Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) were the most frequently reported mental health concern for youth during COVID-19, yet variations in youth's PTSS responses warrant empirical consideration. Features of the caregiving environment influence youth's responses to environmental stressors, and youth's parasympathetic nervous system regulation may qualify the magnitude and/or direction of these effects. This prospective investigation evaluated diathesis stress and differential susceptibility models of caregiving and parasympathetic influences on youth's PTSS responses to COVID-19.

Participants were 225 caregiver-youth dyads (youth 49.8% female at birth; 88.4% non-white) followed from childhood through adolescence and COVID-19. Youth's resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; Mage = 6.11, s.d. = 0.21), caregiving features (i.e. attachment security [youth Mage = 12.24, s.d. = 0.35] and caregiver internalizing psychopathology [caregiver Mage = 39.29, s.d. = 6.78]) were assessed pre-pandemic. Youth's PTSS was assessed one year prior to the US COVID-19 pandemic (Mage = 14.24, s.d. = 0.50) and during the spring of 2020 at the height of the pandemic (Mage = 15.23, s.d. = 0.57).

Youth's PTSS increased during COVID-19. Youth with relatively high resting RSA evidenced the lowest PTSS when their caregiving environment featured high attachment security or low caregiver internalizing problems, but the highest PTSS when their caregiving environment featured low attachment security or high caregiver internalizing problems. In contrast, PTSS levels of youth with relatively low or average resting RSA did not differ significantly depending on attachment security or caregiver internalizing.

Results are consistent with a differential susceptibility hypothesis, wherein relatively high resting RSA conferred heightened sensitivity to caregiving environments in a for-better-and-for-worse manner during COVID-19.

Aggression is a transdiagnostic indicator of risk and represents one of the most common reasons children are referred for mental health treatment. Theory and research highlight the impact of maternal invalidation on child aggression and suggest that its influence may vary based on differences in child physiological reactivity. Moreover, the interaction between these risk factors may be particularly pronounced among children of mothers with emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. The current study examined the independent and interactive effects of maternal invalidation and child physiological reactivity to frustration on teacher-reported aggression in an at-risk sample of preschool children.

Participants included 77 mothers (Mage = 33.17 years, s.d. = 4.83; 35% racial/ethnic minority) and their children (Mage = 42.48 months; s.d. = 3.78; 56% female; 47% racial/ethnic minority). Groups of mothers with and without clinician-rated ER difficulties reported on maternal invalidation, and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was assessed continuously during a frustration task as an indicator of physiological reactivity. Teachers or daycare providers reported on child aggression.

Results demonstrated positive associations between maternal ER difficulties and both maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity to frustration. As expected, the interaction between maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity was significant, such that higher maternal invalidation and greater child RSA reactivity to frustration predicted more aggression in a daycare or preschool setting. Importantly, this effect was demonstrated while controlling for demographic covariates and baseline RSA.

Findings are in line with diathesis–stress and biosocial models of risk and point to multiple targets for prevention and early intervention.

At Kiskunhalas Semmelweis Hospital, a special mobile container hospital was set up to care for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first wave of the pandemic.

We aimed to create a proactive integrated mental health protection system for the frontline healthcare workers that provides an opportunity for psychophysiological monitoring of stress and crisis during shifts, as well as providing staff with more lasting methods of coping with difficulties.

From the ascending branch of the second wave, every two weeks on the workers’ rest day, mental helpers initiated a phone call to each employee participating in the program. If it was necessary, we provided psychological counseling, crisis intervention, brief psychotherapy, and psychopharmacotherapy. In addition, self-operated psychophysiological screening devices were used at the frontline work site, which provided an opportunity for continuous telemedicine monitoring.

In our department, three psychologists and three psychiatrists kept in touch with an average of 150 frontline workers per month. Interventions were needed for a total of over 24% in December and January, over 17% in February and March, almost 9% in April, and only 4% in May. Helpers rated an average of two-thirds of these cases as moderate. They faced severe stress 2-3 times a month in sum, and for 2-3 workers needed medication.

Without a mental support system, self-report-based data suggest that nearly half of responders working at the frontline reached the threshold of clinically significant mental syndromes (Greenberg et al, 2021). Using our mental health support system, one-fifth of the workers needed intervention.

No significant relationships.

A growing body of literature has increased our understanding of interpersonal autonomic synchrony (IAS), or exchanges across biological systems resulting in physiological covariation. While research suggests that IAS is more likely in relationships characterized by emotional intimacy, no research to date has examined the connection between IAS and the quality of sexual relationships.

The current study seeks to elucidate the relationship between IAS and sexual satisfaction (SS) using tasks that have previously been used to assess synchrony (i.e.,gazing, mirroring), as well as several conversation-based tasks (i.e., neutral and sex-related conversation tasks).

Couples (n=28) completed procedures in a laboratory-based setting where they completed survey measures of SS before connecting to an electrocardiogram. Subsequently, heart rate (HR) data for each dyad were analyzed using a moderated multi-level modeling approach.

IAS was detected, with men reliably predicting the HR of female partners, and women reliably predicting the HR of male partners (respectively, β=0.383, p<0.001; β=0.222, p<0.001). AIC values indicate a better fitting model for men predicting female HR. As such, moderation analyses were conducted for that model by study task, finding a significant interaction between SS and observed IAS during the mirroring task (β=0.004, p=0.009) and neutral-conversation task (β=0.016, p=0.009).

These findings reflect evidence that IAS may be relevant to SS at the couple-level. The ability of couples to coregulate while attempting to synchronize (as in the mirroring task) or exchange information (as in the neutral-conversation task) may meaningfully change how they experience their sexual relationship.

No significant relationships.

