Clinical Psychological Intervention Research Articles

Psychological interventions in the Italian national health system: appropriateness and accountability.

In the field of clinical governance, the search for progressive high-quality health interventions is accompanied by the different health values they assume for the different stakeholders involved. With increasing frequency, the value of clinical psychology and psychotherapy interventions in the public service is also supported by their ability to be appropriate and measurable in terms of their effectiveness. As such, their expected future is one of systematic inclusion within increasingly defined and specific care pathways. The challenge that this evolution poses is complex from an epistemologicalmethodological point of view because it must include the various perspectives from which one looks at the nature of these interventions. Clinical appropriateness, as a meta-level variable, and accountability go beyond the simplistic/generic cost-benefit assessment of services and are proposed as a necessary conceptual framework for an adequate determination of outcomes.

The Effects of Caloric Restriction and Clinical Psychological Intervention on the Interplay of Gut Microbial Composition and Stress in Women.

Both mental and metabolic disorders are steadily becoming more prevalent, increasing interest in non-pharmacological lifestyle interventions targeting both types of disorders. However, the combined effect of diet and psychological interventions on the gut microbiome and mental health outcomes remains underexplored. Thus, in this study, we randomized 41 women into two caloric restriction (CR) dietary groups, namely very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) and F.X. Mayr diet (FXM). The patients were then further randomized to either receive clinical psychological intervention (CPI) or no CPI. Blood and fecal samples were collected before and after two weeks of CR. Psychometric outcomes were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Brief Symptom Index (BSI), and Burnout Dimension Inventory (BODI). Stool samples underwent 16S-rRNA sequencing. Upon two weeks of CR, α-diversity decreased overall and longitudinal PERMANOVA models revealed significant shifts in β-diversity according to diet, CPI, age, and body-mass-index. Furthermore, Agathobacter, Fusicatenibacter, and Subdoligranulum decreased in abundance. However, the Oscillibacter genus was enriched solely in FXM. CPI had a negligible effect on the microbiome. Dimension reduction models revealed clusters of taxa which distinctly associated with psychometric outcomes. Members of the Oscillospiraceae family were linked to favorable psychometric outcomes after two weeks of CR. Despite α-diversity reductions after CR, enrichment of Oscillospiraceae spp., solely seen in FXM, correlated with improved psychometric outcomes. This study suggests a promising direction for future interventions targeting mental health through gut microbial modulation.

Interventions to alleviate anxiety and pain during venipuncture in children with chronic gastrointestinal and/or liver disease: A single-center prospective observational study.

The goal of this longitudinal study was to reduce anxiety and pain in children with chronic conditions from the gastrointestinal tract during venipuncture. These children undergo regular venipuncture as part of their medical management and the procedure is often accompanied with anxiety and pain. In addition, children as well as their parents and health care professionals (HCPs) often suffer "compassionate pain" because of emotional interference. In a realistic clinical setting, different psychological and medical interventions were examined: (1) Psychoeducational brochures and (2) four different medical-technical interventions during venipuncture. In a large hospital in Germany, 169 children, their parents, and HCPs were asked to rate anxiety and pain during venipuncture before and after the intervention. Children showed a clear preference for some of the medical-technical interventions. Using Linear Mixed Models anxiety and pain rated by the children themselves showed no significant reduction. However, parents and HCPs reported a significant reduction. Age, gender, and status of liver transplantation were associated with a reduction in anxiety and pain in most of the analyses. Both psychoeducational brochures and medical-technical interventions had a positive impact on anxiety and pain. However, effectivity for the medical-technical interventions was lower than in previous studies utilizing individual interventions. Reasons for this difference as well as possibilities to improve the intervention are discussed. In addition, this study provides practical day-to-day information about the implementation of interventions for the work in pediatric units such as when and how to provide psychoeducational materials.

