scholarly journals What Lies Beneath: Exploring Different Depressive Symptoms Across Selected Risk Factors in Icelandic Team Sport Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-79
Author(s):  
Richard Tahtinen ◽  
Hafrun Kristjansdottir ◽  
Daniel T. Olason ◽  
Robert Morris

The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence of specific symptoms of depression in athletes and to test differences in the likelihood of athletes exhibiting these symptoms across age, sex, type of team sport, and level of competition. A sample of Icelandic male and female team sport athletes (N = 894, 18–42 years) was included in the study. Of the athletes exhibiting clinically significant depressive symptoms on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, 37.5% did not exhibit core symptoms of depression. Compared with males, females were significantly more likely to exhibit depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness/guilt, and problems with sleep, fatigue, appetite, and concentration. Within males, differences were mostly related to neurovegetative aspects of depression (sleep and appetite), whereas in females, differences were related to cognitive/emotional aspects (e.g., depressed mood, guilt/worthlessness). The findings underline the importance of exploring specific symptoms of depression to provide a richer understanding of depressive symptomology in athletes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akash R Wasil ◽  
Sarah Gillespie ◽  
Suh Jung Park ◽  
Robert DeRubeis

Background: There is widespread debate about the extent to which western diagnostic criteria for depression are appropriate cross-culturally. A key aspect of this debate involves the extent to which individual symptoms are considered important, impairing, and concerning by individuals in low- and middle-income countries. Here, we describe a novel method to understand the degree to which symptoms of depression are most important to individuals, and we illustrate its application in a non-western sample.Methods: We surveyed 1,237 Indian adolescents (47.8% female, Mage= 14.11). Adolescents received the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, a measure of nine DSM-derived depressive symptoms. For each symptom, participants answered three questions designed to assess the degree to which they perceive the symptom as distressing and impairing. The three scores were averaged to form a Subjective Importance Rating (SIR) for each symptom.Results: Anhedonia received the highest SIR, followed by Sad Mood, Suicidal Ideation, and Feeling like a Failure; Psychomotor Problems received the lowest SIRs. Females reported greater SIRs than males, and older students reported greater SIRs than younger students. There was a non-linear relationship between participants' own depressive symptoms and SIRs.Limitations: Participants were recruited from the general population; findings may not generalize to patients or individuals in other countries.Conclusion: Not all symptoms of depression were viewed as equally important. We discuss how the SIR approach can help global mental health researchers identify specific symptoms that are considered most concerning, evaluate the cross-cultural relevance of western diagnostic criteria, and inform the validation of measurement tools.


2020 ◽  
pp. 112067212090170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen L Mayro ◽  
Ann P Murchison ◽  
Lisa A Hark ◽  
Marlee Silverstein ◽  
Olivia Y Wang ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in an adult ophthalmic patient population and to delineate correlates. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Adult patients (⩾18 years) were approached in general and sub-specialty cornea, retina, and glaucoma ophthalmic clinics. A total of 367 patients from the four clinics were enrolled. Methods: Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. A cut-off score of ⩾10 was used to indicate clinically significant depressive symptoms. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores were used to evaluate bivariate relationships between depressive symptoms and distance visual acuity, ocular diagnosis, diabetes status, smoking status, demographic information, and medications. Results: The majority of patients were female (52.9%) and Caucasian (48.6%). The mean age was 52.0 years (standard deviation: 16.7). Clinically significant depressive symptoms were present in 19.9% of patients overall; this rate varied slightly by clinic. Patients with low vision and blindness (visual acuity worse than 20/60) were more likely to have depressive symptoms (odds ratio = 2.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.90–4.21). Smoking and diabetes were also associated with depressive symptoms (odds ratio = 3.11 (2.66–3.64) and 3.42 (1.90–6.16), respectively). Conclusion: In a sample of urban ophthalmic adult patients, depressive symptoms were highly associated with low vision, smoking, and diabetes. This information can be used to target interventions to those at greatest risk of depressive symptoms.


