Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder, characterized by bilateral action tremors of the upper extremities. Surgical interventions can be considered for severe cases that are refractory to medication. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) of the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (Vim) is a recently approved, minimally invasive treatment for unilateral tremor. While patients are generally pleased with unilateral treatment, many patients are bothered by tremor on the untreated side. Historically, bilateral thalamotomy has been associated with a higher rate of adverse events, including cognitive impairment. MRgFUS Vim thalamotomy for bilateral tremor is currently being investigated. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of bilateral MRgFUS Vim thalamotomy on cognition.

Twelve patients with medication-refractory essential tremor (mean age = 68.77 +/- 11.78 years, mean education = 14.34 +/- 2.71 years, 8 male) were included in the present study. Three of the 12 patients met criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). All patients successfully underwent unilateral MRgFUS thalamotomy at least 48 weeks before the second thalamotomy. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to patients before (considered baseline in the present study) and three months following the second thalamotomy. Baseline evaluations occurred on average 144.64 +/- 91.53 weeks (range: 55.00 - 346.58) after the first thalamotomy. The neuropsychological battery assessed domains of processing speed (Oral Symbol Digit Modalities Test, D-KEFS Color-Word Naming and Reading), attention (WAIS-IV Digit Span Forward), executive function (D-KEFS Color-Word Inhibition and Inhibition/Switching), working memory (WAIS-IV Digit Span Backward and Sequencing), verbal fluency (D-KEFS Letter Fluency and Animal Fluency), confrontation naming (Boston Naming Test), verbal memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised), and visuospatial perception (Judgment of Line Orientation). Alternate versions of tests were used when possible. Cognitive changes were analyzed at the group and individual level. Group level changes were assessed with paired sample t-tests (corrected for multiple comparisons). At the individual level, postoperative declines > 1.5 SD from baseline were considered clinically significant.

Participants’ baseline intellectual functioning ranged from low average to superior (as measured by the WTAR). The mean baseline score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was 24.58 (range: 17 - 30). At the group level, there were no significant changes in cognitive scores from baseline to follow-up (all p values > 0.635). At the individual level, one patient with MCI declined > 1.5 SD on the verbal memory composite. No other patients showed declines > 1.5 SD.

Our preliminary findings suggest that bilateral MRgFUS Vim thalamotomy is relatively safe from a cognitive perspective. However, a single patient with MCI exhibited clinically significant postoperative decline in verbal memory. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to investigate the factors that increase the risk of postoperative cognitive decline, including pre-existing cognitive impairment, older age, and lesion size.

Mental health problems early in life can negatively impact educational attainment, which in turn have negative long-term effects on health, social and economic opportunities. Our aims were to: (i) estimate the impacts of different types of psychiatric conditions on educational outcomes and (ii) to estimate the proportion of adverse educational outcomes which can be attributed to psychiatric conditions.

Participants (N = 2511) were from a school-based community cohort of Brazilian children and adolescents aged 6–14 years enriched for high family risk of psychiatric conditions. We examined the impact of fear- (panic, separation and social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, agoraphobia and anxiety conditions not otherwise specified), distress- (generalised anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and depressive disorder not otherwise specified, bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, tic, eating and post-traumatic stress disorder) and externalising-related conditions (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, conduct and oppositional-defiant conditions) on grade repetition, dropout, age-grade distortion, literacy performance and bullying perpetration, 3 years later. Psychiatric conditions were ascertained by psychiatrists, using the Development and Well-Being Behaviour Assessment. Propensity score and inverse probability weighting were used to adjust for potential confounders, including comorbidity, and sample attrition. We calculated the population attributable risk percentages to estimate the proportion of adverse educational outcomes in the population which could be attributed to psychiatric conditions. Analyses were conducted separately for males and females.