Trajectories of support intervention in clinical psychology

The present paper aims to discuss the request of the National Council of Italian Psychologists for a definition of the typical acts of psychologists in the clinical field by commenting on the work of Castelnuovo et al. (2023). In particular, we aim to contribute to the current debate by addressing primarily supportive interventions in the clinical setting, focusing on: (1) defining the supportive intervention among the typical acts of the psychologist; (2) adopting a methodological criterion to distinguish between supportive intervention as a psychological-clinical act and psychotherapeutic intervention; and (3) articulating of the discourse in relation to the adoption of narrative methods in clinical intervention. In particular, in this work we argue that supportive interventions are adopted in critical situations, where dysregulation of psychological functioning processes is assumed, and they use the narrative device by promoting a connection between mental states and an articulation of affects in shared meanings. Instead, psychotherapeutic interventions are adopted in conditions of distress and/or psychopathology and use the narrative device in light of an inverse trajectory of sense, that leads from behaviors and representations to the understanding and transformation of the affective matrix of experience. Thus, supportive intervention may be defined as a process in which the clinical relationship serves as scaffolding for psychic functions in the direction of their development and integration.

Health-related quality of life in severe hypersensitivity reactions: focus on severe allergic asthma and hymenoptera venom anaphylaxis-a cross-sectional study.

Growing evidence reveals the important role of clinical psychological factors in chronic-immune diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL), depression, anxiety, and alexithymia in patients with severe hypersensitivity reactions such as Severe Allergic Asthma (SAA) and Hymenoptera Venom Anaphylaxis (HVA). The Short-Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36), the Beck Depression Inventory Questionnaire (BDI-II), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were used to assess HR-QoL and clinical psychological features of patients with SAA and HVA. Overall, 78 patients were recruited. Patients with SAA (n = 35) reported lower scores for physical functioning [65 (58-75) vs. 90 (85-95); p = <0.001], role limitations due to physical health [25 (0-50) vs. 62 (50-75); p = 0.004], bodily pain [47.5 (41.1-61.3) vs. 55.5 (55-96); p = 0.001], general health [40 (30-60) vs. 70 (50-80); p = 0.0003] and social functioning [50 (37.5-62.5) vs. 62.5 (54.9-75); p = 0.007] while higher scores for depressive symptoms [14 (11-15.4) vs. (9.5 (6-15.4); p = 0.05)] compared to HVA patients (n = 43). All the dimensions of SF-36 were negatively correlated with anxiety (r from -0.26 to -0.66; p all < 0.01) and depressive symptoms (r from -0.44 to -0.73; p all < 0.001). Alexithymia was negatively correlated with vitality (r = -0.28; p = 0.02) and mental health (r = -027; p = 0.03). Additionally, patients with alexithymia (38% of participants) showed higher levels of depressive symptoms [9.5 (10-19) vs. 14 (6-13.9); p = 0.005] and anxiety levels [31 (27.9-35) vs. 24 (16-33.9); p = 0.02]; they also showed less vitality [40 (39.9-50) vs. 55 (50-60) p = 0.01], social functioning [50 (37.5-62.5) vs. 62.5 (50 vs. 75); p = 0.01] and mental health [48 (44-60) vs. 68 (56-76); p = 0.004]. Clinical psychological features due to severe hypersensitive reactions may contribute to the patient's perceived HR-QoL. Focused clinical psychological interventions should be promoted to improve the clinical management of such conditions.

The fundamental need for lived experience perspectives in developing and evaluating psychotherapies.

