Shared Vulnerability Factors Research Articles

Hidden in Plain Sight: Improving the Measurement of Sex Trafficking Victimization in a National Sample of Adults

A self-report survey was administered in 2022 to measure experiences of sex trafficking victimization among a national sample of adults using the federal legal definition and behaviorally specific language. A total of 1,462 respondents were included in the final sample, with data weighted to increase the representativeness of the population. Approximately 2.5% of respondents could be classified as experiencing sex trafficking victimization at some point in their lives. More respondents experienced sex trafficking as a minor only (1.5%) compared to as an adult only (0.6%) or as both a minor and adult (0.4%). A small portion of respondents who experienced sex trafficking as an adult reported their experiences to anyone (38.9%). Although some sex trafficking victims shared vulnerability factors with known victims in high-risk groups, not all victims reported experiencing these challenges. Research should continue to measure sex trafficking in the general population to inform individual and community interventions.

Post-Concussion and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms after Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Shared Vulnerability Factors?

Following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-concussion symptoms (PCS) and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) occur commonly; however, it is unknown to what degree they overlap. The study examined PCS and PTSS persisting 7 weeks after injury in children and adolescents ages 8-15 years with TBI (n = 89) or extracranial injury (EI; n = 40) after vehicle collisions. TBI was divided into mild, complicated-mild/moderate, and severe groups. Parents retrospectively rated children's pre-injury symptoms and behavior problems, and children completed self-report measures after injury. PCS and PTSS total scores were significantly correlated in TBI and EI groups, respectively, for child (rs = 0.75; rs = 0.44), and adolescent (rs = 0.61; rs = 0.67) cohorts. Generalized linear models examined whether injury type and severity, age, sex, and pre-injury symptom ratings predicted PCS and PTSS total scores and factor scores. Specific PCS and PTSS factor scores were elevated in different TBI severity groups, with most frequent problems following mild or severe TBI. PCS did not differ by age; however, girls had more emotional symptoms than boys. Only PTSS were predicted by pre-injury externalizing behavior. Significant age by sex interactions indicated that adolescent girls had more total, avoidance, and hyperarousal PTSS symptoms than younger girls or all boys. PCS and PTSS significantly overlapped in both TBI and EI groups, highlighting shared persistent symptoms after injury. Shared vulnerability factors included female sex, milder TBI, and poorer pre-injury adjustment. Older age was a unique vulnerability factor for PTSS. Psychological health interventions after injury should be customized to address comorbid symptoms.

An innovative multi-agency consultation model for harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people: practice paper

ABSTRACT Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) has been regularly documented as a demanding area of practice within the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this paper is to share a practice model developed in an under-resourced inner London borough. The HSB forum is formed of a multi-agency group of professionals and runs monthly providing a platform for practitioners to seek consultation for young people they are working with who are displaying HSB's. Initial feedback for the forum from practitioners has been consistently positive and they have valued specifically the opportunity to formulate, have clear directions, and the multi-disciplinary perspective. In addition, most reported feeling empowered to implement the recommendations suggested. Given the shared vulnerability factors between those displaying HSB's and other at-risk young people such as those who are being sexually exploited, this model provides an innovative way that practitioners can be supported by multiple agencies where there is a lack of specialist services.

Negative Affect Mediates Impulsivity in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Introduction: Although anxiety and impulsivity are intuitively thought to be inversely correlated, increased impulsivity has been associated both with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnosis and GAD symptoms in non-clinical samples. The emotional dysregulation model of GAD posits that patients experience more frequent and intense negative emotions while having poor regulatory control over emotional states and greater negative reactivity to their emotions. We hypothesized that poor regulatory control in the presence of negative emotions might explain the increased impulsivity found in GAD patients. In this study, we examined if negative affect mediates the relationship between GAD and impulsivity. Methods: Thirty-four GAD patients and 35 healthy controls were included, and evaluated with measurements of impulsivity, negative and positive emotions, the severity of worrying and GAD symptoms, depression, and 5-factor personality traits. Results: Global impulsivity scores and the attentional facet of impulsivity were higher in the patient group when compared to the controls. Negative affect was correlated with global impulsivity in the patient group only and explained impulsivity in our regression model while worrying and depressive symptoms did not. An indirect relationship was found between diagnosis and impulsivity through negative affect. Conclusion: Our study showed that the cardinal symptom of GAD – worrying – was not independently related to impulsivity in our sample. Increased impulsivity in GAD seems to be mediated by the increased presence of negative emotions, as it is common in mood and impulse-control disorders, indicating an unspecific shared vulnerability factor to psychopathology.

