A descriptive questionnaire survey using the attitudinal part of Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (ASKAS).

Students of medicine and nursing of Oporto University.

We know from previous studies that little experience in the work with older people is predictive of negative attitudes towards sexuality. Nevertheless, in this sample we found a mean ASKAS score of 66 which reflects moderately positive and permissive attitudes toward later life sexuality. Medicine students were more permissive than nursing students (p< 0.01).

Undergraduate students and psychiatry residents have positive attitudes toward sexuality of older people. Later life sexuality study should be included in the curriculum of undergraduate formation of doctors and nurses.

Illicit drug use in India is quite serious and Kashmir is also one of the hardest hit places and the scenario is worsened by the prevailing turmoil. The present study was conducted to find the epidemiological profile of substance abusers visiting De-addiction Centres in Srinagar Kashmir India.

To study the socio-demographic profile of substance use disorder patients seeking treatment and to identify the reasons for starting the use of substance.

The present cross sectional study, was conducted at two Drug De-addiction and treatment Centers in Srinagar. Total of 125 Substance Use Disorder Patients were interviewed by using pretested semi-structured proforma, emphasizing on socio-demographic profile and reasons for starting use of substance.

Majority (50.4%) of patients belonged to young and productive age group. Most of the patients started taking substances in the age group of 10-19 years and more so in case of nicotine (76.8%), volatile substances (76.9%) and cannabis (70.5%). Besides nicotine (89.6%), the most common substances used were cannabis (48.8%), codeine (48%), propoxyphene (37.6%), alcohol (36.8%) and benzodiazepines (36%). Peer pressure was the most common (72.8%) reason for starting the use of substance.

Whether the society views substance misuse primarily as a moral or legal problem; when it creates difficulties for the user, it becomes concern of all people including parents, teachers, doctors, sociologists and psychologists. An integrated approach of early detection, treatment and rehabilitation is essential for preventing and minimizing the long term negative consequences of substance abuse.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an excessive fixation on the consumption of healthy food and an obsession with its biological purity. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ON in a population of Polish urban adolescents and some possible contributory factors.

Validation and adaptation of the ORTO-15 Questionnaire was made in the group of 399 participants (15–21 years old). The validation procedure incorporated three basic methods to be applied in the reliability analysis. The reliability analysis of the ORTO-15 Questionnaire based on repeatability of the responses presents a very good (kappa: 0.81–1.00 for 5 items) and a good repeatability (kappa: 0.61–0.80 for 10 items). The reliability analysis based on the value of the Cronbach's α reached a satisfactory level (0.7–0.9). The ORTO-15 questionnaire was considered a reliable tool to identify the risk of ON in population studies in the group of urban youth aged 15–21. Assessment was made among 1899 high school students, 992 girls, and 907 boys, aged 15–21 years.

The mean value of the ORTO-15 was 39.2 ± 3.6 points, with no sex difference. The main factors connected with orthorexia, according to the “Orthorexia 35” definition were excess weight, sporting activities, out-of-school activities, smoking status, working parents and a high family income.

This study, of a large number of adolescents, showed a prevalence of ON similar to that recorded in adult populations. This is a first assessment of orthorexia among adolescent population.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Patients with hyperprolactinemia offer a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of prolactin on psychological states. Hyperprolactinemia has been classically associated with gonadal dysfunction. However, attention was drawn to its association with psychological symptoms. Anxiety, somatization, hostility and depression were related to hyperprolactinemia.

To review the literature on the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and hyperprolactinemia.

A literature review was made by searching for articles in PubMED.

There is evidence of robust effects of prolactin on behavior in several animal species. The association between hyperprolactinemia and psychiatric symptoms is described. The first symptom described was anxiety, preceding the onset of menstrual irregularity associated with hyperprolactinemia. Other authors have confirmed an increase in anxiety and somatization in women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea, as well as hostility and depression. Compared to controls, hyperprolactinemic men also showed more anxiety. There are reports of reduced anxiety and improved well-being by decreasing prolactin levels through the use of bromocriptine, as well as an improvement of depression with bromocriptine or pergolide.

We recommend measuring the serum prolactin levels of women with depression, hostility, anxiety, and symptoms or signs suggestive of hyperprolactinemia. More studies are needed to evaluate the effect of treatment of hyperprolactinemia on psychiatric manifestations.

Hyperprolactinaemia is a common side effect of some APS, associated to important clinical manifestations (sexual dysfunction, breast disturbances and even increase of certain types of cancer risk).

To evaluate the levels of prolactinemia associated to different APS, including the newest ones, and its association with sexual dysfunction (SD).

