Obesity is an increasingly common chronic disease. Its biopsychosocial basis provides the rationale of multidisciplinary interventions, such as Therapeutic Patient Education (TPE, WHO 1998), which is effective for lifestyle change and awareness improvement, thus reducing the disease's prevalence and its health care-related financial burden. However, patients’ socio-demographic and psychopathological factors may influence TPE's effectiveness.

We aimed to assess the effectiveness of an 8-week TPE program in obese patients candidates for bariatric surgery and identify factors predicting its success.

We enrolled 159 patients with a BMI > 35 Kg/m2 and obesity-related comorbidities (females = 71.3%; age range = 18-35 years) at the C.A.S.C.O. (EASO COMs) of our University Hospital. They filled out the Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). We used Tukey's multiple comparison test to assess Quality of Life (QoL) improvement after TPE and multivariate logistic regression to estimate the size of the association between TPE and the aforementioned factors.

The SF-36 showed a significant improvement (P < 0.05) of physical and mental QoL post-TPE, especially in obese patients without binge eating disorder. The same applied to BES and SCL-90-R scores. The factors predicting TPE success were a short duration of obesity, a limited number of past diets, and low levels of anxiety/depression pre-TPE.

In obese patients candidates for bariatric surgery, TPE is useful to improve physical and mental QoL, eating behavior, and psychological status. Several factors are predictive of TPE success, allowing a personalization of the intervention to render it more effective.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

There are about 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine, which requires an assessment of their mental health.

To develop a psychoeducational program aimed at informing about the clinical manifestations (markers of symptoms) of mental disorders, the possibilities of preventing their formation and options for action in conditions of the formation or exacerbation of a mental state.

270 IDPs were examined. Methods: clinical-psychopathological, psychometric, statistical.

Evaluation of the mental state of IDPs with symptoms of mental disorders (risk group (31.92%)) indicates the presence of various emotional disorders that formed individual syndromes – asthenic (41.18%), agrypnic (45.59%), somato-vegetative (30.88%), anxiety-depressive (20, 59%). The risk factors for the development of mental disorders in IDPs were identified - the older age is from 50 to 59 and the average age is from 40 to 49 years; lack of a complete family, lack of work, low level of social employment, lack of satisfactory living conditions, a significant decrease in the level of well-being, the preservation of the significance of factors of mental trauma, the presence of certain prenosological syndromes. The proposed psychoeducational program is built on the principle of thematic seminars with elements of social and psychological training.

The implementation of the program provides a comprehensive impact on the cognitive, emotional, psychophysiological, behavioral and social aspects of personality functioning.

To characterize the perceptions of self, mother and family of prepubertal children and to determine if the perceptions of children with depression and their behavior towards their mothers are different from children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric controls.

Children (aged 7–13 years) with major depressive disorder (n = 30), anxiety disorders (n = 37) and nonpsychiatric controls (n = 32) underwent structured psychiatric evaluations and completed questionnaires on their perceptions of themselves and their relations with their mothers and families. The child–mother dyad was observed during structured interactions.

Self-perceptions of depressed children were significantly more negative than those of children with anxiety and controls. Depression severity negatively correlated with the child's self-perception and positively correlated with perceptions of the mother as being more rejecting, controlling, less accepting and less allowing autonomy, and of the family as being less cohesive. Depression severity was also positively associated with the child's hostile attitude towards the mother during the interactions.

Our findings of greater negative perceptions of self, mother and family in depressed children compared to children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric children suggest that approaches specifically addressing negative perceptions and targeting familial relationships could be especially effective for treating young children with depression.

Trinucleotide repeats have been associated with schizophrenia, but the evidence, based on cross-sectional clinical information, is equivocal.

To examine the relationship between genomic CAG/CTG repeat size and premorbid development in schizophrenia.

Early development and premorbid functioning of 22 patients with DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed by parental interviews. Repeat expansion detection (RED) technique was used to measure genomic CAG/CTG repeat size, and PCR for CAG repeat size at the ERDA-1 and CTG 18.1 loci.

There was an inverse association between CAG/CTG size and perinatal complications. Patients with speech and motor developmental delay had larger repeats. The results were not due to expansion in the ERDA-1 and CTG 18.1 genes.

CAG/CTG repeat expansion is associated with speech and motor developmental delay in schizophrenia. We propose that the developmental model may be useful for research into the genetics of schizophrenia.

