Interaction of climate change with effects of conspecific and heterospecific density on reproduction

We studied the relationship between temperature and the coexistence of great titParus majorand blue titCyanistes caeruleus, breeding in 75 study plots across Europe and North Africa. We expected an advance in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer springs as a general response to climate warming and a delay in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer winters due to density-dependent effects. As expected, as spring temperature increases laying date advances and as winter temperature increases clutch size is reduced in both species. Density of great tit affected the relationship between winter temperature and laying date in great and blue tit. Specifically, as density of great tit increased and temperature in winter increased both species started to reproduce later. Density of blue tit affected the relationship between spring temperature and blue and great tit laying date. Thus, both species start to reproduce earlier with increasing spring temperature as density of blue tit increases, which was not an expected outcome, since we expected that increasing spring temperature should advance laying date, while increasing density should delay it cancelling each other out. Climate warming and its interaction with density affects clutch size of great tits but not of blue tits. As predicted, great tit clutch size is reduced more with density of blue tits as temperature in winter increases. The relationship between spring temperature and density on clutch size of great tits depends on whether the increase is in density of great tit or blue tit. Therefore, an increase in temperature negatively affected the coexistence of blue and great tits differently in both species. Thus, blue tit clutch size was unaffected by the interaction effect of density with temperature, while great tit clutch size was affected in multiple ways by these interactions terms.Peer reviewe

Effects of interspecific coexistence on laying date and clutch size in two closely related species of hole-nesting birds

Coexistence between great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, but also other hole‐nesting taxa, constitutes a classic example of species co‐occurrence resulting in potential interference and exploitation competition for food and for breeding and roosting sites. However, the spatial and temporal variations in coexistence and its consequences for competition remain poorly understood. We used an extensive database on reproduction in nest boxes by great and blue tits based on 87 study plots across Europe and Northern Africa during 1957–2012 for a total of 19,075 great tit and 16,729 blue tit clutches to assess correlative evidence for a relationship between laying date and clutch size, respectively, and density consistent with effects of intraspecific and interspecific competition.In an initial set of analyses, we statistically controlled for a suite of site‐specific variables. We found evidence for an effect of intraspecific competition on blue tit laying date (later laying at higher density) and clutch size (smaller clutch size at higher density), but no evidence of significant effects of intraspecific competition in great tits, nor effects of interspecific competition for either species.To further control for site‐specific variation caused by a range of potentially confounding variables, we compared means and variances in laying date and clutch size of great and blue tits among three categories of difference in density between the two species. We exploited the fact that means and variances are generally positively correlated. If interspecific competition occurs, we predicted a reduction in mean and an increase in variance in clutch size in great tit and blue tit when density of heterospecifics is higher than the density of conspecifics, and for intraspecific competition, this reduction would occur when density of conspecifics is higher than the density of heterospecifics. Such comparisons of temporal patterns of means and variances revealed evidence, for both species, consistent with intraspecific competition and to a smaller extent with interspecific competition.These findings suggest that competition associated with reproductive behaviour between blue and great tits is widespread, but also varies across large spatial and temporal scales.</div

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds

Peer reviewe

Postpartum psychosis and the association with sociodemographic and obstetric factors

Objective To examine the association between postpartum psychosis and the sociodemographic factors age, education, marital status and year of delivery (study 1). To examine the association between neighbourhood socioeconomic characteristics and postpartum psychosis (study 2). To examine the association between postpartum psychosis and obstetric factors (study 3). To examine the association between non-puerperal readmission and years of follow-up among women with postpartum psychosis and to examine the impact of age, type of psychosis, previous psychiatric hospitalisation and education on the risk of non-puerperal readmission (study 4) among these women. Methods Data sources were the Swedish population registers and medical registers. Postpartum psychosis was defined as hospital admission due to psychotic disorder within three months after delivery, which was the outcome variable in studies 1 3. Study 1 followed 502,767 first-time mothers between Jan. 1, 1986, and Dec. 31, 1997, for postpartum psychosis. Study 2 followed 485,199 first-time mothers between Jan. 1, 1986, and Sept. 30, 1998, for postpartum psychosis. Study 3 followed 1,133,368 first-time mothers between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 2003, for postpartum psychosis. Study 4 followed 1,340 women with postpartum psychosis between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 2004, for non-puerperal readmission due to psychiatric disorder. The explanatory variables included age (studies 1 4), education (studies 1, 2, 4) marital status (studies 1, 2), year of delivery (studies 1 3), neighbourhood income (study 2), previous psychiatric hospitalisation (studies 3, 4), years of follow-up (study 4), type of psychosis (study 4), calendar year (study 4), and 19 different obstetric factors (study 3). Cox regression models (studies 1 3) and Cox frailty regression models (study 4) were used in the statistical analysis. Results Old age in the mother, not living with the father of the child, living in a socioeconomically deprived neighbourhood, preterm birth and acute caesarean section were associated with increased risk of postpartum psychosis among first-time mothers after adjustment for possible confounders. However, the HRs for these factors were only moderately increased, which implies that the absolute increase in risk is small. In contrast, previous hospitalisation for psychiatric disorders was associated with a more than 100-fold increased risk of postpartum psychosis. The risk of non-puerperal readmission due to a psychiatric disorder remained high for many years after the postpartum psychosis, for all women in the study group. In addition, the risk of non-puerperal readmission due to a psychiatric disorder was higher among women with low educational level, previous psychiatric hospitalisation and schizophrenia. Conclusion Stress from adverse sociodemographic and obstetric conditions can possibly play a role in the development of postpartum psychosis, although these associations might be confounded by unknown previous psychiatric illness. Postpartum psychosis is often part of a severe and chronic psychiatric illness, with high non-puerperal readmission rates for many years after the postpartum psychosis. Finally, previous psychiatric disorder is a strong risk factor for postpartum psychosis. Therefore, it is very important to consider previous psychiatric disorder in antenatal and postnatal care

