, in this paper, we review key theories of the topic and summarise information about distinct impulsivity subtypes and their methods of assessment, pointing out to the differences between the various components of the construct. Moreover, we review existing literature on the relationship between emotional states, arousal and impulsive behaviour and suggest directions for future research