We considered that completed opiate detoxification resulted in increased life expectancy and earning capacity as compared to non-completed detoxification.

The cohort study sample included pure opioid or poly-substance addicts admitted for voluntary in-patient detoxification between 1997 and 2004. Of 404 patients, 58.7% completed the detoxification program and 41.3% did not. The Austrian Social Security Institution supplied data on survival and employment records for every single day in the individual observation period between discharge and December 2007. Statistical analyses included the calculation of standardized mortality rates for the follow-up period of up to 11 years.

The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were between 13.5 and 17.9 during the first five years after discharge, thereafter they fell clearly with time. Mortality did not differ statistically significantly between completers and non-completers. The median employment rate was insignificantly higher in completers (12.0%) than in non-completers (5.5%). The odds for being employed were higher in pure opioid addicts than in poly-substance addicts (p = 0.003).

The assumption that completers of detoxification treatment have a better outcome than non-completers has not been confirmed. The decrease in mortality with time elapsed since detoxification is interesting. Pure opioid addicts had better employment prospects than poly-substance addicts.

The mental health burden on primary care is substantial and increasing. Anxiety is a major contributor. Stepped collaborative care (SCC) is implemented worldwide to improve patient outcomes, but long term real-world evaluations of SCC do not exist. Using routinely used electronic medical records from more than a decade, we investigated changes in anxiety prevalences, whether physicians made distinction between non-severe and severe anxiety, and whether these groups were referred and treated differently, both non-pharmacologically and pharmacologically.

Retrospective assessment of anxiety care parameters recorded by 54 general practitioners between 2003 and 2014, in the electronic medical records of a dynamic population of 49,841–69,413 primary care patients.

Substantial shifts in anxiety care parameters have occurred. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms doubled to 0.9% and of anxiety disorders almost tripled to 1.1%. Use of ICPC codes seemed comprehensive and use of instruments to support in anxiety level differentiation increased to 13% of anxiety symptom and 7% of anxiety disorder patients in 2014. Minimal interventions were used more frequently, especially for anxiety symptoms (OR 21 [95% CI 5.1–85]). The antidepressant prescription rates decreased significantly for anxiety symptoms (OR 0.5 [95% CI 0.4–0.8]) and anxiety disorders (OR 0.6 [95% CI 0.4–0.8]). More patients were referred to psychologists and psychiatrists.

We found shifts in anxiety care parameters that follow the principles of SCC. Future primary care research should comprehensively assess the use of the SCC range of therapeutic options, tailored to patients with all different anxiety severity levels.

National siege mentality, underlying the national threat, is surely socially and politically determined. However, we assumed that certain social attitudinal constructs and psychological predisposition might underlie a belief system such as the concept of national siege mentality is.

We tried to answer whether national collective narcissism, anomie, and psychopathic syndrome we developed may prove valuable in understanding the appearance and development of national siege mentality.

The aim of this research were: (1) To develop valid measure instruments that could be useful and efficient tools for assessing attitudinal and psychological tendencies in political-psychological and psychiatric research. (2) To find out the effects of national collective narcissism, anomie, and psychopathic syndrome on national siege mentality.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to explore factorial and construct validity of the scales used in this research. A questionnaire was administered to randomly selected adults (N=544). Using structural equation modeling, this study examined the effects of exogenous variables in expressing national siege mentality.

Structural model indicated that national collective narcissism, anomie, and psychopathic personality syndrome showed significant effects on national siege mentality (RMSEA=0.07, SRMR=0.05, CFI=0.96, NNFI=0.95).

The scales used in research proved to be reliable and valid measures of the attitudinal and personality constructs. Given the amount of variance of national siege mentality explained by exogenous variables (46 per cent), it is reasonable to assume that collective frustrations, political mistrust, and psychopathological predisposition may be underpinning the belief system labelled national siege mentality.

The FP7-European funded project TRIMAGE is run by a European consortium of 7 research institutes and 4 SMEs. It started in December 2013 and has a duration of 4 years. It is coordinated by the Department of Physics 'E. Fermi” of the University of Pisa (Italy),

TRIMAGE aims to create a trimodal, cost-effective imaging tool consisting of PET/MR/EEG. It uses cutting edge technology with performance beyond the state of the art. The tool is intended for broad distribution to enable effective early diagnosis of schizophrenia and possibly other mental health disorders.