Emotion regulation difficulties, but not negative urgency, are associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and eating disorder symptoms in undergraduate students

Eating disorders and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are highly comorbid. The majority of research on this comorbidity has focused on impulsivity, which is a shared vulnerability between ADHD and eating disorders characterized by binge eating. Less is known about which shared factors may contribute to the co-occurrence of other eating disorders (i.e., anorexia nervosa, restricting subtype) and ADHD. Furthermore, little research has focused on other potential overlapping vulnerabilities, though deficits in emotion regulation have been implicated as an additional shared vulnerability. The current study (N = 306 undergraduate students) uses path analysis to examine if emotion regulation difficulties and negative urgency (i.e., impulsivity during negative mood state) are unique or shared vulnerabilities for ADHD symptoms (inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity) and eating disorder symptoms (bulimic symptoms, drive for thinness). Emotion regulation difficulties were uniquely associated with all dimensions of ADHD and eating disorder symptoms, and negative urgency was uniquely associated with global eating disorder symptoms, bulimic symptoms, and drive for thinness. These results suggest that emotion regulation difficulties are a shared vulnerability factor for the development of diverse presentations of ADHD and eating disorder symptoms, and may be an important prevention target. Additionally, our results support a unique relationship between negative urgency and drive for thinness. Future research should examine these associations prospectively and experimentally to determine directionality and inform preventative interventions for ADHD and eating disorders.

ADGRL3 rs6551665 as a Common Vulnerability Factor Underlying Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are prevalent, frequently occur in comorbidity and share substantial genetic correlation. Previous evidence has suggested a role for the ADGRL3 gene in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) susceptibility in several samples. Considering ADGRL3 functionality in central nervous system development and its previous association with neurodevelopmental disorders, we aimed to assess ADGRL3 influence in early-onset ADHD (before 7years of age) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The sample comprises 187 men diagnosed with early-onset ADHD, 135 boys diagnosed with ASD and 468 male blood donors. We tested the association of an ADGRL3 variant (rs6551665) with both early-onset ADHD and ASD susceptibility. We observed significant associations between ADGRL3-rs6551665 on ADHD and ASD susceptibilities; we found that G-carriers were at increased risk of ADHD and ASD, in accordance with previous studies. The overall evidence from the literature, corroborated by our results, suggests that ADGRL3 might be involved in brain development, and genetic modifications related to it might be part of a shared vulnerability factor associated with the underlying neurobiology of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and ASD.

Are PTSD and autistic traits related? An examination among typically developing Israeli adults

Background and objectivesPrevious research indicates that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face an increased risk of experiencing traumatic events. Autistic Traits (AT), characteristic of ASD, are continuously distributed across the general population. Our main objective was to examine the association between AT and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), a topic rarely assessed before. MethodsOne hundred and three college students from 3 academic areas, previously found to be associated with different degrees of AT, completed self-report questionnaires tapping PTSD (the PCL-5; PTSD Checklist for DSM-5), AT (AQ; the Autism Spectrum Quotient), and traumatic life events. ResultsAT were positively associated with all PTSD symptom clusters, except for avoidance. The association between imagination difficulties and PTSD was moderated by gender. Among participants meeting the PTSD cutoff, those with the highest AT levels reported a PTSD symptomatic profile with an increased dominance of hyper-arousal symptoms. ConclusionsThe AT-PTSD association reported here may be attributed to several factors, including increased victimization associated with AT, as well as shared vulnerability factors for both conditions, including impairments in social cognition. Further research is needed in order to understand the associations between these two conditions, considering gender differences, and possible shared underlying mechanisms.