Author(s):  
Audun Havnen ◽  
Frederick Anyan ◽  
Odin Hjemdal ◽  
Stian Solem ◽  
Maja Gurigard Riksfjord ◽  
...  

Resilience refers to an individual’s healthy coping abilities when encountering adverse life events. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a situation with a high amount of stress exposure, which in turn may be associated with negative emotional outcome like depressive symptoms. The current study investigated if resilience moderated the effect of stress on symptoms of depression and if anxiety symptoms mediated this association. An adult sample of community controls completed the Perceived stress scale 14 (PSS-14), the Resilience scale for adults (RSA), the Patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7). Independent samples t-test, correlation analyses and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. The results showed that resilience moderated the relations between stress and anxiety symptoms (β = −0.131, p < 0.001) as well as between stress and depressive symptoms (β = −0.068, p < 0.05). In support of a moderated mediation model, resilience moderated the indirect effect of stress on depressive symptom, as confirmed by the index of moderated mediation (IMM = −0.036, p < 0.001; [95% BCa: −0.055, −0.020]). The high resilience subgroup was less affected than the low resilience subgroup by the effect of stress exposure symptoms of depression, mediated by anxiety. The study shows that stress exposure is associated with symptoms of depression, and anxiety mediates this association. Level of resilience differentiates the direct and indirect effect of stress on depression. Knowledge about the effect of stress in response to a pandemic is important for developing treatment and prevention strategies for stress, depression and health-related anxiety.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 4624
Author(s):  
Agata M. Grzegorzewska ◽  
Mariusz S. Wiglusz ◽  
Wiesław J. Cubała ◽  
Katarzyna Jakuszkowiak-Wojten ◽  
Adam Włodarczyk ◽  
...  

This article aims to review the concept of epilepsy-specific psychiatric disturbance, Interictal Dysphoric Disorder (IDD), focusing on issues related to its core symptoms and methodological pitfalls. In the psychiatric literature, an epilepsy-specific pleomorphic mood disorder has been long recognized and described as IDD, a condition characterized by eight symptoms, which are grouped into four labile depressive symptoms, two labile affective symptoms, and two specific symptoms. The existence of IDD is still a matter of debate because of several methodological issues. The main features of IDD, such as dysphoria and irritability, lack precise and clear definition. This review article explores the different definitions and approaches towards both terms described in the psychiatric literature and the rationale for modifying the diagnostic process of IDD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Ho Choi ◽  
Kwang Ik Yang ◽  
Chang-Ho Yun ◽  
Won-Joo Kim ◽  
Kyoung Heo ◽  
...  

Objective: Insomnia and depression are prevalent disorders that often co-occur. This study aimed to investigate the impact of clinically significant insomnia symptoms on the prevalence and clinical presentation of clinically significant depressive symptoms and vice versa.Methods: This study used data from the Korean Headache-Sleep Study (KHSS), a nationwide cross-sectional population-based survey regarding headache and sleep. Clinically significant insomnia symptoms were defined as Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores ≥ 10 and clinically significant depressive symptoms were defined as Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores ≥ 10, respectively. We referred clinically significant insomnia symptoms and clinically significant depressive symptoms as insomnia symptoms and depressive symptoms, respectively.Results: Of 2,695 participants, 290 (10.8%) and 116 (4.3%) were classified as having insomnia and depressive symptoms, respectively. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher among participants with insomnia symptoms than in those without insomnia symptoms (25.9 vs. 1.7%, respectively, P &lt; 0.001). Among participants with depressive symptoms, the PHQ-9 scores were not significantly different between participants with and without insomnia symptoms (P = 0.124). The prevalence of insomnia symptoms was significantly higher among participants with depressive symptoms than in those without depressive symptoms (64.7 vs. 8.3%, respectively, P &lt; 0.001). The ISI scores were significantly higher among participants with insomnia and depressive symptoms than in participants with insomnia symptoms alone (P &lt; 0.001).Conclusions: Participants with depressive symptoms had a higher risk of insomnia symptoms than did those without depressive symptoms. The severity of depressive symptoms did not significantly differ based on insomnia symptoms among participants with depressive symptoms; however, the severity of insomnia symptoms was significantly higher in participants with depressive symptoms than in those without depressive symptoms.