This article discusses the fundamental need for lived experience perspectives in developing and evaluating psychotherapies. The primary professional goal of clinical psychology is to serve individuals and communities living with or at risk of mental illness. To date, the field has fallen persistently short of this goal, despite decades of research on evidence-based treatments and myriad innovations in psychotherapy research. Brief and low-intensity programs, transdiagnostic approaches, and digital mental health tools have all challenged long-held assumptions of what "psychotherapy" can be, pointing toward novel pathways to effective care. And yet, population-level rates of mental illness are high and rising, access to care remains abysmally low, early treatment dropout among people who do access care is common, and science-backed treatments rarely make it into everyday practice. The author argues that the impact of psychotherapy innovations has been constrained by a fundamental flaw in clinical psychology's intervention development and evaluation pipeline. . From the start, intervention science has deprioritized the views and voices of those our treatments aim to support-from here, "experts by experience" (EBEs)-in the design, assessment, and dissemination of novel treatments. EBE-partnered research can strengthen engagement, inform best-practices, and personalize assessments of meaningful clinical change. Further, in fields adjacent to clinical psychology, EBE engagement in research is common. These facts render the virtual absence of EBE partnership from mainstream psychotherapy research especially striking. Without centering EBE views, intervention scientists cannot optimize supports for the diverse communities they aim to serve. Instead, they risk building programs that people with mental health needs may never access, benefit from, or want. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors Influencing the Level of Depression and Anxiety of Community-Dwelling Patients with Schizophrenia in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Using a cross-sectional survey, we collected 15,165 questionnaires. Assessments included demographic information, concern about COVID-19-related information, sleep status, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and accompanying illnesses. The 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to evaluate depression and anxiety levels. Group comparison was conducted by t-test, ANOVA, or chi-square test wherever suitable, with Bonferroni pairwise correction. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify predictors for anxiety and depression. 16.9% of patients had at least moderate anxiety, and 34.9% had at least moderate depression. T-test showed that females scored higher on GAD-7 and PHQ-9 than males, and patients without accompanying long-standing diseases, who were not concerned about COVID-19, had lower GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. ANOVA showed that participants aged from 30 to 39, with higher education scored higher on GAD-7, and patients with better sleep, and having less concern about COVID-19, had lower GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. Regression analysis indicated that participant ages of 30-39 and 40-49 positively predicted anxiety, whereas patient ages of 30-39 years positively predicted depression. Patients with poor sleep, accompanying diseases, and concern about the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to experience anxiety and depression. During the pandemic, Chinese community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia had high rates of anxiety and depression. These patients deserve clinical attention and psychological intervention, especially those with risk factors.

Behavioral, cortical and autonomic effects of single-dose escitalopram on the induction and regulation of fear and disgust: Comparison with single-session psychological emotion regulation with reappraisal.

Adaptive and successful emotion regulation, the ability to flexibly exert voluntary control over emotional experience and the ensuing behavior, is vital for optimal daily functioning and good mental health. In clinical settings, pharmacological and psychological interventions are widely employed to modify pathological emotion processing and ameliorate its deleterious consequences. In this study, we investigated the acute effects of single-dose escitalopram on the induction and regulation of fear and disgust in healthy subjects. Furthermore, we compared these pharmacological effects with psychological emotion regulation that utilized a cognitive strategy with reappraisal. Emotion induction and regulation tasks were performed before and 4 h after ingestion of placebo or 10 mg escitalopram in a randomized, double-blind design. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was used as a source of images, with threat-related pictures selected for fear and disease and contamination-related pictures for disgust. Behavioral data, electrodermal activity (EDA), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recordings were collected. Escitalopram significantly reduced emotion intensity for both fear and disgust during emotion induction, albeit with differing electrodermal and hemodynamic activity patterns for the two negative emotions. At rest, i.e., in the absence of emotive stimuli, escitalopram increased sympathetic activity during the fear but not during the disgust experiments. For both fear and disgust, emotion regulation with reappraisal was more effective in reducing emotion intensity compared to pharmacological intervention with escitalopram or placebo. We concluded that emotion regulation with reappraisal and acute administration of escitalopram, but not placebo, reduce emotion intensity for both fear and disgust, with cognitive regulation being significantly more efficient compared to pharmacological regulation under the conditions of this study. Results from the fNIRS and EDA recordings support the concept of differential mechanisms of emotion regulation that could be emotion-specific.

FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT TO INTERVENTION IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

Covid- pandemics exerted limitations and fostered developments in clinical psychology assessment, intervention, education and supervision practices. The hard-to-reach professional services are becoming more available, new technological solutions are offered for both assessment and therapeutic techniques, communication between different parties is facilitated and, while disembodied, the Internet-assisted interaction must be thought as an ecologically valid one in contemporary world. We propose a term “telepathopsychology” for a discipline that designates both the clinical and abnormal psychology practices in virtual format and the scientifi c study of risks for health inherent to the usage of digital technologies. The practice of Internet-assisted clinical psychological assessment can be conceptualized using the metaphor of dramatic action to underline some particularities that distinguish it from ordinary assessment. The construct of “performance” points to the role-taking aspect inherent in any virtual behavior and importance of the process of mutual creation of the images of both the psychologist and the client. The idea of “curtains” indicates the limitation of space and a special focus that leaves important circumstances “behind the stage”, including people that can perform as prompters or audience. “Stage direction” involves idea and “liberal theatre” with possibilities for rule-breaking, role-reversals and enjoyment of omnipotence, in example via cheating on psychologist and of Internet being a “deviant place”. Finally, metaphor singles out the need for creativity and openness to experience required from both psychologist and the client. For both assessment and psychotherapy intervention in the digital format does not present critical technical diffi culties and opens opportunities to develop a more contemporary, open, non-expert, participatory and help-oriented approach, particularly when working with children.

Analysis of the risk factors of negative emotions in patients undergoing microwave ablation of thyroid nodules during the perioperative period and its impact on prognosis: a prospective cohort study

Thyroid nodule (TN) is one or more abnormal lump structures in the thyroid gland parenchyma caused by genetic, environmental, and other factors. It is the most common thyroid disease in clinics. Microwave ablation (MWA) can significantly reduce the nodule volume and effectively reduce the symptoms caused by nodules. However, the patient's negative emotions during the perioperative period may affect the postoperative recovery. This study explored the risk factors of negative emotions in patients during the perioperative period and its impact on patient prognosis. This data provides a basis for clinical psychological interventions before MWA, so as to improve the quality of life of patients with TN. A total of 238 patients who were hospitalized for TNs in The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2017 to January 2022, and who received MWA therapy were enrolled in this study. The patients were evaluated with a general situation questionnaire, a Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and a Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). The TN volume was followed up to evaluate the prognosis of patients. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of perioperative negative emotions and the impact of negative emotions on the prognosis. The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that education, income, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and solid nodule volume were independent influencing factors of anxiety (P<0.05). Age, income, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and solid nodule volume were independent influencing factors of depression (P<0.05). The prognosis of patients with no negative emotions at the first, third, and sixth months after surgery was significantly better than that of patients with negative emotions (P<0.05). Negative emotions have a significant impact on the prognosis of TNs. According to individual differences, targeted nursing intervention should be supplemented to stabilize a patient's emotions, improve compliance, and enhance quality of life.

Effect of solution-focused approach on anxiety and depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A quasi-experimental study.

Anxiety and depression are common psychological problems in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. However, few effective nursing intervention models have been designed specifically to improve anxiety and depression in RA patients. Solution-focused approach (SFA) is an effective intervention method for psychosocial issues. There have been no studies involving SFA yet in RA patients. This study investigated the effects of SFA-based nursing intervention on anxiety and depression in RA patients. A quasi-experimental study using a convenience sampling of RA patients was conducted. The 48 RA patients were divided into the control group (n = 24) and the experimental group (n = 24). The control group received routine nursing intervention, while the experimental group received SFA-based nursing intervention. The scores on the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), arthritis self-efficacy scale-8 (ASES-8), and questionnaire on patient satisfaction with nursing care were collected before and after nursing interventions. Between-Group Comparison: Before the nursing intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the SDS, SAS, and ASES-8 scores between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, after the nursing intervention, the SDS and SAS scores of the experimental group were statistically significantly lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). In contrast, the ASES-8 score of the experimental group was statistically significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, patient satisfaction with nursing care of the experimental group was better than that of the control group (p > 0.05). Within-Group Comparison: There was no statistically significant difference in the SDS, SAS, and ASES-8 scores in the control group before and after routine nursing intervention (p > 0.05). However, in the experimental group, the SDS and SAS scores before SFA-based nursing intervention were statistically significantly higher than those after SFA nursing intervention (p < 0.05), and the ASES-8 score before SFA-based nursing intervention was considerably lower than that after SFA nursing intervention (p < 0.05). SFA-based nursing intervention can effectively improve anxiety, depression, and arthritis self-efficacy of RA patients. This study broadens clinical psychological nursing intervention models for RA patients. SFA may be an effective nursing model for various psychosocial problems in the current medical context.

