Latest Research

Natalie B. V. Riblet, Brian Shiner, Yinong Young-Xu, Bradley V. Watts The British Journal of Psychiatry Jun 2017, 210 (6) 396-402; DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.116.187799 This systematic review of depression prevention strategies identified 72 randomised controlled trials and undertook 6 pooled analyses that showed little effect from most strategies.  The World Health Organization (WHO) brief intervention and contact (BIC) was the only intervention associated with significantly lower ...

Conejo-Ceron S, Moreno-Peral P, Rodriguez-Morejon A, et al.  Ann Fam Med. 2017 May;15(3):262-271. doi: 10.1370/afm.2031. (Review) PMID: 28483893 This systematic review of depression prevention initiatives echoes the findings of a recent Cochrane review.  Despite modest efficacy for some interventions, these were greater when compared with treatment as usual rather than active comparators (the most rigorous type).  It’s probably too early to recommend any of these interventions for univ...

Pagsberg AK, Jeppesen P, Kisubar DG, et al. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30166-9 This is the first comparison of quetiapine ER (extended release) and aripiprazole in first episode psychosis and it showed no significant group differences in psychotic symptoms after 12 weeks.  There were, however, some differences in side-effects, with quetiapine being associated with more metabolic side-effects and aripiprazole being associated with more initial akathisia and (surprisingly) s...

Song J1, Sjölander A1, Joas E1, Bergen SE1, Runeson B1, Larsson H1, Landén M1, Lichtenstein P1. Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Jun 9:appiajp201716050542. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16050542. [Epub ahead of print] Although both Lithium and Sodium Valproate are useful medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder, this study involving multiple Swedish registers showed that only Lithium reduces the risk of suicide-related events by 14%. This finding is worth considering when deciding whi...

Oklovska S, Vesteegaard CH, Hammer B, et al. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online May 24, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0995 This large study from Denmark showed that children who had streptococcal throat infection were at increased risk of developing mental disorders, particularly OCD and tics.  Interestingly, children who had non-streptococcal throat infections were also at increased rates of mental disorders, leading the authors to suggest the use of a “paediatric acute-onset neur...

DR Hoekman et al. J Pediatr 182, 155-163.e7. 2017 Jan 09. The high placebo rate associated with migraine treatment is well known.  This systematic review analysed the placebo effects reported in studies of abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders (AP-FGIDs) in children.  Around 41% of children experienced an improvement in pain with placebo and 17% became symptom free. These changes were similar in magnitude to placebo effects during adult studies and suggest that con...

Secenti E, Thompson EJ, Richards M, et al. J Clin Psychol Psychiatry. 2017, 27 April,  DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12727 This systematic review of 34 studies involving over 45,000 children found that childhood chronic physical illness was associated with a greater risk of emotional problems, particularly adult depression (OR = 1.31; 95% CI [1.12, 1.54]) and anxiety (OR = 1.47; 95% CI [1.13, 1.92]). Children with cancer appeared to be at particular risk of adult depression, compared with those who...

Carter G, Milner A, McGill K, et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2017 Jun;210(6):387-395. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.116.182717. Epub 2017 Mar 16. This systematic review of scales for predicting suicide shows that things remain unchanged. For all scales combined, the pooled positive predictive values were: for suicide 5.5% (95% CI 3.9-7.9%), for self-harm 26.3% (95% CI 21.8-31.3%) and for self-ham plus suicide 35.9% (95% CI 25.8-47.4%). Sub-analyses on self-harm found pooled PPVs of 16.1% (95% CI 11.3-22.3%)...

Child and Adol Psychiatry Clinics. 2017; 28(3): 587-595. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2017.02.009 This article provides a nice and current summary of the evidence regarding the management of sleep disorders in preschool-aged children. http://www.childpsych.theclinics.com/article/S1056-4993(17)30037-8/abstract

J American Psychoanalytic Association. 2017; 64(4): 751-776. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065116659443 This interesting article details three case histories of children with long-term effects of infant trauma and it highlights the significance of secure attachment in mediating these effects. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003065116659443?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=Can%20Babies%20Remember%20Trauma%3F%20Symbolic%20Forms%20of%20Re...