Personality Disorders and Depression

Individuals with personality disorders (PDs) may be unaware of or unwilling to report on their own PD-related maladaptive behaviors and how these behaviors affect others. This set of circumstances makes the assessment of the PD continuum challenging. Informants who know individuals with PD symptoms may be uniquely situated to aid the assessment of the PD continuum. Indeed, they may have better access to and more willingness to report PD-related symptoms than targets. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate whether informants report PD symptoms with more precision and at lower levels of PD intensity than targets. Further, research has shown that PD pathology is linked to clinical disorders in different ways. Depression is one of the most widely-researched clinical disorders in psychiatry, and research has shown that PDs affect its etiology, assessment, and treatment. Thus, a secondary aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between self- and informant-reported PD features and depression. The sample consisted of 1387 targets, ages 55 to 65 (56% women), who were recruited for an epidemiological longitudinal study examining the effects of PDs on health and social functioning. In addition, for each target an informant—an acquaintance who provided information about the target’s personality—was included. Results for the present study largely supported the hypotheses. Informants identified PD pathology earlier in the development of the PD, and more precisely than targets. Furthermore, informant-reported PD pathology accounted for more variance in informant-reported depression than self-reported PD pathology accounted for the variance in self-reported depression. Results highlight the diagnostic benefits of informant report

Physiological and Psychological Changes Following Liposuction of Large Volumes of Fat in Overweight and Obese Women

Background: Liposuction can remove a substantial amount of body fat. We investigated the effects of liposuction of large volumes of fat on anthropometrics, body composition (BIA), metabolic hormones, and psychological measures in overweight/obese women. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine both physiological and psychological changes following liposuction of large volumes of fat in humans. Method: Nine premenopausal healthy overweight/obese women (age = 35.9 ± 7.1 SD, weight = 84.4 kg ± 13.6, BMI = 29.9 kg/m2 ± 2.9) underwent liposuction, removing 3.92 kg ± 1.04 SD of fat. Following an overnight fast, height, weight, waist, and hip circumferences were measured at baseline (one week pre-surgery) and post-surgery (wk 1,4,12). Blood samples were drawn for fasting concentrations of glucose, insulin, leptin, and ghrelin. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) Examination Self-Report (BDDE-SR), and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZDS) were administered. Results: Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and body fat consistently decreased over time (p \u3c .05). Glucose did not change significantly, but insulin decreased from wk 1 to wk 12 (p \u3c .05). Leptin decreased from baseline to wk 1 (p = .01); ghrelin increased but not significantly. Changes in body fat and waist circumference (baseline to wk 1) correlated positively with changes in insulin during that period, and correlated inversely with changes in ghrelin (p \u3c .05). BSQ scores decreased significantly over time (p = .004), but scores for BDDE-SR (p = .10) and ZDS (p = .24) did not change significantly. Conclusion: Liposuction led to significant decreases in body weight and fat, waist circumference, and leptin levels. Changes in body fat and waist circumference correlated with concurrent changes in the adipose-related hormones, insulin and ghrelin (baseline to wk 1), and body shape perception improved. Thus, besides the obvious cosmetic effects, liposuction led to several positive body composition, hormonal, and psychological changes