Psychopathological Features Research Articles

Chronic endogenous depression of youth

To identify psychopathological features of chronic endogenous depression that develops in youth and determine most significant diagnostic and prognostic criteria. Sixty-two male inpatients were examined who had suffered from a chronic depressive state over 2 - years in their youth (16-25 years old) and were treated at FSBSI MHRC clinic in 2008-2010. The exclusion criteria were the presence of psychotic episodes, severe deficiency symptoms, as well as clinically significant somatic, neurological and mental disorders that complicated the study. Clinical-psychopathological, psychometric (HDRS, SANS and SOPS) and statistical methods were used. Youth chronic endogenous depression is characterized by the dominance of symptoms of negative affectivity in their structure. In addition, there are disorders that differ from those of an affective spectrum. Based on the analysis of psychopathological characteristics of youth chronic endogenous depressions, two typological varieties are identified: unitary depressions (type I) and supplementary depressions (type II). Among type II depressions, 2 subtypes are distinguished: with neurosis-like and with psychopathic- like disorders. The presence of psychopathic disorders in the structure of depression is a prognostically unfavorable sign.

Emotional sphere disorders in patients with cognitive impairments in depressive disorders

362 patients with cognitive impairment in depressive disorders were examined: 123 patients with recurrent depressive disorder (RDD), 141 patients with bipolar affective disorder (BAD) and 98 patients with prolonged depressive reaction (PDR). A set of research methods was used: clinical-psychopathological and statistical. As a result of the study, the clinical and psychopathological features of affective disorders in different types of depressive disorders were identified: a predominance of apathy, emotional lability, hypothymia, anxiety, feelings of dissatisfaction, despair and anhedonia were identified in patients with RDD; a low mood, apathy, emotional coldness, hypothymia, ambivalence of emotions, dysphoria, dissatisfaction, feelings of sadness and annoyance were identified in patients with BAD; a feelings of despair, anxiety, dissatisfaction, hypothymia, fear, sadness, feelings of horror and fear, emotional lability, feelings of anger, hostility and shame and sensitivity were dominated in patients with PDR.

INTERCONNECTION OF COGNITIVE DISORDERS AND CLINICAL AND PSYCHOPATOLOGICAL FEATURES IN PATIENTS WITH PROLONGED DEPRESSIVE REACTION

Aim: to determine the relationship between the clinical and psychopathological features of anxiety and depressive manifestations and the features of cognitive dysfunctions in patients with prolonged depressive reaction.
 Material and methods. The study enrolled 98 patients with prolonged depressive reactions. The study used an integrated approach, which consisted in the use of clinical-psychopathological, psychometric, psychodiagnostic and statistical research methods.
 Results. According to the research results, a correlation analysis was carried out, which made it possible to determine the combination of clinical and psychopathological symptoms with the features of the cognitive functioning of patients with prolonged depressive reaction. Obsessive thoughts and hypochondriacal ideas have been shown to be associated with marked levels of anxiety; suicidal thoughts – with a protracted onset of depression and a minor depressive episode; mild violations of verbal productivity were associated with a major depressive episode and with a prolonged onset of depression, with 1-2 episodes of depression in anamnesis; a low level of attention switching was associated with an episode duration of up to 2 years, a protracted onset of depression, a major depressive episode, and an increased level of anxiety; average work efficiency correlated with a low level of anxiety, an episode duration of up to a year, 1-2 episodes of depression in anamnesis, a remission duration of more than 24 months; mobilization of mental processes was associated with a remission duration of more than 24 months and a reduced level of anxiety; high selectivity of attention to negative stimuli was combined with the duration of the episode up to 2 years and a pronounced level of anxiety; moderate disturbances in aggressive behavior patterns were associated with an episode duration of up to a year and a moderate level of anxiety.
 Conclusions. The relationship between clinical and psychopathological features of anxiety and depressive manifestations and features of cognitive dysfunction in patients with prolonged depressive reaction were identified. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis and in the development of psychocorrective measures to reduce cognitive impairment in patients with depressive disorders.

