Social support is an important variable involved in the process of health/disease. In the particular case of immigrants, social support is also related to the success of their life project and the integration in the society that received them.

Although Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire is one of the most used with immigrants (e.g. National Health Survey), it has never been adapted to this population. In this research, Duke-UNC was adapted to Romanian immigrants living in Spain, in order to analyze the relationship between social support and mental health.

Verify the factorial structure and the psychometric properties and analyze the relationship between social support and mental health.

We administered Duke-UNC and GHQ-12 to a sample of Romanian immigrants (N = 116, mean age = 33.26; SD = 11.04), and conducted an exploratory factor analysis.

In the case of Duke-UNC, the results showed a structure of one factor that accounts for 51.46% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha value was .90. A significant negative correlation was found between the social support and the mental health (r = -0.34, p < .000). This shows that people who have more social support also enjoy better health state.

This study demonstrates that Duke-UNC is a practical instrument that can be used to assess Romanian immigrants'social support. This variable has to be taken into account when therapeutic interventions and health programs are created for immigrants because of its relationship with mental health.

Suicide is a major cause of disability and mortality.

Examine the role of neurobiological factors of suicidal behavior, includingneyrotransmitternyh and neurohormonal systems, which include the metabolism ofbiogenic amines.

55patients aged 17 - 35 years of both sexes (58 men and 97 women) who havecommitted suicide

Clinicalexamination, biochemical and immunogenetical methods.

Found thattheir violation and imbalance, namely increased concentrations of serotonin inthe blood (2,39 ± 0,24 mmol / l) reduction in plasma melatonin (0,71 ± 0,07 mmol / l) and decreasedexcretion rate adrenaline and noradrenaline at night (0,39 ± 0,06 and 1,21 ± 0,25 mmol / h) and daytime periods(1,66 ± 0,26and 4,56 ± 0,86 mmol/ h), creates neurohormonal background for the development of psychopathologicalconditions that lead to suicidal intentions and actions.

Patientswith specified neurobiological changes have been unable to get out of the longconflict through active variant of overcoming conflict and completed suicidalacts. According to the results of biomedical research, with to appropriatecorrection is differentiated use of natural biogenic stimulants herbalantidepressant that selectively affect the turnover of serotonin, melatonin, or drugs that stimulate the function of epiphysis.

numerous studies have shown higher rates of anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic diseases and other physical symptoms in women exposed to intimate partner violence.

to analyze the relationships between duration and frequency of abuse and diverse health factors (mental health, physical complaints, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-perceived health) in a sample of battered women.

This study is composed of 274 battered women from Chile and Spain. The instruments used were: a semi-structured interview for victims of abuse, specifically designed for this research, which assesses sociodemographic characteristics of victims and circumstances of abuse; the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) (Goldberg and Williams, 1988); Complaints Questionnaire, extracted from the National Health Survey of Spain (INE, 2006) and the Severity of Symptom Scale for PTSD (Echeburúa et al., 1997).

the results show that both the duration and frequency of intimate partner violence are associated to poorer health outcomes. For example, higher duration of violence leads to higher number of physical ailments and higher severity of PTSD symptomatology.

this results allow a better understanding of women health that suffer this kind of violence from their partners, and let us to develop treatment programs that best suit their specific needs, both in the private and public health field.

The etiology of psychiatric disorders in children with vertically acquired HIV is assumed to be related not only to neurotoxicity of HIV virus but also to environmental factors. To presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders has many consequences including worse compliance and engagement in risk behaviors which may lead to the expansion of HIV virus. By the end of 2012 - 118 children were subject to antiretroviral therapy in Poland.

The goal of the study was to assess the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with perinatal HIV infection.

The study is carried out in The Clinic of Infectious Diseases of Childhood in Warsaw's Hospital for Infectious Diseases. 59 vertically HIV infected children aged 6-18 were qualified for the study. The control group is made up of healthy children at risk of infection (healthy children of HIV positive mothers). All subjects are interviewed with K-SADS-PL, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self Report (YSR) questionnaires in the diagnostic process for the presence of psychiatric disorders and quality of life testing.

Out of thirteen HIV vertically infected children tested up to day eight met criteria for at least one current or past psychiatric disorder according to DSM IV including ADHD, mood and anxiety disorders. One patient met criteria for five psychiatric disorders.

62% of HIV vertically infected children presented symptoms of at least one psychiatric disorders. The results of the pilot study suggest that the continuation of the study is justified.