Observational cross-sectional study. Adult patients treated with one APS for at least 4 weeks and with no other PRL-rising treatment were included. Hyperprolactinaemia was defined as 20 microgr/L in women, 18 microgr/L in men. SD was evaluated with the specific SD questionnaire PR-Sex-DQ-SALSEX (Montejo et al, 2001).

288 patients were evaluated, with the following APS treatment distribution: aripiprazol (22.2%), risperidone (17.01%), olanzapine (16.67%), quetiapine (7.99%), long-acting paliperidone (6.25%), long-acting risperidone (4.51%), oral paloperidone (4.17%), oral risperidone (4.17%) and others (21.18%; APS with N<10 were not evaluated). Paliperidone was associated with the higher mean PRL levels (98.28 and 71.48 microgr/L for LAP and OP respectively), followed by oral risperidone (71.36 microgr/L). Aripiprazol, oral olanzapine and quetiapine showed the lowest PRL levels (13.25, 27.10 and 28.55 microgr/L respectively). More than 70% of the sexually active patients treated with paliperidone or risperidone presented SD, less frequent in non PRL-raising APS.

In our sample paliperidone and risperidone were associated to higher mean PRL levels and sexual disfunction, while quetiapine, olanzapine and aripiprazol were the less PRL-raising APS. This might be taken in consideration when electing a long-term antipsychotic treatment for patients, given the important clinical consequences associated to sustained hyperprolactinaemia.

School dropout and subsequent youth unemployment are important risk factors for mental problems. It is important to understand which factors that may lead to youth dropping out of high school.

The aims were to explore the subjective experiences of people who had not completed high school and who had problems getting work. To examine how the parents’ involvement in the children's lives influenced their schooling experiences.

Five Norwegian men and five women (aged 18–28) who had not completed high school and who had not been able to find work were interviewed qualitatively. The interviews were transcribed in full and analyzed drawing on Grounded Theory.

The informants had struggled with an accumulation of risk factors constantly challenging their resilience, eventually resulting in dropout. In these individual educational trajectories, one experience was shared by most: the lack of stable parental involvement. Moving between parents or losing contact with parental figures all together made the direct involvement from parents in the child's learning activities over time more complicated. Several had experienced intense levels of marital conflict often ending in divorce with periods of little or no contact with one parent, thus threatening the child's emotional security and resulting in withdrawal or aggressive behavior. The low-achieving boys gave the non-practical focus of the high school curricula as an explanation for dropout. The high-achieving boys reported shyness. The girls focused on social and family issues.

This qualitative study suggests that parental involvement may be of importance to drop-out from school.

Sleep complaints are common in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).Venlafaxine is an antidepressant of the serotonin -norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor class. Mirtazapine is a tetracyclic antidepressant (TeCA) used primarily in the treatment of depression. This study compares the effects of venlafaxine and mirtazapine on sleep continuity measures in DSM-IV MDD patients with insomnia.

Patients (N = 37) received initial baseline polysomnography evaluations over 2 consecutive nights.Subjects were randomly assigned to either venlafaxine (75–150 mg/day) or mirtazapine (15–45mg/day)treatment for an 8 week,double -blind,double -dummy treatment trial.Single-night polysomnograms were conducted at weeks 1,2,and 8, with depression ratings assessed at baseline and weeks 1,2, 3,4, 6,and 8.

Patients receiving mirtazapine (N = 20) had significant improvement in objective sleep physiology measures at 8 weeks.Improvement in sleep latency,sleep efficiency,and wake after sleep onset were significant after only 2 weeks of mirtazapine treatment.No significant changes in sleep continuity measures were observed in the venlafaxine group (N = 17).Both groups improved clinicaly in mood and subjective sleep measures from baseline, with no differences between groups.

These date demonstrate the differential effects of mirtazapine and venlafaxine with significant improvement in favor of mirtazapine ,on objective sleep parameters in MDD patients with insomnia.

A retrospective study in India had showed high rate of comorbid disruptive disorders in children with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but not depression and anxiety disorders as opposed to western literature. Studies using structured assessment tools are lacking in Indian population and thus valid data on prevailing pattern of comorbidities in ADHD children is lacking.

To study the pattern of co-morbidities in Indian children & adolescents (subjects) with ADHD and to compare the degree of functional impairment between ADHD subjects with and without comorbidities.