Prescription Drug Misuse in "Clubbers" and Disco Goers in Ibiza.

Background: Prescription drug misuse and its related risks are considered a worldwide public health issue. Current trends show that the extent of such phenomenon may not be limited to subjects with psychiatric disorders, as it also spreads to dance party and nightclub attendees, who often consume prescription drugs in combination with alcohol and psychoactive substances. This study aims to report the sociodemographic data and the psychiatric and clinical features of a sample of clubbers reporting prescription drugs use.Methods: Patients admitted to the psychiatry ward of the Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza were recruited for the study during a span of four consecutive years (2015–2018). The inclusion criteria were age 18–75 years old and the intake of psychoactive substances or more than five alcohol units during the previous 24 h. Substance use habits, psychopathological features, and use of unprescribed pharmaceuticals were investigated. Urine samples were collected and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.Results: A total of 110 subjects with psychoactive substance intoxication were recruited for the study. Among these, 37 (40%) disclosed the use of prescription drugs without medical supervision. The most common compounds were benzodiazepines (66%), antiepileptic drugs (8%), antidepressants (6%), opioids (6%), antipsychotics (6%), stimulants (6%), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, 2%). Prescription drug misuse was negatively associated with the use of psychodysleptics (two-tailed Fisher's exact test p = 0.018, ρ = −0.262).Conclusions: The use of prescription drugs is also common among clubbers, usually characterized by low propensity to be prescribed benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, or antidepressants. Prescription drugs may be an alternative to classic and novel psychoactive compounds or may be used to tamper and self-medicate the effects determined by the use of substances. Party goers should be adequately informed about possible risks of co-intake of psychoactive substances and prescription drugs to prevent serious medical and psychiatric consequences.

Взаємозв'язок когнітивних дисфункцій з провідними симптомокомплексами при біполярних афективних розладах

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between clinical and psychopathological features of the leading symptom complexes and features of cognitive dysfunction in patients with bipolar affective disorder. Material and methods. The study involved 141 patients with bipolar affective disorder. The study of clinical and psychopathological features of depressive disorders included the analysis of the leading symptom complexes and clinical manifestations of depression in patients with bipolar affective disorder. The study of the features of cognitive dysfunctions in depressive disorders included an analysis of the severity of cognitive disorders and features of cognitive processes (mental, mnestic, attention, perception), executive functions and the specifics of social functioning in patients with bipolar affective disorder. Results and discussion. The study result showed that majority of patients had a predominance of asthenic-energetic, apathetic-adynamic and melancholic symptom complexes. According to the results of the research, a correlation analysis was performed, which allowed to determine the combination of clinical and psychopathological symptoms with the peculiarities of the cognitive functioning of patients with bipolar affective disorder. As a result of correlation analysis it was found that the apathic-adynamic symptom complex was associated with low work efficiency, decreased interest, difficulties in decision-making, severe impairment of executive functions and verbal productivity, rumination, moderate impairment of visual-motor coordination, decreased concentration, switching and attention stability, significant impairments in the areas of socially useful activities, personal and social interaction and self-service. The astheno-energetic symptom complex was associated with exhaustion of mental activity, a decreased level of delayed reproduction, difficulties in decision-making, low work efficiency, a low level of performance, a decrease in the level of short-term memory, moderate impairments in socially useful activities and self-care. Conclusion. The melancholic symptom complex correlated with self-accusation, catastrophization, moderate impairment of executive functions, a decrease in the level of attention switching, a low level of efficiency, an average selectivity of attention to negative stimuli, pronounced impairments of executive functions and verbal productivity. Dysphoric symptom complex was associated with blaming others, increased sensitivity to criticism, decreased concentration and stability of attention, average selectivity of attention to negative stimuli, and significant aggressive patterns of behavior

Early intervention services, patterns of prescription and rates of discontinuation of antipsychotic treatment in first-episode psychosis.

