Identifying suicide ideation in mental health application posts: A random forest algorithm.

The growing use of digitized mental health applications requires new reliable early screening tools to identify user suicide risk. We used a lexicon-based random forest machine learning algorithm to predict suicide ideation scores from 714 online community text posts from December 2019 to April 2020. We validated predicted scores against expert-rated suicide ideation scores. The algorithm-predicted scores offered high validity and a low error rate and correctly identified 95% of expert-rated high-risk suicide ideation posts. Our findings highlight a potential new method to detect suicidal ideation of digital mental health application users.

Association between decentering and reductions in relapse/recurrence in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression in adults: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: "Decentering" is defined as the ability to observe one's thoughts and feelings as temporary, objective events in the mind (Safran & Segal, 1990), and is increasingly regarded as a candidate mechanism in mindfulness-based interventions. The present study sought to examine the role of decentering, and other related variables, in the efficacy of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as compared to two active comparison conditions. METHOD: Formerly depressed individuals (N = 227), randomly assigned to MBCT (n = 74), relaxation group therapy (RGT; n = 77) or Treatment as usual (TAU; n = 76), completed self-report measures of decentering and symptoms of depression at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment, and relapse was assessed at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, posttreatment. RESULTS: With regard to the acute treatment phase, results indicated that, whereas levels of depression increased in both RGT and TAU, MBCT patients remained free from symptom gains. Moreover, gains in decentering from mid- to posttreatment predicted reductions in depression from pre- to posttreatment for MBCT and TAU, but not for RGT. Participants who experienced increases in decentering, measured from mid- to posttreatment, generally evidenced the lowest levels of relapse/recurrence (during the four follow-up assessments), largely irrespective of treatment group. However, results related to change in decentering should be considered exploratory due to small cell sizes among participants who did not experience gains in decentering. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results suggest that decentering is a potent mechanism for reduction of relapse in major depression, albeit one that is nonspecific to MBCT. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

An Open Trial of the Effectiveness, Program Usage, and User Experience of Internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Mixed Anxiety and Depression for Healthcare Workers on Disability Leave.

OBJECTIVE: An open trial of an internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) program for healthcare workers was conducted. METHODS: Healthcare workers on disability leave who used the iCBT program were assessed on: self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21; and, program usage. Healthcare workers' experience of using iCBT was evaluated in a separate survey. RESULTS: Of the 497 healthcare workers referred to the iCBT program, 51% logged in, 25% logged in more than once, and 12% logged in more than once and completed at least two assessments. For the latter group, self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms significantly decreased from the first assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This iCBT program was perceived to be of benefit to healthcare workers, with program usage and effectiveness that was similar to what has been previously reported for unguided iCBT.

Predictors of nonresponse to cognitive behavioural therapy or venlafaxine using glucose metabolism in major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal neuroimaging investigations of antidepressant treatment offer the opportunity to identify potential baseline biomarkers associated with poor outcome. METHODS: To explore the neural correlates of nonresponse to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or venlafaxine (VEN), we compared pretreatment (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography scans of participants with major depressive disorder responding to either 16 weeks of CBT (n = 7) or VEN treatment (n = 9) with treatment nonresponders (n = 8). RESULTS: Nonresponders to CBT or VEN, in contrast to responders, exhibited pretreatment hypermetabolism at the interface of the pregenual and subgenual cingulate cortices. LIMITATIONS: Limitations of our study include the small sample sizes and the absence of both arterial sampling to determine absolute glucose metabolism and high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging coregistration for region-of-interest analyses. CONCLUSION: Our current findings are consistent with those reported in previous studies of relative hyperactivity in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex in treatment-resistant populations.

Neurophysiological evidence of cognitive inhibition anomalies in persons with major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The neural correlates of inhibitory deficits for emotional semantic material in persons with major depressive disorder (MDD) were investigated. METHODS: Individuals (n=15) with a diagnosis of MDD or MDD in partial remission, and healthy controls (n=14) underwent recording of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while performing a computerized emotional Stroop task. RESULTS: There were no group performance differences on the emotional Stroop task. However, the analysis of ERP waveforms revealed a larger negative wave peaking at about 170ms over the left than the right hemisphere only in controls; a negative displacement (N450) at parietal sites for positive and negative words only for persons with MDD; in both groups, processing negative and positive words was associated with a positive displacement that peaked at about 450ms and was larger over the left lateral frontal region; and, the N450 modulation correlated with negative automatic thinking and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The electrophysiological data reveal early changes in neural activity associated with word processing as well as valence-related changes in the N450 component at parietal sites in MDD. SIGNIFICANCE: This valence-related increase in N450 amplitude at parietal sites may reflect an automatic capture of attention by words with emotional valence.

The efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of emotional distress after acquired brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), adapted to meet the unique needs of individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI), and modified for both group and telephone delivery. DESIGN: Matched-controlled trial, with multiple measurements across participants, including pretreatment baseline assessment plus posttreatment and 1-month follow-up. SETTING: Outpatient community brain injury center. PARTICIPANTS: Participants (N=20) with chronic ABI. Ten were assigned to the CBT treatment group and 10 to education control. All were experiencing significant emotional distress at the onset of the study. INTERVENTION: Eleven sessions of CBT (or education control), including 1 introductory individual session plus 10 further sessions administered in either group format or by telephone. The CBT was designed to decrease psychologic distress and improve coping. Specific adaptations were made to the CBT in order to better accommodate individuals with cognitive difficulties. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures included the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Secondary outcome measures included the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) and the Ways of Coping Scale, Revised. RESULTS: Significant CBT treatment effects (in both group and telephone formats) were observed on the SCL-90-R and the DASS-21, whereas no significant effects were observed in the education control group. No significant effects of treatment were observed on the CIQ or Ways of Coping Scale, Revised. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that adapted CBT-administered by telephone or in a face-to-face group setting-can significantly improve emotional well-being in chronic ABI.

New developments in psychosocial interventions for adults with unipolar depression.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Depression treatment guidelines typically recommend cognitive behavioral therapy and/or interpersonal therapy for the acute treatment of mild-moderate depression. However, several new developments support an expanded role for psychotherapy in depression treatment. This article summarizes recent psychotherapy efficacy studies across the depression treatment continuum and the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in community settings. RECENT FINDINGS: New psychotherapies in the acute treatment of mild-moderate depression include emotion-focused therapy, self-system therapy, cognitive control training and positive psychotherapy. Furthermore, emerging evidence supports the use of psychotherapy for moderate-severe and treatment-resistant depression and for recurrent depression with a seasonal pattern. An important area of growth is the development and evaluation of continuation/maintenance treatments based on cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy to reduce depressive relapse risk in recurrent and chronic depression. Finally, there is evidence supporting the effectiveness of stepped care, chronic disease management and collaborative care models in community settings. SUMMARY: Emerging evidence supports an expanded role for the use of psychosocial interventions as acute and continuation/maintenance treatments for unipolar depression. Although further research is required to replicate these findings, a remaining challenge is to increase the availability of these treatments to the mental health consumer.

Differences in brain glucose metabolism between responders to CBT and venlafaxine in a 16-week randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Neuroimaging investigations reveal changes in glucose metabolism (fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography [PET]) associated with response to disparate antidepressant treatment modalities, including cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), antidepressant pharmacotherapies, and deep brain stimulation. Using a nonrandomized design, the authors previously compared changes following CBT or paroxetine in depressed patients. In this study, the authors report changes in fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET in responders to CBT or venlafaxine during a randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Subjects meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for a major depressive episode and a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder received a fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET scan before randomization and after 16 weeks of antidepressant treatment with either CBT (N=12) or venlafaxine (N=12). Modality-specific and modality-independent regional brain metabolic changes associated with response status were analyzed. RESULTS: Response rates were comparable between the CBT (7/12) and venlafaxine (9/12) groups. Response to either treatment modality was associated with decreased glucose metabolism bilaterally in the orbitofrontal cortex and left medial prefrontal cortex, along with increased metabolism in the right occipital-temporal cortex. Changes in metabolism in the anterior and posterior parts of the subgenual cingulate cortex and the caudate differentiated CBT and venlafaxine responders. CONCLUSIONS: Responders to either treatment modality demonstrated reduced metabolism in several prefrontal regions. Consistent with earlier reports, response to CBT was associated with a reciprocal modulation of cortical-limbic connectivity, while venlafaxine engaged additional cortical and striatal regions previously unreported in neuroimaging investigations.

Teasdale's differential activation hypothesis: implications for mechanisms of depressive relapse and suicidal behaviour.

Teasdale's differential activation hypothesis (DAH) has been proposed as one account of cognitive vulnerability to depression. This view holds that important factors determining whether one's initial depression becomes more severe or persistent are the degree of activation, and content, of negative thinking patterns that become accessible in the depressed state. This phenomenon has been referred to as cognitive reactivity. Empirical support for the predictions of this model derives from a combination of cross-sectional and prospective studies. In this article, we evaluate this evidence with the goal of determining whether mood-induced cognitive reactivity can be considered a risk factor for depressive relapse/recurrence. Our review demonstrates sufficient evidence to consider cognitive reactivity as a potential causal risk factor for depressive relapse/recurrence. Furthermore, we extend the application of this model to the problem of suicidal relapse/recurrence including a review of preliminary support for this approach.

Bridging the practitioner-scientist gap in group psychotherapy research.