60 consecutive subjects aged 6 to 16 years diagnosed as ADHD based on DSM IV TR were recruited with informed consent, from a tertiary care centre during a period of 6 months. Kiddie-SADS - PL was applied to identify comorbidities in these subjects. Global functioning was assessed by Children Global Assessment scale (CGAS) in all these subjects.

55% of recruited subjects had comorbidity, the most highly prevalent lifetime disorder being Oppositional Defiant disorder (25%), followed by conduct disorder (13.3%), Bipolar affective disorder (13.3%), Major depressive disorder (10%), Communication disorder (10%), Substance use disorder (8.4%), Obsessive compulsive disorder (8.3%), Tic disorder (5.4%), Learning disorder (5%), Elimination disorder (3.3%), Social phobia (1.7%) and Separation anxiety disorder (1.7%). Subjects with comorbidities had poorer global functioning (41.58 ± 0.45) when compared to ADHD subjects without comorbidities (47.67 ± 8.57) (p = 0.018).

Our study points out that Comorbid disorders like anxiety disorders are not as low as projected by the earlier Indian studies.

Depression and apathy are common behavioral symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and antidepressants, despite their role in improving depression have a minimum impact in improving apathy. Agomelatine has been shown to be effective in alleviating depression and reversing treatment emergent apathy.

The purpose of the current pilot study is to determine the efficacy of agomelatine in depressed patients with AD and comorbid apathy.

In this prospective 4 month study, twenty depressed elderly AD patients (age 65-85) who had been treated with SSRI and/or SNRI and shown a partial response to the antidepressant prescribed, in terms of apathy, were switched to agomelatine. Subjects were monitored for depression (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, HDRS), cognitive functions (Mini–Mental State Examination, MMSE) and apathy (Neuropsychiatric Inventory –apathy item, NPI-a).

Within groups, differences of HDRS, CSDD, MMSE and NPI-a scores at baseline, 2nd and 4th month of agomelatine treatment were estimated with repeated measure analysis of variance.

Following agomelatine, a numeric but not statistically significant improvement was observed in depression scores (8.2±3.5 vs 7.8±3.1, p=0.234, 7.8±3.1 vs5.8±2.3, p=0.421). A marked improvement in MMSE score was observed at both 2nd (22.2±4.9 vs 20.9± 5.4, p=0.05) and 3rd assessment(22.2±4.9 vs 23.9±4.9, p<0.05). Apathy score was also improved over the consecutive assessments (25.3±5.9 vs 18.6±3.9, p<0.05 and 18.6±3.9 15.5±4.3, p<0.05).

The present study demonstrated a good therapeutic response to agomelatine in elderly AD patients with depression and apathy symptoms in terms of alleviating apathy.

Generalized anxiety in young adults during college career is a serious public-health problem that untreated has a chronic course. Research has shown that the self-report questionnaire generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) is a reliable and valid measure to assess generalized anxiety symptoms severity in heterogeneous psychiatric samples. However, GAD-7 is not available for non-clinical populations and their factor structure has not been re-examined.

Our objective was to examine factor structure and measurement invariance of the GAD-7 among college students testing two alternatives models.

The original model fit of single-factor was compared to two-factor model that considered in comprehensive approach of generalized anxiety the assessment of cognitive-emotional nature and somatic symptoms.

In this cross-sectional study the GAD-7 was administrated to college students (n = 1031) recruited in the six schools which compose the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis was used testing two models.

Among college students, 32.8% reported significant generalized anxiety symptoms. The original unidimensional structure of GAD-7 was confirmed but the two-factor model comprising cognitive–emotional and somatic factors presented better fit to the data (χ2(1) = 21.01, P < 0001). This latent factor were positively associated (r = 0.51, P < 0.001) and presented a good internal consistency (α = 0.85 and α = 0.86 for cognitive-emotional and somatic items, respectively). The invariance factor of two-factor model across gender was also confirmed.

Results indicate that within college communities the GAD-7 integrates two stable generalized anxiety factors related but independent structure. The GAD-7 can be an adequate measure to detected generalized anxiety symptoms in this population.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Adolescent online behavior is an urgent public health problem in different countries of the world due to the possibility of developing Internet addiction.

To study the prevalence of different types of online behavior and Internet addiction in Siberian adolescents, depending on gender and age.

During the period from January to May 2019, 2950 adolescents aged 11-18 years living in the urban area of Central Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) were examined, of them 1348 boys and 1602 girls. The Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) with a cut-off level of 65 points was used. Internet users are divided into three groups: Adaptive Internet Users (AIU) (27–42 points); maladaptive Internet users (MIU) (43–64 points); pathological Internet users (PIU) (score ≥ 65).