Non-compliance is still an important problem in psychotic patients. Although antipsychotic (AP) treatment leads to a decrease in psychotic relapses, there are no clear recommendations about how long treatment should be maintained after first-episode psychosis (FEP) and no indication of the rates and causes of treatment withdrawal in this group. We evaluated a large sample of patients with FEP for 2 years to compare the time to all-cause treatment discontinuation of AP drugs and the time to the first relapse. We collected the sociodemographic and psychopathological characteristics of the sample. The number of relapses was also recorded. A total of 310 FEP patients were assessed across seven early intervention teams (mean age=30.2 years; SD=11.2). The most prevalent diagnosis at baseline was psychotic disorder not otherwise specified (36.1%), and the most commonly used APs were risperidone (26.5%) and olanzapine (18.7%). A lack of efficacy was the most frequent reason for the withdrawal of the first AP prescribed, followed by non-compliance. There were no differences in the relapse rates between different APs. Patients treated with long-acting injectable (LAI) APs presented less disengagement from services than patients treated with oral APs. Although there were no differences between the different APs in terms of relapse rates, LAIs had higher retention rates than oral APs in early intervention services. Compliance is still an important issue in Psychiatry, so clinicians should use different strategies to encourage it, such as the use of LAI treatments.

Impact of adolescent complex regional pain syndrome on the psychopathology of young men ahead of military service: a retrospective cohort analysis of Korean conscription data

BackgroundThe relationship between physical and psychopathological features in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been a subject of constant interest, but no data are available in adolescents. Therefore, we aimed to identify the factors associated with psychopathology in adolescents with CRPS ahead of military service.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all conscription examinees who had completed a Military Personality Inventory (MPI) during a period between February 2013 and December 2016. A total of 63 persons with a history of CRPS (19-years of age for all) were enrolled. Basic demographic and pain-related data were analyzed to examine their association with MPI results. The mean FGR score as well as the 8 subdomain scores were compared between those with pain duration at < 15 months (n = 30) versus ≥15 months (n = 33). Binary MPI results (normal-abnormal) were also compared between the two groups.ResultsIn multivariate analysis, abnormal MPI was associated with pain duration, with an odds ratio (OR) at 1.05 for every 1-month increase (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.08; P = 0.002). Subjects with pain duration at ≥15 months have lower faking good response score (P < 0.001 vs. those with pain duration at < 15 months), and higher abnormal MPI result rate, faking bad response, inconsistency, anxiety, depression, somatization, paranoid, personality disorder cluster A, and personality disorder cluster B scores (P < 0.05). Pain duration was significantly associated with the MPI variables.ConclusionsPain duration is associated with psychopathology in adolescents with CRPS. Psychopathologic features increased as the disease duration increased. A comprehensive understanding of time-dependent psychopathological factors could support the planning of multimodal approaches for managing adolescent CRPS.

Model of formation of non-psychotic mental disorders in participants of hostilities who were injured

The study involved 98 patients with a prolonged depressive reaction. The majority of patients had a predominance of anxiety, apathetic-dynamic, obsessive-depressive and senescent-hypochondriac symptom complexes. Anxiety symptom complex was associated with catastrophism, hypochondriac ideas, increased selectivity of attention to negative stimuli, obsessive thoughts, increased sensitivity to criticism, weak visual-motor coordination disorders, decreased switching, average mental performance, mobilization, accusation of others, weak violations in the field of personal and social interaction, moderate violations in the field of aggressive patterns of behavior. Apathetic-adynamic symptom complex was associated with difficulties in decision-making, weak disorders of visual-motor coordination and executive functions, weak disorders of verbal performance, low levels of switching attention, reduced selectivity of attention to neutral and negative stimuli, weak personality disorders and social activities, and social interaction. Obsessive-depressive symptoms correlated with obsessions, mild executive impairments, ruminations, decision-making difficulties, low levels of switching, and mild personality and social impairments. Senesto-hypochondriac symptom complex was associated with hypochondriac ideas, obsessive-compulsive disorder, decreased switching, increased selective attention to negative stimuli, ruminations, mild executive impairments, and mild social disorders. Keywords: cognitive impairment, depressive disorders, clinical and psychopathological features, symptom complex, prolonged depressive reaction.