Psychiatry is fundamental interdisciplinary medical science with essential importance for enormous health-problems of humanity. Creation of integrative-psychiary in context of multidimensional&holistic medicine, founded by HIPPOCRATES-GALENUS-HUA T’UA-AVICENA-PARACELSUS is necessary to counteract disastrous human health-situation. Psychiatry needs new integrative therapy-models considering application of psychopharmacotherapy as well as practices of psycho-somatic (Th.v.UEXKÜLL) and somato-psychic theories (Y.IKEMI). Emperor AKIHITO during Opening-Ceremony of ICPM-2005-Kobe appointed to consider “total symptoms of mind-body, seeking ways of holistic care”.

REFERENCES. PSYCHIATRY: EPA-2020-virtual/Madrid, Eur.Psychiatry 63S, EPP0834/5+EPV0581/1470; EPA-2019-Warsaw, Eur. Psychiatry 56S,S689; EPA-2018-Nice, Eur.Psychiatry 48/S1, S623&567&662. WPA-2019-Lisbon, E-Poster WCP19-2137, -1822, -1839; 2018-Mexico-City, Abs.-Book WCP18-0584/-0625/-0643/-0654. 2011-Buenos-Aires,AB:PO1.200. PSYCHOLOGY: EFPA-2019-Moscow, Abs.-Book 1529,1530,1549. IUPsyS-2012-Cape-Town, IntJPsychol 47:407; -2008-Berlin, 43/3-4:154, 248,615,799; -2004-Beijing, AB:49,587. PSYCHOSOMATICS: ICPM-2017-Beijing, AB:ID: 648493,648895,648749,648878; -2005-Kobe, J.Psychosom.Res. 58:85-86.

Evaluation of psychic-“polar-attitude-list”/physiological-parameters: heart-rate, blood-pressure,etc. from patients/probands after training by occidental/oriental practices (Music-/Yogatherapy/others) (ref.).

Observations demonstrate strong positive influence after music[1], respiratory[2], hatha-yoga[3] therapies. Items of psycho-physiological (relaxed), emotional (tranquil/happy), cognitive (few/ordered thoughts), voluntary (active/spontaneous), social (open/assertive), consciousness (clear/sleepy) categories are significantly positive changed 25-50%. The 3-therapies have specific psychic-effects,e.g. items “relaxed/tranquil” after respiratory- (+45/50%) and music- (+20/5%), also item “open” after music-therapy (+25%) are positive, but negative after respiratory-therapy (-20%). Psychic-effects are correlated with positive physiological-ones,e.g. heart/respiratory-frequency decreased 25-30%, voluntary-apnoea prolonged 55%. Mountain-altitude (>2000-3000m), hypothermia (<20 to 0°C) influenced positively psychic/physiological-parameters,e.g. heart-rate/blood-pressure decrease (n=125,P<0.05-0.01).

Different methods of integrative psychiatric therapy are with preference,e.g. for depression is suitable respiratory/physical-training, also hypothermia&high-mountain therapy (activation-euphoria), for mania:music-therapy (inhibitory-effect). Systematically research about single/combined therapies is necessary,e.g. for epilepsy: Respiratory-therapy/hypothermia,etc. could help patients (hypo-/hypercapnia: inhibitory/excitatory effects on CNS-structures).

Primary psychopathy, although not included in DSM-5, is a personality trait characterized by callousness, unemotionality and a low sensitivity to anxiety and fear. From a psychophysiological standpoint, individuals with this trait exhibit a number of alterations, most notably lower heart rate at rest and lower heart rate variability (HRV).

We investigated the relationship between primary psychopathy and heart rate dynamics in response to emotional stimuli in a healthy community sample. In the high psychopathy participants we expected to find lower HRV and a general lower cardiovascular responsiveness to aversive emotional stimuli.

The study was carried out on male students with high (HP) and low scores (LP) of primary psychopathy according to Levenson’s LSRP. The stimuli were 15 short movie clips of different emotional content (Erotic, Scenery, Neutral, Compassion and Fear), lasting 2 minutes each and presented during ECG recording. Mean heart rate (HR) and HRV were analyzed.

Concerning HR, a Category by Group interaction revealed that participants in the HP group did not differentiate among emotional movie clips, whereas those in the LP group manifested significant reduced HR to Fear and Scenery compared to the other clips. Concerning HRV, the main Group effect showed in HP participants a lower HRV than LP subjects, irrespective of the film categories.

Using ecological stimuli is considered more effective in evoking spontaneous emotions, and our results point to a clear alteration of emotional cardiovascular response in high primary psychopathy trait individuals selected from a community sample.

Major depression (MD) is associated with cognitive and behavioral alterations in many domains. It is not well clear what cortical structures and functional alterations characterize MD patients during resting state, a condition during which mind wandering process is prevailing.

In MD patients with severe levels of depression we expected, during resting state, an altered asymmetry of cortical activity in the EEG bands that generally mark neurological impairment, i.e. Delta and Theta EEG bands.

30 MD patients under pharmacological treatment and 32 matched controls underwent an EEG recording (38 scalp sites) during 5 min resting state with open eyes. Eye movements were corrected by ICA modeling and the 5 min recording was divided in 2 sec epochs from which Delta and Theta spectral powers were extracted.

Spectral analysis of the 5 min resting state revealed a significant difference between the two groups at the level of left temporal lobe. MD patients showed larger Delta and Theta spectral power in the left superior temporal gyrus at the level of Brodmann’s Areas 22 and 42.

Results evidenced a cortical inhibition (greater EEG Delta and Theta activity) in left temporal linguistic areas in severe depression, a result pointing to a different mind wandering process and thought architecture in MD patients during resting state.