The AIU group comprised 50.3% (55.9% boys and 45.6% girls, p <0.001). The share of adolescents aged 11-14 is 52.0%, the share of adolescents aged 15-18 is 48.4% (p = 0.04). The MIU group constituted 42.9% (46.3% were girls and 38.9% boys, p <0.001). The share of adolescents aged 11-14 is 42.1%, and those aged 15-18 is 43.8%, p > 0.05. The PIU group constituted 6.8% (5.1% boys and 8.2% girls, p <0.001). The share of adolescents aged 11-14 is 5.9% and those aged 15-18 is 7.8% (p = 0.04).

Among adolescents in Central Siberia the prevalence of AIU consist 50.3%, MIU 42.9%, PIU 6.8%. The prevalence of PIU is more common in girls. The increase in PIU was marked in the older age group. The study was funded by RFBR project № 18-29-2203218.

The reported study was funded by RFBR project № 18-29-22032\18.

Nurses specializing in maternal and child health are poised to play a pivotal role in the early identification and prompt treatment of perinatal depression. Postpartum period it is well-known for presenting high-risk for the appearance of a mental illness.

This study has been carried out with the aim of investigating the level of knowledge of the nurses and their role in the management of post-partum depression.

73 participants (n=73) were selected which are professional nurses. The data were collected through a questionnaire formed out of 16 questions. The questionnaire is structured on three parts: general information about the participants, the nurse’s knowledge about the postpartum depression, and the identification and the management of the patient’s cases.

73 of the nurses questioned, consider that they were not properly prepared for this role and they were not able to identify and manage the patients with post-partum depression. They also consider that the ideal training should contain more theoretical information. Amongst these (32, 87%) do not know the symptomatology, and 38, 35% are not aware of the risk factors of post-partum depression.

Postpartum depression is seen in approximately 10% of women who have recently given birth, but also in 3, 3% of men. Despite of this numbers, the Romanian medical staff is not yet well prepared in facing this affection.

No significant relationships.

Psychosis-like experiences (PEs) are common in patients with non-psychotic disorders. Several factors predict reporting of PEs in mood disorders, including mood-associated cognitive biases, anxiety and features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Childhood traumatic experiences (CEs), often reported by patients with BPD, are an important risk factor for mental disorders. We hypothesized that features of BPD may mediate the relationship between CEs and PEs. In this study, we investigated the relationships between self-reported PEs, CEs and features of BPD in patients with mood disorders.

As part of the Helsinki University Psychiatric Consortium study, McLean Screening Instrument (MSI), Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE-42) and Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS) were filled in by patients with mood disorders (n = 282) in psychiatric care. Correlation coefficients between total scores of scales and their dimensions were estimated, multiple regression and mediation analyses were conducted.

Total scores of MSI correlated strongly with scores of the CAPE-42 dimension “frequency of positive symptoms” (rho = 0.56; p ≤ 0.001) and moderately with scores of TADS (rho = 0.4; p ≤ 0.001). Total score of MSI and its dimension “cognitive symptoms”, including identity disturbance, distrustfulness and dissociative symptoms, fully mediated the relation between TADS and CAPE-42. Each cognitive symptom showed a partial mediating role (dissociative symptoms 43% (CI = 25–74%); identity disturbance 40% (CI = 30-73%); distrustfulness 18% (CI = 12-50%)).

Self-reported cognitive-perceptual symptoms of BPD fully mediate, while affective, behavioural and interpersonal symptoms only partially mediate the relationships between CEs and PEs. Recognition of co-morbid features of BPD in patients with mood disorders reporting PEs is essential.

The aim of study is to determine ethnics differences related to the knowledge, attitude and beliefs towards Mental Health Illness in a traditional fast developing country.

A cross-sectional survey.

Primary Health Care (PHC) Centers.Subjects: A representative sample of 3000 Qatari and other Arab expatriates above 20 years of age and 2514 subjects (83.8%) expressed their consent to study.

A specific questionnaire was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and beliefs towards mental health illness.

Among the 2514 studied subjects, 50.3% were Qataris’(males 39.8% and females 60.2%) and 49.7% were Arab expatriates (58.6% males and 41.4% females). 50.6% Qatari and 44.5% Arabs believe that mental illness could be the result of punishment from God or, thought as it was due to the possession of evil spirits (40.5% Qatari's and 37.6% Arabs). More than half of Qatari's and Arabs think that psychiatric medication will cause addiction and consider mental illness as dangerous. 75.3% of Qatari's and 83.4% of Arabs respondents had no problem to visit a Psychiatrist for their emotional problem, and 42.3% of Qatari's and 36.4% of Arabs agreed to visit a healer for their problem. Less than half of the population are disturbed to work with someone who has mental illness and are afraid if anybody with mental illness are staying in next door. The common mental illness among Qatari's and Arab Populations described are: schizophrenia, depression, autism, anxiety, epileptic, obsession, and other reported mental illnesses.

