This study investigated the relationship between the interaction of diabetes and depressive symptoms and neuropsychological functioning in a sample of adolescents. It also addressed whether disease-related variables such as age of onset of diabetes and presence of severe hypoglycemic episodes were predictive of severity of depressive symptoms. The neuropsychological domains of memory, attention, and overall cognitive abilities were assessed using a cross-battery approach with subtests from the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning - Second Edition (WRAML2), the Stroop Test, and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test - Second Edition (KBIT-2), respectively.The total sample consisted of 62 youth between the ages of 13 and 17 years: 31 adolescents diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and 31 adolescents without diabetes. Adolescents were recruited from an outpatient pediatric diabetes clinic and an outpatient general medicine pediatric clinic located in Tuscon, AZ . Significant findings included that the interaction effect of diabetes and depressive symptoms scores was statistically significant for verbal memory, verbal recognition, verbal memory delayed, verbal list learning, and attention/concentration. No significant differences were found for verbal working memory, visual memory, visual recognition, or attention/inhibition. Regression analyses showed that none of the diabetes-related variables included in the study variables (age of diabetes onset, duration of diabetes, presence of severe hypoglycemic episodes, type of insulin therapy) were predictive of depressive symptoms scores that adolescents reported.

Proyecto de investigación 2017-2019, financiado por la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC).

No description available.

Background: Understanding of child development is predominantly based on maternal influences on children’s emotional, behavioural and cognitive outcomes. Although there has been an increase in research focus on fathers in recent years suggesting that fathers are important in the development of their child, there is still a shortage of research on fathers in the literature. Research has shown fathers negatively impact on their children’s emotional, behavioural and cognitive development, but there is a lack of understanding regarding the specific mechanisms through which paternal depression influences their children. The aim of the current PhD is to address this gap in the literature and this is done by: a) investigating the prevalence of depressive symptoms among fathers of children (aged 9 months – 7 years) and their associated risk factors; b) investigating the association between paternal depressive symptoms and different aspects of parenting such as warmth, conflict and involvement; c) testing whether fathers’ parenting mediated any association between paternal depressive symptoms and children’s emotional, behavioural and cognitive outcomes; and d) investigating the association between paternal depression/depressive symptoms and insecure father-child attachment. Methods: There are two methods employed for this PhD. One is secondary data analysis of the large and representative Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) (investigating a, b and c) and the other is primary data analysis of the Fathers-in-Focus (FIF) study using interview and observational methods to investigate (d). Results: Paternal depressive symptoms peak during the first year of children’s lives and then gradually decline between the first year and 7 years old (a). These depressive symptoms across the first 7 years of fatherhood were consistently associated with maternal depressive symptoms, relationship conflict and unemployment (a). Moreover, depressive symptoms in the first year were associated with father-child conflict, but not father-child warmth or involvement in parenting activities (b). Father-child conflict mediated the association between paternal depressive symptoms and children’s emotional and behavioural outcomes (c). Finally, father’s depressive symptoms were not associated with father-child attachment or children’s cognitive development (c and d). Conclusion: The key finding of this PhD is that father-child conflict is an important factor that may be associated with the risk transmission of paternal depressive symptoms and children’s emotional and behavioural outcomes. Therefore, it may be beneficial for service providers and clinicians to target interventions with depressed fathers’ and at-risk families.

Introduction: Health professionals performing their social health service (SHS) in rural communities could be at risk of developing depression. Moreover, those who migrate from farther places to perform their SHS could have an increased risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between place of origin and the presence of depressive symptoms, in health professionals performing rural social health service (SHS) in Ancash, Peru. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. During April 2015, a survey was applied to health professionals performing SHS in the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA) facilities in Ancash. The main outcome was the presence of depressive symptoms, defined as a score =2 points in the Patient Health Questionnaire-2. The main exposure was the place of origin, defined as the place where the subjects completed their undergraduate professional studies (Ancash, Lima city or others). Poisson regressions with robust variance were performed to calculate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR and aPR) and their 95% confidence interval (95%CI). Results: From 573 health professionals performing their SHS in MINSA in Ancash, 347 were included in the study. The mean age was 27.2±4.5 years, 78.7% were women, and 14.7% scored positive for depressive symptoms. Those who had completed their undergraduate professional studies in Lima city had a higher prevalence of presence of depressive symptoms compared to those who did in Ancash (aPR=2.59, 95%CI=1.23-5.45). Conclusions: Those who completed their undergraduate professional studies in Lima had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than those who did in Ancash. Possible explanations include the difficulty in visiting family and friends, acculturation, and lack of Quechua language proficiency. / Revisión por pares

Research has shown that sleep disturbance (e.g., sleep latency, wakefulness after sleep onset [WASO]) negatively affects physical, emotional, and mental health. For many adults, the postpartum period is one that is particularly highlighted by sleep disturbance and fatigue. Postpartum mothers are also more vulnerable to psychiatric disorders such as depression. We sought to investigate whether the number of children and presence of an infant predicted clinically significant sleep disturbance, and subsequently, depressive symptoms, for both mothers and fathers. We found that having an infant was significantly associated with increased wife WASO, which in turn was associated with increased depressive symptoms for wives. Further, husband WASO was associated with decreased wife WASO which was similarly associated with decreased depressive symptoms for wives. Thus, by helping with nighttime care so that mothers can get more sleep fathers can greatly contribute to the physical and emotional health of mothers.