Many risk factors for cocaine-induced psychosis (CIP)in cocaine-dependent patient (CDP) have been described although there not exactly known. Differences in the personality traits or disorders in CDP with or without CIP has been described. However, there are few studies studding the relationship between CIP and personality with a dimensional approach in order to clarify if there are any personal dimension related with CIP or/and personality disorders (PD) in CDP.

This study the relationship between CIP and personality trails evaluates with ZKPQ, and attempted to identify any personality dimension as a risk factors for CIP.

We performed a cross-sectional, observational study in 260 (75.5% man, 36.5 y.o) CDP according DSM-IV-TR seeking treatment between May 2009 and April 2013. The SCID-I, SCID–II, ZKPQ and a structured interview about CIP were performed.

CIP was reported for 66.4% of the patients. Patients with CIP had an earlier onset of cocaine dependence (p<0.05). Any PD was identified in 46.9% of the sample. Patients with CIP were diagnosed with ASPD more frequently (28.9% vs. 15.6%, X2=9.9, p<0.05). ZKPQ mean were: Sociability (6.3± 3.6), Neuroticism-Anxiety (10.8± 4.8), Impulsive Sensation Seeking (10.8±4.5), Aggression Hostility (9.06±3.2) and Activity (8.3±3.4). Patients with CIP presented higher scores in Neuroticism-Anxiety (11,4±4,7 vs. 9,6±5, t=2.7, p<0.05) and Aggression-Hostility (9,4±3,1 vs. 9,4±3,1, t=2.3, p<0.05) than patients without CIP.

The detection of high scores of neuroticism-anxiety and aggression-hostility trails should lead to evaluate the presence of CIP in CDP in order to alert them of the risk of develop CIP.

NICE guidance (2009) advises not to use drug treatment specifically for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or for the individual symptoms or behaviour associated with it. Despite this, the Prescribing Observatory in Mental Health (POMH UK, 2012) found that 82% of Personality Disorder patients with no co-morbid mental illness were prescribed at least one psychotropic medication. We aimed to assess characteristics of patients with BPD and their use of medication in an inpatient population.

The population included 100 discharges from four acute inpatient wards in Sheffield, U.K., with a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (F60.3 and F60.31) from April 2012 to April 2013.

Of the 100 discharges, 69% were female, 91% unemployed, 59% single and 98% admitted under the Mental Health Act. Hospitalisation was usually after a crisis: 68% reported suicidal ideation, 37% a suicide attempt and 13% risk of harm to others. Most common co-morbid diagnoses were depression, (18%) illicit drug related disorders (7%), alcohol related disorders (5%) and schizophrenia (5%). Medications prescribed included antipsychotics (57%), antidepressants (66%), anxiolytics (38%), hypnotics (31%), and mood stabilisers (19%). Drug treatment specifically for BPD (e.g. repeated self-harm, marked emotional instability, risk-taking behaviour and transient psychotic symptoms) was prescribed to 80% of patients.

Findings highlight that despite national guideline recommendations, patients with BPD continue to be prescribed psychotropic medications in clinical practice. As most admissions are associated with crises, a comprehensive crisis plan including (only if indicated) appropriate use of medication is essential in helping during periods of distress.

A large number of studies investigated the genetic modulation of various personality traits with mixed results.

We examined the association between several previously investigated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and personality traits, as a confirmatory analysis of literature data, in a sample of 158 healthy subjects (males: 83, 52.53%; mean age: 32.20±7.36 years). As a secondary aim we tested the potential modulation of personality traits by additional gene variants that have not been previously studied.

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered to all subjects. A blood sample was also collected in order to perform studies on several neurotransmitter and regulatory gene variants. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), controlling for sex and age, was used to test influence of single SNPs on TCI scores.

Examination of previously studied gene variants showed an effect of adrenergic alpha-2B receptor (ADRA2B) on Cooperativeness and of HTR2A (rs6314) on Self Directedness. Examination of previously unstudied variants revealed that Sex Hormone binding protein (SHBG) was associated with Reward Dependence, and tryptophan deoxygenase (TDO2) was associated with Harm Avoidance. Moreover, several additional variants showed a tendency towards association with several TCI traits, confirming previous studies.

This study suggests that ADRA2B, HTR2A, SHBG and TDO2 genes may be involved in the modulation of personality in healthy subjects.

The major limitation of this study was the small sample size.

The ITAREPS system (Information Technology Aided Relapse Prevention Program in Schizophrenia) developed in Czech Prague Psychiatric Center, presents a mobile phone-based e-Health solution for weekly remote patient monitoring and disease management in schizophrenia and psychotic disorders in general.