The goals of this project will be achieved by the scientific and technological developments in both the clinical and technological fields, as detailed by the following three strongly correlated S&T sub-objectives:

1. a) Find new biomarkers and define a suitable multimodal paradigm with already available PET, MR, EEG and PET/MR systems thus providing clinical evidence on the feasibility of early schizophrenia diagnosis.

2. b) Construct and test an optimized cost-effective trimodality imaging instrument (brain PET/MR/EEG) for diagnosis, monitoring and follow-up of schizophrenia disorders.

3. c) Validate the trimodal imaging device built by this Consortium with regard to the results and the clinical data obtained from sub-objective a).

This presentation will describe the outlines of the project and will present an update after the first year of running.

Each individual experience cancer in a different way. While some perceive cancer as a complex and traumatic experience by developing some psychosocial and additional physical problems, others overcome cancer-related difficulties by gaining benefits such as post-traumatic growth (PTG) owing to their resilience. Resilience and PTG that are very valuable concepts in human life to adapt positively to cancer process have relations which need to be better understood.

We aimed to provide a better understanding of relations between resilience and PTG and relations of these two concepts with cancer experience.

Literature review.

Successful adjustment to life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, require resilience. On the other hand, resilience provides a barrier toward stressors by helping improvement of PTG and so, is an antecedent factor of PTG. PTG ensures a deeper perspective and strength to people after traumatic events. Hence, individuals having higher levels of PTG feel powerful enough to handle the problems in their life and can easily adapt to cancer process by focusing on the positive outcomes of trauma, having improved coping mechanisms and an improved psychological well-being.

Resilience and PTG have strong mutual relations and this phenomenon should be considered for a qualified cancer care.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Workforce migration of mental health professionals seems to have a significant impact on mental health services, both in the donor and host countries. Nevertheless, information on migration in junior doctors within Europe is very limited. Therefore, the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) has conducted the Brain Drain Survey.

To identify, in junior doctors training in psychiatry, the impact of international short-term mobility experiences, towards a future workforce migration across countries, exploring its patterns and reasons.

In this cross-sectional international study, data were collected from 2281 psychiatric trainees in 33 countries. All participants answered to the EFPT Brain Drain Survey reporting their attitudes and experiences on mobility and migration.

Only one-third of the trainees had a short-mobility experience in their lifetime, being education the main purpose for these experiences. Interestingly, the main predictors for future migratory tendency were not only the having a income and being dissatisfied with this income, but having a short-mobility experience. In fact, people that had short-mobility experiences were two times more likely to express a migratory tendency. Trainees that went abroad were predominantly satisfied with their experiences, reporting that these influenced their attitudes towards migration, positively.

These findings show that short-term mobility has a positive impact into future long-term migration, increasing its probability.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Body dysmorphic disorder is characterized by a preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance that causes clinically significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning.

This study aimed to evaluate body dysmorphic disorder, self-esteem, and depression in cosmetic rhinoplasty patients

250 cosmetic rhinoplasty patients completed a demographic questionnaire, dysmorphic concern questionnaire (DCQ), Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and Beck depression index-II (BDI-II). Data were analyzed by appropriate tests.

Of 250 patients, 30 (12.0%) were male and 220 (88.0%) were female. Mean ± SD was 24.0 ± 4.7 for age. Frequency of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) was 18.0% (45). BDD showed a significant correlation with lower self-esteem and higher depression (both P<0.001). From patients who had BDD, 5(11.1%) showed minimal depression, 14 (31.1%) mild depression, 25(55.6%) moderate depression and 1 (2.2%) severe depression. Also, BDD showed a significant association with the job (Higher in students and housewives, P= 0.04) and cigarette smoking (P<0.001).

Lower self-esteem showed in the patients with age <25 years old (P<0.001), students (P=0.003), Lower education (P<0.001) and lower income (P=0.03).

The prevalence of depression (BDI score >13) was 107 (42.2%). Severity of depression was significantly higher in married patients (P=0.003), lower education (P=0.001), lower income (P=0.04), cigarette smoking (P=0.008), having more children (P<0.001) and having a history of previous cosmetic surgery (P=0.001).

There should be special concerns about psychiatric aspects of people who seek cosmetic surgeries.