Joining the pieces in childhood irritability: Distinct typologies predict conduct, depressive, and anxiety symptoms

This study utilised a person-centered approach to understand childhood irritability as a transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology. Latent profile analysis was employed within a community sample (n = 93) of 9–11 year olds to identify typologies of self-regulation capabilities, positive wellbeing characteristics of hope and flourishing, and social functioning that cluster with children's irritability to mitigate risk for psychopathology symptoms. Three distinct profiles of youth were derived, High Irritability/Low Self-Regulation of Negative Emotion (9%), Moderate Irritability/Low Behavioural Control (34%) and Low Irritability/High Positive Wellbeing Characteristics (57%). Profiles were empirically validated and differentially related to symptoms of anxiety, depression and conduct problems. Notably, High Irritability/Low Self-Regulation of Negative Emotion children were characterised by the highest levels of irritability and peer problems and the lowest self-regulation of negative emotion, prosocial behaviours, hope and flourishing relative to children within the other profiles, pointing to the potential utility of future targeted, transdiagnostic interventions. Within our community-based sample, a protective profile of Low Irritability/High Positive Wellbeing Characteristics children were also described by the lowest levels of irritability and peer problems and the highest positive and negative emotion self-regulation, behavioural control, prosocial behaviours, hope and flourishing. Findings demonstrate that different levels of irritability severity cluster with different self-regulation capabilities and wellbeing characteristics and predict risk for different types of psychopathology. Targeted interventions should seek to address children's irritability alongside self-regulation and positive wellbeing characteristics to further mitigate risks of psychopathology and associated problems.

Personality and psychopathology heterogeneity in MMPI‐2 and health‐related features in fibromyalgia patients

Personality and psychopathology features may play an important role as predisposing factors for fibromyalgia (FM). However, psychological heterogeneity of FM patients has been suggested. Based on two personality psychopathology clusters, we intend to explore psychological heterogeneity in FM patients, specifically, to identify if personality features had other psychological and psychopathological correlates. Secondarily, we also want to identify if personality features have association with health-related correlates. The participants were female FM patients (n=56) between 30 and 60years old. The instruments were: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) content and supplementary scales, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS-11). Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) identified that Cluster 2 (n=24), characterized by a combination of negative affectivity and social inhibition, presented a more disturbed profile, with several features of symptomatic behavior, general maladjustment, and important clinical problem areas. The associations of personality variables with FM impact and self-reported pain are null, with the exception of Disconstraint scale. In conclusion, FM patients may be very different at the psychological level, concerning personality and psychopathological features that may compromise their treatment. Personality and health-related dimensions do not seem to be associated.

Insomnia Symptoms in Patients With Substance Use Disorders During Detoxification and Associated Clinical Features.

Background: Insomnia is highly prevalent in patients with substance use disorders (SUD), and it has been related to a worse course of addiction. Insomnia during detoxification in a hospital has not been adequately studied. This study aims to compare sociodemographic, clinical, and psychopathological characteristics of SUD patients undergoing a detoxification program, by comorbidity and insomnia symptoms.Methodology: We recruited 481 patients who received pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment for detoxification. They were evaluated through semi-structured interviews, standardized questionnaires, and a specific sleep log. A bivariate and multivariate analysis of the data was performed.Results: Insomnia was reported by 66.5% patients, with sleep-maintenance insomnia the most frequent issue, followed by early morning awakening and sleep-onset insomnia. Patients with alcohol use disorder and cannabis use disorder had higher prevalence of sleep-onset insomnia. Patients with cocaine and heroin use disorder had higher prevalence of sleep-maintenance insomnia. Independent factors that allowed the identification of insomnia symptoms included being female (OR: 3.43), polysubstance use (OR: 2.85), comorbid anxiety disorder (OR: 2.02), and prior admission for detoxification (OR: 1.22).Conclusions: Insomnia symptoms are very prevalent in patients admitted for detoxification. The diagnosis and therapeutic strategies for the insomnia symptoms should be improved, especially in women and in patients with greater addiction severity and with anxiety disorders.

