Functional Status of the Children with Cerebral PalsyAnd Their Mothers’ Psychological Status: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective: The aims of this study were to assess the demographic characteristics and functional status of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and to evaluate the psychological status of their mothers.Results: A total of 101 patients were included in the study (%57,4% boys, %42,6% girls). Their mean age was 6,79±4,48 (1,5-18) years. Mothers’ mean age was 33,31±7,72 (20-53) years. The neurologic classification were as follows: diplegia 27,7%, tetraplegia 45,5%, hemiplegia 19,8%, dyskinetic or ataxic 6,9%. The GMFCS levels were as follows: level 1 11,9%, level 2 14,9%, level 3 17,8%, level 4 25.7%, level 5 29,7%. SCL-90-R outcomes were as follows: 38,6% somatization, 18,8% anxiety, 37,6% obsessive-compulsive, 36,6% depression, 32,7% interpersonal-sensitivity, 21,8% eating-sleeping disorder. We didn’t detect any significant correlation between the GMFCS levels of children and mothers’ physicological status. Childrens’ low WeeFIM scores were related with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, depression, interpersonalsensitivity, paranoid ideation and eating-sleeping disorder. (p=0,009, p=0,017, p=0,009, P=0,0001, p=0,021, p=0,001 respectively). The presence of chronic disease was related with somatization, anxiety and depression (p=0,001, p=0,024, p=0,008 respectively). The presence of pain was related with somatization (p=0,0001).Conclusion: Lower WeeFIM scores of children with CP and chronic disease and pain presence in their mothers were detected as the factors that negatively affect psychological status of mothers.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 06 No. 01 January’22 Page: 17-23

Forensic Psychiatry and Psychopathology: An Amendment in Contemporary Period

: As stated by Jaspers, a delusion is a deviant assessment of reality that is irredeemably believed. Therefore, while the delusions are apprehended with the uncommon verdict and are not open to rationality, their irrationality or wrongness is obvious to other persons. While Norman Cameron’s pseudo-community, a supposed community of conspirators, was a historical description of conditions that promote the development of delusional disorders, modern technology and advancement of new communicative tools, like smartphone, hidden camera, satellite, internet, and stealthy or scheming tricks or setups, like double-crossing and masquerading scenarios, stressful circumstances, furtive or hectic arrangements, creating a scene to deceive, hack, or tampering, have brought about the possibility of a conspiracy by prejudiced or inimical people, which may amplify the conceivable diagnostic faults by the perplexity of circumstances. On the other hand, it is the duty of forensic and clinical psychiatrists to guess or discover any kind of deceptive entrapment or simulation. In the present article, the said eccentricities, which may have been accelerated by modern technology, have been discussed briefly, especially with respect to paranoia and paranoid ideation. Moreover, some clarifications for better demarcation of the discussed problem and modification of operational definitions in the realm of psychopathology have been suggested. Certainly, ample watchfulness by a clinical or forensic psychiatrist for neutralizing a thinkable intrigue is an apposite performance for improving civil rights and preventing preventable slips.

Changes in psychopathological symptoms during pregnancy and after delivery: A prospective-longitudinal study in women with and without anxiety and depressive disorders prior to pregnancy

Background: The role of anxiety and depressive disorders prior to pregnancy for changes in peripartum psychopathological symptoms has not been resolved yet. Methods: A regional-epidemiological sample of 306 women was prospectively followed up in seven waves from early pregnancy until 16 months postpartum. Lifetime DSM-IV anxiety and depressive disorders were assessed at baseline with the CIDI-V. Psychopathological symptoms (somatization, obsession–compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism) were measured with the BSI three times during pregnancy and three times after delivery. Results: Multilevel analyses revealed that women with versus without lifetime anxiety (β=0.22 to β=0.32) and depressive (β=0.24 to β=0.34) disorders prior to pregnancy experienced higher peripartum psychopathological symptoms. All symptoms linearly decreased during pregnancy (β=-0.02 to β=-0.07 per month). Somatization (β=-0.46) was lower, whereas paranoid ideation (β=0.26) and obsession-compulsion (β=0.21) were higher after delivery than during pregnancy. Though, obsession-compulsion linearly decreased after delivery (β=-0.02). Lifetime anxiety disorders prior to pregnancy interacted with linear changes in anxiety (β=-0.04) and phobic anxiety (β=-0.05) during pregnancy. That is, only women with but not without anxiety disorders prior to pregnancy experienced a linear decline in anxiety and phobic anxiety during pregnancy. Limitations: Lifetime anxiety and depressive disorders were assessed in early pregnancy and might be biased. Conclusions: Peripartum psychopathological symptoms are higher in women with versus without lifetime anxiety and depressive disorders prior to pregnancy, but symptom changes only slightly vary by lifetime diagnostic status.

