The predictive relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in young autistic children with few to no words

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Rossow ◽  
Keren MacLennan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Sensory Reactivity ◽  
Mental Health Interventions ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Predictive Relationship

Depression, much like other mental health conditions, is common in autism, with autistic individuals much more likely to be diagnosed than their non-autistic peers. Sensory reactivity differences are also commonly experienced by autistic individuals and have been associated with depressive symptoms. However, there is little understanding of the predictive relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms, or the nature of this relationship in autistic children who speak few to no words. This study set out to explore the longitudinal relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in 33 young autistic children who speak few to no words over two timepoints. We found positive correlations between depressive symptoms and hyper-reactivity and sensory seeking at both timepoints. We further found a bidirectional predictive relationship between depressive symptoms and sensory seeking. These results implicate sensory seeking in the development of depressive symptoms in young autistic children who use few to no words. Our findings have important implications for preventative mental health interventions, especially for those with a developmental language delay.Key words: autism; sensory reactivity; depression; children; language delay

scholarly journals A Rapid Realist Review of Effective Mental Health Interventions for Individuals with Chronic Physical Health Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic Using a Systems-Level Mental Health Promotion Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12292
Author(s):  
Lorna Stabler ◽  
Maura MacPhee ◽  
Benjamin Collins ◽  
Simon Carroll ◽  
Karen Davison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
Mental Health Promotion ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Mental Health Interventions ◽  
Rapid Realist Review

The 2020 global outbreak of COVID-19 exposed and heightened threats to mental health across societies. Research has indicated that individuals with chronic physical health conditions are at high risk for suffering from severe COVID-19 illness and from the adverse consequences of public health responses to COVID-19, such as social isolation. This paper reports on the findings of a rapid realist review conducted alongside a scoping review to explore contextual factors and underlying mechanisms or drivers associated with effective mental health interventions within and across macro–meso–micro systems levels for individuals with chronic physical health conditions. This rapid realist review extracted 14 qualified studies across 11 countries and identified four key mechanisms from COVID-19 literature—trust, social connectedness, accountability, and resilience. These mechanisms are discussed in relation to contextual factors and outcomes reported in the COVID literature. Realist reviews include iterative searches to refine their program theories and context–mechanism–outcome explanations. A purposive search of pre-COVID realist reviews on the study topic was undertaken, looking for evidence of the robustness of these mechanisms. There were differences in some of the pre-COVID mechanisms due to contextual factors. Importantly, an additional mechanism—power-sharing—was highlighted in the pre-COVID literature, but absent in the COVID literature. Pre-existing realist reviews were used to identify potential substantive theories and models associated with key mechanisms. Based on the overall findings, implications are provided for mental health promotion policy, practice, and research.

scholarly journals Mental health interventions for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis patients with alcohol use disorders, Zhytomyr, Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (09.1) ◽  
pp. 25S-33S
Author(s):  
Vitalii Plokhykh ◽  
Marve Duka ◽  
Laurel Cassidy ◽  
Chung-Yu Chen ◽  
Khachatur Malakyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Treatment Outcomes ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Tb Treatment ◽  
Resistant Tuberculosis ◽  
Mental Health Interventions ◽  
Culture Conversion

Introduction: Despite concerted efforts, Ukraine is challenged by increasing rates of multidrug and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) comorbid with alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study describes a cohort of RR-TB patients with high alcohol consumption treated in MSF Zhytomyr Project, Ukraine. Methodology: We used programmatic data for 73 RR-TB patients screened with the AUD Identification Test March-July 2019 and followed-up for culture conversion/TB treatment outcome till 31 January 2020. We described socio-demographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics, the level of depressive symptoms, and TB treatment outcomes in three groups: 1) patients with AUD who received mental health interventions (MHI); 2) patients with AUD who did not receive MHI; 3) patients with no AUD. We also found three potential contributors to declining to receive MHI. Results: Main characteristics of the study groups did not differ substantially. Those receiving MHI (mean: nine sessions) were rated for alcohol consumption as ‘hazardous’ (41%), ‘harmful’ (43%) and ‘dependence’ (36%) and had higher depression scores versus the second (p=0.009) and third (p=0.095) groups at baseline. Depressive symptoms declined at 9-month follow-up for all patients. Culture conversion was seen at 77%, 73%, and 83% for each group respectively. We also found three reasons for declining from MHI. Conclusions: We detected little differences across the groups. However, our study cohort demonstrated substantially higher adherence rates, culture conversion and reduction of depressive symptoms than reported globally. We recommend further research on the effectiveness of MHI in changing the drinking habits, quality of life and/or TB treatment outcomes of patients with AUD.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document