Effects of early feeding on growth velocity and overweight/obesity in a cohort of HIV unexposed South African infants and children

BACKGROUND: South Africa has the highest prevalence of overweight/obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Assessing the effect of modifiable factors such as early infant feeding on growth velocity and overweight/obesity is therefore important. This paper aimed to assess the effect of infant feeding in the transitional period (12 weeks) on 12–24 week growth velocity amongst HIV unexposed children using WHO growth velocity standards and on the age and sex adjusted body mass index (BMI) Z-score distribution at 2 years. METHODS: Data were from 3 sites in South Africa participating in the PROMISE-EBF trial. We calculated growth velocity Z-scores using the WHO growth standards and assessed feeding practices using 24-hour and 7-day recall data. We used quantile regression to study the associations between 12 week infant feeding and 12–24 week weight velocity (WVZ) with BMI-for-age Z-score at 2 years. We included the internal sample quantiles (70th and 90th centiles) that approximated the reference cut-offs of +2 (corresponding to overweight) and +3 (corresponding to obesity) of the 2 year BMI-for-age Z-scores. RESULTS: At the 2-year visit, 641 children were analysed (median age 22 months, IQR: 17–26 months). Thirty percent were overweight while 8.7% were obese. Children not breastfed at 12 weeks had higher 12–24 week mean WVZ and were more overweight and obese at 2 years. In the quantile regression, children not breastfed at 12 weeks had a 0.37 (95% CI 0.07, 0.66) increment in BMI-for-age Z-score at the 50th sample quantile compared to breast-fed children. This difference in BMI-for-age Z-score increased to 0.46 (95% CI 0.18, 0.74) at the 70th quantile and 0.68 (95% CI 0.41, 0.94) at the 90th quantile . The 12–24 week WVZ had a uniform independent effect across the same quantiles. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the first 6 months of life is a critical period in the development of childhood overweight and obesity. Interventions targeted at modifiable factors such as early infant feeding practices may reduce the risks of rapid weight gain and subsequent childhood overweight/obesity.Scopu

Chilean validation of the operationalized psychodynamic diagnosis-structure questionnaire (OPD-SQ) for personality structure

Background This is the validation of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis-Structure Questionnaire (OPD-SQ). Methods A clinical sample of 399 adults and a nonclinical general population sample of 50 healthy adults completed measures of depression, attachment, psychiatric symptomatology and distress. Internal consistency and concurrent validity were assessed. Test-retest and Reliable Change Index were also calculated, as was the ability of the OPD-SQ to distinguish between the clinical and general population groups. Results High internal consistencies were found; significant differences between clinical and nonclinical samples, and significant associations with psychiatric symptomatology, depression and psychological distress. Conclusion The Chilean OPD-SQ has good reliability, and discriminates between clinical and healthy samples

Examining the role of personality functioning in a hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology using two years of ambulatory assessed data

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) arranges phenotypes of mental disorders based on empirical covariation, ranging from narrowly defined symptoms to higher-order spectra of psychopathology. Since the introduction of personality functioning (PF) in DSM-5 and ICD-11, several studies have identified PF as a predictor of transdiagnostic aspects of psychopathology. However, the role of PF in the HiTOP classification system has not been systematically examined. This study investigates how PF can be integrated into HiTOP, whether PF accounts for transdiagnostic variance captured in higher-order spectra, and how its predictive value for future affective well-being (AWB) and psychosocial impairment (PSI) compares to the predictive value of specific psychopathology beyond PF. To this end, we examined two years of ambulatory assessed data on psychopathology, PF, PSI, and AWB of N = 27,173 users of a mental health app. Results of bass-ackwards analyses largely aligned with the current HiTOP working model. Using bifactor modeling, aspects of PF were identified to capture most of the internalizing, thought disorder, and externalizing higher-order factor variance. In longitudinal prediction analyses employing bifactor-(S-1) modeling, PF explained 58.6% and 30.6% of variance in PSI and AWB when assessed across one year, respectively, and 33.1% and 23.2% of variance when assessed across two years. Results indicate that personality functioning may largely account for transdiagnostic variance captured in the higher-order components in HiTOP as well as longitudinal outcomes of PSI and AWB. Clinicians and their patients may benefit from assessing PF aspects such as identity problems or internal relationship models in a broad range of mental disorders. Further, incorporating measures of PF may advance research in biological psychiatry by providing empirically sound phenotypes

Effectiveness of an attachment-informed working alliance in interdisciplinary pain therapy

Attachment theory provides a useful framework for understanding individual differences in pain patients, especially with insecure attachment shown to be more prevalent in chronic pain patients compared to the general population. Nevertheless, there is little evidence of attachment-informed treatment approaches for this population. The present study compares outcomes from two different attachment-informed treatment modalities for clinicians, with outcomes from treatment as usual (TAU). In both intervention groups (IG1 and IG2), clinicians received bi-monthly training sessions on attachment. Additionally, clinicians in IG1 had access to the attachment diagnostics of their patients. All treatments lasted for four weeks and included a 6-month follow up. A total of 374 chronic pain patients were recruited to participate in this study (TAU = 159/IG1 = 163/IG2 = 52). Analyses were carried out using multilevel modeling with pain intensity as the outcome variable. Additionally, working alliance was tested as a mediator of treatment efficacy. The study was registered under the trial number DRKS00008715 on the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS). Findings show that while IG2 was efficient in enhancing treatment outcomes, IG1 did not outperform TAU. In IG2, working alliance was a mediator of outcome. Results of the present study indicate that attachment-informed treatment of chronic pain can enhance existing interdisciplinary pain therapies; however, caveats are discussed

Psychotherapy Trainees' Perspective on a Longitudinal Curriculum for the Training of Psychodynamic Intervention Competencies

In psychotherapy training, longitudinal practice-based curricula for the development of psychodynamic intervention competencies are scarce. Based on Kern et al.'s (1998) cycle of curriculum development we conceptualized, implemented and evaluated a longitudinal curriculum for the development of psychodynamic intervention competencies (DYNAMIC curriculum). Didactic elements include practice-oriented training in small groups, enfolding model learning, peer- and standardized patient role-play, and qualified feedback. To qualitatively explore (a) perceived competency development of psychotherapy trainees participating in the DYNAMIC curriculum, and (b) their evaluation of the didactic formats. The curriculum comprises eight modules addressing specific psychodynamic intervention types and was implemented at a university-based German psychotherapy training institute. For qualitative evaluation, semistandardized interviews were conducted with trainees after each module. Questions addressed (a) self-perceived competency development, and (b) evaluation of teaching formats. Interviews were analyzed applying qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2015). Eighty-six interviews with 41 participants were conducted. (a) Participants perceived a growth in their psychodynamic intervention competencies with respect to skills, attitude, and knowledge (1) using the interventions more deliberately, (2) adapted to patients'-and situational conditions, (3) feeling more self-confident. They realized the importance of the therapeutic relationship and the trade-off between activity and reluctance in their therapeutic role. (b) Interviewees evaluated the role-plays plus feedback as a valuable opportunity to practice the interventions in a protected fault-forgiving environment. Participants perceived the DYNAMIC curriculum as increasing their psychodynamic intervention competencies and shaping their therapeutic attitude