The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) have been used as general dimensions to describe affective experience, and they are the affective, emotional components of SWB.

Positive and negative affect is a relevant facet of well-being for community-dwelling older adults. This study aims to conduct a validation of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), by assessing the psychometric properties (distributional properties, construct, criterion and external-related validities, and reliability) of the PANAS in a cross-national sample of older adults.

A cross-sectional survey design was used. A convenience sample of 1291 community-dwelling older adults aged 75 years old and older was recruited from community centers. Construct validity was estimated through confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity. Criterion and external-related validities, reliability and distributional properties were also assessed.

The PANAS demonstrated satisfactory reliability, distributional properties, and construct, criterion and external-related validities in this sample of older adults.

These results suggest that the PANAS can be used as a reliable and valid measure for examining positive and negative affect among cross-national community-dwelling older adults.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The EUNOMIA international project focuses on the application of coercive measures in psychiatric treatment. The use of coercive measures to mentally ill people is a very sensitive topic. The type and frequency of this action is influenced by different cultural or legal traditions, general attitudes toward mentally ill people and the structure and quality of mental health care systems.

Presentation of the frequency and way of administration of coercive measures to psychiatric inpatients with acute mental illness in the Czech Republic.

All coercive measures used during hospitalization (restraint, seclusion, forced medication) were documented in detail in special form. The definition of coercive measures was following: Restraint - fixation of at least one limb for longer than 15 minutes. Forced medication – the use of restraint or high psychological pressure to administer medication.Seclusion -involuntary placement of the patient alone in a locked room.

We have evaluated the group of 202 involuntarily admitted patients and the group of 59 voluntarily admitted patients perceiving some coercion at admission.

Restraint, forced medication or/ and seclusion were used in 45,5% of involuntarily admitted patients. In 2/3 of these patients some coercive measure was repeated. In the group of voluntarily admitted patients coercive measures were used only marginally (5,1%).

The most frequent measure used was forced medication. Mainly typical antipsychotics and benzodiazepins were administered.

Presented results show the praxis with the use of coercive measures in the Czech Republic. The data were gathered within the EUNOMIA project.

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Longitudinal studies reporting the association between cannabis use and developing depression provide mixed results. The objective of this study was to establish the extent to which different patterns of use of cannabis are associated with the development of depression using meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

Peer-reviewed publications that compared the risk of development of depression in cannabis users and non-userst were located using searches of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsychINFO and ISI Web of Science. Data on measures of cannabis use, measures of depression and control variables were extracted. Odds ratios were extracted by age and length of follow-up.

After screening 3,905 articles, 55 articles were selected for full-text review, of which 12 were included in the quantitative analysis. The odds for cannabis users developing depression compared to controls was 1.26 (95%CI=1.10-1.44). The odds for heavy cannabis users developing depression was 1.72 (95%CI=1.27-2.34), compared to non-users or light users. Meta-regression revealed no significant differences in effect based on age of subjects or length of follow-up in the individual studies. There was large heterogeneity in the number and type of control variables in the different studies.

Cannabis use, and particularly heavy cannabis use, may be associated with an increased risk for developing depressive disorders. Despite limitations due to heterogeneity in control variables, this study represents the current state of knowledge on this association. In order to establish a more precise dose-response relationship between cannabis use and the risk of developing depression, future longitudinal exploration should take into account cumulative exposure to cannabis.

Obesity is a serious health issue, associated with significant medical and psychosocial co-morbidity. Bariatric surgery is a promising treatment modality however, few studies have so far investigated its impact on patients’ sexuality.

The present study's aim was to determine bariatric surgery's effect on female patients’ Body Mass Index (BMI), psychological and sexual functioning.

59 obese female patients, scheduled to undergo weight loss operation, completed the study. Psychological functioning was measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), while sexual functioning was assessed by the Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI). All participants were evaluated in two consecutive time intervals, one week before surgery (T1) and one year after (T2).

Statistical analysis revealed a significant reduction in BMI (p < 0.001) and depression (p < 0.001) scores, a significant improvement in sexual desire (p = 0.005), arousal (p = 0.001), lubrication (p = 0.003), satisfaction (p = 0.012) and total sexual function (p = 0.003) and a decrease in the levels of pain during intercourse (p = 0.014) postoperatively.

Postoperative total sexual functioning was correlated with baseline BMI (p = 0.030) and BMI decrease (p = 0.037).

Bariatric surgery appears as an effective way to control weight and improve psychological and sexual functioning in female obese patients. Patients, who ceased to be obese postoperatively, reported the greatest level of sexual improvement, indicating that obesity treatment should focus on BMI normalization.

This study investigates the effect of sex and childhood trauma on affective processing in bipolar disorder (BPD) patients.