Role of rehabilitation in chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder: A narrative review

Objective: An increase in numbers of cases of sick leave due to stress have been reported from several European countries during recent decades. Chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder is associated with physiological and neurobiological perturbations that may contribute to cognitive problems and long-term exhaustion. Rehabilitation of patients with chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder is therefore challenging. This narrative review summarizes the evidence regarding the effectiveness of different interventions for the rehabilitation of patients with chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder. Methods: Both structured and unstructured searches of research studies and reports were performed in order to find knowledge sources. The structured search had 2 predefined inclusion criteria: (i) chronic stress-induced exhaustion/clinical burnout/severe burnout/stress-induced exhaustion; and (ii) rehabil-itation with improvement of symptoms and/or return to work as outcomes. Results: Cognitive behavioural interventions and multimodal interventions seem to reduce symptoms. Workplace interventions, either work-focused cognitive behavioural or workplace dialogue, seem to improve return to work. Sleep is important for both symptom improvement and return to work, and interventions for improving sleep might therefore be important. For improvement of cognitive function, which is a main complaint among patients with chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder, aerobic and cognitive training may have some effect. Conclusion: In summary, the few studies of high-quality that examine interventions for rehabilitation of chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder show only marginal effects. Thus, it is important to prevent the onset of chronic stress-induced exhaustion disorder

Making life work for both themselves and their parents alone- how children aged 11–16 view themselves in relation to their chronically ill parents in a primary health care setting

This study explores the main concern and life strategies of children whose parents are chronically ill in a Primary Health Care (PHC) center in Stockholm, Sweden. Data was collected through semi-structured individual interviews, and qualitative inductive constant comparative analysis resulted in a conceptual model. The two main strategies the children used were to understand the situation and to adopt a parental role. Children saw themselves as main contributors into the functioning of their families. Results show that these children also viewed their situation as difficult. It is an important mental health task for professionals in PHC to reach out and inform both ill parents and their children that children are very interested and involved in their parents’ health. These children need respect for both their capacity and their vulnerability as they struggle to make life stable and functional for themselves and their parents. Further research and development of appropriate interventions are needed in this ethically challenging area

Psychological treatments for return to work in individuals on sickness absence due to common mental disorders or musculoskeletal disorders : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials

Purpose: Common mental disorders (CMDs) and musculoskeletal disorders are highly prevalent in the population and cause significant distress and disability, and high costs to society. The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the outcome and comparative effectiveness of psychological interventions in reducing sickness absence (SA) due to CMDs or musculoskeletal disorders, compared to a waitlist control group, usual care or another clinical intervention. Methods: We reviewed 3515 abstracts of randomized controlled trials published from 1998 to 2017. Of these, 30 studies were included in the analysis. Results: The psychological interventions were overall more effective than treatment as usual in reducing SA (small effect sizes), but not compared to other clinical interventions. Results were similar for studies on CMDs and musculoskeletal pain. A few significant moderating effects were found for treatment-specific variables. However, these were difficult to interpret asthey pointed in different directions. Conclusion: There was a small but significant effect of psychological treatments in reducing SA. We identified areas of improvement such as methodological problems among the included studies and failure to specifically address RTW in the interventions that were evaluated. Clinical implications of the findings, and ways of improving methodological rigour of future studies are discussed