According to scientific literature, cognitive impairment is a disabling feature of the bipolar disorder (BD), present in all the phases of the disease. Obesity and metabolic disorders represent another risk factor for cognitive dysfunctions in BD, since the excess of weight could adversely influence several cognitive domains.

To highlight the presence of impairment of cognitive functions in a sample of subjects suffering from BD and obesity.

Evaluation of the cognitive performance in a sample of BD patients, considering their anthropometric measures (height and weight) and body mass index (BMI).

The neuropsychological battery MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was administered by trained physicians for the evaluation of seven different cognitive domains in 46 patients (mean age: 43.17 years old; 39.13% male), affected by BD enrolled in the psychiatric unit of Azienda Sanitaria Locale and University of Foggia. In particular, cognitive functions assessed were speed of processing, attention/vigilance, working memory, verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition. BMI was calculated, and patients were divided into a group of normal weight and another one of overweight or obese, on the base of BMI value (BMI cut-off = 25).

The obese patients amounted at 56.52%. We have found the presence of cognitive deficits in two of the seven domains assessed, that are speed of processing (P < 0.01) and reasoning and problem solving (P < 0.05) in the sample of overweight patients.

Cognitive deficits are clearly revealed in BD patients during the euthymic phase of the disorder. The obesity in BD could contribute to increase dysfunctions in cognitive domains.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) have been used as general dimensions to describe affective experience, and they are the affective, emotional components of SWB.

Positive and negative affect is a relevant facet of well-being for community-dwelling older adults. This study aims to conduct a validation of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), by assessing the psychometric properties (distributional properties, construct, criterion and external-related validities, and reliability) of the PANAS in a cross-national sample of older adults.

A cross-sectional survey design was used. A convenience sample of 1291 community-dwelling older adults aged 75 years old and older was recruited from community centers. Construct validity was estimated through confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity. Criterion and external-related validities, reliability and distributional properties were also assessed.

The PANAS demonstrated satisfactory reliability, distributional properties, and construct, criterion and external-related validities in this sample of older adults.

These results suggest that the PANAS can be used as a reliable and valid measure for examining positive and negative affect among cross-national community-dwelling older adults.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Cyberbullying is an emergent problem associated to terrible consequences, especially in young adults.

To analyse the levels of behaviours of victimization and aggression of cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, mood states and consumption of psychoactive substances in a sample of college students from the University of Beira Interior (UBI), as well as to analyse the relationship between these variables.

Analytical cross-sectional study that integrates quantitative methodology. Data collection took place via online survey in the population of students at the UBI (n = 475, 329 females, mean age 22.2 ± 4.1 years). The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic, mental health and internet use data and the Portuguese versions of self-reported scales to measure mood states, consumption of psychoactive substances, the levels of behaviours of victimization and aggression of cyberbullying and the levels of suicidal ideation.

The levels of aggression of cyberbullying were significantly higher in male students and in users of social networks. There was a significant positive correlation between behaviours of victimization and aggression of cyberbullying, and between them and suicidal ideation and negative affect. The levels of both behaviours of cyberbullying and suicidal ideation were significantly higher in students consuming alcohol with drugs, just drugs and sedatives. There was a significant positive correlation between suicidal ideation and negative affect and a significant negative correlation between suicidal ideation and positive affect.

Both behaviours of cyberbullying were significantly associated with suicidal ideation and negative affect. Thus, stands out the relevance of an earlier identification of these behaviours and an adequate intervention by health professionals.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Longitudinal studies reporting the association between cannabis use and developing depression provide mixed results. The objective of this study was to establish the extent to which different patterns of use of cannabis are associated with the development of depression using meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

Peer-reviewed publications that compared the risk of development of depression in cannabis users and non-userst were located using searches of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsychINFO and ISI Web of Science. Data on measures of cannabis use, measures of depression and control variables were extracted. Odds ratios were extracted by age and length of follow-up.

After screening 3,905 articles, 55 articles were selected for full-text review, of which 12 were included in the quantitative analysis. The odds for cannabis users developing depression compared to controls was 1.26 (95%CI=1.10-1.44). The odds for heavy cannabis users developing depression was 1.72 (95%CI=1.27-2.34), compared to non-users or light users. Meta-regression revealed no significant differences in effect based on age of subjects or length of follow-up in the individual studies. There was large heterogeneity in the number and type of control variables in the different studies.

Cannabis use, and particularly heavy cannabis use, may be associated with an increased risk for developing depressive disorders. Despite limitations due to heterogeneity in control variables, this study represents the current state of knowledge on this association. In order to establish a more precise dose-response relationship between cannabis use and the risk of developing depression, future longitudinal exploration should take into account cumulative exposure to cannabis.