10.2196/14284 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e14284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Economides ◽  
Kristian Ranta ◽  
Albert Nazander ◽  
Outi Hilgert ◽  
Philippe R Goldin ◽  
...  

Background Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders and severely impacts one’s physical, psychological, and social functioning. To address access barriers to care, we developed Ascend—a smartphone-delivered, therapist-supported, 8-week intervention based on several evidence-based psychological treatments for depression and anxiety. A previous feasibility study with 102 adults with elevated depression reported that Ascend is associated with a postintervention reduction in depression symptoms. Objective We aimed to examine whether Ascend is associated with a reduction in symptoms of anxiety, and importantly, whether reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety are maintained up to 12-months postintervention. Methods We assessed whether the previously reported, end-of-treatment improvements seen in the 102 adults with elevated symptoms of depression extended up to 12 months posttreatment for depression symptoms (measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]) and up to 6 months posttreatment for anxiety symptoms (added to the intervention later and measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 [GAD-7] scale). We used linear mixed effects models with Tukey contrasts to compare time points and reported intention-to-treat statistics with a sensitivity analysis. Results The intervention was associated with reductions in symptoms of depression that were maintained 12 months after the program (6.67-point reduction in PHQ-9 score, 95% CI 5.59-7.75; P<.001; Hedges g=1.14, 95% CI 0.78-1.49). A total of 60% of the participants with PHQ-9 scores above the cutoff for major depression at baseline (PHQ≥10) reported clinically significant improvement at the 12-month follow-up (at least 50% reduction in PHQ-9 score and postprogram score <10). Participants also reported reductions in symptoms of anxiety that were maintained for at least 6 months after the program (4.26-point reduction in GAD-7 score, 95% CI 3.14-5.38; P<.001; Hedges g=0.91, 95% CI 0.54-1.28). Conclusions There is limited evidence on whether outcomes associated with smartphone-based interventions for common mental health problems are maintained posttreatment. Participants who enrolled in Ascend experienced clinically significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety that were maintained for up to 1 year and 6 months after the intervention, respectively. Future randomized trials are warranted to test Ascend as a scalable solution to the treatment of depression and anxiety.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S521-S522
Author(s):  
Sarita A Hemmady ◽  
Dori Rosenberg ◽  
Peggy Hannon ◽  
Jing Zhou

Abstract Background: Little is known about the impact of sedentary behavior (SB) reduction interventions on older adults with obesity and depressed mood. An exploratory analysis examined behavioral and mental health effects of a SB reduction among participants with depressed moods. Methods: Participants were obese older adults (n=30, mean age=66, 77% female, 23% male, mean PHQ-8-Score=13.67) that were randomized to receive a sitting reduction intervention ( I-STAND); N=16) or a control condition (N=14) as part of a larger trial. Participants wore activPAL devices to assess sitting time at baseline and 12-weeks; they also completed the Patient-Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) to assess depressive symptoms. Linear regression models compared baseline and 12-week measures between groups adjusting for baseline values. A post-hoc qualitative analysis assessed ISTAND participant interview data. Results: I-STAND participants had greater reductions in sitting time than control participants by 57-minutes (p=0.04), as well as greater reductions in percent sitting time by 5.89-percent (p=0.03). Mean PHQ-8 scores were decreased by 0.14-points among the I-STAND group compared to the control (P=0.90). Qualitative themes included physical and social barriers to standing; varying perceptions of the presence of depression; physical health improvements (i.e. mood improvement) and perceptions of physical activity (i.e. feasibility to exercise). Conclusion: We found significant associations between sitting reduction and a SB intervention among older adults with obesity and depression, however this did not impact depressive symptoms. Further research should examine whether sitting reduction can improve mood or standing time among older adults with obesity and depressed mood.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e042696
Author(s):  
Karin Hammarberg ◽  
Thach Tran ◽  
Maggie Kirkman ◽  
Jane Fisher

