Sexual minorities are at a higher risk of suffering from depressive symptoms compared with heterosexual individuals. Only a few studies have examined the conditions of having depressive symptoms ...within different sexual minority groups, especially people with sexual orientation uncertainty in a nationally representative sample. Furthermore, few studies have explored whether the mean white blood count (WBC) is different between people with and without depressive symptoms among different sexual minority groups in a nationally representative sample.
We analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2005 to 2014 with a sample of 14,090 subjects. We compared the prevalence of depressive symptoms in subpopulations stratified by sex, sexual minority status, and race. We also examined the difference in mean WBC count between depressed and non-depressed people among heterosexual individuals and different sexual minority groups. Additionally, two multivariable logistic regression models were used to explore the association between sexual minority status and depressive symptoms, treating sexual minority status as both a binary and categorical variable.
Female sex (OR: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.72-2.22) and sexual minority status (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.47-2.17) were both independently associated with depressive symptoms. Within the sexual minority population, subjects who were unsure about their sexual identities had the highest odds of having depressive symptoms (OR: 2.56, 95% CI: 1.40-4.68). In the subgroup analysis considering intersectionality, black sexual minority females had the highest rate of depressive symptoms (19.4%, 95% CI: 7.72-40.98). Finally, the mean WBC count differed significantly between people with and without depressive symptoms among male heterosexual individuals, female heterosexual individuals, and female sexual minorities, but not among male sexual minorities.
Based on sex, race, and sexual minority status, black females of sexual minority status had the highest rate of depressive symptoms. Within sexual minority groups, participants who were unsure about their sexual identities had the highest odds of having depressive symptoms. Finally, the mean WBC count was significantly higher among people with depressive symptoms than those without depressive symptoms only among male heterosexuals, female heterosexuals, and female sexual minorities, but not among male sexual minorities. Future research should investigate the social and biological mechanisms of the differences.
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Prevention programs that are 'transdiagnostic' may be more cost-effective and beneficial, in terms of reducing levels of psychopathology in the general population, than those focused on a specific ...disorder. This randomized controlled study evaluated the efficacy of one such intervention program called Resilience Training (RT).
College students who reported mildly elevated depressive or subclinical psychotic symptoms ('psychotic experiences' (PEs)) (
= 107) were randomized to receiving RT (
= 54) or to a waitlist control condition (
= 53). RT consists of a four-session intervention focused on improving resilience through the acquisition of mindfulness, self-compassion, and mentalization skills. Measures of symptoms and these resilience-enhancing skills were collected before and after the 4-week RT/waitlist period, with a follow-up assessment 12-months later.
Compared to the waitlist control group, RT participants reported significantly greater reductions in PEs, distress associated with PEs, depression, and anxiety, as well as significantly greater improvements in resilience, mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive affect, following the 4-week RT/waitlist period (all
< 0.03). Moreover, improvements in resilience-promoting skills were significantly correlated with symptom reductions (all
< 0.05). Lastly, the RT-related reductions in PEs and associated distress were maintained at the 12-month follow-up assessment.
RT is a brief, group-based intervention associated with improved resilience and reduced symptoms of psychopathology, with sustained effects on PEs, in transdiagnostically at-risk young adults. Follow-up studies can further assess the efficacy of RT relative to other interventions and test whether it can reduce the likelihood of developing a serious mental illness.
While preliminary evidence suggests that sensors may be employed to detect presence of low mood it is still unclear whether they can be leveraged for measuring depression symptom severity. This study ...evaluates the feasibility and performance of assessing depressive symptom severity by using behavioral and physiological features obtained from wristband and smartphone sensors.
Participants were thirty-one individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The protocol included 8 weeks of behavioral and physiological monitoring through smartphone and wristband sensors and six in-person clinical interviews during which depression was assessed with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17).
Participants wore the right and left wrist sensors 92 and 94% of the time respectively. Three machine-learning models estimating depressive symptom severity were developed-one combining features from smartphone and wearable sensors, one including only features from the smartphones, and one including features from wrist sensors-and evaluated in two different scenarios. Correlations between the models' estimate of HDRS scores and clinician-rated HDRS ranged from moderate to high (0.46 CI: 0.42, 0.74 to 0.7 CI: 0.66, 0.74) and had moderate accuracy with Mean Absolute Error ranging between 3.88 ± 0.18 and 4.74 ± 1.24. The time-split scenario of the model including only features from the smartphones performed the best. The ten most predictive features in the model combining physiological and mobile features were related to mobile phone engagement, activity level, skin conductance, and heart rate variability.
