Schema modes in cluster B personality disorders

Summary Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the role of schema modes in cluster B personality disorders. Materials and methods: The participants were 220 individuals -38 men and 137 women -selected from psychiatric and psychological clinics in Tabriz, Iran. Among the participants, 153 individuals were diagnosed with cluster B personality disorder (44 with borderline disorder, 16 with antisocial disorder, 56 with histrionic disorder and 37 with narcissistic personality disorder). The remaining 67 participants had no personality disorder. The diagnosis was based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders (SCID-II). All participants (with or without personality disorder) were assessed with Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MC-MI-III) and Schema Mode Inventory (SMI). Results: Vulnerable, angry and impulsive child modes are predictors of borderline personality disorder, and angry child, self-soother and healthy adult modes are predictors of antisocial personality disorder. The impulsive and happy child, the attack-bully and healthy adult schema modes predict histrionic personality disorder. Finally, the angry child, happy child, self-soother and self-aggrandizer schema modes could predict narcissistic personality disorder. Conclusions: Special schema modes have a role in explaining cluster B personality disorders, and yet these disorders may overlap with regard to some dimensions, especially in terms of cognitions and beliefs. This can be interpreted as a lack of specificity in categorical classification systems such as the DSM. personality disorder/cluster B/schema modes/cognitive theory of personality disorde

Escitalopram and progressive muscle relaxation training are both effective for the treatment of hot flashes in patients with breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial

Introduction Available treatments for hot flashes in patients with breast cancer are not always tolerable or effective for all patients. Methods Patients diagnosed to have primary breast cancer were randomly allocated to receive 10 mg of escitalopram, placebo, or progressive muscle relaxation therapy. Patients were asked to report the frequency and duration of hot flashes during day and night, at baseline and after ten weeks of treatment, and completed the menopause rating scale. Results Eighty-two patients were randomly assigned to receive escitalopram (n = 26), PMRT (n = 28), and placebo (n = 28). PMRT and escitalopram could effectively decrease number and duration of diurnal and nocturnal HFs in patients with breast cancer, with a better effect observed from escitalopram. They could both decrease the total score of MRS. Conclusion Both escitalopram ad PMRT can reveal nocturnal and diurnal HFs in terms of frequency and duration in patients with breast cancer

Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research