Systematic review Background: Bipolar disorder is associated with a higher rate of physical health problems and lower levels of physical activity than other clinical and general populations. Despite the potential benefits of physical activity to people with bipolar disorder, little research has been published around this and no recent review of this topic is available. Due to the clinical utility of summarising the available research evidence on this topic, this review aimed to answer the question “Is physical activity associated with manic and depressive symptoms in people with bipolar disorder?”. Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched using a range of search terms to reflect physical activity and bipolar disorder variables. Results: Ten studies were identified that reported associations between physical activity and mood symptoms of bipolar disorder. There were inconsistent findings on the relationship between physical activity and mood, in particular with relation to manic symptoms, with reports of physical activity being both helpful and harmful to manic symptoms. Findings were more consistent with regards to the association between physical activity and depressive symptoms, with most showing that higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower depressive symptoms. Limitations: Many studies had small sample sizes and very few manipulated physical activity and included a control group. Measures and diagnosis method were heterogeneous. Four studies lacked a direct measure of manic symptoms. Conclusions: Results showed inconsistent findings with regards to the relationship between physical activity and mood symptoms and further research is needed to inform any guidelines developed for this client group. Empirical paper: Background: Despite the published evidence for the benefits of physical activity on mood in the general population and in people with mental illness, there is a lack of research into the associations between physical activity and mood in people with bipolar disorder. The current study therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between symptoms of mania and depression and different intensities, regularity, and total duration of physical activity per day and across the week. Methods: People with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (N = 29) completed daily diaries on physical activity and manic and depressive symptoms over 14 days. Analysis included multilevel modelling, t-tests and correlation analysis. Results: No association was found between manic symptoms and physical activity, either at the within- or the between-person level. An association was found at the within-person level between higher duration of physical activity and lower depression symptoms, however no association was found at the between-person level. Limitations: The small sample size was adequate only to detect large-sized effects for between-person hypotheses. Participants were highly active and may not be representative of the wider BD population. Physical activity levels were assessed via self-report. Conclusions: The relationship between physical activity and manic symptoms in BD remains inconclusive, but a significant within-person association indicates that physical activity may reduce depressive symptoms in the short term. Given previous research on physical activity and manic symptoms, people with BD and professionals working with them may need to remain cautious, modifying any PA engagement depending on mood state.

Sexual minority adolescents are at higher risk for a variety of difficulties, including traditional victimization and depression. Also, cybervictimization has been associated with higher rates of depression. However, little attention has been paid to investigating the relations between sexual orientation, cybervictimization, and depressive symptoms, especially within the developmental stage of late adolescence. In fact, very little cybervictimization research has been conducted within this age group due to an assumption that cyberbullying is a problem only seen in middle school and high school. One aim of the current study was to determine whether sexual minority older adolescents are at greater risk for cybervictimization than their heterosexual counterparts. Another aim was to identify the specific sexual orientation and gender categories that were associated with the highest levels of cybervictimization. The study also was intended to examine whether current cybervictimization predicts depressive symptoms above and beyond other predictors, such as current traditional victimization and perceptions of high school cybervictimization. Another goal was to determine whether current cybervictimization interacts with these variables to predict depressive symptoms. The final aim of the study was to investigate whether the relation between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms differed between sexual minority and heterosexual participants. The findings from this study demonstrate that older sexual minority individuals, particularly those who identify as homosexual, are at increased risk for cybervictimization. Also, current traditional victimization and cybervictimization interacted to predict depressive symptoms. The importance of current cybervictimization also was highlighted by the finding that the highest levels of depression were associated with high levels of current cybervictimization, with or without high levels of high school cybervictimization. Finally, the relation between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms did not differ significantly between sexual minority and heterosexual participants. This study examined pressing questions that were previously unanswered in the literature, and the implications for future research, cyberbullying interventions, and societal awareness are vast. This study should be used as a foundation for further investigation on both cyberbullying in late adolescence and cyberbullying among sexual minority individuals. Also, the findings from this study should be applied to the development of cyberbullying interventions for older adolescents with special consideration given to the applicability to the sexual minority population.

abstract: Mindfulness is a concept derived from the Buddhist discourses of the Satipattana. Interventions that draw on mindfulness have been shown to reduce psychologically distressing symptoms in clinical settings. It has become widely used as a therapeutic technique in counseling, so it is important to develop an instrument measuring mindfulness-related constructs. This study presents a new instrument measuring the importance of mindfulness-related constructs. Results from an exploratory factor analysis revealed a clear two-factor structure, with the factors named "Present Moment Awareness", and "Compassion and Ethical Behavior." These items were positively correlated with each other and, as expected, negatively correlated with depression. Finally, hours of meditation moderated this association such that the association was stronger among participants who reported higher levels of meditation practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counselor Education 2014