Military action in Ukraine led to increasing in the number of patients with PTSD among children. Open-label studies demonstrated the efficacy of SSRI’s for the treatment of PTSD, primarily paroxetine. Feasibility of using of these drugs in children and adolescents is controversial [1-2].

To evaluate a short and long-term efficacy and tolerability of fluoxetine in the treatment of PTSD in children.

double-blind, placebo-controlled 12-week study with a fixed dose of fluoxetine (20-40 mg). The trial design consisted of 1-week, single-blind, placebo run-in period, followed by a 12-week treatment period and a 2-week taper phase. Were randomized 110 children aged from 12 to 18 years (MD = 14,2), that have been moved from the combat zone in the east of Ukraine and met the DSM-5criterias for PTSD. Drug efficacy was assessed weekly using the CAPS-2; CGI-I / CGI-S. Safety assessed: Adverse event (AE) recording, suicidality assessment.

The reduction in CAPS-2 scales was statistically significant among children randomized to fluoxetine treatment compared with placebo in a week 12 endpoint (treatment difference -11.10; 95% Cl-13.4, -7,38; p <0.001). Significant greater proportion of fluoxetine-treated patient (52%) than placebo-treated (43%) were defined as treatment responders based on CGI scale (adjusted odds ratio = 2.28; 95% Cl 1.75, 2.93; p <0.001). The most common adverse effects in fluoxetine group were somnolence, headache and irritability, each occurring in <20% patients.

Fluoxetine at a dose of 20-40 mg / day is more effective than placebo, well-tolerated and can be recommended in pediatric practice.

Improving the mental health diagnosis in young children is the high-priority problem in reducing the rate of child disability due to mental illnesses. In 2015, the Ministry of Healthcare (Russia) introduced the pilot project – the total screening of the paediatric population at an early age, detecting autism spectrum disorders (ASD) risk group.

To determine the broad range of mental disorders: from minor borderline states (states of risk) to serious mental disorders, with an emphasis on determination of ASD in children aged 16–24 months in general population.

The survey was conducted by the total screening in primary health care institutions (in the three largest regions of Russia: Volgograd, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk regions). The screening tool: checklist for parents aimed at detection of risk of occurrence of ASD in early children, for screening in general population.

During 2015, 34,770 parents of children aged 16–24 were questioned. Of these 4102 children or 11.8% (118:1000) formed the risk group in ASD. By the risk group in ASD predisposition (diathesis) is understood, that does not correspond fully to the clinical criteria of illness. This state of predisposition may last for several years and pass either to illness or to health.

The part of the children of the risk group in ASD were consulted by psychiatrist on a voluntary basis (2774 cases). Fifteen children (0.4:1000) were diagnosed with prominent clinical disorders in ICD-10 (F84). This prevalence rate cannot be extrapolated on the general population of the children at the considered age.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Suicide rates among patients with cancer are higher than ones in the general population.

This meta-analysis aims to estimate the suicide risk in patients with cancer.

We searched Medline, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane library to identify articles published before July 1, 2016, examining the association between suicide [death (SD), attempt (SA), ideation (SI)] and any form of diagnosed cancer.

We initially identified 4880 records and after unsuitable studies were removed, our search yielded 102 publications of which 14 were used in the meta-analyses. Patients with cancer had higher risk of SD (seven studies, 247.869 participants; odds ratio [OR] = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.22–1.89, P = 0.0002) compared with those without cancer (among case-control studies focused on SD versus living controls). Among studies focused on SD versus other deaths, patients with cancer had higher risk of SD (two studies, 23.839 participants; OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.03–2.27, P = 0.03). No difference has been detected for risk of SA (four studies, 8.147.762 participants) and for SI (two studies, 37.879 participants).

Since publication bias was detected, the “trim and fill” method was applied. The majority of the included studies have a high quality at the STROBE statement.

The assessment of suicide risk in this population is crucial.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

During the current crisis of COVID 19, recent studies evident that it has a huge impact on public mental health and individuals’ behavior.

Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of high denial attitude towards the emerging pandemic of COVID 19 among the general population of Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from April 3, 2020 to May 5, 2020. All participants (N= 1817) were asked to complete an online questionnaire survey that included socio-demographic and other variables, and Denial Attitude Questionnaire towards COVID-19 pandemic (DAQ-COVID-19).

High denial attitude was prevalent among 728 (40.1 %) of the participants. It was associated with old age, being married, having low educational level, working in a non-medical professions, do not have a past history of infectious diseases, spending less than one hour following COVID-19 news, satisfied with the government procedures for COVID-19, and highly depressed and anxious respondents, where p-values were 0.001, 0.019, <0.001, 0.027, <0.001, <0.001, 0.004, 0.008, and 0.026; respectively.

