Witte J G Hoogendijk

Erasmus MC | Erasmus MC · Department of Psychiatry

Background Research on childhood adversity and psychopathology has begun investigating the dimension of timing, however the results have been contradictory depending on the study population, outcome and how adverse life events (ALEs) were operationalized. Additionally, studies so far typically focus only on a narrow range of psychiatric diagnoses o...

Introduction Lithium use during pregnancy reduces the risk of mood episodes in the perinatal period for women with bipolar disorder. Some previous studies found deleterious effects of intrauterine lithium exposure on birth outcomes, yet little is known about a dose response relationship. The current study investigated the influence of maternal lith...

Introduction Perceived stress at work has been linked to several adverse outcomes in workers, including increased risk of burnout and aggression (e.g., anger and irritability). However, much remains unknown about factors that might mitigate the negative influences of perceived stress on workers’ well-being. This study focusses on coping as a possib...

Platform trials bring the promise of making clinical research more efficient and more patient centric. While their use has become more widespread, including their prominent role during the COVID-19 pandemic response, broader adoption of platform trials has been limited by the lack of experience and tools to navigate the critical upfront planning re...

Research on childhood adversity and psychopathology has begun investigating the dimension of timing, however the results have been contradicting depending on the study population, outcome and how adverse life events (ALEs) were operationalized. Additionally, studies so far typically focus only on a narrow range of psychiatric diagnoses or symptoms.

The association between substance use and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is complex. Although sensory processing difficulties are highly prevalent in individuals with ASD, data on the association between sensory processing and substance use in ASD are limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between sensory processing patterns and a...

A robust association has been reported between childhood adverse life events (ALEs) and risky substance use in adolescence. It remains unclear, however, what the impact of type and timing of these ALEs is. We investigated the association between ALEs and substance use in adolescents. ALEs were operationalized as broad (e.g., moving, parental divorc...

Background: Prior studies have shown that psychotic experiences are prospectively associated with an increased risk of suicidality. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal or arises from shared risk factors. Furthermore, little is known about the association between psychotic experiences and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Meth...

Background: Previous studies have found that adolescents with a chronically ill parent may experience more internalizing problems. It is less clear if this association is sex-related, and whether it is specific for functional somatic symptoms (FSSs) or concerns other internalizing or externalizing problems. Methods: In a prospective cohort of ad...

Background: Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) is involved in the stress response and may play a key role in mood disorders, but no information is available on PACAP for the human brain in relation to mood disorders. Methods: PACAP-peptide levels were determined in a major stress-response site, the hypothalamic paraventri...

Disruptive behavior in adolescents is burdensome and may continue into adulthood if left unidentified. The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) can screen for disruptive behavior, but its psychometric properties in high-risk samples and ability to predict delinquency warrant further investigation. In 1022 adolescents, we investigated the...

Background: Alterations in stress regulation and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during infancy may be a risk factor for the development of psychopathology later in life. Maternal childhood trauma, depression, anxiety and stressful life events are individually associated with HPA axis dysregulation. Less is known about th...

Objective: Lithium is often continued during pregnancy to reduce the risk of perinatal mood episodes for women with bipolar disorder. However, little is known about the effect of intrauterine lithium exposure on brain development. The aim of this study was to investigate brain structure in children after intrauterine exposure to lithium. Methods:...

Background – A robust association has been reported between childhood adverse life events (ALEs) and risky substance use in adolescence. It remains unclear, however, what impact of severity and timing of these ALEs is.Aims – We investigated the association between ALEs and substance use in adolescents. ALEs were operationalized as broad (e.g., movi...

Objective: Antipsychotics are increasingly prescribed in pregnancy, yet little is known about potential long-term developmental effects on children. In this study we investigated the effect of prenatal antipsychotic exposure on neurodevelopmental functioning in school-aged children. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional neurodevelopmental asse...

Introduction: Chronic stress and burnout are highly prevalent among academically trained healthcare professionals, negatively affecting their well-being and capacity to engage in their work. Resilience to stress develops early in one's career path, hence offering resilience training to university students in these professions is one approach to fo...

Astrocytes are essential for the formation and maintenance of neural networks through metabolic support, facilitation of synaptic function, and optimization of electrophysiological activity. However, a major technical challenge for investigating astrocyte function and disease-related pathophysiology has been the limited ability to obtain functional...

Purpose Both aggression toward others and self peak in adolescence and interpersonal violence and suicide are among the leading causes of death in young people worldwide. Individuals who show both aggression toward others and self, i.e. dual-harm, may experience the worst outcomes. The current study investigates clinical and parenting factors assoc...