abstract: Touch appears to be an important component for understanding psychological and emotional well-being, as well as the formation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships later in life. While research about touch in relation to these topics is gaining momentum, there is still little evidence on the specific effects and processes that take place when touch is negative or harmful. The current study examined how women who have experienced physical or sexual abuse perceive touch in the context of interpersonal relations and in turn, how these experiences, perceptions and attitudes are related to depressive symptoms. Taking into consideration the significance of interpersonal touch, I speculated that 1) attitudes towards touch would be more negative among women who reported physical or sexual abuse than among women who did not; 2) among women who reported past abuse, increased abuse severity would predict increased current depressive symptoms; and 3) among women who reported past abuse, current attitudes towards touch would mediate the relationship between abuse severity and depressive symptoms. As predicted, results indicated that women who reported physical or sexual abuse had less positive attitudes towards touch than women who did not report any abuse. Echoing prior research, reports of childhood and adult abuse predicted increased depressive symptoms. Finally, for women who reported childhood abuse, Discomfort with Social Touch was a significant partial mediator of depressive symptoms, whereas for women who reported adult abuse, both Desire for More Partner Touch and Discomfort with Social Touch were significant partial mediators of depressive symptoms. Results suggested that negative attitudes towards general social touch, in particular, may play a strong role in mediating depressive symptoms among women who reported abuse. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

abstract: Although many studies have looked into the relationship between depression and eating behaviors, most have not looked into the interaction between depressive mood, weight status, and eating behaviors; specifically the consumption of added sugars. This longitudinal study examined the relationship between depressive mood and added sugar consumption among college freshmen, and how weight status play a role in this relationship. A web-based survey assessing depressive mood score and added-sugar foods consumption, and height and weight measurements were obtained. A total of 511 participants (aged 18.5±0.4 years; 70.5% females) were recruited at Arizona State University from August 2015 through January 2016. The main outcomes measured were the relationship between depressive mood score and added sugar consumption (tsp/d) within each participants and between mean weight status groups (underweight & “healthy” weight, overweight, and obese). In the study, the mean added sugar consumption was 19.1±11.87 tsp/d. There were no significant association between depressive mood and added sugar consumption within or between freshman students over time. But overall, there was a slightly positive relationship between depressive mood and added sugar consumption across four time points. No significant interaction was found between BMI, depressive mood, and added sugar consumption within each student, but significant differences in the relationship of depressive mood and added sugar between mean weight status groups (p=0.025). Each individual’s BMI in the previous time points was significantly negatively associated with added sugar consumption in the current time points (beta = -0.70; p=0.010). The results from this study indicates that depressive mood may not affect added sugar intake in this sample. BMI did not have an impact on the relationship within each student, but have an impact between mean weight status groups, so further studies are needed to continue look at how BMI influences the relationship between depressive mood and added sugar consumption. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Nutrition 2017

Doctorat en sciences médicales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Recent research argued that people with major depressive disorder (MDD) tend to prefer sad stimuli because they want to upregulate their sad feelings. This paper aims to examine investigate the choice of emotional stimuli among those who have MDD, compared to individuals without MDD (healthy controls, HC), and explore the reasons for their choice. Seventy six female university students (38 per group) completed three tasks: 1) In the replication music task, participants listened to happy, neutral, and sad music excerpts, chose the one they wanted to listen most, and reported the reasons of their choice. 2) The Emotional Stimuli Selection Task (ESST)’s music task considered different intensity levels and another negative emotion (fear). Participants listened to 84 pairs of music clips and decided which one they would prefer to listen to. 3) In the ESST’s image task, the same procedure was run with images. In the replication music task, MDD status predicted a greater likelihood of choosing sad music. However, compared to before listening, the MDD reported feeling more happiness and less sadness after listening to their chosen music. In addition, inconsistent with a motivation to upregulate persons with MDD singled out low intensity as their most frequently reported reason for choosing sad music. Results from the ESST’s music task showed that the MDD preferred low intense music, compared to the HC. These results suggested that the MDD may prefer sad stimuli not because they want to augment their sad feeling, but because they desire low intensity experiences. The MDD’s reduced preference for happy stimuli, relative to the HC, was found across ESST tasks. Implications as well as limitations of the study were discussed.