Binge eating behaviours in bipolar disorders

BackgroundRecent research, especially from the USA, suggests that comorbid binge eating (BE) behaviour and BE disorder are frequent in individuals with Bipolar Disorder (BD). Although basic clinical associations between BD and BE have been investigated, less is known about psychological or temperamental dimensions and qualitative aspects of eating habits. In a French cohort of patients with BD, we investigated the prevalence of BE behaviour and any associations with illness characteristics, anxiety, impulsivity, emotional regulation and eating habits. Methods145 outpatients with BD (I and II) were assessed for the presence of BE behaviour using the Binge Eating Scale (BES). Characteristics identified in univariate analyses as differentiating BD cases with and without BE behaviour were then included in a backward stepwise logistic regression (BSLR) model. ResultsIn this sample, 18.6% of BD patients met criteria for BE behaviour. Multivariate analysis (BSLR) indicated that shorter duration of BD, and higher levels of anxiety and emotional reactivity were observed in BD with compared to BD without BE behaviour. LimitationsRelatively small sample referred to specialist BD clinics and cross-sectional evaluation meant that it was not possible to differentiate between state and trait levels of impulsivity, emotional instability and disinhibition. These dimensions may also overlap with mood symptoms. ConclusionBE behaviour is common in females and males with BD. Emotional dysregulation and anxiety may represent important shared vulnerability factors for worse outcome of BD and increased likelihood of BE behaviour.

Impact of anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use on error-related brain activity

Anxiety disorders are associated with enhanced defensive reactivity to errors, measured via the error-related negativity (ERN). There is some evidence to suggest that problematic alcohol use is also associated with an enhanced ERN; although prior studies have been almost exclusively in men and have yet to examine the potential interactive effects of anxiety and alcohol abuse symptoms. The aim of the current study was to address the gaps in this literature by examining the unique and interactive effects of anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use on the ERN in a sample of 79 heterogeneous internalizing disorder patients. All participants completed a flanker task designed to robustly elicit the ERN and questionnaires assessing current internalizing symptoms and problematic alcohol use. As expected, results revealed that greater anxiety symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, were associated with a more enhanced ERN. There was no main effect of problematic alcohol use but there was a significant anxiety by problematic alcohol use interaction. At high anxiety symptoms, greater problematic alcohol use was associated with a more enhanced ERN; at low anxiety symptoms, alcohol use was unrelated to the ERN. There was no depression by alcohol abuse interaction. The findings suggest that within anxious individuals, heightened reactivity to errors/threat may be related to risk for alcohol abuse. The findings also converge with a broader literature suggesting that heightened reactivity to threat may be a shared vulnerability factor for anxiety and alcohol abuse and a novel prevention and intervention target for anxiety-alcohol abuse comorbidity.

An initial waitlist-controlled trial of the unified protocol for the treatment of emotional disorders in adolescents

A substantial proportion of adolescents are non-responders to well-established treatments for anxiety and depression, and many existent approaches do not adequately address comorbidity. There is a need to develop and evaluate unified treatments for adolescents that flexibly address higher order factors shared among internalizing or emotional disorders. The Unified Protocol for the Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) is a transdiagnostic treatment that targets shared vulnerability and maintenance factors in a flexible format. This study examined initial outcomes of a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial of the UP-A. The UP-A outperformed waitlist at mid-treatment with respect to disorder severity and functional impairment, and there was a significant treatment effect in favor of the UP-A on all outcome measures at post-treatment. Within-subjects analyses collapsing across participants revealed significant improvements on outcome measures over time. Results support further study of the UP-A and its potential efficacy in treating adolescent anxiety and depression.