The program provides health professionals with home telemonitoring via a PC-to-phone SMS platform that identifies prodromal symptoms of relapse, to enable early intervention and prevent hospitalizations.

This work presents data on ITAREPS effectiveness obtained from a recent mirror-design follow-up evaluation carried out in Czech Republic and a randomized controlled trial performed in Japan.

A retrospective within-subject mirror-image study was performed to compare inpatient days and inpatient costs for 134 adults with psychotic illness (ICD-10 dg. F 2X.X) before and after at least one-year ITAREPS participation.

The total number of hospitalizations and (inpatient days) decreased significantly from 159 and (6980) in pre-enrolment period to 47 and (3138) post-enrolment respectively (Wilcoxon-signed ranks test, Monte Carlo, exact test, two-tailed, Z = 6.13 /hospitalizations/, p<0.000001 Z = 6.41 /inpatient days/, p<0.01). Methodological weaknesses specific to mirror-image design were controlled by use of resampling method.

Outpatients with schizophrenia were randomized to the ITAREPS (n = 22) or control group (n = 23) and were observed during one- year follow-up (1).

Results Time to rehospitalization was statistically significantly longer in the ITAREPS group than in the control group (Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, 13 p = 0.033 /Fig.3), with a hazard ratio of 0.21 (95% CI 0.04–0.99). The total number of rehospitalization days (Fig. 4) was significantly lower in the ITAREPS group (37 days) compared with the control group (710 days, p = 0.023).

The ITAREPS presents a novel approach towards relapse prevention.

The robust effectiveness of ITAREPS program together with its low start-up and recurrent costs makes it an attractive consideration for long-term treatment in outpatients with schizophrenia and psychotic disorders in general.

Its web-based platform allows for implementation in clinical practice across different health care systems.

This work was supported by grant IGA NT 14387 from Ministry of Health, Czech Republic.

Several studies associated Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with an increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6). Serum IL-6 levels were found to be significantly increased in subjects with MDD and with Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD). Moreover, ketamine, a drug with fast-acting antidepressant properties, has proven to reduce IL-6 levels in rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. However, despite the clear influence of IL-6 in the pathophysiology of depression and in antidepressant response, studies evaluating the impact of IL-6 functional genetic polymorphisms on treatment response phenotypes are scarce.

We aim to evaluate the role of IL6-174G>C, IL6-6331T>C and IL6R D358A A>C functional polymorphisms in antidepressant treatment phenotypes, specifically remission, relapse and TRD.

We genotyped the referred polymorphisms in a subset of 80 MDD patients followed at Hospital Magalhães Lemos, Portugal, within a period of 18 months.

We found that patients carrying IL6-174 GG genotype are more prone to develop TRD (OR=4.125; 95%CI: [1.151-14.786]; p=0.038). We also observed that patients carrying IL6-6331 TC genotype have a higher risk of relapse (OR=3.988; 95%CI: [1.176-13.516]; p=0.022), and present a lower time to relapse, TC: 26 weeks vs. TT: 45 weeks (p=0.041, Log-rank test). No association was found between IL6R D358A genetic polymorphism and any of treatment phenotypes.

The IL6-174G>C and IL6-6331T>C polymorphisms influence antidepressant treatment response in our subset of MDD patients. These polymorphisms may possibly contribute to the elevated IL-6 levels found in patients with TRD. This research was partially supported by an AstraZeneca Grant

Recent research on depression treatment of cardiac patients indicated that there are depressive subtypes at higher risk for cardiovascular complications and exploring personality types with negative affect may help to identify them.

To explore the association of affective temperaments with cardiac complications in primary hypertensive (HT) outpatients.

Data of 228 HT patients, controlled monthly for hypertension by their GPs, was analysed. TEMPS-A and BDI was applied to measure stable affective temperamental traits and depressive symptoms. ICD-10 diagnosed depression, antidepressant medication and cardiac complications (CC) required acute coronary intervention (acute coronary syndrome or acute myocardial infarction) was checked from patients’ medical records.

