Increased involvement of the parahippocampal gyri in a sad mood predicts future depressive symptoms

Behavioral studies suggest a relationship between autobiographical memory, rumination and depression. The objective of this study was to determine whether remitted depressed patients show alterations in connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC, a node in the default mode network) with the parahippocampal gyri (PHG, a region associated with autobiographical memory) while intensively recalling negative memories and whether this is related to daily life symptoms and to the further course of depression. Sad mood was induced with keywords of personal negative life events in participants with remitted depression (n = 29) and matched healthy controls (n = 29) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Additionally, daily life assessments of mood and rumination and a 6-month follow-up were conducted. Remitted depressed participants showed greater connectivity than healthy controls of the PCC with the PHG, which was even stronger in patients with more previous episodes. Furthermore, patients with increased PCC–PHG connectivity showed a sadder mood and more rumination in daily life and a worsening of rumination and depression scores during follow-up. A relationship of negative autobiographical memory processing, rumination, sad mood and depression on a neural level seems likely. The identified increased connectivity probably indicates a ‘scar’ of recurrent depression and may represent a prognostic factor for future depression

Evaluation eines deutschsprachigen Instrumentes zur Erfassung positiver und negativer automatischer Gedanken bei Kindern und Jugendlichen (Evaluation of a German-language tool for measuring positive and negative automatic thoughts in children and adolescents).

Theoretischer Hintergrund: Negative automatische Gedanken stellen nach Beck eine wichtige Ursache für depressive Störungen dar. Fragestellung: Überprüfung der psychometrischen Gütekriterien des deutschen „Fragebogens für negative und positive automatische Gedanken” (FAG) bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Methode: Der Fragebogen wurde an einer unselektierten Stichprobe aus der Allgemeinbevölkerung (n = 952) zwischen 11 und 16 Jahren untersucht. Die Stichprobe wurde in die beiden Gruppen ≤ 13 Jahre und \u3e 13 Jahre aufgeteilt. Ergebnisse: In der Gruppe ≤ 13 Jahre wurden die Skalen „negative Selbstaussagen” und „positive Selbstaussagen”, in der Gruppe \u3e 13 Jahre die Skalen „negative Selbstaussagen”, „Selbstvertrauen” und „Wohlbefinden” faktorenanalytisch extrahiert. Die internen Konsistenzen der FAG-Skalen lagen zwischen .75 und .89. Alle Skalen wiesen signifikante Zusammenhänge mit Depressivität auf und differenzierten zwischen höher und niedriger depressiven Teilnehmern. Schlussfolgerung: Insgesamt bestätigen die Ergebnisse die Reliabilität und Validität des FAG bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Background: Beck postulates that negative automatic thoughts area risk factors for depression. Objective: The study presented here examines that psychometric properties of the German version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire Revised (”Fragebogen für negative und positive automatische Gedanken”, FAG) in children and adolescents. Method: The study investigated an unselected community sample aged between 11 and 16 years (n = 952), which was divided into the two groups (≤ 13 years and \u3e 13 years). Results: Factor analyses revealed the scales ”negative self-statements” and ”positive self-statements” in the group ≤ 13 years and the scales ”negative self-statements”, ”self-confidence”, and ”well-being” in the group \u3e 13 years. Internal consistencies ranked between .75 and .89. All scales were significantly associated with depression and differentiated between more and less depressed participants. Conclusion: The FAG is a reliable and valid instrument to measure negative and positive automatic thoughts in children and adolescents

Dispositional self-compassion and responses to mood challenge in people at risk for depressive relapse/recurrence

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.This paper explores the relationship between dispositional self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation capacities in individuals with a history of depression. Study 1 (n = 403) established that self-compassion was associated with increased use of positive and decreased use of negative strategies, with small to medium sized correlations. Study 2 (n = 68) was an experimental study examining the association between dispositional self-compassion, use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and changes in mood and self-devaluation in participants exposed to a negative mood induction followed by mood repair (mindfulness, rumination, silence). Individuals with higher levels of dispositional self-compassion showed greater mood recovery after mood induction, and less self-devaluation across the experimental procedure, independent of their mood-repair condition or habitual forms of cognitive emotion regulation. These results suggest that self-compassion is associated with more adaptive responses to mood challenges in individuals with a history of recurrent depression.Wellcome TrustWellcome TrustNational Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programm