ODNOS KREATIVNOSTI I TENDENCIJE KA ISPOLJAVANJU PSIHOPATOLOŠKIH SIMPTOMA U SVETLU MODELA ZAJEDNIČKE VULNERABILNOSTI

U ovom radu prikazano je istraživanje koje se bavilo pitanjem odnosa kreativnosti i psihopatologije. Polazna osnova istraživanja bile su postavke modela zajedničke vulnerabilnosti, koji odnos između kreativnosti i psihičkog poremećaja objašnjava uz pomoć tri grupe varijabli: a) protektivnih faktora (visoka inteligencija, dobar kapaciteti radne memorije i visoka kognitivna fleksibilnost), b) riziko-faktora (slabije intelektualno funkcionisanje, niži kapacitet radne memorije i manja kognitivna fleksibilnost) i c) faktora zajedničke vulnerabilnosti (snižena latentna inhibicija, otvorenost ka novinama i hiperkonektivnost koja se ogleda u tendenciji ka sinestetskim iskustvima). Istraživanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 151 ispitanika, starosti od 18 do 22 godine. Primenjeni su zadaci iz Instrumenta za ispitivanje divergentne produkcije, upitnik prisustva psihopatoloških simptoma CORE-OM, Ravenove progresivne matrice za napredne (set II), skala Otvorenosti prema iskustvu iz Inventara velikih pet (BFI), adaptirana verzija Testa pravljenja traga (TMT) i suptest Šifra iz VITI-a. U svrhu ovog istraživanja konstruisani su i instrumenti za merenje tendencije ka sinestetskim iskustvima i latentne inhibicije. Sprovedene su dve hijerarhijske regresione analize, a rezultati su pokazali da se kao značajni prediktori kreativnosti ističu Otvorenost prema iskustvu, tendencija ka sinestetskim iskustvima i u negativnom smeru latentna inhibicija, dok se kao marginalno značajan prediktor ističe efikasnost radne memorije. Kao značajan prediktor psihopatologije izdvojila se sklonost ka sinestetskim iskustvima, dok se kao marginalno značajan prediktor u negativnom smeru izdvaja radna memorija. Rezultati delimično pružaju podršku postavkama modela zajedničke vulnerabilnosti, ali otvaraju i neka nova pitanja vezana za eventualno proširivanje modela i buduća istraživanja u ovoj oblasti.

Shame and guilt as shared vulnerability factors: Shame, but not guilt, prospectively predicts both social anxiety and bulimic symptoms

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are highly comorbid. However, little is known about the shared vulnerability factors that prospectively predict both SA and BN symptoms. Two potential factors that have not yet been tested are shame and guilt. In the current study we tested if shame and guilt were shared vulnerability factors for SA and BN symptoms. Women (N=300) completed measures of SA symptoms, BN symptoms, state shame and guilt, and trait negative affect at two time points, two months apart. Utilizing structural equation modeling we tested a cross-sectional and prospective model of SA and BN vulnerability. We found that shame prospectively predicted both SA and BN symptoms. We did not find that guilt prospectively predicted SA or BN symptoms. However, higher levels of both BN and SA symptoms predicted increased guilt over time. We found support for shame as a shared prospective vulnerability factor between BN and SA symptoms. Interventions that focus on decreasing shame could potentially alleviate symptoms of BN and SA in one protocol.

Characteristics and consequences of the co-occurrence between social anxiety and pain-related fear in chronic pain patients receiving multimodal pain rehabilitation treatment

Background and aimsChronic pain problems are related to specific pain related fears and maladaptive pain-coping but also commonly co-occur with other anxiety problems. Shared emotional vulnerability factors may explain this comorbidity and may influence treatment outcome. Indeed, pain patients going through multimodal pain treatment are a heterogeneous group and treatment results vary. One understudied anxiety disorder co-occurring with pain is social anxiety. This may be relevant as many pain-related challenges are situated in social contexts. The aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence of subgroups with differential patterns of social anxiety and pain related fear in a sample of chronic pain patients who receive multimodal pain treatment. The aim is also to study the characteristics of these potential subgroups and the consequences of different patterns of social anxiety and pain related fear. Methods180 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain answered questionnaires before and after a multimodal pain treatment in a hospital rehabilitation setting in middle Sweden. A cluster analysis using pre-treatment scores on the Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire and the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia was performed. Subgroups were thereafter validated and compared on impairment due to social anxiety, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression. Moreover, subgroups were described and compared on vulnerability factors (anxiety sensitivity, negative affect) and outcome factors (pain intensity, pain interference, and return to work self-efficacy). ResultsFour distinct clusters emerged: (1) low scores, (2) pain-related fear only, (3) social concern only, and (4) high social anxiety and pain-related fear. Patients high on social anxiety and pain-related fear had significantly higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, negative affect, and higher general emotional symptomatology. They also had remaining problems posttreatment. ConclusionsA subgroup of patients with clinical levels of social anxiety has suboptimal rehabilitation results, with residual emotional problems and high levels of emotional vulnerability. ImplicationsThese patients may be in need of additional treatment efforts that are not being met today. To prevent insufficient treatment results and prolonged work disability, these patients need to be detected during screening and may benefit from pain treatment that takes their emotional problems into account.

The Relationship Between Smoking and Inflammation in Depression.