Mean age was 64 (SD±14) years and mean duration of hypertension was 14 (SD±7) years. 16 patients out of 228 developed cardiac complications (CC+). Age, gender, systolic blood pressure, BMI, smoking, HDL cholesterol level, years of hypertension, ICD-10 diagnosed depression, BDI point score and family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) did not reveal significant differences between those with or without CC. However, serum cholesterol level was significantly lower (U=997, p=0.01) and bigger proportion of three or more CVDs was found (χ2(1)=24.4, p<0.0001) in CC+ patients. Cyclothymic temperament was more prevalent among CC+ group (U=1119, p=0.027) and increased the odds of cardiac complications with 16% (95%CI= 1.047, 1.295) independent of depressive symptoms, diagnosed depression, age, gender and smoking.

Cyclothymic temperament with lability and rapid mood shifts as main characteristics may help to identify hypertensive patients in greater risk of cardiovascular complications irrespective of depression.

Acute stress disorder (ASD) and its predictivity in development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been researched extensively so far. Symptoms of peritraumatic dissociation (PD) has been proven as a predictive factor for PTSD, but recent studies have shown greater need for distinction of peritraumatic versus persistent dissociation.

Symptoms of PD and of persistent dissociation in subjects diagnosed with ASD will be predictive of PTSD symptoms.

To investigate the development of ASD symptoms, symptoms of PD and of persistent dissociation within the first month of traumatic event (initial) and six months later (follow-up) in victims of traffic accidents.

At the moment, 25 subject were included in initial phase, and 18 at follow-up. Subject were interwieved, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Acute Stress Disorder Structured Interview, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, The Dissociative Experience Scale, and The Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire were administered.

10 subjects were diagnosed with PTSD in the follow-up. Preliminary results support for a greater risk for PTSD when dissociative symptoms are present, of PD or persistent dissociation.

Greater distinction of dissociative symptoms in the acute trauma phase should be taken into account when diagnosing ASD. It could be eventually helpfull with identifying individuals at risk for PTSD.

Social representations occupied a place apart in psychology both by the problems it raised and the scale of phenomena with wich it deals.

This survey examined the potential results of Greek's illness's social representations.

To tested the link between social representations of illness and psychopathological behaviours.

A cross-sectional design was performed. 280 healthy individuals (mean age± sd: 40.9±11.5, range:19-65 yrs)participated to the present study from different region of Greece. All the participants completed a) a questionaire for the recording of illness's social representations based on free associations and b) The Symptom Checklist 90-revised (SCL-90R) along with a quaistionnaire concerning socialdemographic characteristics.

Multivariate analysis was performed. No significant differences on social representations were observed in terms of sex, age and marital status. Chronic disease was found to contribute directly in the development of illness representation (F(1)=5.063, p=.025). Thus, GLM analysis was found strong association between illness representations and developing of somatization (p=.013), interpersonal sensitivity (p=.033), depression (p=.005), anxiety (.001), hostility (p=.004), phobic anxiety (p=.005), paranoid ideation (p=.045), and psychoticism (p=.011).

The results of the present study highlighted that social representations are not a quiet thing. But more crucially support the idea of using the development of social representations in terms of therapeutic process.

Depressive disorder occurs in 5-9% of adolescents and it is often associated with chronicity and positive family history. It often persists into adulthood. Depressive symptoms are reported in more than 25% of healthy high school adolescents. Depressive feelings in adolescents require our attention in order to make early recognition possible.

Evaluating frequency and stability of self-reported depressive symptoms in healthy adolescents in 2000 and 2010.

The research was conducted on 408 fourth grade high school students who were 18, during the years of 2000 and 2010. The depressiveness was assessed using the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-IA).

Depressive symptoms were found in 59.5% of adolescents (BDI score > 9) during year 2000. In 2010, 18.6% of the examinees had depressive symptoms. The average BDI score in 2000 was 10.23 which is statistically highly relevant (p<0.05) compared to 2010 when the average BDI score was 5.2. Average BDI score was statistically significantly bigger (p<0.05) in female adolescents both in 2000 (women 11.5, men 8.29) and 2010 (women 5.86, men 3.96)

Female adolescents show significantly higher scores on the Beck's scale which could be used in specific prevention. The difference in expressed depression in two adolescent samples requires further research which would include more predisposing and protective factors.

Since April 2004, Government policy in England upholds that clinicians should send copies of their clinical letters to their patients. However, some argue that patients already have the right to access their records under the Data Protection Act, 1998. Others suggest it wiser not to provide a letter in certain circumstances. Little evidence is available examining the factors that impact on and underlie patients’ views in relation to this.

To inform professionals about patients’ views on receiving clinical letters.

To establish the proportion and characteristics of patients who would like to receive clinical letters and to elicit underlying reasons for decisions.

