Distinguishing PTSD, Complex PTSD, and Borderline Personality Disorder: A latent class analysis

Background: There has been debate regarding whether Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD) is distinct from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) when the latter is comorbid with PTSD. Objective: To determine whether the patterns of symptoms endorsed by women seeking treatment for childhood abuse form classes that are consistent with diagnostic criteria for PTSD, Complex PTSD, and BPD. Method: A latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted on an archival dataset of 280 women with histories of childhood abuse assessed for enrollment in a clinical trial for PTSD. Results: The LCA revealed four distinct classes of individuals: a Low Symptom class characterized by low endorsements on all symptoms; a PTSD class characterized by elevated symptoms of PTSD but low endorsement of symptoms that define the Complex PTSD and BPD diagnoses; a Complex PTSD class characterized by elevated symptoms of PTSD and self-organization symptoms that defined the Complex PTSD diagnosis but low on the symptoms of BPD; and a BPD class characterized by symptoms of BPD. Four BPD symptoms were found to greatly increase the odds of being in the BPD compared to the Complex PTSD class: frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, unstable sense of self, unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, and impulsiveness. Conclusions: Findings supported the construct validity of Complex PTSD as distinguishable from BPD. Key symptoms that distinguished between the disorders were identified, which may aid in differential diagnosis and treatment planning

Phase diagrams in nonlocal PNJL models constrained by Lattice QCD results

Based on lattice QCD-adjusted SU(2) nonlocal Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) models, we investigate how the location of the critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram depends on the strenght of the vector meson coupling, as well as the Polyakov-loop (PL) potential and the form factors of the covariant model. The latter are constrained by lattice QCD data for the quark propagator. The strength of the vector coupling is adjusted such as to reproduce the slope of the pseudocritical temperature for the chiral phase transition at low chemical potential extracted recently from lattice QCD simulations. Our study supports the existence of a critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram albeit the constraint for the vector coupling shifts its location to lower temperatures and higher baryochemical potentials than in the case without it.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Version accepted in Phys. Part. Nucl. Lett. (to appear), references adde

Suicide with psychiatric diagnosis and without utilization of psychiatric service

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Considerable attention has been focused on the study of suicides among those who have received help from healthcare providers. However, little is known about the profiles of suicide deceased who had psychiatric illnesses but made no contact with psychiatric services prior to their death. Behavioural model of health service use is applied to identify factors associated with the utilization of psychiatric service among the suicide deceased.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>With respect to completed suicide cases, who were diagnosed with a mental disorder, a comparison study was made between those who had (contact group; n = 52; 43.7%) and those who had not made any contact (non-contact group; n = 67; 56.3%) with a psychiatrist during the final six months prior to death. A <it>sample </it>of 119 deceased cases aged between 15 and 59 with at least one psychiatric diagnosis assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR (SCID I) were selected from a psychological autopsy study in Hong Kong.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The contact and non-contact group could be well distinguished from each other by "<it>predisposing</it>" variables: age group & gender, and most of the "<it>enabling"</it>, and "<it>need" </it>variables tested in this study. Multiple logistic regression analysis has found four factors are statistically significantly associated with non-contact suicide deceased: (i) having non-psychotic disorders (OR = 13.5, 95% CI:2.9-62.9), (ii) unmanageable debts (OR = 10.5, CI:2.4-45.3), (iii) being full/partially/self employed at the time of death (OR = 10.0, CI:1.6-64.1) and (iv) having higher levels of social problem-solving ability (SPSI) (OR = 2.0, CI:1.1-3.6).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The non-contact group was clearly different from the contact group and actually comprised a larger proportion of the suicide population that they could hardly be reached by usual individual-based suicide prevention efforts. For this reason, both universal and strategic suicide prevention measures need to be developed specifically in non-medical settings to reach out to this non-contact group in order to achieve better suicide prevention results.</p

Prevalence and correlates of generalized anxiety disorder in a national sample of older adults

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to provide current estimates of the prevalence and correlates of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods: The authors used Wave 2 data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which included 12,312 adults 55+ and older. In addition to examining the prevalence of GAD in the past year, this study explored psychiatric and medical comorbidity, health-related quality of life, and rates of help-seeking and self-medication. Results: The past-year prevalence of GAD in this sample was 2.80%, although only 0.53% had GAD without Axis I or II comorbidity. The majority of individuals with GAD had mood or other anxiety disorders, and approximately one quarter had a personality disorder. Individuals with GAD were also more likely to have various chronic health problems although these associations disappeared after controlling for psychiatric comorbidity. Health-related quality of life was reduced among older adults with GAD, even after controlling for health conditions and comorbid major depression. Finally, only 18% of those without and 28.3% with comorbid Axis I disorders sought professional help for GAD in the past year. Self-medication for symptom relief was rare (7.2%). Conclusions: GAD is a common and disabling disorder in later life that is highly comorbid with mood, anxiety, and personality disorders; psychiatric comorbidity is associated with an increased risk of medical conditions in this population. Considering that late-life GAD is associated with impaired quality of life but low levels of professional help-seeking increased effort is needed to help individuals with this disorder to access effective treatments. © 2011 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Characterization of RuO2-based film electrodes by secondary ion mass spectrometry

Concentration depth profiles of Ti-supported RuO2-TiO2 films, prepared by pyrolysis of ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate and titanium diisopropoxide bis-pentane-2,4-dionate, have been studied by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The Ru-102:Ti-48 ion intensity ratio vs. the nominal concentration of ruthenium oxide was followed for samples obtained from precursors dissolved in different solvents. The dependence on bombarding time of ion intensity profiles for other species, such as O- (m/z = 16), OH- (m/z = 17), (TiO+)-Ti-46 (m/z = 62), (TiOH+)-Ti-50 (m/z = 63) was also studied. The mixed oxide films were characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The results of the combined research support the idea that microstructural and chemical impurities are concentrated in the outermost part of the film. This phenomenon seems to depend on the composition of the solvent used for the precursor salts