Introduction There is now an extensive body of data showing that depression is associated with a chronic low-grade inflammation. The obvious question is “What are the sources of this inflammation?” and “Could smoking be one of them?” Objectives The aim of the study is to investigate the association between depression and inflammation, and to highlight the role of smoking in this process. Methods The study included 65 depressed patients and 30 healthy controls. Blood samples of both groups were used for the measurement of the high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) and the interleukin 6 (IL6). Results The mean value of hs-CRP was 2.02 mg/L among depressed patients and 1.42 mg/L among healthy controls (p=0.198). Higher values of hs-CRP (>=3mg/L) were found among depressed patients (20%) than among healthy controls (3.3%) (p=0.033). The mean value of IL6 was 4.12 ng/ml among depressed patients and 2.68 ng/ml among healthy controls (p=0.008). Higher values of IL6 (>=4ng/ml) were found among depressed patients (29.2%) than among healthy controls (3.3%) (p=0.004). The table below resume the relation between smoking and the elevation of inflammatory markers. Conclusion The causal relationship between smoking and depression is complex. Cigarette smoking increases the levels of inflammatory markers but did it leads to depression? Or did the depression increases smoking behavior? Or is there shared vulnerability factors for the both?

Anxiety and substance use disorders: co-occurrence and clinical issues.

The co-occurrence of substance use disorders (SUDs) and anxiety disorders has been now well established. This association is frequent and can be explained by three models: the shared vulnerability factors model, the self-medication model, and the substance-induced model. General population epidemiological studies provide strong evidence of the frequency of the association for the most used substances: tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and to a lesser extent sedatives, opiates, and cocaine. For substances that are less commonly used in the general population, the frequency of the co-occurrence can more precisely be studied in clinical samples. We provide the most recent literature results on the association of SUDs and anxiety, and evidence for one explicative model or the other when available. For substances with sedative properties (alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, opioids), both evidence for a self-medication and for a toxic effect exist. For substances with psychostimulant properties (tobacco, cocaine, and amphetamines), the literature favors the toxic hypothesis to explain the association with anxiety disorders. We give practical steps for the recognition of these dual diagnoses and present therapeutic issues, although the strategies are rarely evidence based.

Increased level of serum cytokines, chemokines and adipokines in patients with schizophrenia is associated with disease and metabolic syndrome

At present there are strong indications of a shared vulnerability factor for schizophrenia (SZ), diabetes and the metabolic syndrome (metS). In this study we focus on an aberrantly activated monocyte/macrophage system as the shared factor. We measured in SZ patients (n=144), the serum levels of monocyte/macrophage cytokines/chemokines/adipokines CCL2, CCL4, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, PTX3, leptin, adiponectin, PAI-1, OPG and ICAM-1 and compared these levels to healthy controls (HC) (n=138). Using multivariate analysis, we studied the effect of the presence of the disease SZ, the components of the metS including BMI, the levels of lipids (HDL cholesterol and triglycerides (TG)), diabetes (hyperglycemia) and the use of antipsychotic medication, on the serum levels of these immune compounds. We found all measured immune compounds with the exception of PAI-1 and OPG to be elevated in the SZ patient population. Multivariate analysis showed that elevations were linked to gender (ICAM-1, leptin, TNF-α and adiponectin), an increased BMI (leptin, adiponectin), hyperglycemia/diabetes (CCL4, and OPG), reduced HDL-cholesterol or increased levels of TG (adiponectin and PTX3) or the metS (CCL2, leptin and adiponectin). IL-1β and IL-6 were the only immune compounds raised in the serum of patients not affected by any of the included factors. Although many of the immune compounds were found linked to (components of) the metS, the most dominant linkage was found with the disease schizophrenia, confirming earlier reports on increased monocyte/macrophage activation as a key component for understanding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Correlates of Treatment Response in Depressed Older Adults With Bipolar Disorder

To identify baseline clinical factors associated with acute treatment response in depressed older adults with bipolar disorder (BD) receiving lamotrigine. Secondary analysis of a multisite, 12-week, open-label, uncontrolled study of add-on lamotrigine in 57 adults 60 years and older with BD I or II depression. Measures included the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Cardiometabolic risk was measured with total serum cholesterol and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatric (CIRS-G) item #13 (endocrine/metabolic burden). Neurocognitive (executive) function was evaluated using the Trail Making Test. Greater reduction in MADRS from baseline was associated with higher baseline cardiometabolic burden at 6 and 9 weeks and lower YMRS scores at 9 weeks. At 12 weeks, improvement in the MADRS from baseline was no longer significantly related to baseline cardiometabolic burden or YMRS scores. A longitudinal mixed model of MADRS scores corroborated these findings with a significant finding of time-by-baseline cholesterol level interaction. In a subset of participants, better baseline executive function was related to greater improvement in the MADRS at 9 weeks but not at 6 or 12 weeks. Among all participants, higher baseline YMRS scores were related to greater likelihood of dropout. Lamotrigine appears to work best in depressed elderly patients with BD who have high cardiometabolic risk and low level of mania. Agents like lamotrigine that act primarily on neuroprogressive pathways involving oxidative stress, neurotrophins, and inflammation may be particularly effective in individuals with BD who have significant cardiometabolic burden because of their effects on shared vulnerability factors in BD and medical illness.