Objetivo: Conocer la prevalencia y evaluar los factores asociados a la sintomatología depresiva en mujeres con diagnóstico de cáncer de mama. Materiales y métodos: Estudio transversal analítico, realizado en un hospital de Lima-Perú. Se utilizó la escala Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) para evaluar la presencia de sintomatología depresiva. Resultados: Se reclutaron 385 pacientes, encontrándose una prevalencia de sintomatología depresiva del 21,29%. La edad promedio fue de 59,56, sin diferencia significativa entre pacientes con o sin sintomatología depresiva. En el análisis bivariado se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre los síntomas depresivos y grado de instrucción, disnea, insomnio, dolor, síntomas gastrointestinales y síntomas generales. Sin embargo, en el análisis multivariado solo se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre síntomas gastrointestinales y los síntomas depresivos (odds ratio: 2,94; intervalo de confianza al 95%: 1,48-5,83; p<0,01). Conclusiones: Las mujeres con cáncer de mama presentan una alta frecuencia de sintomatología depresiva, asociándose ésta a la presencia de síntomas gastrointestinales. En este grupo de pacientes es importante la búsqueda sistemática y manejo integral de síntomas depresivos. / Objective: To assess the prevalence and the associated factors with depressive symptoms in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed in a hospital in Lima, Peru. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire scale (PHQ-9) for assessing the presence of depressive symptoms. Results: We recruited 385 patients, and we found a 21.29% prevalence of depressive symptoms. The mean age of patients was 59.56 years, with no statistically significant differences between age groups with or without depressive symptoms. Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant associations between depressive symptoms and educational level, dyspnea, insomnia, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, general symptoms, radiotherapy use and monthly income. However, multivariate analyses showed there was a statistically significant association only between depressive and gastrointestinal symptoms (odds ratio: 2.94; 95% confidence interval: 1.48–5.83, p<0.01). Conclusions: Women with breast cancer have a high frequency of depressive symptoms, and these are associated to the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. We recommend to systematically screen for depressive symptoms in these patients and to offer them multidisciplinary management for their condition.

For many, the course of major depressive disorder (MDD) is recurrent, with periods of remission between major depressive episodes (MDEs); those in remission are known to be at elevated risk of future MDEs. A common and distressing symptom of MDD is overgeneralised self-blame, and this also persists into remission. In order to study the involvement of self-blame in vulnerability to MDD, a large cohort of participants was recruited: a group with remitted MDD (rMDD) and a matched healthy control (HC) group with no personal or family history of MDD. Participants completed electrophysiological and neuropsychological tasks. The rMDD group also completed a 14-month follow-up period, during which symptoms were monitored at intervals; this was to study the predictive effects of electrophysiological and neuropsychological variables, with a view to development of a biomarker with predictive value. The main method was electroencephalography (EEG), chosen for its high temporal resolution in comparison to a commonly used technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). On a practical level, EEG is also more cost effective and widely available, making it more suitable for future clinical transfer of any biomarker developed. A task previously used in fMRI was adapted for EEG; in this task, short sentences designed to evoke negative feelings related to the self and others were presented. The theta signal was abnormally sustained over time during self-blame in the rMDD group relative to the HC group. Given the involvement of theta in temporal binding, this may represent a correlate of dysfunction within the neural network underpinning self-blaming emotions. Correlation of sustained theta with separately collected fMRI data indicated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was involved in this network. In a source analysis of the EEG data, the dlPFC was identified again; it showed reduced activation in the rMDD group relative to the HC group during other-blame. In summary, activation of the dlPFC appears to be adaptive in both self- and other-blame, as the HC group showed higher activation than the rMDD group; further work is required to confirm the clinical relevance of this. For a separate study of memory overgeneralisation, a known feature of MDD, a novel associative memory task was designed. A loss of bias towards remembering positive memories was found in a subgroup of the rMDD cohort with early life stress (ELS). This reduced positive bias correlated with the number of past MDEs, indicating that the cumulative effect of MDEs reactivating early traumatic memories leads to selective loss of positive memory bias. In summary, although no electrophysiological or neurocognitive predictive markers of recurrence risk were found, clear effects were seen in the cross-sectional results. Importantly, EEG was also validated as a technique for detecting self-blame-selective neural correlates of depression vulnerability. There were clear effects in the temporal domain, which highlight the benefits of EEG above other imaging techniques. However, the sources identified did not correlate with parallel fMRI work, so further work is required to understand the temporal dynamics of these sources. This research provides a platform from which future EEG investigations can develop.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is primarily characterized by prevalent sadness and anhedonia. Laboratory studies find that depression is characterized by reduced reactivity across emotional contexts, while a few studies using naturalistic designs find that depressed people show normative reactivity to negative life events and mood brightening in response to positive events. The current study was an investigation of emotional reactivity in depression through the use of experimental and naturalistic designs. This allowed for an investigation of sources of lab-life discrepancies in emotional functioning in depression, including negative affect (NA) regulation. We examined experiential reactivity across contexts and types of stimuli in 41 currently depressed (MDD) and 33 healthy controls. Results showed that overall, our groups were largely indistinguishable in NA and PA reactivity magnitude across contexts and types of stimuli, with some exceptions. When looking at sadness reactivity specifically, despite higher sadness at baseline, MDDs reported in the lab similar decreases in sadness to a humorous film as controls. In daily life, MDDs reported larger decreases in sadness in response to positive daily events, yet indistinguishable reactivity to a structured humorous film relative to controls. Analyses using HLM showed that NA response to the happy film in the acceptance condition was marginally predictive of overall NA in daily life but not of NA reactivity to positive events. Findings suggest group differences in emotional reactivity vary across contexts and stimuli, however these variations are dependent on specificity of emotion. Current results possibly highlight increased flexibility during experience of positive events in daily life in depression. Acceptance of NA may have implications for the experience of overall negative mood in depression.