In a sample of fifty-six BPD patients, we administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Affective Go/No-Go (AGNG) to measure affective processing. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the effect of sex and childhood trauma on IGT; Repeated-Measures ANOVAs to measure accuracy and bias measures across conditions on the AGNG.

In the context of childhood abuse, females evidenced a more conservative cognitive style than males by selecting fewer cards from the disadvantageous decks [F(1, 49) = 14.218; P < 0.001] and showed an improvement throughout the task, as noted in a normal learning curve [F(1.49) = 4.385; P = 0.041)]. For the AGNG, an interaction specific to the negative valence stimuli on response bias measures was found. Abused females scored higher (mean = 8.38; SD = 6.39) than abused males (mean = 0.69; SD = 1.19) [F(1.46) = 6.348; P = 0.015].

Severity of childhood trauma was significantly different between sexes. In the context of a history of emotional abuse, male bipolar patients tended toward a more risk-taking behavior compared to female. Further investigations are needed to elucidate potential pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this interaction.

Art therapy means treatment and healing of mental disturbance through an artistic mediated through which the client can reveal itself and helps the therapist to analyze what he has offered and take another step towards the methods of treatment.

Therefore, in this study, with a proactive approach to examine the effects of art therapy on housewives general health, anxiety and self-efficiency in Tehran.

In order that twenty-one housewives in West of Tehran area were selected randomly using a cluster sampling method and they were divided into three groups of seven subjects each. Each three groups responded general health, Sherer general self-efficacy and Beck anxiety tests before and after applying the Independent variable (art therapy). Twelve art therapy, sessions per a week for 90 minutes each session was held. To describe data, we used a tree diagram, central indices such as mean and standard deviation, and we used t test for statistical analyzing of research hypotheses.

According to the results, art therapy has significant influence on general health and its components in the housewives (5/44) . Art therapy significantly reduces the housewives anxiety (5/89). Art therapy significantly increase the housewives efficiency (3/73) .

Art therapy can be effective when used in treating anxiety, promote general health and self-efficacy.

The concept of Internet addiction, also called Internet addictive disorder or pathological Internet use, entered the medical lexicon in 1995. To investigate the prevalence of Internet addiction among north Iranian Internet users and to explore the epidemiological features associated with Internet addiction, for the first time in Iran, this study performed.

A total of 1856 Internet user volunteers' from Mazandaran province cities were surveyed using Farsi version of Young's Internet Addiction Questionnaire during 2005_2006. Data analysis was done using the SPSS 13.0 Win Program for descriptive and correlational statistics.

Total of 424 Dependents was in our sample. The incidence rate of Internet addiction was 22.8%. Dependents spent an M = 14.42, SD = 13.74 hours per week compared to Non-Dependents who spent M= 9, SD = 10.37 hours per week (P<0.001). The sample of Dependents included 256 males and 165 females (P<0.001). Mean±SD of Income Used for On-line Service Fees was 30.11±25.27 percent in Dependent group and 18.90±20.79 in Non-Dependent group (P<0.001). Dependents predominantly used the two-way communication functions available on the Internet like chat rooms (P<0.001).

The present study suggests that Internet addiction is frequent among northern Iranian Internet users. In addition, chat rooms are most addictive web environment in this population. The results have important implications for further studies of prevalence, implementation of preventive measures, and the development of treatment approaches for Internet addiction.

Teachers are potential partners in the referral and management of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) especially in resource constrained settings. However, their ability to play this role is a function of their knowledge of ADHD and their attitude towards children with the disorder. There is paucity of information on the attitude of Nigerian school teachers towards children with ADHD.

This study assessed the attitude of a sample of primary school teachers in Lagos, Nigeria towards children with ADHD.

Primary school teachers (n = 144) recruited from four mainstream schools in Lagos State were presented with vignettes describing school children with ADHD. Thereafter, they completed questionnaires which elicited their knowledge of ADHD and attitudes towards children with the disorder.

The responses of the participants indicated a high level of misperception about ADHD and negative attitudes towards children with the disorder. Only 9.0% and 16.7% of the respondents agreed that ADHD could be successfully managed with medications and psychological interventions respectively. One out of four (25.7%) teachers affirmed that they would avoid relating with a child with ADHD, while 35.4% would be unwilling to accept a student with ADHD in their class.

There is a high level of misperception about ADHD among Primary school teachers in Nigeria. This highlights the need for educational Interventions targeted towards improving the knowledge of teachers about ADHD. Furthermore, mental health literacy could be incorporated into the curriculum of institutions training primary school teachers.

Family burden, defined as the consequences for those in close contact with a severely disturbed psychiatric patient, is now well-documented in schizophrenia research, whereas very few data are available in affective disorders.