Features of obsessive autoerotic behavior in men

The study objective is to investigate clinical features of obsessive autoerotic behavior in men and to develop a complex of therapeutic interventions. Materials and methods Comparison and analysis of psychopathic characteristics of 60 patients were performed. The group 1 included 28 patients with schizoid personality disorder, the group 2 included 14 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, the group 3 included 18patients with schizotypal disorder. Results. Presence of obsessive autoerotic behavior and its clinical and psychopathological features are considered an important criterion of mental pathology diagnosis. A program of effective therapy and rehabilitation for these disorders is proposed: in patients with schizoid personality disorder — serotoninergic antidepressants and low doses of antipsychotics; in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder — anxiolytics (for several subsequent weeks), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and low doses of antipsychotics; in patients with schizotypal disorder — atypical antipsychotics predominantly in combination with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Social rehabilitation of patients is also necessary for all groups. It is directed towards learning social skills of appropriate interactions with the partner considering their needs, capabilities, personal preferences both in intimate relations and everyday life. Conclusion. Features of obsessive autoerotic behavior (pretentiousness, preferring these sexual activities to real sexual contacts with an available partner, persistent character et al.) can serve as a criterion for diagnosis of mental pathology and basis for therapy selection. In selection of medications, clinical manifestations of mental disorders are considered.

The Self and Its Nature: A Psychopathological Perspective on the Risk-Reducing Effects of Environmental Green Space for Psychosis.

Epidemiological studies have shown that environmental green space contributes to the reduction of psychosis incidence in the population. Clarifying the psychological and neuro-functional mechanisms underlying the risk-decreasing effects of green surroundings could help optimize preventive environmental interventions. This perspective article specifically aims to open a new window on the link between environmental green space and psychosis by considering its core psychopathological features. Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, are essentially characterized by self-disturbances. The psychological structure of the self has been described as a multidimensional phenomenon that emerges from the reciprocal interaction with the environment through intrinsic and extrinsic self-processes. The intrinsic self refers to the experience of mental activity and environmental information as inherently related to one’s own person, which involves self-referential processing, self-reflection, memory, interoception, and emotional evaluation. The extrinsic self refers to sensorimotor interactions with the environment and the sense of agency, that is, the experience of being the source of one’s own actions and the multisensory consequences thereof. In psychosis, anomalous self-processing has been related to a functional fragmentation of intrinsic and extrinsic self-processes and related brain networks. Moreover, evidence from cognitive neuroscience suggests that green space could have beneficial effects on self-related processing. Based on the literature, it could be hypothesized that self-processing is involved in mediating the beneficial effects of green space for psychosis. Considering the multidimensionality of the self, it is proposed that urban green space design aimed at improving mental health ideally impacts the complexity of self-facets and thus restores the individual’s self.

Features of Adaptive and Compensatory Psychological Mechanisms in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis

The peculiarity of this study was not only the study of the severity of subjectively felt psychopathological manifestations and the level of depression in patients with myasthenia, data on which are found in the literature, but the features of psychological adaptive-compensatory mechanisms were first considered. The psychological characteristics of the perception of time, the level of internality and the meaning of life orientations, substantive psychopathological manifestations are studied. The article discusses the features of psychological adaptive-compensatory mechanisms in patients with myasthenia through the prism of the severity of subjectively felt psychopathological manifestations and characteristics of time, the level of internality, and life-meaning orientations. The data of modern studies of similar parameters in patients with myasthenia are given.The purpose of the study is the analysis of adaptive-compensatory psychological mechanisms in patients with myasthenia gravis, in comparison with individuals who do not have physical disorders.Materials and methods. The study involved 61 people: patients with myasthenia gravis diagnosed on the basis of clinical manifestations and the results of instrumental and laboratory tests (study of the level of antibodies to AchR MuSk) (31 people) and people without physical abnormalities (30 people). All participants were examined by experimental psychological methods: symptomatic questionnaire “SCL-90”, “Level of subjective control”, test of lifemeaning orientations, A. Beck’s depression scale, questionnaire “Semantic time differential”.Results. Patients with myasthenia gravis complain of unpleasant physical sensations, obsessive thoughts, sometimes note repeated actions and rituals. They are characterized by depressive symptoms, the presence of fears, alertness. Symptoms of the disease are assessed by them as causing great discomfort. Compared to the control group, they take less of their successes and failures, consider that their contribution to the development of family and production relations is small, these factors depend on external circumstances. In the subjective sense of the psychological characteristics of time, the present and future are defined as inactive, their course seems uneven, poorly structured, poorly predicted.Conclusion. The data obtained establish target-centered zones of psychological correction in order to stabilize the adaptive-compensatory mechanisms of patients with myasthenia gravis — this is a work aimed at correcting the self-concept and goal setting, helping the individual to better adapt to the chronic psycho-traumatic effect of the disease.

Addiction and neurotic disorders (mechanisms and specificity of clinical and psychopatological manifestations of comorbidity)

The article presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the addictive status of patients with neurotic disorders: representation, severity, variants and specificity of addictive behavior. The features of the clinical and psychopathological structure and dynamics of neurotic disorders with addictions are analyzed, the mechanisms and patterns of the formation of comorbid combinations are highlighted. It has been established that neurotic disorders are often associated with addictive disorders. It is noted that addictions in neuroses are represented by a wide range of variants and are characterized by multimorbidity (a tendency to combine several addictions at the same time). It was determined that the clinical structure of neurotic disorders in their comorbidity with addictions is modified and its clinical and psychopathological specificity is highlighted. It has been determined that pathopsychological factors are involved in the mechanisms of formation of neurotic disorders with addictive behavior, among which the key role belongs to the need-motivational sphere, which combines competing motivations aimed at meeting the needs that support the addictive and neurotic states. Key words: neurotic disorder, addiction, comorbidity, clinical and psychopathological features, mechanisms of formation

Moral Cognition About Harm in Anxiety Disorders: The Importance of Experienced Emotion.

Recent work has shown that emotional arousal influences decision-making in sacrificial moral dilemmas, with heightened levels of arousal associated with increased aversion to committing moral transgressions to maximize utilitarian outcomes. Patients with anxiety disorders experience pathologically heightened states of arousal and thus may be expected to exhibit reduced utilitarian responding on such dilemmas. Extant evidence has been mixed, however, regarding whether anxious patients differ in their moral decisions from controls, and no study has conducted a careful examination of emotions experienced during decision-making. We administered sacrificial moral dilemmas to a cohort of 95 patients from across the spectrum of anxiety disorders to test whether they differed from matched controls on a) utilitarian decision-making, and b) ratings of experienced emotion during the moral deliberative process. Results showed no group differences between patients and controls on endorsement of utilitarian sacrificial action or on reported experience of emotionality during the experiment. Additionally, exploratory analysis revealed that specific emotions were correlated with utilitarian judgments. These results are in line with the Dual Process Theory model's prediction that decreased utilitarian responding will be concomitant with an increased emotional arousal. Our findings support past work indicating that moral cognition is intact in anxiety disorders despite the emotional dysregulation characteristic of anxious psychopathology. Future work would benefit from the use of process-dissociation techniques to further clarify whether emotional or cognitive processes may differ in anxiety disorders during moral cognition.

The distinction between symptoms and traits in the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP).