Objective Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with a more severe and chronic trajectory of antisocial behavior. The present study aimed to identify different classes of CU and anxiety and to compare these classes on overt and covert antisocial behavior and several clinical correlates. Method In a prospective high-risk cohort of adolesce...

Depression is an invalidating disorder, marked by phenotypic heterogeneity. Clinical assessments for treatment adjustments and data-collection for pharmacological research often rely on subjective representations of functioning. Better phenotyping through digital applications may add unseen information and facilitate disentangling the clinical char...

In clinical practice, many individuals with psychiatric disorders report difficulties in sensory processing, including increased awareness or sensitivity to external stimuli. In this meta-analysis, we examined the sensory processing patterns of adolescent and adult individuals with a broad spectrum of different psychiatric conditions. A systematic...

Although previous research suggests an association between sensory processing and perceived stress in a broad spectrum of mental health conditions, it remains unclear whether this phenomenon occurs independently from psychopathology. The present study investigated the association between sensory processing patterns, perceived stress and occupationa...

Leerdoelen Na het lezen van dit artikel weet u ■ wanneer het zinvol kan zijn om in de dagelijkse praktijk farmacogenetisch onderzoek aan te vragen ■ hoe u farmacogenetisch onderzoek kunt aanvragen en hoe u de uitslag kunt vastleggen ■ dat een aanvraag voor farmacogenetisch onderzoek zich kan beperken tot genotypering van CYP2D6 en CYP2C19 ■ bij wel...

Criteria for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and partially responsive depression (PRD) as subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD) are not unequivocally defined. In the present document we used a Delphi-method-based consensus approach to define TRD and PRD and to serve as operational criteria for future clinical studies, especially if condu...

Integrated inpatient medical and psychiatric care units (IMPUs) are hospital wards that care for inpatients with both acute general medical and psychiatric disorders. IMPU development has stalled, and wide variation in IMPU designs may reflect the fact that IMPUs are still in an early evolutionary stage. High-quality evidence concerning the costs a...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the physical and mental functioning of healthcare professionals, especially those working on the 'frontline', and other hospital workers. At the onset of the crisis, various interventions were introduced to promote resilience and offer mental support to these professionals. Howeve...

Objectives Lithium is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, also during pregnancy to prevent the recurrence of episodes in the perinatal period. Little is known about the neuropsychological development of lithium-exposed offspring. The current study was designed to investigate neuropsychological functioning in lithium-exposed children with t...

Effective pharmacologic treatments for psychiatric disorders are available, but their effect is limited due to patients’ genetic heterogeneity and low compliance-related to frequent adverse events. Only one third of patients respond to treatment and experience remission. Pharmacogenetics is a relatively young field which focusses on genetic analyse...

The iBerry study is a population-based cohort study designed to investigate the transition from subclinical symptoms to a psychiatric disorder. Adolescents were selected based on their self-reported emotional and/or behavioral problems assessed by completing the strengths and difficulties questionnaire-youth (SDQ-Y) in their first year of high scho...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be accompanied by aggressive behavior and is associated with sensory processing difficulties. The present study aims to investigate the direct association between sensory processing and aggressive behavior in adults with ASD. A total of 101 Dutch adult participants with ASD, treated in outpatient or inpatient faci...

Background Maternal psychopathology during pregnancy is associated with negative outcomes in offspring. Increased placental transfer of maternal cortisol may contribute to mediate this association. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) appear to be a good bio-marker of long-term prenatal stress exposure. Little is known about the associations betwee...

In this chapter, light therapy for mood disorders is discussed, including mood disorders during and after pregnancy. In the introduction, we discuss the symptomatology, etiology, and treatment of a specific type of mood disorder, seasonal affective disorder, since it kick-started the first clinical trials with light therapy. Second, we elaborate on...

Objectives: Approximately 11%–13% of pregnant women suffer from depression. Bright light therapy (BLT) is a promising treatment, combining direct availability, sufficient efficacy, low costs and high safety for both mother and child. Here, we examined the effects of BLT on depression during pregnancy. Design: Randomised, double-blind controlled tr...

An adjuvant antidepressant enhances the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy for major depression. Tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors/serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors showed the same effect size. However, the effect sizes of tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase...

Mother-to-infant bonding is important for long-term child development. The aim of this study was to investigate bonding in women admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit with postpartum depression (PD, n = 64) and postpartum psychosis (PP, n = 91). Participants completed the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale...

