Preventing adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing symptoms : effects of the Penn Resiliency Program

This study reports secondary outcome analyses from a past study of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program for middle-school aged children. Middle school students (N = 697) were randomly assigned to PRP, PEP (an alternate intervention), or control conditions. Gillham et al., (2007) reported analyses examining PRP’s effects on average and clinical levels of depression symptoms. We examine PRP’s effects on parent-, teacher-, and self-reports of adolescents’ externalizing and broader internalizing (depression/anxiety, somatic complaints, and social withdrawal) symptoms over three years of follow-up. Relative to no intervention control, PRP reduced parent-reports of adolescents’ internalizing symptoms beginning at the first assessment after the intervention and persisting for most of the follow-up assessments. PRP also reduced parent-reported conduct problems relative to no-intervention. There was no evidence that the PRP program produced an effect on teacher- or self-report of adolescents’ symptoms. Overall, PRP did not reduce symptoms relative to the alternate intervention, although there is a suggestion of a delayed effect for conduct problems. These findings are discussed with attention to developmental trajectories and the importance of interventions that address common risk factors for diverse forms of negative outcomes.peer-reviewe

Resilience Education

As a primary learning and social environment for most children, schools have tremendous potential to, and responsibility for, promoting resilience and well-being in children. This chapter reviews the rationale for focusing on resilience in education and illustrates some of the ways that schools can promote resilience in young people. Although resilience education can also encompass academic or educational resilience, the authors focus primarily on the power of schools to promote students’ social and emotional well-being and provide examples from their team’s work on school-based resilience and positive psychology interventions. As they hope to show, resilience education holds great promise in promoting the well-being of all students

Depression Prevention For Early Adolescent Girls: A Pilot Study Of All-Girls Versus Co-Ed Groups

Given the dramatic increase in depression that occurs during early adolescence in girls, interventions must address the needs of girls. The authors examined whether a depression prevention program, the Penn Resiliency Program, was more effective for girls in all-girls groups than in co-ed groups. Within co-ed groups, the authors also tested whether there were greater effects for boys than for girls. Participants were 20811-to 14-year-olds. Girls were randomly assigned to all-girls groups, co-ed groups, or control. Boys were assigned to co-ed groups or control. Students completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and explanatory style before and after the intervention. Girls groups were better than co-ed groups in reducing girls’ hopelessness and for session attendance rates but were similar to co-ed groups in reducing depressive symptoms. Co-ed groups decreased depressive symptoms, but this did not differ by gender. Findings support prevention programs and suggest additional benefits of girls groups

School-Based Prevention Of Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Study Of The Effectiveness And Specificity Of The Penn Resiliency Program

The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned to PRP, Control (CON), or the Penn Enhancement Program (PEP; K. J. Reivich, 1996; A. J. Shatté, 1997), an alternate intervention that controls for nonspecific intervention ingredients. Children\u27s depressive symptoms were assessed through 3 years of follow-up. There was no intervention effect on average levels of depressive symptoms in the full sample. Findings varied by school. In 2 schools, PRP significantly reduced depressive symptoms across the follow-up relative to both CON and PEP. In the 3rd school, PRP did not prevent depressive symptoms. The authors discuss the findings in relation to previous research on PRP and the dissemination of prevention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract

Evaluation Of A Group Cognitive-Behavioral Depression Prevention Program For Young Adolescents: A Randomized Effectiveness Trial

Depression is a common psychological problem in adolescence. Recent research suggests that group cognitive-behavioral interventions can reduce and prevent symptoms of depression in youth. Few studies have tested the effectiveness of such interventions when delivered by school teachers and counselors (as opposed to research team staff). We evaluated the effectiveness of the Penn Resiliency Program for adolescents (PRP-A), a school-based group intervention that targets cognitive behavioral risk factors for depression. We randomly assigned 408 middle school students (ages 10–15) to one of three conditions: PRP-A, PRP-AP (in which adolescents participated in PRP-A and parents were invited to attend a parent intervention component), or a school-as-usual control. Adolescents completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, cognitive style, and coping at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. PRP-A reduced depression symptoms relative to the school as usual control. Baseline levels of hopelessness moderated intervention effects. Among participants with average and high levels of hopelessness, PRP (A and AP) significantly improved depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, hopelessness, and active coping relative to control. Among participants with low baseline hopelessness, we found no intervention effects. PRP-AP was not more effective than PRP-A alone. We found no intervention effects on clinical levels of depression or anxiety. These findings suggest that cognitive-behavioral interventions can be beneficial when delivered by school teachers and counselors. These interventions may be most helpful to students with elevated hopelessness