The relationship between childhood trauma and post-traumatic growth among college students: The role of acceptance and positive reappraisal.

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship among childhood trauma, acceptance, positive reappraisal and post-traumatic growth (PTG) among college students.MethodsResearch participants were selected by random cluster sampling. 1,028 college students (62.6% female, 30.5% only-children) from 8 universities were investigated using manuscript-pencil survey versions of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), Cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire–Chinese version (CERQ-C) and Post traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI).ResultsTraumatic childhood experience significantly negatively predicts post traumatic growth in college students. Exposure to traumatic experiences in childhood can directly negatively predict post-traumatic growth and indirectly positively predict post traumatic growth via acceptance.ConclusionAcceptance plays a mediating role between childhood traumatic experience and post traumatic growth. The mediating effect of acceptance is moderated by the positive reappraisal. When individuals have a lower level of positive reappraisal, the mediating effect between traumatic experience and post traumatic growth is significant. Several clinical implications for clinical psychology and psychological intervention are highlighted. Starting with changing individual cognition and helping individuals adopt positive cognitive emotion regulation strategies can help individuals actively reevaluate traumatic experience, so as to gain better and faster counseling results.

The Network That Unites a Qualitative Study on Clinical Psychological Intervention for Women with a History of Breast Cancer and Chronic Pain.

The aim of this qualitative research is to deepen the knowledge in the field of psycho-oncology and the consequences of chronic and persistent pain by listening to patients’ experiences, their emotions and difficulties in facing this hard condition, and assessing their perception of the role of the psychologist in pain management. In this qualitative study, a semistructured interview was used, designed from three research questions: chronic pain and quality of life; chronic pain and psychological well-being; and the role and perception of the psychologist in pain management. The sample consists of 29 women who suffered or have recovered from breast carcinoma, and who currently report having chronic pain due either to the presence of the cancer or as a result of surgery or treatment. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis: quality of life and psychological well-being, relational well-being, and perception and role of the psychologist. Two subthemes have been identified for each theme: common features of chronic pain and consequences and resilience for the first theme; not feeling understood and willingness to protect loved ones for the second theme; and improvements perceived by users and reasons for not making use of the service for the last theme. In conclusion, the results obtained from the literature and those from the analysis of the interviews are discussed and compared, and reflections are made on possible future implications.

An Analysis on the Factors for Cervical Insufficiency Causing Adverse Emotions Among Pregnant Women at Different Gestation Phases.

BackgroundTo analyze the anxiety, depression, and related factors among pregnant women with cervical insufficiency, so as to provide a reference for clinical psychological intervention as an adjuvant therapy.MethodsA total of 101 cases in China with cervical insufficiency were included in the observation group by a convenience sampling method, and 114 normal healthy women of childbearing age were selected as the control group. Participants were investigated and observed for anxiety and depression by SAS and SDS, respectively, to analyze the emotional state and influencing factors of the patients with cervical insufficiency. Stratified by the first, second and third trimesters, our study used whether depressive or not and whether anxiety or not as the dichotomous variables. A multivariate Logistic regression was adopted to analyze the influencing factors. Relevant influencing factors were screened out by the forward stepwise method in combination with professional knowledge and the number of variables.ResultsThere were statistical significant differences in SAS and SDS between observation group and control group and the incidence rate of anxiety and depression was higher in pregnant women with CI. Multivariate Logistic regression demonstrated that history of abnormal pregnancy was the main influencing factor for anxiety and depression in the early and middle gestation phases, and cervical insufficiency was the factor influencing the anxiety in early gestation and both anxiety and depression in the late gestation phase.ConclusionCervical insufficiency may have a negative impact on the emotions of pregnant women. Individualized and targeted mental care should be added into clinic work to prevent negative outcomes.