Fear and distress conditions in males were associated with school dropout (odds ratio (OR) = 2.76; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06, 7.22; p < 0.05) and grade repetition (OR = 2.76; 95% CI = 1.32, 5.78; p < 0.01), respectively. Externalising conditions were associated with grade repetition in males (OR = 1.66; 95% CI = 1.05, 2.64; p < 0.05) and females (OR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.15, 3.58; p < 0.05), as well as age-grade distortion in males (OR = 1.66; 95% CI = 1.05, 2.62; p < 0.05) and females (OR = 2.88; 95% CI = 1.61, 5.14; p < 0.001). Externalising conditions were also associated with lower literacy levels (β = −0.23; 95% CI = −0.34, −0.12; p < 0.001) and bullying perpetration (OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.50, 6.51; p < 0.001) in females. If all externalising conditions were prevented or treated, we estimate that 5.0 and 4.8% of grade repetition would not have occurred in females and males, respectively, as well as 10.2 (females) and 5.3% (males) of age-grade distortion cases and 11.4% of female bullying perpetration.

The study provides evidence of the negative impact of psychiatric conditions on educational outcomes in a large Brazilian cohort. Externalising conditions had the broadest and most robust negative impacts on education and these were particularly harmful to females which are likely to limit future socio-economic opportunities.

There is mixed evidence on increasing rates of psychiatric disorders and symptoms during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. We evaluated pandemic-related psychopathology and psychiatry diagnoses and their determinants in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Health (ELSA-Brasil) São Paulo Research Center.

Between pre-pandemic ELSA-Brasil assessments in 2008–2010 (wave-1), 2012–2014 (wave-2), 2016–2018 (wave-3) and three pandemic assessments in 2020 (COVID-19 waves in May–July, July–September, and October–December), rates of common psychiatric symptoms, and depressive, anxiety, and common mental disorders (CMDs) were compared using the Clinical Interview Scheduled-Revised (CIS-R) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Multivariable generalized linear models, adjusted by age, gender, educational level, and ethnicity identified variables associated with an elevated risk for mental disorders.

In 2117 participants (mean age 62.3 years, 58.2% females), rates of CMDs and depressive disorders did not significantly change over time, oscillating from 23.5% to 21.1%, and 3.3% to 2.8%, respectively; whereas rate of anxiety disorders significantly decreased (2008–2010: 13.8%; 2016–2018: 9.8%; 2020: 8%). There was a decrease along three wave-COVID assessments for depression [β = −0.37, 99.5% confidence interval (CI) −0.50 to −0.23], anxiety (β = −0.37, 99.5% CI −0.48 to −0.26), and stress (β = −0.48, 99.5% CI −0.64 to −0.33) symptoms (all ps < 0.001). Younger age, female sex, lower educational level, non-white ethnicity, and previous psychiatric disorders were associated with increased odds for psychiatric disorders, whereas self-evaluated good health and good quality of relationships with decreased risk.

No consistent evidence of pandemic-related worsening psychopathology in our cohort was found. Indeed, psychiatric symptoms slightly decreased along 2020. Risk factors representing socioeconomic disadvantages were associated with increased odds of psychiatric disorders.

External causes have been responsible for increased morbidity and mortality rates in Brazil. The most affected age range includes adolescent and young people, indicating the need for investments in public policies with a focus on health promotion. Violence, as one of these causes, has become treated as a public health problem, influenced by social determinants of health.

Describe health promotion practices involving adolescent participants in a health promotion and education group.

Enhance the understanding of adolescent's health promotion.

A qualitative and descriptive experience report was carried out at the Child and Adolescent Care Center in the interior of São Paulo State - Brazil. The programmed activities involved 15 adolescents and took place on sports courts, streets and sidewalks near the Center and in a room for group discussions.

The themes drugs, sexual and reproductive health, interpersonal violence at school and in the neighborhood emerged from the adolescents’ inquiries while accomplishing the proposed tasks in the different study environments. Group discussions were perceived as spaces for reflection and relaxation, and also as facilitators of bonding and, at the same time, of group adherence.

For the study subjects, making good friends, participating in sports and leisure, and talking about themes that are in line with their needs represented an important facilitator for health promotion and social inclusion.