A Model of Brain Circulation and Metabolism: NIRS Signal Changes during Physiological Challenges

We construct a model of brain circulation and energy metabolism. The model is designed to explain experimental data and predict the response of the circulation and metabolism to a variety of stimuli, in particular, changes in arterial blood pressure, CO2 levels, O2 levels, and functional activation. Significant model outputs are predictions about blood flow, metabolic rate, and quantities measurable noninvasively using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), including cerebral blood volume and oxygenation and the redox state of the CuA centre in cytochrome c oxidase. These quantities are now frequently measured in clinical settings; however the relationship between the measurements and the underlying physiological events is in general complex. We anticipate that the model will play an important role in helping to understand the NIRS signals, in particular, the cytochrome signal, which has been hard to interpret. A range of model simulations are presented, and model outputs are compared to published data obtained from both in vivo and in vitro settings. The comparisons are encouraging, showing that the model is able to reproduce observed behaviour in response to various stimuli

Does visual cortex lactate increase following photic stimulation in migraine without aura patients? A functional 1H-MRS study

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been used in a number of studies to assess noninvasively the temporal changes of lactate (Lac) in the activated human brain. Migraine neurobiology involves lack of cortical habituation to repetitive stimuli and a mitochondrial component has been put forward. Our group has recently demonstrated a reduction in the high-energy phosphates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) in the occipital lobe of migraine without aura (MwoA) patients, at least in a subgroup, in a phosphorus MRS (31P-MRS) study. In previous studies, basal Lac levels or photic stimulation (PS)-induced Lac levels were found to be increased in patients with migraine with aura (MwA) and migraine patients with visual symptoms and paraesthesia, paresia and/or dysphasia, respectively. The aim of this study was to perform functional 1H-MRS at 3 T in 20 MwoA patients and 20 control subjects. Repetitive visual stimulation was applied using MR-compatible goggles with 8 Hz checkerboard stimulation during 12 min. We did not observe any significant differences in signal integrals, ratios and absolute metabolite concentrations, including Lac, between MwoA patients and controls before PS. Lac also did not increase significantly during and following PS, both for MwoA patients and controls. Subtle Lac changes, smaller than the sensitivity threshold (i.e. estimated at 0.1–0.2 μmol/g at 3 T), cannot be detected by MRS. Our study does, however, argue against a significant switch to non-aerobic glucose metabolism during long-lasting PS of the visual cortex in MwoA patients

High-normal blood glucose levels may be associated with decreased spatial perception in young healthy adults.

The negative effects of high normal glucose on cognitive function were previously reported in euglycemic individuals of middle age and the elderly population. This study aimed at examining the effect of baseline blood glucose levels on spatial ability, specifically verticality perception on the computerized rod and frame test (CRFT) in young healthy adults. 63 healthy male medical students (age range from 18-23 years), of whom 30 were non-fasting outside the month of Ramadan and 33 fasting during Ramadan of the year 2016, were recruited in order to create varying degrees of glycemia during which verticality perception was carried out. Baseline blood glucose reading was obtained prior to commencing the CRFT test. Blood glucose levels at the time of testing decreased as the duration between the last meal and testing increased. A blood glucose range of 62-117 mg/dl was achieved among participants for this study. Linear regression analysis showed that blood glucose level at testing correlated positively with all alignment spatial error parameters, indicating a probable reduction of spatial perception ability with higher blood glucose levels. These results are consistent with other cognitive studies in older healthy humans and emphasize the critical impact of early glucose dys-homeostasis on cognitive function. They also indicate that elevated blood glucose may affect cognitive functioning outside of the usual complications of diabetes