To explore:

1. 1) the levels of family burden in a sample of key-relatives of patients with major depression;

2. 2) the professional and social support for relatives of patients with major depression disorder.

324 patients with major depression and their key-relatives were randomly recruited in 30 Italian mental health centres, randomly selected and stratified by geographical area and population density. Family burden was explored in relation to:

1. a) patient's clinical status and disability;

2. b) relatives’ social and professional support.

Reduction of leisure (53% of the sample) and social activities (44%) were the most frequently reported sources of practical burden, whereas psychological burden was mainly due to sense of loss (75%) and worries for the future (61%). Family burden is higher in key-relatives with a lower education level (p < .05), and when patients’ symptomatology and social functioning are more severe. Key-relatives who can rely on a stronger support from social network and from mental health professionals have lower levels of family burden (p < .05).

These results highlight the need to provide supportive interventions for patients with major depression and their key-relatives.

Despite age at onset (AAO) of eating disorders (EDs) has classically been described in adolescence; to date there is not an univocal definition. While initial studies described a bimodal distribution of AAO for ED, recently several studies didn’t confirm these findings.

AAO thresholds definition for anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) with statistical validation of proposed cut-offs is highly needed, since AAO represents a crucial clinical feature.

We obtained data from subjects with AN and BN to perform a normal distribution admixture analysis to determine their AAO.

A total of 806 ED patients (792 females; 379 AN and 427 BN) were recruited. Diagnosis of AN and BN were ascertained according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria by means of the SCID – Patient Edition. AAO was assessed by a clinical interview performed by a psychiatrist matched with a systematic review of medical records. To test AAO subgroups, we used a normal distribution admixture analysis.

A bimodal normal distribution of AAO with an early onset and late onset component was found for both AN and BN. Most of the subjects with AN (75.3%) and BN (83.3%) belonged to the early onset group. Both groups had a mean AAO of about 18 years. No significant differences were found concerning the AAO between groups.

Consider clinical history and course of AAO for EDs may be crucial for planning treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first study that applied a validated statistical procedure to identify AAO cut-off points for AN and BN.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Psychopathological and biological markers that predict response to antidepressant drugs that selectively increase serotonin and/or chatecholaminergic neurotransmission will considerably increase the effects of currently available treatment options.

Comparison of tryptophan depletion (TD) and catecholamine depletion (CD) regarding the pathogenesis of depressive symptoms.

To elucidate the differential symptomatology and neurocircuitry in response to reductions in serotonergic and catecholaminergic neurotransmission in subjects at high risk of depression.

Using identical neuroimaging procedures with [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography after TD and CD, subjects with remitted depression were compared to healthy controls in a double-blind, randomized, crossover design.

While TD induced significantly more depressed mood, sadness and hopelessness than CD, CD induced more inactivity, concentration difficulties, lassitude and somatic anxiety than TD.CD specifically increased glucose metabolism in the bilateral ventral striatum and decreased glucose metabolism in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, whereas TD led to a specific increase in glucose metabolism in the right prefrontal cortex and in the PCC. While we found direct associations between changes in brain metabolism and induced depressive symptoms following CD, the relationship between neural activity and symptoms was less clear after TD.

This study showed that serotonin and catecholamines play common and differential roles in the pathophysiology of depression. Thus, the development of psychopathological and neuronal markers predicting response to selective monoamine inhibition is feasible, and current efforts to develop antidepressants with dual and triple reuptake inhibition (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine) are supported by this study.

To our knowledge there are no research about the influence of self-criticism and self-compassion in the occurrence of insomnia.

To study the association between self-criticism, self-compassion and insomnia on university students; to explore differences in these associations on two moments of student's lives–examination and no examination period.

We anticipate that the stress and pressure of the examination period have an impact on student's sleep and there are, also, differences by age and gender.

Self-Criticism and Self-Reassurance Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, Pre-Activation Sleep Scale, Insomnia Assessment Scale and Anxiety and Depression and Stress Scales were answered by 160 college students (M = 26.45, SD = 7.98; range = 19–54 years) during an examination period and by 108 college students during a no examination period (M = 26.34; SD = 0.43; range = 19–54 years).

In both periods (examination and no examination period) older students (30–54 years) tended to be more self-compassionate and tolerant, such as less self-critical and punitive. During the examination period, younger students (19–29 years) showed higher levels of self-criticism, cognitive, and somatic activation before falling asleep. There was also a higher proportion of younger students in the insomniac and insomnia symptomatic groups. Moreover, significant correlations were found between cognitive and somatic activation and depression, anxiety, and stress in both moments.

In the examination period, the youngest students are more critical and less compassionate, what might lead to greater cognitive and somatic activation before sleep and, consequently, to insomnia symptoms and insomnia itself.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.