Monitoring of MDD patients through smartphones and wrist sensors following a clinician-rated HDRS assessment is feasible and may provide an estimate of changes in depressive symptom severity. Future studies should further examine the best features to estimate depressive symptoms and strategies to further enhance accuracy.
Early adulthood represents one period of increased risk for the emergence of a serious mental illness. The college campus provides a unique opportunity to assess and monitor individuals in this ...at-risk age group. However, there are no validated early detection programs that are widely implemented on college campuses. In an effort to address this gap, we designed and tested an early detection and prevention program tailored to college students. A transdiagnostic approach was employed because of evidence for shared risk factors across major mental illnesses.
Single arm, prospective study evaluating outcomes following a 4-week intervention.
Three in-person mental health screenings were conducted on the campus of one university. Undergraduate students with at least mildly elevated, self-reported levels of depressive or subclinical psychotic symptoms, who were not receiving treatment for these symptoms, were invited to participate in a 4-session workshop focused on increasing self- and other- awareness and emotion regulation using established mindfulness, self-compassion, and mentalization principles and experiential exercises. Symptoms, resilience-promoting capacities, and aspects of social functioning were assessed pre- and post- intervention.
416 students were screened and a total of 63 students participated in the workshop. 91% attended at least 3 of the 4 sessions. The majority of participants found the workshop interesting and useful and would recommend it to a friend. Significant pre-to-post reductions in symptoms (depression, anxiety, and subclinical psychotic symptoms,
s < 0.004) and improvements in resilience-promoting capacities (self-compassion and self-efficacy,
s < 0.006) and indices of social functioning (social motivation, activity, and a measure of comfort with the physical presence of others,
s < 0.04) were observed. Moreover, the significant increases in resilience-promoting capacities correlated with the reductions in affective symptoms (
s < 0.03).
These findings suggest that an on-campus mental health screening and early intervention program is feasible, acceptable, and may be associated with improvements in resilience-related capacities and symptom reductions in young adults with non-impairing, subclinical symptoms of psychopathology. Follow-up work will determine whether this program can improve both shorter and longer-term mental health and functional outcomes in this at-risk population.
•The allopregnanolone/progesterone ratio decreases 8-fold across the menstrual cycle.•Allopregnanolone and progesterone levels are very low in menopause.•The ratio is lower in the luteal phase than ...even in postmenopausal women.•These data may have implications for luteal phase mood disorders.
The neuroactive steroid 3α-5α-tetrahydroprogesterone (allopregnanolone), a metabolite of progesterone, is a positive allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors, and low levels have been implicated in the etiology of mood disorders. However, it is not known whether metabolism of progesterone to allopregnanolone varies across the menstrual cycle or is low after menopause. We hypothesized that the allopregnanolone/progesterone ratio would decrease from the follicular to luteal phase. We also hypothesized that postmenopausal women would have lower levels of progesterone and allopregnanolone but similar allopregnanolone/progesterone ratios as premenopausal women in the follicular phase.
Serum fasting allopregnanolone and progesterone levels were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in ten premenopausal women at the follicular, mid-cycle, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle and in twenty-four postmenopausal women. Although allopregnanolone and progesterone levels increased from the follicular to luteal phase, the allopregnanolone/progesterone ratio decreased 8-fold 0.33 ± 0.08 (follicular) vs 0.16 ± 0.09 (mid-cycle) vs 0.04 ± 0.007 (luteal), p = 0.0003. Mean allopregnanolone and progesterone levels were lower in postmenopausal than premenopausal women at all menstrual cycle phases (p < 0.01). The mean allopregnanolone/progesterone ratio was similar in postmenopausal and premenopausal women in the follicular phase (0.39 ± 0.08 vs 0.33 ± 0.08, p = 0.94) but was significantly lower at mid-cycle and in the luteal phase than in postmenopausal women (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the serum allopregnanolone/progesterone ratio decreases 8-fold from the follicular to luteal phase and is lower at mid-cycle and the luteal phase than in postmenopausal women. Whether these data have implications for luteal phase and other mood disorders merits further study.
