Meeting report of the 2nd German dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents network meeting

Over the past 30 years, dialectical behavior therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for adult borderline personality disorder. The adaptation of DBT for adolescents (DBT-A) in different patient groups has also led to some promising improvements of the respective psychopathology. During the second German DBT-A network meeting in 2015 in Mainz, Germany, a need for further research and innovative approaches in treatment of adolescents became apparent and resulted in controversial discussions. Main issues were enlarging evidence of effectiveness of DBT-A strategies with regard to family interaction, i.e. involving caregivers in treatment. In general, there seems to be a dire need for disentangling different therapeutic strategies and resulting treatment outcomes, especially concerning the needs of different patient groups. Additionally, the implementation of smartphone-based real life assessment and intervention into DBT-A was discussed extensively. Providing time congruent skills within an application, decreasing aversive tension and reducing dysfunctional behavior could lead to an enhanced therapist-patient interaction. This meeting report presents the core issues raised during the network meeting and discusses their implications for further research

Aversive tension in female adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa : a controlled ecological momentary assessment using smartphones

BACKGROUND: Current models of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) emphasize the role of emotion regulation. Aversive tension, described as a state of intense arousal and negative valence, is considered to be a link between emotional events and disordered eating. Recent research focused only on adult patients, and mainly general emotion regulation traits were studied. However, the momentary occurrence of aversive tension, particularly in adolescents with AN, has not been previously studied. METHOD: 20 female adolescents with AN in outpatient treatment and 20 healthy adolescents aged 12 to 19years participated in an ecological momentary assessment using their smartphones. Current states of aversive tension and events were assessed hourly for two consecutive weekdays. Mean and maximum values of aversive tension were compared. Multilevel analyses were computed to test the influence of time and reported events on aversive tension. The effect of reported events on subsequent changes of aversive tension in patients with AN were additionally tested in a multilevel model. RESULTS: AN patients showed higher mean and maximum levels of aversive tension. In a multilevel model, reported food intake was associated with higher levels of aversive tension in the AN group, whereas reported school or sport-related events were not linked to specific states of aversive tension. After food intake, subsequent increases of aversive tension were diminished and decreases of aversive tension were induced in adolescents with AN. CONCLUSIONS: Aversive tension may play a substantial role in the psychopathology of AN, particular in relation with food intake. Therefore, treatment should consider aversive tension as a possible intervening variable during refeeding. Our findings encourage further research on aversive tension and its link to disordered eating. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German register of clinical trials (DRKS): DRKS00005228 (Date of registration: September 2, 2013)

The spanish body image state scale: factor structure, reliability and validity in a colombian population

Objective: Body image is a construct highly dependent on culture and ethnicity. Furthermore, recent studies reveal that body image is not only a trait, but also a momentary state subject to change in diverse situational contexts. However, cultural influences on momentary body image have not been sufficiently investigated. To assess the influence of Latin American culture on momentary body image and to enable its comparison to Western countries, the Spanish translation of an existing state body image scale such as the Body Image States Scale (BISS) is needed. In addition, the factor structure, reliability and general validity of the Spanish BISS (S-BISS) should be evaluated prior to its application in diverse situational contexts. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study evaluating 1137 individuals between the ages of 18 and 28 years from Barranquilla, Colombia, South America. The original BISS, which assesses body satisfaction, was translated from English to Spanish. Factorial structure, scale score reliability and convergent/divergent validity were assessed. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a one-factor model with correlated items best described the factorial structure present in the BISS questionnaire. The coefficient of scale score reliability was a = 0.92 (McDonalds & = 0.93), with similar results for men and women. Significant differences between males and females were found with lesser body satisfaction in females (W = 163260, p = 0.016). Lower S-BISS scores indicating less body satisfaction were associated with higher BMI (r = −0.287, p < 0.001) and obtained in participants who were currently on a diet (t1135 = −3.98, p < 0.001). The S-BISS was negatively correlated with a trait body image measurement assessing body dissatisfaction (Body Shape Questionnaire, r = −0.577, p < 0.001) and a psychopathology questionnaire (Brief Symptom Inventory 53, r = −0.331, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The S-BISS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess body image in the Colombian population, and exhibits similar psychometric properties to those of the original version. Future studies should examine whether the S-BISS captures change in state body image when applied in diverse situational contexts

