Psychological Medicine (PSYCHOL MED)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Letter to the Editor: Haloperidol but not dopamine rapidly induces neuronal death: comments on ‘A systematic review of the effects of antipsychotic drugs on brain volume’.

  Phillip Grant
  Psychological Medicine 05/2013;
• Article: Neural responses to fearful eyes in children with conduct problems and varying levels of callous–unemotional traits

  C. L. Sebastian, E. J. McCrory, M. R. Dadds, C. A. M. Cecil, P. L. Lockwood, Z. H. Hyde, S. A. De Brito, E. Viding
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  ABSTRACT: Background. Children with conduct problems (CP) are a heterogeneous group. Those with high levels of callous–unemotional traits (CP/HCU) appear emotionally under-reactive at behavioural and neural levels whereas those with low levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) appear emotionally over-reactive, compared with typically developing (TD) controls. Investigating the degree to which these patterns of emotional reactivity are malleable may have important translational implications. Instructing participants with CP/HCU to focus on the eyes of fearful faces (i.e. the most salient feature) can ameliorate their fear-recognition deficits, but it is unknown whether this is mediated by amygdala response. It is also unknown whether focusing on fearful eyes is associated with increased amygdala reactivity in CP/LCU. Method. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure neural responses to fearful and calm faces in children with CP/HCU, CP/LCU and TD controls (n=17 per group). On half of trials participants looked for a blue dot anywhere within target faces; on the other half, participants were directed to focus on the eye region. Results. Reaction time (RT) data showed that CP/LCU were selectively slowed in the fear/eyes condition. For the same condition, CP/LCU also showed increased amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC)/orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) responses compared with TD controls. RT and amygdala response to fear/eyes were correlated in CP/LCU only. No effects of focusing on the eye region were observed in CP/HCU. Conclusions. These data extend the evidence base suggesting that CU traits index meaningful heterogeneity in conduct problems. Focusing on regulating reactive emotional responses may be a fruitful strategy for children with CP/LCU.
  Psychological Medicine 03/2013;
• Article: Poor attention rather than hyperactivity/impulsivity predicts academic achievement in very preterm and full-term adolescents.

  Jaekel, Wolke, Bartmann
  Psychological Medicine 01/2013; 43(01):183.
• Article: Drug-specific laterality effects on frontal lobe activation of Atomoxetine and Methylphenidate in ADHD boys during working memory

  Ana Cubillo, Anna B Smith, Nadia Barrett, Vincent Giampietro, Michael Brammer, Andrew Simmons, Katya Rubia
  Psychological Medicine 01/2013; In press.
• Article: Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States

  AL Roberts, SE Gilman, J Breslau, N Breslau, KC Koenen
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  ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: To identify sources of race/ethnic differences related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we compared trauma exposure, risk for PTSD among those exposed to trauma, and treatment-seeking among Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians in the US general population. METHOD: Data from structured diagnostic interviews with 34 653 adult respondents to the 2004-2005 wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were analysed. RESULTS: The lifetime prevalence of PTSD was highest among Blacks (8.7%), intermediate among Hispanics and Whites (7.0% and 7.4%) and lowest among Asians (4.0%). Differences in risk for trauma varied by type of event. Whites were more likely than the other groups to have any trauma, to learn of a trauma to someone close, and to learn of an unexpected death, but Blacks and Hispanics had higher risk of child maltreatment, chiefly witnessing domestic violence, and Asians, Black men, and Hispanic women had higher risk of war-related events than Whites. Among those exposed to trauma, PTSD risk was slightly higher among Blacks [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.22] and lower among Asians (aOR 0.67) compared with Whites, after adjustment for characteristics of trauma exposure. All minority groups were less likely to seek treatment for PTSD than Whites (aOR range: 0.39-0.61), and fewer than half of minorities with PTSD sought treatment (range: 32.7-42.0%). CONCLUSIONS: When PTSD affects US race/ethnic minorities, it is usually untreated. Large disparities in treatment indicate a need for investment in accessible and culturally sensitive treatment options.
  Psychological Medicine 01/2011; 41:71-83.
• Article: Pathways between early visual processing and functional outcome in schizophrenia

  Rossovsky, Horan, Lee, Sergi, Green
  Psychological Medicine 01/2011; 41(3):487-497.
• Article: Disorder-specific automatic self-associations in depression and anxiety: Results of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

  Glashouwer, K.A, de Jong, P.J
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  ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Cognitive theory points to the importance of negative self-schemas in the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety disorders. Hereby, it is important to distinguish between automatic and explicit self-schemas, reflecting different cognitive-motivational systems. This study tested whether patients with a current major depression and/or anxiety disorder are characterized by automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations and whether these associations are disorder specific. METHOD: Patients (n=2329) and non-clinical controls (n=652) were tested as part of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, a multi-center, longitudinal, cohort study with patients from different health care settings. Patient groups and non-clinical controls (18-65 years of age) were compared with regard to automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations measured with the Implicit Association Test. RESULTS: Individuals with an anxiety disorder showed enhanced self-anxious associations, whereas individuals with a depression showed enhanced self-depressive associations. Individuals with co-morbid disorders scored high on both automatic self-associations. Although remitted individuals showed weaker automatic self-associations than people with a current disorder, their automatic self-anxious/depressed associations were still significantly stronger than those of the control group. Importantly, automatic self-associations showed predictive validity for the severity of anxious and depressive symptoms over and above explicit self-beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the first evidence that automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations are differentially involved in anxiety disorders and depression. This may help to explain the refractoriness of these disorders and points to the potential importance of automatic self-associations in the development of psychopathological symptoms.
  Psychological Medicine 07/2010; 40(7):1101-1111.
• Article: The search for dysfunctions. A commentary on "'What is a mental/psychiatric disorder? From DSM-IV to DSM-V" by Stein et al. (2010).

  Verhoeff, Glas
  Psychological Medicine 01/2010; 40(11):1787-1788.