Epilepsy and psychological interventions: A systematic review study

Objectives. Epilepsy is a debilitating disease that can have long-term unpleasant psychological consequences. For this purpose, various psychological interventions have been provided to improve the quality of life of these patients. In this review study, the effectiveness of these interventions has been surveyed. Materials and methods. This study was conducted through a systematic review method from January 2010 to April 2021. Keywords such as quality of life, clinical trials and randomized clinical trials, epilepsy, seizure, psychology, intervention, chronic disease, empowerment, psychotherapy and psychological interventions were searched in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar indexing databases. Out of 1866 articles found, 13 articles were selected for review. Results. The surveys showed that psychological therapies increase the quality of life, social functioning, self-care behaviors, memory, self-esteem, job and social adjustment of many epileptic patients. On the other hand, according to the results, with the improvement of mental health of patients with epilepsy, we saw a reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, pain intensity, seizure, suicidal ideation and social stigma of patients with epilepsy. Conclusion. Various psychological interventions lead to a reduction in psychological problems in patients with epilepsy. It causes patients to be in good mental health, accept their pain and show less recurrence of their disease. For this purpose, it is necessary to pay more attention to the psychological health of patients with epilepsy in medical centers to reduce the incidence of mental disorders and improve the health of epileptic patients.

Short Term Caloric Restriction and Biofeedback Enhance Psychological Wellbeing and Reduce Overweight in Healthy Women.

Obesity is highly prevalent, causing substantial cardiovascular and mental health morbidity. Women show increased risk for mental health disorders, that is multiplied in obesity and related to cellular and psychological stress that can be targeted by non-pharmacological interventions. A total of 43 women underwent two weeks of caloric restriction, half of which also received 7 h of individualized clinical psychological intervention including psychoeducation, mindfulness, and heart-rate-variability biofeedback. Effects on body mass index (BMI), fatty liver index (FLI), bioimpedance measures, serum parameters, perceived stress (PSS), burn-out susceptibility (burn out diagnostic inventory) and dimensional psychiatric symptom load (brief symptom inventory, BSI) were analyzed with linear mixed effects models. Caloric restriction led to a reduction in BMI, body fat and FLI, decreased serum concentrations of leptin, PSS score, BSI dimensions and global severity index (all p ≤ 0.0001, withstanding Bonferroni–Holm correction). Benefits of add-on biofeedback were observed for BMI reduction (p = 0.041). Caloric restriction was effective in ameliorating both psychological wellbeing and metabolic functions following a BMI reduction. Biofeedback boosted effects on BMI reduction and the combinative therapy may be protective against common progression to mental health and cardiovascular disorders in overweight women while comparing favorably to pharmacological interventions in terms of side-effects and acceptability.

Patient attendance at a pediatric emergency referral hospital in an area with low COVID-19 incidence.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of individual infection control measures and physical distancing on pediatric medical care in a local prefecture in Japan, where the incidence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in pediatric patients was extremely low. We extracted data from hospital records on the number of outpatients, inpatients, infectious disease consultations, and consultations for representative pediatric diseases. We compared attendance in 2017–2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2020, when COVID-19 spread to Japan. There were no COVID-19 patients in the pediatric department during the study period. The total number outpatient visits decreased by 24.4%, and the number of hospital admissions, excluding neonatal care unit admissions, decreased by approximately 35%. There was a marked reduction in the number of hospitalizations for infectious diseases such as influenza (−74.8%) and respiratory syncytial virus infection (−93.5%), and the number of hospitalizations for bronchitis/pneumonia, Kawasaki disease, and bronchial asthma decreased. In contrast, the number of clinical psychological interventions and cases reported to the child guidance center increased. In the context of pandemic infectious diseases, it is important to control the spread of problematic infectious diseases by individual infection control measures and physical distancing. However, it is necessary to maintain social life as much as possible for the mental health and physical development of children.

Trajectories of posttraumatic growth in young and middle-aged stroke patients and their predictive effects on mental health.