Atomic structure of dislocation kinks in silicon

We investigate the physics of the core reconstruction and associated structural excitations (reconstruction defects and kinks) of dislocations in silicon, using a linear-scaling density-matrix technique. The two predominant dislocations (the 90-degree and 30-degree partials) are examined, focusing for the 90-degree case on the single-period core reconstruction. In both cases, we observe strongly reconstructed bonds at the dislocation cores, as suggested in previous studies. As a consequence, relatively low formation energies and high migration barriers are generally associated with reconstructed (dangling-bond-free) kinks. Complexes formed of a kink plus a reconstruction defect are found to be strongly bound in the 30-degree partial, while the opposite is true in the case of 90-degree partial, where such complexes are found to be only marginally stable at zero temperature with very low dissociation barriers. For the 30-degree partial, our calculated formation energies and migration barriers of kinks are seen to compare favorably with experiment. Our results for the kink energies on the 90-degree partial are consistent with a recently proposed alternative double-period structure for the core of this dislocation.Comment: 12 pages, two-column style with 8 postscript figures embedded. Uses REVTEX and epsf macros. Also available at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#rn_di

Validation of a Latin-American Spanish version of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA-LA) in Colombian and Nicaraguan adults

Background: Body dissatisfaction (BD) is a growing concern in Latin America; reliable and culturally appropriate scales are necessary to support body image research in Spanish speaking Latin American countries. We sought to validate a Latin-American Spanish version of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA; Mendelson et al. 2001). Methods: The BESAA was translated, culturally adapted, and validated in a sample of adults in Colombia (N = 525, 65% women, Mage 24.4, SD = 9.28). We assessed factor structure (using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and exploratory structural equation model (ESEM)), internal reliability (using Cronbach’s alpha and omega), validity (using the Body Appreciation Scale BAS and Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire SATAQ), test–retest stability in a small subsample (N = 84, using Intraclass correlations ICC) and measurement invariance across gender. To evaluate the generalizability of the scale, we assessed reliability, validity, and factor structure in a second sample from rural Nicaragua (N = 102, 73% women, Mage 22.2, SD = 4.72), and assessed measurement invariance across Nicaraguan and Colombian participants. Results: The scale showed good internal reliability and validity in both samples, and there was evidence of adequate test–retest stability in the Colombian sample. EFA showed a three-factor structure with subscales we labelled ‘appearance-positive’, ‘appearance-negative’ and ‘weight’, that was confirmed using CFA and ESEM in the Colombian sample. Measurement invariance was confirmed across the Colombian and Nicaraguan samples, and across gender within the Colombian sample. Conclusion: The Latin-American Spanish version of the BESAA (BESAA-LA) appears to be a psychometrically sound measure with good reliability, validity and invariance across gender and countries. These results support the use of this scale to measure body satisfaction/dissatisfaction in Latin American adult populations

A period-doubled structure for the 90-degree partial dislocation in silicon

We suggest that the commonly-accepted core structure of the 90-degree partial dislocation in Si may not be correct, and propose instead a period-doubled structure. We present LDA, tight-binding, and classical Keating-model calculations, all of which indicate that the period-doubled structure is lower in energy. The new structure displays a broken mirror symmetry in addition to the period doubling, leading to a wide variety of possible soliton-like defects and kinks.Comment: 4 pages, two-column style with 3 postscript figures embedded. Uses REVTEX and epsf macros. Also available at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#jb_di

Core reconstruction of the 90-degree partial dislocation in non-polar semiconductors