Subjects were randomly sampled from an outpatient clinic and data collected using an 11-item questionnaire, between October 2010 and July 2013.

The majority (60%) of patients wished to receive their clinical letter. Most (62%) favoured wanting to know about treatment primarily. Of those who did not wish to have a copy, greatest concerns were of loss in the post and ‘unnecessary paperwork’ (each 11%). This group of patients were characteristically male, aged 61-80, of asian ethnicity, unmarried and unemployed. Patients with a diagnosis of adult personality and behaviour (ICD-10 F60-69) were most likely to opt to receive their clinical letter.

Although the majority preferred to receive clinical letters, reasons for preferences varied widely. With an increasing drive towards greater transparency in the health service, approaches to enhancing patient involvement will need to be flexible to the individual to enable truly meaningful patient participation.

Non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) is a common diagnosis among patients visiting an emergency department. 50–90% of patients presenting with chest pain are diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain. One of the possible causes of NCCP is a psychiatric illness. Previous studies found high prevalence of panic disorder (25%-40%) using structured DSM-IV interviews.

We wanted to review the occurrence of patients with a possible panic disorder in our emergency department. In case of high occurrence further interventions could be warranted.

To examine the frequency of panic disorder diagnosis by emergency physicians in patients with NCCP.

Electronic health records from all patients in the OLVG hospital presenting with cardiac pain at the emergency department with in January 2013 were reviewed in a retrospective cohort study. We substracted the final diagnosis by the emergency physician

In this month 195 patients presented at the emergency department with chest pain. 121 (62%) suffered from non-cardiac chest pain. They were discharged with the following diagnosis: 13 (11%) pulmonal disease, 23 (19%) a musculoskeletal problem, 13 (11%) a gastro-intestinal diagnosis, 4 (3%) drug related, 63 (56%) were described as suffering from atypical chest pain. Only in 5 (4%) a psychologic cause was described as primary diagnosis.

We found a low rate of psychiatric diagnosis by emergency physicians in patients with NCCP compared to previous studies using structured interviews. Interventions are needed to improve the detection of psychiatric symptoms in our emergency department.

Family psychodynamic is closely related to psychological well-being of family members and its impairment affects the family as a whole and a boarder social and organizational structure like family based firms. A significant number of studies on family-business were published but little has been reported on the psychodynamic features of family-business.

The objective is to explore the hidden continuity of the classic themes: family psychodynamic and family dynamics firm. The research aims to identify and to describe psychodynamic characteristics of a family group which held a business through the analyses of some important relational dimensions.

a qualitative and clinical research approach. Sample: voluntary family members of the organization. Instruments: Structured Organizational Interview (SOI) and a rating scale the Group Organizational Scale (GOS). Both were based on previous family studies in a psychodynamic and systemic view. The broader research was approved by a local Ethics Committee and was founded by FAPESP.

The most affected transactional dimensions were communication, conflicts, cohesion, roles, and the quality of leadership within the family organizational group impairing managerial practices. Moreover, important relationship between the family psychodynamic style and the family dynamics firm were found. It also pointed to the validity of the SOI and GOS.

The interview showed a rich material for psychodynamic analysis of family firms. Its rating scale can be included into other future research. This study has major implications for family-business members to understand their own role in their mental health and in the success of a firm.

The study of associated stigma to mental illness has been usually oriented to psychotic disorders. Recently the ASPEN Project has had the objective to study the stigma associated to depressive disorders worldwide. As a part of this study, we present the results of a Spanish sample. We assessed the nature and severity of experienced and anticipated discrimination reported by adults with major depressive disorder. Additionally we investigated whether experienced discrimination is related to severity of depression and level of self-esteem.

In a cross-sectional survey, 100 adult outpatients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder were interviewed with the discrimination and stigma scale (version 12; DISC-12). Severity of depression and self-esteem were measured by the Hamilton-17 questionnaire and the Rosemberg scale respectively. Socio-demographic variables were included.

the life domains where the major proportion of individuals experienced discrimination were: treatment by their family (46%), in marriage or divorce (30%) and been avoided or shunned by people who know their mental health problem (34%). 60% of patients anticipated discrimination avoiding intimate relationships and 67% of them concealed or hid his/her mental health problem from others. Experienced discrimination had a significant association with the severity of depression and with a low level of self-esteem.

Discrimination related to depression acts as a barrier in some fields of social life. Non-disclosure of depression could be a barrier to seeking help. It is important to consider effective actions to prevent stigma and discrimination in the field of depressive disorders. INDIGO-ASPEN Group