Persistent heavy smoking as risk factor for major depression (MD) incidence – Evidence from a longitudinal Canadian cohort of the National Population Health Survey

BackgroundReports of bidirectional associations between smoking and major depression (MD) have been interpreted as providing evidence for confounding by shared-vulnerability factors (SV) that predispose individuals to both conditions. If this is true, then smoking cessation may not reduce the risk of MD. From clinical practice and public health perspectives, the long-term outcomes associated with smoking persistence and cessation are potentially important and deserve exploration. To this end, the 12-year risk of MD in persistent heavy smokers and abstainers who were former-heavy smokers with and without adjustment for potential confounders were compared. MethodsFollow-up data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) was used. Multinomial logistic (ML) models were fit to identify potential confounders. Using proportional hazard (PH) models, unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for MD outcome were estimated for different smoking patterns. ResultsThe unadjusted HR relating the risk of MD among current-heavy versus former-heavy smokers was 4.3 (95% CI: 2.6–6.9, p < 0.001). Current-heavy smoking predicted onset of MD (HR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.9–5.2, p < 0.001) even after adjustment for age, sex and stress – the main confounders. However, this was not the case for the never, former-light, and current-light categories. Evidence of decreased risk of MD among former-heavy relative to current-heavy smokers as function of smoking cessation maintenance time was also found. ConclusionsContrary to common beliefs about the benefits of smoking for mental health, our results suggest that current-heavy rather than ever-heavy smoking is a major determinant of MD risk and point towards the benefits of smoking cessation maintenance.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of limbic structures displays metabolite differences in young unaffected relatives of schizophrenia probands

Imaging studies of schizophrenia patients showed fronto-temporal brain volume deficits, while magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies of patients and unaffected biological relatives have found a decrement of the neuronal marker N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) in the hippocampus and frontal lobes, and increased choline-containing phospholipids. Using a 3 T MR scanner, we determined the metabolite profile within limbic regions (anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left hippocampus) of 36 unaffected, adolescent/young adult relatives of schizophrenia probands (first-degree = 16, second-degree = 20) and 25 healthy controls with no family history of schizophrenia. Significant main effects of group were found on NAA/Cho ratios for both the left hippocampus (F = 6.11, p ≤ 0.02) and ACC (F = 4.89, p ≤ 0.03) as well as for the left hippocampus Cho/Cr ratio (F = 5.55, p ≤ 0.02). Compared to age and sex matched healthy controls without a family history of schizophrenia, first-degree relatives of probands had greater MRS metabolite deviations than second-degree relatives. Greater familial proximity to the schizophrenia proband (or higher schizophrenia susceptibility) among biological relatives was associated with stepwise lowering of NAA/Cho and elevations in Cho/Cr ratios. The observed limbic metabolite changes among young, nonpsychotic biological relatives are likely related to shared genetic vulnerability factors, and may assist in the early identification of schizophrenia for primary and secondary prevention.

Testing a cognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder in the eating disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common comorbid disorders found in individuals with eating disorders. Despite this, little is known of shared vulnerability factors between the two disorders. The aim of the present study was to examine the four main components of a cognitive model for GAD in the eating disorders. One hundred and sixty-two females took part. Three groups were formed comprising of 19 participants with an eating disorder and GAD, 70 with an eating disorder without GAD and 73 healthy controls. All completed self-report questionnaires that measured eating attitudes, levels of GAD, intolerance of uncertainty, positive beliefs about worry, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Participants with an eating disorder and GAD scored the highest on all four components when compared to healthy individuals and on most components when compared to those with an eating disorder. Participants with an eating disorder without GAD scored higher on all components compared to healthy controls. Findings extend our understanding of shared vulnerability factors between the eating disorders and GAD.