The Effects of Experimentally Induced Rumination, Positive Reappraisal, Acceptance, and Distancing When Thinking About a Stressful Event on Affect States in Adolescents

The current study compares the effects of experimentally induced rumination, positive reappraisal, distancing, and acceptance on affect states in adolescents aged 13–18. Participants (N = 160) were instructed to think about a recent stressful event. Next, they received specific instructions on how to think about that event in each condition. Manipulation checks revealed that the manipulations were successful, except for acceptance. The two most reported events were “a fight” and “death of loved one”. Results showed that positive reappraisal (i.e., thinking about the benefits and personal growth) caused a significantly larger increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect compared to rumination, distancing, and acceptance. Current findings implicate that positive reappraisal seems an adequate coping strategy in the short-term, and therefore could be applied in interventions for youth experiencing difficulties managing negative affect. Future research should focus on long-term effects of these cognitive strategies and on more intensive training of acceptance

Moegliche Problembereiche fuer die zukuenftige europaeische Verkehrspolitik im Hinblick auf kuenftige Forschungs- und Entwicklungsaktivitaeten: Endbericht zum Projektteil A 1 d. Studie Soziooekonom. Auswirkungen bei d. Einf. e. spurgebundenen Schnellverkehrssystems mit neuer Technologie im europ. Fernverkehr ; Forschungsvorhaben im Auftr. d. Bundesministers fuer Forschung u. Technologie

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 142124 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Somatoform dissociation and posttraumatic stress syndrome – two sides of the same medal? : A comparison of symptom profiles, trauma history and altered affect regulation between patients with functional neurological symptoms and patients with PTSD

BackgroundHistory of traumatic experience is common in dissociative disorder (DD), and similarity of symptoms and characteristics between DD and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) encouraged to consider DD as trauma-related disorder. However, conceptualization of DD as a trauma-related syndrome would critically affect diagnosis and treatment strategies. The present study addressed overlap and disparity of DD and PTSD by directly comparing correspondence of symptoms, adverse/traumatic experience, and altered affect regulation between patients diagnosed with dissociative disorder (characterized by negative functional neurological symptoms) and patients diagnosed with PTSD.MethodsSomatoform and psychoform dissociation, symptoms of posttraumatic stress, general childhood adversities and lifetime traumata, and alexithymia as index of altered affect regulation were screened with standardized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in 60 patients with DD (ICD-codes F44.4, F44.6, F44.7), 39 patients with PTSD (ICD-code F43.1), and 40 healthy comparison participants (HC).ResultsDD and PTSD patients scored higher than HC on somatoform and psychoform dissociative symptom scales and alexithymia, and reported more childhood adversities and higher trauma load. PTSD patients reported higher symptom severity and more traumata than DD patients. Those 20 DD patients who met criteria of co-occuring PTSD did not differ from PTSD patients in the amount of reported symptoms of somatoform dissociation, physical and emotional childhood adversities and lifetime traumata, while emotional neglect/abuse in childhood distinguished DD patients with and without co-occuring PTSD (DD patients with co-occuring PTSD reporting more emotional maltreatment).ConclusionThe pattern of distinctive somatoform and psychoform dissociative symptom severity, type of childhood and lifetime traumata, and amount of alexithymia suggests that DD and PTSD are distinctive syndromes and, therefore, challenges the conceptualization of DD as trauma-related disorder. Together with the detected close correspondence of symptom and experience profiles in DD patients with co-occuring PTSD and PTSD patients, these findings suggest that adverse/traumatic experience may intensify dissociative symptoms, but are not a necessary condition in the generation of functional neurological symptoms. Still, diagnosis and treatment of DD need to consider this impact of traumata and post-traumatic stress symptoms.publishe