Limbic links to paranoia: increased resting-state functional connectivity between amygdala, hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex in schizophrenia patients with paranoia

Paranoia is a frequent and highly distressing experience in psychosis. Models of paranoia suggest limbic circuit pathology. Here, we tested whether resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) in the limbic circuit was altered in schizophrenia patients with current paranoia. We collected MRI scans in 165 subjects including 89 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder) and 76 healthy controls. Paranoia was assessed using a Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale composite score. We tested rs-fc between bilateral nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex between groups and as a function of paranoia severity. Patients with paranoia had increased connectivity between hippocampus and amygdala compared to patients without paranoia. Likewise, paranoia severity was linked to increased connectivity between hippocampus and amygdala. Furthermore, paranoia was associated with increased connectivity between orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex. In addition, patients with paranoia had increased functional connectivity within the frontal hubs of the default mode network compared to healthy controls. These results demonstrate that current paranoia is linked to aberrant connectivity within the core limbic circuit and prefrontal cortex reflecting amplified threat processing and impaired emotion regulation. Future studies will need to explore the association between limbic hyperactivity, paranoid ideation and perceived stress.

Impact of urban birth and upbringing on expression of psychosis in a Chinese undergraduate population

Background Urban birth and upbringing show consistent associations with psychotic illness but the key urban exposures remain unknown. Associations with psychotic-like experiences (PEs) are inconsistent. These could be confounded by common mental disorders associated with PEs. Furthermore, associations between PEs and urban exposures may not extrapolate to psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Methods Annual cross-sectional surveys among first year Chinese undergraduates 2014–2019 (n = 47,004). Self-reported, hierarchical categorisation of psychosis: from psychoticism, paranoid ideation, schizotypal symptoms, nuclear syndrome using SCL-90-R, to clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. Depressive symptoms using PHQ 9. Dissociative symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) measured using PCL-C. Etiological factors of family history and childhood disadvantage. We studied effects of urban birth, urban living and critical times of exposure in childhood on psychosis phenotypes. Results Associations with urbanicity were found only after adjustments for depression. Urban birth was associated with paranoia (AOR 1.34, 1.18–1.53), schizotypal symptoms (AOR 1.59, 1.29–1.96), and schizophrenia (AOR 2.07, 1.10–3.87). The same phenotypes showed associations with urban residence > 10 years. Only schizophrenia showed an association with urban exposure birth-3 years (AOR 7.01, 1.90–25.86). Child maltreatment was associated with both psychosis and depression. Urbanicity measured across the total sample did not show any associations with demography, family history of psychosis, or child maltreatment. Sensitivity analysis additionally adjusting for dissociative symptoms and PTSD showed the same pattern of findings. Conclusions Urban birth and urban living showed a hierarchical pattern of increasing associations from paranoid ideation to schizotypal disorder to schizophrenia, confirming that associations for psychotic experiences could be extrapolated to schizophrenia, but only after adjusting for confounding from depression, dissociative symptoms and PTSD. Several etiological factors were the same for psychosis and depression. Future studies of PEs should adjust for confounding from common mental disorders and dissociative symptoms. Effects of urbanicity on psychosis were not explained by demography, family history of mental disorder, or child maltreatment.

The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Italian University Students’ Mental Health: Changes across the Waves

To reduce the spread of Covid-19, the Italian government imposed a rigid lockdown and, for a whole year, continued to declare stringent rules to curb the community spread. This study provides an overview of university students’ symptomatology and help-seeking behaviour before and during the pandemic. It aims to evaluate the impact of the different phases of the pandemic on students’ mental health. We collected data in four-time points between March 2019 and March 2021. A total of 454 students (F = 85; M = 15) were included in the study. Students answered a socio-demographic and a standardized questionnaire (i.e., SCL-90-R) to evaluate a broad range of symptomatology. The results suggest that students experienced moderate to severe levels of depressive, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptomatology. About 14% of the sample met the criteria for at least one mental health disorder, but most were not receiving mental health care. During the lockdown, compared with other phases, female students reported worse symptoms in the obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism dimensions. The increasing symptomatology disappeared after the lifting of the lockdown. The results showed no difference in the male groups. Preventive and support strategies should be improved in the university context.

Conjecturing Harmful Intent and Preemptive Strike in Paranoia

Paranoia depicts a belief of others having harmful intent. Research using economic games has exhibited the correlation between paranoia and the propensity to characterize ambiguous intentions as harmful. Using a non-clinical sample recruited online from the United States (N=290), we examined whether paranoid thoughts influence aggressive behavior against the subjective perception of harmful intent. We conducted a preemptive strike game wherein aggressive behavior was assumed to be guided by the fear of an opponent. The outcomes indicate that (1) individuals with high paranoia assume harmful intent of an opponent more than those with low paranoia (2) conjecturing an opponent’s harmful intent predicted an increase in the probability of a preemptive strike, and (3) paranoia did not have a statistically significant effect on encouraging a preemptive strike. Additionally, the exploratory analysis revealed that paranoia was related to participant’s aggressiveness and with suppositions of other’s self-interests and competitiveness. This study presents empirical evidence that paranoia is related to the perception of social threats in an uncertain situation. We discuss the possibility that paranoid ideation can promote or inhibit a preemptive strike.