About two out of five participants had high denial attitude. To our knowledge, the current study is the first study that tries to evaluate a high denial attitude during the initial COVID 19 outbreaks, especially in Saudi Arabia. However, further exploration in this field is needed. We suggest conducting such a study at the end of the current pandemic or in the second wave of the outbreak

The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales are widely used in clinical and non-clinical populations, both in research and clinical settings. The need for briefer but valid and reliable instruments has motivated the reduction of the original 42-item scale to a short 21-version. On Portuguese samples, Pais-Ribeiro et al. (2004) found that the original 3-factor solution (stress, anxiety and depression) explained 50.35% of the variance and in an exploratory analysis; Xavier et al. (2015) presented a two factor solution and a modified three-factor solution with a sample of pregnant women, both with adequate factors’ reliability (< 0.70) and explaining above 50% of the variance.

Based on the previous results of factor analysis with Portuguese samples, the present study aimed to perform confirmatory factor analyses (using Mplus software) to evaluate which dimensional structure best fitted the data.

The sample comprised 234 students (78.2% female), between 18–26 years old (M = 20.55; SD = 1.66). Eighty-five percent of the participants were on their first three years of college education. Participants filled the Portuguese version of the DASS-21.

Our results showed that the original 3-factor structure had the best model fit [χ2(186) = 475.465, P < 0.05; RMSEA = 0.082, 90% CI = 0.073–0.091; CFI = 0.918; TLI = 0.908; SRMR = 0.05]. Good reliability was found for all subscales (0.92 for stress, 0.87 for anxiety and 0.91 for depression subscale).

The DASS-21 is a reliable instrument that, with student populations, seems to have better performance when used with a 3-factor structure. Further research is needed to confirm this structure in Portuguese clinical samples.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Aggressive and disruptive behaviors often precede the onset of schizophrenia. In this register-based follow-up study with a case-control design, we wanted to investigate if serious delinquency was associated with future diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (here, broadly defined schizophrenia) among a nationwide consecutive sample of 15- to 19-year-old Finnish delinquents sent for a forensic psychiatric examination in 1989–2010.

The sample comprised 313 delinquents with no past or current psychotic disorder. For each delinquent, four age-, gender- and place of birth -matched controls were randomly selected from the Central Population Register. Five controls (0.4%) had been treated for schizophrenia before their respective index-dates and were thus excluded from further analysis, leaving us with a control population of 1247 individuals. The subjects were followed till death, emigration or the end of 2015, whichever occurred first. Diagnoses were obtained from the Care Register for Health Care.

Forty (12.8%) of the delinquents and 11 (0.9%) of the controls were diagnosed with schizophrenia later in life (HR 16.6, 95% CI 8.53–32.39, P < 0.001). Almost half of the pretrial adolescents with later schizophrenia were diagnosed within 5 years of the forensic psychiatric examination, but latency was longer among the other half of the sample, reaching up to 20.5 years.

The study supports the previous research indicating a potential link between serious delinquency and later schizophrenia. Accurate psychiatric assessments should be made in correctional services but also later in life so that any possible psychotic symptoms can be detected in individuals with a history of serious delinquency even if there were no signs of psychosis before or at the time of the crime. Future research should explore which factors influence the delinquent's risk of developing later schizophrenia.

To describe the frequency of drug combinations (substrate-substrate or substrate-inhibitor) with the potential to interfere with the CYP2D6 metabolic pathway in patients receiving antidepressant medication for major depressive disorder.

We carried out an observational study using outpatient medical records. We included adult subjects who initiated antidepressant medication during 2008–2010. Patients were assigned to three study groups: no combination, substrate-substrate, and substrate-inhibitor. Follow-up period was 12 months. Main measures: demographics, comorbidity and medication persistence. Statistical analysis included a logistic regression model, P < 0.05.

Five thousand six hundred and thirty patients were recruited (61.9 years, 76.9% female), 24.4% (CI: 23.8 – 26.0%) received some kind of drug combination (substrate-substrate: 15.4%, substrate-inhibitor: 9.0%). Variables significantly associated with drugs combinations that may act on the CYP2D6 metabolic pathway were: dementia (OR = 4.2), neuropathy (OR = 4.2) and stroke (OR = 1.9), P < 0.001. Medication persistence at 12 months was longer in patients with no combination (55.3%) than in patients receiving substrate-substrate (50.5%) or substrate-inhibitor (45.0%) combinations, P < 0.001.

Twenty-five percent of major depressive disorder patients received a combination of drugs with the potential to interfere with CYP2D6 metabolic pathway. These combinations increased with comorbidity and resulted in shorter medication persistence of antidepressant treatment.