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirically and quantitatively derived dimensional classification system designed to describe the features of psychopathology and, ultimately, to replace categorical nosologies. Among the constructs that HiTOP organizes are "symptom components" and "maladaptive traits," but past HiTOP publications have not fully explicated the distinction between symptoms and traits. We propose working definitions of symptoms and traits and explore challenges, exceptions, and remaining questions. Specifically, we propose that the only systematic difference between symptoms and traits in HiTOP is one of time frame. Maladaptive traits are dispositional constructs that describe persistent tendencies to manifest features of psychopathology, whereas symptoms are features of psychopathology as they are manifest during any specific time period (from moments to days to months). This has the consequence that almost every HiTOP dimension, at any level of the hierarchy, can be assessed as either a trait or a symptom dimension, by adjusting the framing of the assessment. We discuss the implications of these definitions for causal models of the relations between symptoms and traits and for distinctions between psychopathology, normal personality variation, and dysfunction.

Youth and gambling disorder: What about criminal behavior?

Background and aimsThe commission of illegal acts has been associated with gambling disorder (GD). However, little is known about young adults with GD who commit GD-related crimes. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to compare sociodemographic, clinical, personality and psychopathological features among young adults with GD with and without a history of illegal behaviors. Our second aim was to analyze the specific associations between these factors through a path analysis. MethodsA total of 808 treatment-seeking young adults who met criteria for GD were assessed at a public hospital unit specialized in behavioral addictions. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires to explore GD, personality traits, and psychopathological symptomatology. ResultsOf the total sample, 291 patients (36.0%) had committed GD-related offences. Illegal acts were related to younger age and unemployment status. Greater levels of psychopathology, as well as earlier GD onset, longer GD duration and greater GD severity were also associated with the presence of criminal behaviors. Differences in personality traits were also found between these two groups. Discussion and conclusionsThe GD group with a history of illegal acts showed dysfunctional personality traits and higher levels of psychopathology. Therefore, specific GD treatments and harm reduction interventions should be designed for these patients.

Better Safe Than Sorry: A Common Signature of General Vulnerability for Psychopathology

Several labels, such as neuroticism, negative emotionality, and dispositional negativity, indicate a broad dimension of psychopathology. However, largely separate, often disorder-specific research lines have developed that focus on different cognitive and affective characteristics that are associated with this dimension, such as perseverative cognition (worry, rumination), reduced autobiographical memory specificity, compromised fear learning, and enhanced somatic-symptom reporting. In this article, we present a theoretical perspective within a predictive-processing framework in which we trace these phenotypically different characteristics back to a common underlying “better-safe-than-sorry” processing strategy. This implies information processing that tends to be low in sensory-perceptual detail, which allows threat-related categorical priors to dominate conscious experience and for chronic uncertainty/surprise because of a stagnated error-reduction process. This common information-processing strategy has beneficial effects in the short term but important costs in the long term. From this perspective, we suggest that the phenomenally distinct cognitive and affective psychopathological characteristics mentioned above represent the same basic processing heuristic of the brain and are only different in relation to the particular type of information involved (e.g., in working memory, in autobiographical memory, in the external and internal world). Clinical implications of this view are discussed.

Psychoeducation in a system of comprehensive therapy of computer addiction

In recent years, the problem of computer addiction has become increasingly important in Ukraine, due to the rapid spread of various gadgets and the expansion of the Internet. Computer addiction is the result of moving life into virtual reality, its complete merging with all aspects of the existence of the individual. In connection with this, the effectiveness of the psychoeducational program in the complex therapy of patients with computer addiction was evaluated. The main group consisted of 100 patients who, along with the therapy regulated by the standards of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, took part in a psychoeducational program. The control group consisted of 47 patients who received standard regulated therapy in the hospital. In the clinical picture of adjustment disorders in the examined patients there was a decreased mood (in 72.9% of the examined persons), irritability, imbalance, tendency to short-term violent reactions (in 52.7%); feelings of sadness, anxiety (in 69.4%); increased vulnerability, susceptibility (in 32.9%); states of confusion (in 55.3 %); hyperesthesia (in 78.8%); asthenic symptom complex (in 84.7%). Evaluation of the effectiveness of the developed psychoeducational program was implemented by 6-month dynamic observation by assessing the dynamics of clinical psychopathological and pathopsychological features of patients. Keywords: psychoeducation, non-chemical addictions, computer addiction.