Bridging the practitioner-scientist gap requires a different clinical research paradigm: participatory research that encourages community agency-academic partnerships. In this context, clinicians help define priorities, determine the type of evidence that will have an impact on their practice (affecting the methods that are used to produce the evidence), and develop strategies for translating, implementing, and disseminating their findings into evidence-based practice. Within this paradigm, different roles are assumed by the partners, and sometimes these roles are blended. This paper will consider the perspectives of people who assume these different roles (clinician, researcher, and clinician-researcher) with group psychotherapy as the specific focus. Finally, the establishment of a practice-research network will be discussed as a potentially promising way to better engage group therapists in research.

A survey of Canadian group psychotherapy association members' perceptions of psychotherapy research.

The present study reports on the findings of a Canadian survey of group therapists. The survey was conducted to solicit their perspectives of psychotherapy research. The goal of the survey was to identify topics and issues that were important to group therapists. Findings from the survey suggest that group therapists are interested in research, perhaps more than one might expect. However, respondents identified a number of factors that limit the appeal of research or impede the integration of research findings into practice. Several suggestions were offered for future research and for methods of communicating the findings of research to clinicians. The survey findings call for improved communication and collaboration between researchers and clinicians in order to achieve a more meaningful integration of science and practice in the group therapy field.

Inhibitory deficits for negative information in persons with major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Within Beck's cognitive model of depression, little is known about the mechanism(s) by which activated self-schemas result in the production of negative thoughts. Recent research has demonstrated that inhibitory dysfunction is present in depression, and this deficit is likely valence-specific. However, whether valence-specific inhibitory deficits are associated with increased negative cognition and whether such deficits are specific to depression per se remains unexamined. The authors posit the theory that inhibitory dysfunction may influence the degree to which activated self-schemas result in the production of depressive cognition. METHOD: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD, n=43) versus healthy (n=36) and non-depressed anxious (n=32) controls were assessed on the Prose Distraction Task (PDT), a measure of cognitive inhibition, and the Stop-Signal Task (SST), a measure of motor response inhibition. These two tasks were modified in order to present emotionally valenced semantic stimuli (i.e. negative, neutral, positive). RESULTS: Participants with MDD demonstrated performance impairments on the PDT, which were most pronounced for negatively valenced adjectives, relative to both control groups. Moreover, these impairments correlated with self-report measures of negative thinking and rumination. Conversely, the performance of the MDD participants did not differ from either control group on the SST. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of these findings for understanding the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of depressive cognition are discussed.

The Toronto Mindfulness Scale: development and validation.

In this study, the authors both developed and validated a self-report mindfulness measure, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS). In Study 1, participants were individuals with and without meditation experience. Results showed good internal consistency and two factors, Curiosity and Decentering. Most of the expected relationships with other constructs were as expected. The TMS scores increased with increasing mindfulness meditation experience. In Study 2, criterion and incremental validity of the TMS were investigated on a group of individuals participating in 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction programs. Results showed that TMS scores increased following treatment, and Decentering scores predicted improvements in clinical outcome. Thus, the TMS is a promising measure of the mindfulness state with good psychometric properties and predictive of treatment outcome.

Integrating mindfulness meditation with cognitive and behavioural therapies: the challenge of combining acceptance- and change-based strategies.

Recent innovations in psychological treatments have integrated mindfulness meditation techniques with traditional cognitive and behavioural therapies, challenging traditional cognitive and behavioural therapists to integrate acceptance- and change-based strategies. This article details how 2 treatments, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy, have met this challenge. We review the integration rationale underlying the 2 treatments, how the treatments combine strategies from each modality to accomplish treatment goals, implications for therapist training, and treatment effectiveness. In addition, we discuss the challenges of assessing the benefits of incorporating acceptance-based strategies. Both therapies have integrated acceptance-based mindfulness approaches with change-based cognitive and behavioural therapies to create efficacious treatments.

Design and feasibility of a new cognitive-behavioural therapy course using a longitudinal interactive format.

OBJECTIVE: This report describes the design and feasibility of conducting a unique longitudinal supervision course incorporating both therapist and patient evaluation measures in teaching cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) to a group of mental health practitioners. METHOD: We designed a 10-session longitudinal supervision course to teach CBT by applying key continuing medical education (CME) principles. Each session consisted of 30 minutes of didactics and demonstrations followed by 90 minutes of group case supervision. Course participants were mental health practitioners who treated patients from their own practice; most of the patients suffered from a depressive and (or) anxiety disorder. We assessed therapists for CBT skill acquisition at the beginning and at the end of the course, using the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS). We assessed patients' symptoms weekly, using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Clinical Global Impression scale. RESULTS: A total of 34 participants enrolled in three 10-session courses. Most participants submitted audiotapes for rating at the beginning and end of the course, and most submitted patient symptom information. CONCLUSIONS: This course shows promise as an effective way to teach complex skills in CBT to mental health providers. In limited samples, the course showed clear improvement in therapist adherence to CBT and in patients' clinical outcomes. Future research is required to validate the potential benefit of this CME intervention for mental health practitioners treating patients with mood and anxiety disorders.