Parental attendance in two early-childhood training programmes to improve nurturing care: A randomized controlled trial

Parent training programmes have significant potential to improve the quality of children's early environments and thereby their development and life-course outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify and explain the extent to which parents engaged in two group-based training programmes, offered to high-risk families enrolled in a randomized controlled trial study called PIÁ in Southern Brazil. The programmes were: (1) ACT: Raising Safe Kids, a 9-week programme aiming to reduce harsh parenting and maltreatment and improve positive parenting practices; (2) Dialogic book-sharing (DBS), an 8-week programme aiming to promote parental sensitivity and improve child cognitive development and social understanding. Of the 123 mothers randomly allocated to the ACT programme, 64.2% (n = 79) completed the course, and of 124 mothers allocated to DBS, 76.6% (n = 95) completed the course. After the interventions, mothers were very positive about the experience of both programmes but highlighted practical difficulties in attending. In adjusted regression analyses, only two variables significantly predicted ACT course completion (maternal age and distance between the intervention site and household); no significant predictor was found for DBS attendance. We conclude that although high completion rates are possible, there are important challenges to engaging parents of young children in training programmes, and practical difficulties occurring during training courses may be more important for attendance than baseline participant characteristics

Anticonvulsivantes e antipsicóticos no tratamento do transtorno bipolar Anticonvulsants and antipsychotics in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder

O transtorno bipolar é uma condição médica complexa e até o momento não há um tratamento único comprovadamente eficaz no controle de todos aspectos da doença. Foram revisadas a literatura disponível sobre o uso de anticonvulsivantes (valproato, carbamazepina, oxcarbazepina, lamotrigina, gabapentina, topiramato, clonazepam) e antipsicóticos atípicos (clozapina, risperidona, olanzapina, quetiapina, ziprasidona e aripiprazole) no tratamento agudo e profilático do transtorno bipolar. Existe um acúmulo de evidências acerca da eficácia do lítio na profilaxia e de ser melhor no tratamento da mania aguda do que nos episódios depressivos. Outros dados indicam que a carbamazepina e o valproato são eficazes na mania aguda. A lamotrigina parece reduzir ciclagem e ser eficaz em episódios depressivos. Baseado nas informações disponíveis, as evidências apontam a olanzapina como o antipsicótico atípico mais apropriado no tratamento de pacientes bipolares em mania, embora existam estudos sugerindo a eficácia da risperidona, aripiprazol e da clozapina. Resultados preliminares avaliando a eficácia de ziprasidona e quetiapina no transtorno bipolar ainda são bastante limitadas. Não há dados consistentes apoiando o uso profilático dos novos antipsicóticos.<br>Bipolar disorder is a complex medical condition, and up to the date there is no single treatment with proven efficacy in the control of all aspects of the illness. The available literature on the use of anticonvulsants (valproate, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, lamotrigine, gabapentin, topiramate, clonazepam) and atypical antipsychotics (clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, and aripiprazole) for acute and prophylactic treatment of bipolar disorder was reviewed. There is a large amount of evidence that lithium is efficacious in the prophylaxis of episodes and better for acute mania than for depressive episodes. Other data show that carbamazepine and valproate are effective in acute manic episodes. Lamotrigine has been shown to reduce cycling and effective in depressive episodes. Based on the available data, olanzapine was found to be the most appropriate atypical antipsychotic agent for the treatment of manic bipolar patients, although there are also studies suggesting the efficacy of risperidone, aripiprazole and clozapine. The preliminary data evaluating the efficacy of quetiapine and ziprasidone in bipolar disorder are still very limited. There is no consistent information supporting the prophylactic use of newer antipsychotics

Neurobiologia do transtorno de humor bipolar e tomada de decisão na abordagem psicofarmacológica

O Transtorno do Humor Bipolar (THB) caracteriza-se por oscilações do humor que causam prejuízos significativos no âmbito biopsicossocial. O interesse da comunidade científica por este transtorno vem aumentando nos últimos cinco anos em função de sua crescente prevalência associada ao refinamento diagnóstico, à ampliação do arsenal terapêutico e ao conhecimento dos avanços nas pesquisas da neurobiologia do transtorno. A presente revisão aborda questões diagnosticas e terapêuticas aplicadas à neurobiologia dos THB, relacionando-as diretamente à terapêutica dos quadros de mania, hipomania, estados mistos, depressão bipolar e ciclagem rápida, da infância à idade adulta. São revisados criticamente importantes estudos realizados com diferentes fármacos potencialmente eficazes como estabilizadores do humor, nos diversos subdiagnósticos do THB. São analisados fármacos, tais como o lítio, anticonvulsivantes, antipsicóticos, benzodiazepínicos, bloqueadores dos canais de cálcio e hormônio tireoideo, bem como as possíveis bases biológicas para seus efeitos terapêuticos. Em síntese, este trabalho aborda os avanços da psicofarmacologia cuja eficácia é comprovada nos subtipos do THB, procurando relacioná-los com a neurobiologia deste transtorno.Bipolar Disorder (BD) is characterized by mood swings that cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. During the last years, new insights have been provided in the diagnosis, etiology, neurobiological basis and treatment of bipolar disorder. This paper emphasizes recent studies related to some diagnostic and therapeutic aspects during manic episode, hypomanic, mixed episode, bipolar depression and rapid cycling, in children, adolescents and adults. Studies using proposed mood stabilizers, which present adequate metodological basis, including double–blind, controlled studies and which presented a significant number of patients were included and critically evaluated in this revision. Drugs such as the lithium, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, calcium channels blockers and thyroid augmentation are proposed to be effective in certain diagnostic profiles. The possible biological bases for these drugs therapeutic effects are also revised. In summary, this article focuses on recent and important psychopharmacological progresses on the treatment of BD subtypes. Furthermore, the revision presents possible biological basis to explain the therapeutic profile of these drugs