We investigate the energetics of the single-period and double-period core reconstructions of the 90-degree partial dislocation in the homopolar semiconductors C, Si, and Ge. The double-period geometry is found to be lower in energy in all three materials, and the energy difference between the two geometries is shown to follow the same trends as the energy gap and the stiffness. Both structures are fully reconstructed, consisting entirely of fourfold coordinated atoms. They differ primarily in the detail of the local strains introduced by the the two reconstructions in the core region. The double-period structure is shown to introduce smaller average bond-length deviations, at the expense of slightly larger average bond-angle bending distortions, with respect to the single-period core. The balance between these two strain components leads to the lower energy of the double-period reconstruction.Comment: 4 pages, two-column style with 1 postscript figure embedded. Uses REVTEX and epsf macros. Also available at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#rn_dp9

Seasonal variation of BMI at admission in German adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Objective Recent preliminary studies indicated a seasonal association of BMI at admission to inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN), indicating lower BMI in the cold season for restrictive AN. An impaired thermoregulation was proposed as the causal factor, based on findings in animal models of AN. However, findings regarding seasonality of BMI and physical activity levels in the general population indicate lower BMI and higher physical activity in summer than in winter. Therefore, we aimed to thoroughly replicate the findings regarding seasonality of BMI at admission in patients with AN in this study. Method AN subtype, age- and gender-standardized BMI scores (BMI-SDS) at admission, mean daily sunshine duration and ambient temperature at the residency of 304 adolescent inpatients with AN of the multi-center German AN registry were analyzed. Results A main effect of DSM-5 AN subtype was found (F(2,298) = 6.630, p = .002), indicating differences in BMI-SDS at admission between restrictive, binge/purge and subclinical AN. No main effect of season on BMI-SDS at admission was found (F(1,298) = 4.723, p = .025), but an interaction effect of DSM-5 subtype and season was obtained (F(2,298) = 6.625, p = .001). Post-hoc group analyses revealed a lower BMI-SDS in the warm season for restrictive AN with a non-significant small effect size (t(203.16) = 2.140, p = .033; Hedges′g = 0.28). Small correlations of mean ambient temperature (r = −.16) and daily sunshine duration (r = −.22) with BMI-SDS in restrictive AN were found. However, the data were widely scattered. Conclusions Our findings are contrary to previous studies and question the thermoregulatory hypothesis, indicating that seasonality in AN is more complex and might be subject to other biological or psychological factors, for example physical activity or body dissatisfaction. Our results indicate only a small clinical relevance of seasonal associations of BMI-SDS merely at admission. Longitudinal studies investigating within-subject seasonal changes might be more promising to assess seasonality in AN and of higher clinical relevance

Smoking, Variation In N-acetyltransferase 1 (nat1) And 2 (nat2), And Risk Of Non-hodgkin Lymphoma: A Pooled Analysis Within The Interlymph Consortium

Studies of smoking and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have yielded inconsistent results, possibly due to subtype heterogeneity and/or genetic variation impacting the metabolism of tobacco-derived carcinogens, including substrates of the N-acetyltransferase enzymes NAT1 and NAT2. We conducted a pooled analysis of 5,026 NHL cases and 4,630 controls from seven case-control studies in the international lymphoma epidemiology consortium to examine associations between smoking, variation in the N-acetyltransferase genes NAT1 and NAT2, and risk of NHL subtypes. Smoking data were harmonized across studies, and genetic variants in NAT1 and NAT2 were used to infer acetylation phenotype of the NAT1 and NAT2 enzymes, respectively. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) for risk of NHL and subtypes were calculated using joint fixed effects unconditional logistic regression models. Current smoking was associated with a significant 30 % increased risk of follicular lymphoma (n = 1,176) but not NHL overall or other NHL subtypes. The association was similar among NAT2 slow (OR 1.36; 95 % CI 1.07-1.75) and intermediate/rapid (OR 1.27; 95 % CI 0.95-1.69) acetylators (p (interaction) = 0.82) and also did not differ by NAT1*10 allelotype. Neither NAT2 phenotype nor NAT1*10 allelotype was associated with risk of NHL overall or NHL subtypes. The current findings provide further evidence for a modest association between current smoking and follicular lymphoma risk and suggest that this association may not be influenced by variation in the N-acetyltransferase enzymes