Although findings from a pilot study indicate that caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD) report feeling stigmatized (Burgener, 2007; Burgener & Buckwalter, 2010), little research has been conducted on the effects of perceived stigma on fostering depressive symptoms among caregivers of PwD. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived stigma and depressive symptoms among caregivers of PwD. The Modified Labeling Theory (MLT) developed by Link et. al. (1987; 1989) served as the organizing framework. The design of this study was a mixed methods approach including a descriptive longitudinal design with a qualitative interview. Caregivers of PwD (n=51) were interviewed regarding ethnic background, geographic location (rural and urban), knowledge of dementia, perceived stigma, depressive symptoms, and were asked to rate the extent of PwD's behavioral symptoms, while PwD (n=47) were assessed on their mental ability and disease stage. Caregivers were also asked to share their perceptions of stigma and mood change once their family members were diagnosed. Pearson product-moment correlations and a linear mixed model analysis determined the relationship between variables; for qualitative analysis, a directed approach to content analysis was applied. Findings indicated that caregivers' perceptions of stigma were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, both at baseline (r = 0.357, p = 0.0175) and over 18 months (p = 0.0045). Results also indicated that caregivers of PwD felt more depressed when they perceived additional stigma (p = 0.0019), regardless of caregiver ethnicity/race and caregivers' reactions in response to PwD memory and behavior problems. Moreover, perceived stigma minimally mediated the effect between caregivers' reactions toward the PwD's memory and behavior problems and depressive symptoms (14.4% decrease in the coefficient). Analysis of the qualitative data provided preliminary validation of the MLT and an in-depth understanding of caregivers' mood change since the diagnosis of their family member. Together our findings suggest that depressive symptoms among caregivers of PwD in response to the stresses of perceived stigma underscore the seriousness of this social problem. There is a need for effective interventions to combat caregivers' perceived stigma in order to enhance their psychological well-being.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to better understand the role of depressive and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. As such, two specific research questions guide this analysis: (1) What factors are associated with depressive and negative symptoms at Time 1 across four major psychiatric diagnoses (patients with schizophrenia, mood disorder, both schizophrenia and mood disorders, and patients whose primary diagnosis is neither schizophrenia nor mood disorder)? (2) To what extent do depressive and negative symptoms improve over time among individuals with schizophrenia? More specifically, what variables predict an improvement in these symptoms? Methods: The study involved analysis of secondary data from 3269 in-patients from 15 psychiatric facilities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Patients were assessed using the Resident Assessment Instrument – Mental Health (RAI-MH). Bivariate analyses were performed examining demographic, clinical, social, and other factors as independent variables and depressive and negative symptom scores among each of the four diagnostic groups: schizophrenia, mood disorder, both schizophrenia and mood disorder, and neither schizophrenia nor mood disorder. Logistic regression of depressive and negative symptoms, as dependent variables, were performed on demographic, psychiatric, clinical, social, and other variables, as the independent variables. Results: Variables associated with depressive and negative symptoms did not necessarily predict an improvement of depressive and negative symptoms over time. Findings from logistic regression models showed that statistically significant predictors of improvement in depressive and negative symptoms included the following variables: (1) not having a diagnosis of schizophrenia; (2) insight into one’s condition; (3) fewer number of recent psychiatric admissions (over the last two year period); and (5) being administered both atypical and typical antipsychotic medications. Conclusions: Depressive and negative symptoms are prevalent in schizophrenia and are associated with demographic, psychiatric, and social variables. Depressive and negative symptoms do not share the same pattern across diagnoses, suggesting that these symptoms represent a unique profile within each diagnostic group. Moreover, both atypical and typical antipsychotic medications, in combination, were shown to be more effective at treating depressive and negative symptoms than either typical or atypical medications alone.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to better understand the role of depressive and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. As such, two specific research questions guide this analysis: (1) What factors are associated with depressive and negative symptoms at Time 1 across four major psychiatric diagnoses (patients with schizophrenia, mood disorder, both schizophrenia and mood disorders, and patients whose primary diagnosis is neither schizophrenia nor mood disorder)? (2) To what extent do depressive and negative symptoms improve over time among individuals with schizophrenia? More specifically, what variables predict an improvement in these symptoms? Methods: The study involved analysis of secondary data from 3269 in-patients from 15 psychiatric facilities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Patients were assessed using the Resident Assessment Instrument – Mental Health (RAI-MH). Bivariate analyses were performed examining demographic, clinical, social, and other factors as independent variables and depressive and negative symptom scores among each of the four diagnostic groups: schizophrenia, mood disorder, both schizophrenia and mood disorder, and neither schizophrenia nor mood disorder. Logistic regression of depressive and negative symptoms, as dependent variables, were performed on demographic, psychiatric, clinical, social, and other variables, as the independent variables. Results: Variables associated with depressive and negative symptoms did not necessarily predict an improvement of depressive and negative symptoms over time. Findings from logistic regression models showed that statistically significant predictors of improvement in depressive and negative symptoms included the following variables: (1) not having a diagnosis of schizophrenia; (2) insight into one’s condition; (3) fewer number of recent psychiatric admissions (over the last two year period); and (5) being administered both atypical and typical antipsychotic medications. Conclusions: Depressive and negative symptoms are prevalent in schizophrenia and are associated with demographic, psychiatric, and social variables. Depressive and negative symptoms do not share the same pattern across diagnoses, suggesting that these symptoms represent a unique profile within each diagnostic group. Moreover, both atypical and typical antipsychotic medications, in combination, were shown to be more effective at treating depressive and negative symptoms than either typical or atypical medications alone.

No description available.