People's knowledge and attitude about understanding the mentally sick were of negative impact.

Responses to anticipateddiscrimination are common among mental health service users and can have adetrimental impact on their recovery. Since 2009, the Time to Change (TTC)anti-stigma program in England has aimed to improve service users’ empowerment,reducing public stigma and discrimination. In this paper, we aim to evaluatewhether service users’ awareness of TTC is associated with fewer responses toanticipated discrimination.

We used data collected for the evaluation of TTC from samples of mental health service users interviewed by telephone in annual surveys 2009-2014.

Five thousand and nine hundredand twenty-three participants completed the survey, mainly suffering from mooddisorders (depression, 28.4%, n = 1,681) and schizophrenia related disorders(15.4%, n = 915).

In 23.2% of cases,participants were aware of any aspects of the TTC program, while participationin TTC was reported by 2.6%. Being aware of the TTC program was notsignificantly associated with responses to anticipated discrimination, exceptfor those participating in the TTC campaign in 2013. Stopping oneself fromapplying for work was significantly associated with experienced discriminationin both finding (p < 0.001) and keeping (p < 0.001) a job.Concealing mental health problems was associated with a general experience ofbeing shunned (p < 0.001).

Awareness of a nationalanti-stigma program may not be sufficient to encourage people to seek work/educationor to be open about their illness in situations in which they currentlyanticipate discrimination. There is the need to identify new multi-levelstrategies for challenging anticipated discrimination, even focusing ondifferent target groups.

Although gamblers and investors have been found to exhibit many common traits, no existing studies associate retail investors with an explicit addictive behavior, or account for the degree of addiction's influence on investors’ and gamblers’ risk attitude and risk perception.

The study explores whether trading in the stock market is a potentially compulsive form of behavior. Furthermore, it explores the psychological risk perception versus economic risk taking of individuals engaged in active stock market trading and those in gambling, for various degrees of addiction.

The study aims to develop the profile of an addicted retail investor across demographic and risk variables.

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (Lesieur & Blume, 1987), adapted for stock market trading, the financial part of the Risk Taking Scale and Risk Perception Scale (Weber et al., 2002) and a demographics questionnaire was completed by a sample (582 responses) of active investors, gamblers and a control group in Greece at three distinctive time periods.

Results suggest that retail trading in the stock market exhibits significant incidence of compulsive behavior (11.2%) across diverse stock market environments, probably more for females. The decision to become an active investor or gambler entails greater risk friendliness. Pathologically addicted retail investors underestimate the risk of trading in the stock market. Demographics also play a critical role in risk perception and risk underestimation.

There is an apparent addiction problem between active retail investors that should be taken into account. Psychotherapeutic interventions are discussed.

Cross-sectional population studies often suffer from unobserved individual heterogeneity (e.g. genetics or unobserved predisposition to adopt healthy lifestyle) contaminating the estimate of social inequalities on well-being. Accurate estimates of risk factors for impaired quality of life using large epidemiological studies may help to develop services for older people in the community.

We examined the effect of socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle choices, smoking status and their impact on quality of life in non-institutionalised older people in six-year follow-up.

English Longitudinal Study of Ageing is current and ongoing longitudinal population studies in England over three waves (2002 = 9,953; 2004 = 8,411; 2006 = 8,411) were recruited. The study collected data on the personal, economic, psychological, and social circumstances of aging from a national sample of the non-institutionalised adults aged 50 years or more living in England. Quality of Life was measured using the CASP-19.

Determinants of quality of life using CASP-19 as the dependent variable were: female gender (beta = 1.19, p < 0.0001), younger age (beta = -0.56,p < 0.001), self-reported health (beta = -4.34, p < 0.0001), separation/divorce (beta = 0.81 p < 0.0001), monthly income (beta = -0.91, p = 0.01), accumulated wealth (beta = -0.094, p = 0.01), current smoker (beta = 0.34, p = 0.01 and socioeconomic ladder (beta = -0.115, p = 0.001).

Female gender, younger age, poor self-health reported status, family disruption, active smoking and income were predictors of impaired quality of life. Studies are needed in how to address these socio-economic related factors, social habits and smoking to improve the well-being of older people.