Objective: There is limited information on the longitudinal disease course after first-onset postpartum psychosis (PP). Some women will experience severe affective episodes outside the postpartum period, while for other women their vulnerability to mania and psychosis may be restricted to the postpartum period. This meta-analysis estimates the ris...

Background: While antidepressant use during pregnancy is increasingly common, there is concern about the possible effects of in-utero antidepressant exposure on the child. Our objective was to examine whether there is a dose-effect of maternal serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) during pregnancy on birth outcomes. Methods: Women between 12 and 1...

Background: Most studies of immune dysregulation in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders have focused on peripheral cytokines, but literature from non-perinatal mood disorders also implicates T-cell defects. We sought to characterize proportions of T-cell subtypes in women with postpartum depression. Materials and methods: We enrolled 21 women w...

Poor sleep quality during pregnancy is associated with both antepartum and postpartum depression and adverse birth outcomes. This study evaluated both objective and subjective sleep quality and the effects on the subsequent course of antepartum depressive symptoms in psychiatric patients. This observational explorative study was embedded in an ongo...

Schizophrenia is highly heritable, yet its underlying pathophysiology remains largely unknown. Among the most well-replicated findings in neurobiological studies of schizophrenia are deficits in myelination and white matter integrity; however, direct etiological genetic and cellular evidence has thus far been lacking. Here, we implement a family-ba...

Background The study aims were: to estimate the proportion of patients with an indication for admission to a new high acuity Medical Psychiatric Unit (MPU), to explore the reasons for MPU-admission according to different health disciplines, and to check for differences in patient characteristics. The results of this study are to be utilized in the...

Objective Antidepressant medication is commonly used for the prevention of depression recurrence in the perinatal period, yet it is unknown what vulnerability markers may play a role in recurrence. The objective of the current study was to provide a descriptive overview of the associated characteristics of women who experienced a perinatal recurren...

Major depression and alcohol‐related disorders frequently co‐occur. Depression severity weighs on the magnitude and persistence of comorbid alcohol use disorder (AUD), with severe implications for disease prognosis. Here, we investigated whether depression vulnerability drives propensity to AUD at the preclinical level. We used the social defeat–in...

Objective: To investigate whether older age predicts a higher efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in severely depressed patients. Also, to analyze whether psychomotor disturbance and/or psychotic features might explain the potential higher efficacy of ECT in older age. Method: A total of 96 patients with major depressive disorder treated...

Lithium and antipsychotics are often prescribed to treat bipolar disorder or psychotic disorders in women of childbearing age. Little is known about the consequences of these medications during pregnancy for the developing child. The objective of this article is to systematically review findings from preclinical and clinical studies that have exami...

Objective: To define generic quality indicators for general hospital psychiatry from the perspectives of patients, professionals (physicians, nurses, and managers), and payers (health insurance companies). Methods: Quality variables were identified by reviewing the relevant literature. A working. group consisting of patients', professionals' and pa...

Background: From an evolutionary perspective it is remarkable that psychotic disorders, mostly occurring during fertile age and decreasing fecundity, maintain in the human population. Aim: To argue the hypothesis that psychotic symptoms may not be viewed as an illness but as an adaptation phenomenon, which can become out of control due to different...

Background and objectives Prescription rates of antidepressants during pregnancy range from 2–3% in The Netherlands to 6.2% in the USA. Inconclusive evidence about harms and benefits of antidepressants during pregnancy leads to variation in advice given by gynaecologists and midwives. The objective was to investigate familiarity with, and adherence...

Patients with depression often suffer from cognitive impairments that contribute to disease burden. We used social defeat–induced persistent stress (SDPS) to induce a depressive-like state in rats and then studied long-lasting memory deficits in the absence of acute stressors in these animals. The SDPS rat model showed reduced short-term object loc...

Major Depression is a prevalent mental disorder that is characterized by negative mood and reduced motivation, and frequently results in social withdrawal and memory-related deficits. Repeated stressors, such as adverse life events, increase the risk for development of the disorder. Consequently, individual variability in stress response greatly we...

Background Lithium is challenging to dose during pregnancy.AimsTo provide guidance for dosing lithium during pregnancy.Method Retrospective observational cohort study. Data on lithium blood level measurements (n= 1101), the daily lithium dose, dosing alterations/frequency and creatinine blood levels were obtained from 113 pregnancies of women recei...

Progress in elucidating the molecular and cellular pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders has been hindered by the limited availability of living human brain tissue. The emergence of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has offered a unique alternative strategy using patient-derived functional neuronal networks. However, methods for reliab...