Background: Individuals with depression have a higher incidence of comorbidity which significantly decreases their ability to function and increases their utilization of health care. Due to the severity of the economic burden resulting with depression, research is needed to further examine the most effective treatments for depression. Biofeedback is a therapy that teaches patients how to control the physical affects that manifest during depression. Aim: The purpose of this review of literature is to discover the benefits of biofeedback for patients diagnosed with depression. Method: An electronic literature search was conducted using various databases to retrieve articles examining biofeedback as an intervention for patients with depression or depressive symptoms. Results: Studies that used biofeedback as an intervention for depression reported significant physical benefits for patients, including decreased heart rate variability and respiratory rate, as well as improved function. Conclusion: Research indicates that treatments need to have the potential to empower individuals, relieve them of their negative symptoms, relieve their financial burden, and allow them the quality of life they deserve.

This research focuses on examining the neurological similarities between schizophrenia and major depressive disorder with psychotic features in order to compare the manifestations of psychosis in each disorder. Both disorders often involve symptoms of psychosis, although the overall disorders are very different from each other. The hypothesis for this research is that the neurological similarities between schizophrenia and major depressive disorder with psychotic features will provide researchers with the strategies needed to develop a treatment for psychotic symptoms. In order to test this hypothesis, five related studies were gathered for each disorder, and three studies were gathered for psychosis. These studies were then analyzed to pinpoint any similarities among factors for psychosis, and this analysis allowed for the determination of whether or not the hypothesis would be rejected. The results indicated that a lot of the similarities between the two disorders cannot be verified because of the lack of substantial research.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the treatment acceptability ratings of teachers of adolescents on three different types of commonly used interventions: (a) positive verbal praise, (b) token economy with response cost and extinction, and (c) psychotropic medication. Ratings of treatment acceptability were also assessed according to type of disorder (i.e., externalizing or internalizing). The participants were 101 teachers of adolescents recruited from a midwestern public school district. Participants were asked to read two case studies presented in a counterbalanced format. One case study focused on a youth who displayed symptoms related to an internalizing disorder (Major Depressive Disorder), while the other focused on a youth who displayed symptoms of an externalizing disorder (Conduct Disorder). After each case study, participants were asked to read three treatment vignettes. Each treatment vignette described one of the three previously mentioned interventions. The participants then rated the treatment acceptability of each intervention using a modified Abbreviated Acceptability Rating Profile. A 2 x 3 repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data from the measures. Statistically significant differences were found among level of intervention intrusiveness, type of disorder, as well as interaction effects between the two main variables of interest. Overall, teachers indicated they found less intrusive interventions as more acceptable than the more intrusive interventions; interventions for externalizing disorders were also rated as more acceptable than interventions targeting internalizing disorders. A noteworthy exception was the most intrusive intervention, psychotropic medication, as equally acceptable for both disorders. The current study is unique in that previous researchers have not investigated treatment acceptability of internalizing disorders or among teachers of adolescents as a population. The findings of this study may be useful for teachers of adolescents experiencing classroom difficulties with youth displaying symptoms of either Conduct Disorder or Major Depressive Disorder. Recommendations for future research are discussed as well.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Theory of mind (ToM) and empathic responding are thought to rely on the joint contribution of cognitive and affective processes, and the corresponding complex neural networks involved in these diverse cognitive and affective functions. Individuals with mood disorders demonstrate deficits in many of the same cognitive and affective processes thought to mediate ToM and empathy, and demonstrate structural and functional changes in the neural regions that subserve these social cognitive domains. We examined ToM and empathic responding in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) using standardized measures of social cognitive responding. Patients with BD and MDD with sub-syndromal depressive symptoms showed deficits on a cognitively challenging task that required them to integrate two perspectives simultaneously (second-order ToM stimuli). Sub-syndromal patients with BD also showed a trend toward poor performance on a less demanding first-order ToM task; no such deficit was observed for sub-syndromal MDD patients. Patients with BD were also impaired at discriminating mental states from pictures of eyes and in making complex social judgments. Both patient groups reported reduced levels of cognitive empathy, but differed in response on affective empathy domains. Specifically, whereas the BD group reported higher levels of distress in response to others' negative experiences, the MDD group reported less feelings of care and concern in response to another’s emotional experience. Across the BD studies, impaired ToM and empathic responding were found to be associated with poor social functioning and increased depressive symptoms, but the influence of illness burden variables on performance was variable. Across the MDD studies, the associations between social cognitive performance, illness variables, and social functioning were inconsistent. Taken together, our findings indicate that patients with mood disorders demonstrate altered ToM and empathic responding that may contribute to the difficulties in social communication observed in these patient populations.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Bipolar disorder (BD) and unipolar depression (UD) are two severe mood disorders, with BD often misdiagnosed as UD. Given their severity and high rates of misdiagnosis, it is of paramount importance to understand the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms underlying these disorders to enhance our ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent them effectively. Many neuroimaging studies have shown that mood disorders are associated with abnormal reward-related responses, particularly in the ventral striatum (VS). Yet, the link between mood disorders and reward-related responses in other regions remains inconclusive, thus limiting our understanding of the pathophysiology of mood disorders. To provide insights into the neurobiological underpinnings of reward processing dysfunction in mood disorders, two studies were conducted. Study 1 (Chapter 2) is a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 41 whole-brain neuroimaging studies encompassing reward-related responses from a total of 794 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and 803 healthy controls (HC). It aims to address inconsistencies in the literature by synthesizing the literature quantitatively. The findings of Study 1 indicate that MDD is associated with opposing abnormalities in the reward circuit: hypo-responses in the VS and hyper-responses in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). These findings provide a foundation for Study 2 (Chapter 3) and help to reconceptualize our understanding of reward processing abnormalities in UD by suggesting a role for dysregulated corticostriatal connectivity. Study 2 is the first fMRI study to employ region-of-interest (VS and OFC), whole-brain, activation, connectivity, and network analyses to examine the similarities and differences in reward-related brain activation patterns between 46 children with remitted bipolar I disorder, 48 children with remitted MDD, and 46 HC. The results of Study 2 revealed differential connectivity in corticostriatal circuitry during reward processing among BD, UD, and HC in pre-adolescence. Specifically, BD exhibited increases in OFC-VS connectivity during anticipation of larger reward, whereas UD and HC showed no changes in OFC-VS connectivity across anticipation conditions ranging from large loss to large reward. Furthermore, BD and UD generally showed more abnormal whole-brain responses to reward anticipation in accordance with the valence of the stimuli than HC. These findings suggest that pre-adolescents with BD and UD exhibit reward processing dysfunction during reward anticipation relative to HC even outside of acute periods of illness. Taken together, the dissertation provides novel insight into the nature of reward processing abnormalities in mood disorders in pre-adolescence. As early onset BD or UD often is associated with long treatment delays and a persistently pernicious illness course, this dissertation may aid efforts to ensure early accurate diagnosis, which may improve our ability to intervene with appropriate treatments and result in a more benign prognosis and course of illness over the lifespan. / Psychology