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Correlations between altered body temperature and depression have been reported in small samples; greater confidence in these associations would provide a rationale for further examining potential ...mechanisms of depression related to body temperature regulation. We sought to test the hypotheses that greater depression symptom severity is associated with (1) higher body temperature, (2) smaller differences between body temperature when awake versus asleep, and (3) lower diurnal body temperature amplitude. Data collected included both self-reported body temperature (using standard thermometers), wearable sensor-assessed distal body temperature (using an off-the-shelf wearable sensor that collected minute-level physiological data), and self-reported depressive symptoms from > 20,000 participants over the course of ~ 7 months as part of the TemPredict Study. Higher self-reported and wearable sensor-assessed body temperatures when awake were associated with greater depression symptom severity. Lower diurnal body temperature amplitude, computed using wearable sensor-assessed distal body temperature data, tended to be associated with greater depression symptom severity, though this association did not achieve statistical significance. These findings, drawn from a large sample, replicate and expand upon prior data pointing to body temperature alterations as potentially relevant factors in depression etiology and may hold implications for development of novel approaches to the treatment of major depressive disorder.
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The annual suicide rate in South Korea is the highest among the developed countries. Paraquat is a highly lethal herbicide, commonly used in South Korea as a means for suicide. We have studied the ...effect of the 2011 paraquat prohibition on the national suicide rate and method of suicide in South Korea. We obtained the monthly suicide rate from 2005 to 2013 in South Korea. In our analyses, we adjusted for the effects of celebrity suicides, and economic, meteorological, and seasonal factors on suicide rate. We employed change point analysis to determine the effect of paraquat prohibition on suicide rate over time, and the results were verified by structural change analysis, an alternative statistical method. After the paraquat prohibition period in South Korea, there was a significant reduction in the total suicide rate and suicide rate by poisoning with herbicides or fungicides in all age groups and in both genders. The estimated suicide rates during this period decreased by 10.0% and 46.1% for total suicides and suicides by poisoning of herbicides or fungicides, respectively. In addition, method substitution effect of paraquat prohibition was found in suicide by poisoning by carbon monoxide, which did not exceed the reduction in the suicide rate of poisoning with herbicides or fungicides. In South Korea, paraquat prohibition led to a lower rate of suicide by paraquat poisoning, as well as a reduction in the overall suicide rate. Paraquat prohibition should be considered as a national suicide prevention strategy in developing and developed countries alongside careful observation for method substitution effects.
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•Yoga shows promise as a treatment for depression•The yoga literature is marked by substantial methodological limitations•Higher quality research is needed to integrate yoga into clinical ...care•Research is needed to investigate yoga style, dose, safety, and barriers to access
Yoga-based practices, derived from ancient Eastern mind-body practices, have grown in popularity in the West over the past several decades. Increasing evidence supports the antidepressant effects of yoga-based interventions (YBIs). However, despite yoga’s promise as a potential treatment for depression, the literature to date is marked by substantial methodological limitations, which remain a barrier to the integration of YBIs into conventional clinical care. We highlight five key areas of study that need further investigation to fill crucial gaps in the literature-base to advance yoga research and yoga’s potential as an effective evidence-based treatment for depression.
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It remains unclear whether neurobiological dysfunction observed in major depressive disorder (MDD) and insomnia is an expression of common or independent bases. The present investigation sought to ...explore differences in heart rate variability (HRV)—a widely utilized biomarker of neurobiological functioning—among individuals with MDD, insomnia, and healthy controls, while awake and during distinct sleep stages (REM, N2), with the goal of improving our understanding of shared neurobiological factors in depression and insomnia. Participants were 73 adults who underwent home polysomnography. All N2 and REM sleep epochs with a duration greater than or equal to 5 min were identified for HRV analysis. Additionally, a single waking epoch was defined for each participant. From waking to N2 sleep, and waking to REM sleep, changes in HRV indices indicated participants experienced reductions in sympathetic arousal and increases in parasympathetic arousal. Contrary to hypotheses, however, no between group differences were observed in HRV. Though the present findings do not support the hypotheses of a shard neurobiological pathway between MDD and insomnia, more work is warranted to advance our understanding of the neurobiological bases of these common, debilitating, and frequently co-occurring psychiatric conditions, to improve early detection and identify novel intervention targets for these disorders.
•Hypothesis of shared neurobiological basis of MDD and insomnia is explored.•Heart rate variability (HRV) is assessed as biomarker of neurobiological functioning.•Differences in HRV explored during distinct sleep stages.•HRV changes observed from awake to N2, and awake to REM sleep.•No between group differences in HRV were observed.
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