ObjectivesTo identify sex and age differences in clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety and the factors associated with these differences among adults in Australia during COVID-19-related restrictions.DesignAnonymous online survey.SettingAustralia.ParticipantsAdults aged over 18 years living in Australia were eligible and 13 829 contributed complete data. Of these, 13 762 identified as female (10 434) or male (3328) and were included in analyses.InterventionsNone.Outcome measuresClinically significant symptoms of depression (≥10 on Patient Health Questionnaire 9) or anxiety (≥10 on Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7 (GAD-7)), and experiences of irritability (GAD-7 item 6).ResultsWomen were more likely than men to have clinically significant symptoms of depression (26.3% (95% CI 25.4 to 27.1) vs 20.1% (95% CI 18.7 to 21.5), p<0.001) and anxiety (21.8% (95% CI 21.0 to 22.6) vs 14.2% (95% CI 13.0 to 15.4), p<0.001) and to have experienced irritability in the previous fortnight (63.1% (95% CI 62.1 to 64.0) vs 51.4% (95% CI 49.7 to 53.2), p<0.001). They were also more likely than men to be doing unpaid work caring for children (22.8% (95% CI 22.0 to 23.6) vs 8.6% (95% CI 7.7 to 9.6), p<0.001) and dependent relatives (9.8% (95% CI 9.2 to 10.3) vs 5.7% (95% CI 4.9 to 6.5), p<0.001) which made significant contributions to the mental health outcomes of interest. Loss of employment, fear of contracting COVID-19 and feeling a severe impact of the restrictions were associated with poorer mental health in women and men of all ages.ConclusionsRates of clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety were higher among women than men. Rather than being intrinsically more vulnerable to mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, the higher risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression among women may in part be explained by their disproportionate burden of unpaid caregiving.


Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6149) ◽  
pp. 1016-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Li ◽  
Tao Zhou ◽  
Lujian Liao ◽  
Zhongfei Yang ◽  
Catherine Wong ◽  
...  

The lateral habenula (LHb) has recently emerged as a key brain region in the pathophysiology of depression. However, the molecular mechanism by which LHb becomes hyperactive in depression remains unknown. Through a quantitative proteomic screen, we found that expression of the β form of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II (βCaMΚΙΙ) was significantly up-regulated in the LHb of animal models of depression and down-regulated by antidepressants. Increasing β-, but not α-, CaMKII in the LHb strongly enhanced the synaptic efficacy and spike output of LHb neurons and was sufficient to produce profound depressive symptoms, including anhedonia and behavioral despair. Down-regulation of βCaMKII levels, blocking its activity or its target molecule the glutamate receptor GluR1 reversed the depressive symptoms. These results identify βCaMKII as a powerful regulator of LHb neuron function and a key molecular determinant of depression.


2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heun Reinhard ◽  
Martin Kockler ◽  
Ursula Ptok

AbstractIntroductionDepression is common in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The symptomatology of depression in dementia may differ from depression alone. Consequently, the reports on lifetime depressive symptoms were compared in AD patients and age-matched non-demented participants.MethodsSeventy-six AD patients, 109 elderly from the general population and their 189 siblings were examined using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). The presence of individual lifetime depressive symptoms was compared between 76 AD patients, 29 AD patients with comorbid depression, and different control groups using χ2 statistics and logistic regression analysis.ResultsLifetime depressive symptoms were significantly more frequent in 76 AD patients than in 109 age-matched elderly from the general population. These 76 AD patients complained more about thinking and concentration disturbances, and less about depressed mood or appetite disturbance than the 298 non-demented participants matched for the lifetime presence of major depression (MD). In agreement, the 29 patients comorbid for lifetime diagnoses of AD and MD reported less about depressed mood than the 114 age-matched elderly with MD only. Feelings of worthlessness and suicidal ideas were related to the severity of cognitive decline.ConclusionsAD influences the reports on lifetime depressive symptoms. This may be caused by additional neurodegeneration, by an overlap of symptoms of depression and dementia or by an altered perception of mood disturbances in AD. Further studies should investigate these alternatives.


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