The increasingly younger age of stroke onset has posed a serious threat to the physical and mental health of young and middle-aged adults. Young and middle-aged stroke patients often suffer from varying degrees of motor, cognitive, and language disabilities, which can trigger considerable psychological trauma. However, these patients may have certain posttraumatic growth (PTG). As a positive psychological experience, PTG provides a new entry point for clinical psychological interventions. Here, we explored the trajectories of PTG in young and middle-aged stroke patients and their predictive effects on mental health. A total of in 165 patients who were treated at our center from January to December 2019 were enrolled with randomized sampling. The survey was conducted at 5 times follow up through use of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Data were analyzed by using the latent growth mixture modeling (LGMM). The PTG levels in young and middle-aged stroke patients showed a gradual increase (F=9.927; P<0.01). According to the relevant parameters of the trajectories, the subjects were divided into the high PTG group (n=43, 26.06%), low PTG group (n=25, 15.15%), rapidly increasing PTG group (n=47, 28.48%), and constantly decreasing PTG group (n=50 cases, 30.30%). Both the initial level and developmental rate of PTG had significantly negative predictive effects on SCL-90 score (B=-0.46, P<0.01; B=-0.31, P<0.01); in other words, they had positive predictive effects on mental health. There are different trajectories of PTG in young and middle-aged stroke patients, and the initial level and developmental speed of PTG have positive predictive effects on mental health in these patients.

Clinical Psychological Interventions for Children between 8 and 11 Years Old in Populations with Socioeconomic Vulnerability

The gradual increase of poverty rates in Latin America and its effects on children from socioeconomically vulnerable populations raises the need for innovative responses in the field of mental health. Faced with these needs, the present study aims at evaluating the efficacy of focused psychotherapy, where Viktor Frankl´s and Héctor Fiorini´s theoretical frameworks are integrated, in children from 8 to 11 years old who attend a Psychological Orientation Center located in a shanty town in Buenos Aires. The 50 records that make up this research are part of a sample that includes 330 medical records of patients of different ages who underwent treatment between 2014 and 2019. The issues to be addressed (foci) were identified at the beginning of each individual treatment. Participants were assessed before and after treatment with the House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) graphic projective technique and, in addition, a case study was analyzed by interviewing the patient and therapists to make a qualitative outcome assessment. The outcomes, measured using the Wilcoxon test, revealed that there were significant improvements in various issues raised throughout the treatments. The revision of the HTP technique revealed that patients presented favorable changes in issues such as interpersonal relationships, self-esteem and ego strength. The case study reinforced these results. The findings of this research suggest that the integration of Logo therapy and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy could be an effective and an innovative approach to address the current issues affecting children in socio-economically vulnerable populations.

A meta-review of transparency and reproducibility-related reporting practices in published meta-analyses on clinical psychological interventions (2000\u20132020)

Meta-analysis is a powerful and important tool to synthesize the literature about a research topic. Like other kinds of research, meta-analyses must be reproducible to be compliant with the principles of the scientific method. Furthermore, reproducible meta-analyses can be easily updated with new data and reanalysed applying new and more refined analysis techniques. We attempted to empirically assess the prevalence of transparency and reproducibility-related reporting practices in published meta-analyses from clinical psychology by examining a random sample of 100 meta-analyses. Our purpose was to identify the key points that could be improved, with the aim of providing some recommendations for carrying out reproducible meta-analyses. We conducted a meta-review of meta-analyses of psychological interventions published between 2000 and 2020. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo and Web of Science databases. A structured coding form to assess transparency indicators was created based on previous studies and existing meta-analysis guidelines. We found major issues concerning: completely reproducible search procedures report, specification of the exact method to compute effect sizes, choice of weighting factors and estimators, lack of availability of the raw statistics used to compute the effect size and of interoperability of available data, and practically total absence of analysis script code sharing. Based on our findings, we conclude with recommendations intended to improve the transparency, openness, and reproducibility-related reporting practices of meta-analyses in clinical psychology and related areas.