Both psychodynamic group therapy (PGT) and clonazepam are used as treatment strategies in reducing symptoms of generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD). However, many individuals remain symptomatic after treatment with PGT or clonazepam.

Fifty-eight adult outpatients with a diagnosis of GSAD according to DSM-IV were randomized to 12 weeks PGT plus clonazepam or clonazepam. The Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale was the primary efficacy measure. Secondary efficacy measures included the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) total score, the World Health Organization Instrument to Assess Quality of Life—Brief (WHOQOL-Bref) Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

CGI-I data from 57 patients (intent-to-treat population) showed that patients who received PGT plus clonazepam presented significantly greater improvement than those who received clonazepam (P = 0.033). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the secondary efficacy measures.

Our study suggests that the combination of PGT with clonazepam may be a promising strategy for the treatment of GSAD, regarding gains in the global functioning. However the present study failed to detect more specific changes in social anxiety symptomatology between the two groups.

As panic disorder (PD) has a chronic course, it is important to identify predictors that might be related to non-remission. The aim of this study is to verify whether history of trauma and defense style are predictors to pharmacological treatment response in PD patients.

The sample was composed by 47 PD patients according to DSM-IV who were treated with sertraline for 16 weeks. Evaluations were assessed by the C.G.I. (Clinical Global Impression), the Hamilton-Anxiety Scale, the Hamilton-Depression Scale, the Panic Inventory and the DSQ-40 (Defense Style Questionnaire) at baseline and after treatment.

Full remission was observed in 61.7% of the sample. The predictors significantly associated with non-remission were: severity of PD (p = 0.012), age of onset (p = 0.02) and immature defenses (p = 0.032). In addition, the history of trauma was associated with early onset of PD (p = 0.043).

Panic patients had as predictors of worse response to pharmacological treatment the early onset and the severity of PD symptoms as well as the use of immature defenses at baseline. This finding corroborates the relevance of the evaluation of factors that might affect the response so as to enable the development of appropriate treatment for each patient.

Adolescent violence represents a severe public health problem. Adolescents between 10 and 19 years old can get involved in violent acts as victims as well as perpetrators.

Get to know the senses and meanings attributed to violence from the perspective of adolescent participants in a health promotion and education group.

Enhance the understanding of the adolescent violence phenomenon.

A qualitative and descriptive experience report was carried out at the Child and Adolescent Care Center in the interior of São Paulo State – Brazil. The 15 study subjects participated in weekly group meetings taking between one and two hours, during which the brainstorming creativity technique was used.

According to the adolescent participants, violence means everything that causes pain, suffering and is related with physical aggressions, discussions, rape, scolding and humiliation, pedophilia and violent movies on television. They denoted special concern with physical violence between couples and siblings and with songs that defile mainly the feminine image.

Group activities that allow adolescents to reflect can enhance a more critical awareness of themes like violence. They can also stimulate the search for actions to improve the reality these subjects are inserted in.

Previous work showed traumatic life events (TLE) with intention to harm, like bullying and abuse, to be more strongly associated with psychotic experiences (PE) than other types of trauma, like accidents. However, this association is subject to reporting bias and can be confounded by demographic characteristics and by differences in dose of exposure across different trauma categories. We studied the association between TLE with and without intention to harm and PE, taking into account potential confounders and biases.

A total of 2245 children and adolescents aged 6–14 years were interviewed by psychologists. The interview included the presence of 20 PE (both self-report and psychologist evaluation). In addition, parents provided information on child exposure to trauma, mental health and PE.

Results showed no significant association between TLE without intention to harm only and PE for the three methods of assessment of PE (self-report, parent report and psychologist rating). On the other hand, there was a positive association between PE and TLE in groups exposed to traumatic experiences with intention to harm (with intention to harm only and with and without intention to harm). Results remained significant after controlling for demographic and clinical confounders, but this positive association was no longer significant after adjusting for the number of TLE.

TLE with intention to harm display a stronger association with PE than TLE without intention to harm, and this difference is likely reducible to a greater level of traumatic exposure associated with TLE with intention to harm.