Classification of nomophobia among Chinese college students: Evidence from latent profile and ROC analysis.

Background and aims: Nomophobia (NMP) is a contemporary digital ailment referring to the improper utilization of smartphones which can have significant impacts on the physical and mental health of college students. However, as a result of unclear cutoff points, the proportion of people with NMP may be exaggerated. This study therefore aimed to determine the critical value of NMP and assess the extent to which Chinese college students are impacted by NMP using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q). Methods: Latent profile analysis (LPA) and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were combined to determine the critical value based on NMP-Q scores using a large sample of 3,998 college students (Mage = 20.58; SD = 1.87). Results: Based on latent profile (i.e., at-risk NMP group), ROC revealed an optimal cut-off point of 73 (Sensitivity = 0.965, Specificity = 0.970, Accuracy = 0.968, AUC = 99.60%, Youden's index = 0.935), and the percentage of NMP students being 28.04%, with 1,121 participants identified as positive cases (probable cases). Positive cases were found to exhibit more severe depression and anxiety symptoms, with a higher proportion of females were observed in the positive group (N = 829; 73.95%). Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that the proportion of NMP individuals may have been overestimated in the past. Furthermore, this study helps to validate the NMP-Q as a valid tool to identify NMP in college-aged individuals.

The Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness in Europe, with a 12-month prevalence of 14% among persons aged 14 to 65. Their onset is usually in adolescence or early adulthood. The affected patients often develop further mental or somatic illnesses (sequential comorbidity). METHODS: This review is based on pertinent publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed. RESULTS: The group of anxiety disorders includes generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), phobic disorders, panic disorders, and two disorders that are often restricted to childhood-separation anxiety and selective mutism. A comprehensive differential diag- nostic evaluation is essential, because anxiety can be a principal manifestation of other types of mental or somatic illness as well. Psychotherapy and treatment with psychoactive drugs are the therapeutic strategies of first choice. Of all types of psycho- therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy has the best documented efficacy. Modern antidepressants are the drugs of first choice for the treatment of panic disorders, agoraphobia, social phobia, and GAS; pregabalin is a further drug of first choice for GAS. CONCLUSION: In general, anxiety disorders can now be effectively treated. Patients should be informed of the therapeutic options and should be involved in treatment planning. Current research efforts are centered on individualized and therefore, it is hoped, even more effective treatment approaches than are available at present.

The controversy around the diagnosis of selective mutism - a critical analysis of three cases in the light of modern research and diagnostic criteria. / Kontrowersje wokól diagnozy mutyzmu wybiórczego ­ krytyczna analiza trzech przypadków w swietle wspólczesnych badan oraz kryteriów diagnostycznych.

The position of selective mutism disorder - SM - has been modified in the last edition of the classification of mental disorders DSM-5. It was removed from "Disorders of childhood and adolescence" and placed in "Anxiety disorders". This caused two important changes in the interpretation of the symptoms of selective mutism. It highlighted anxious etiology of the disorder and also open the possibility to diagnose selective mutism in adults as a special category of anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to present three different cases concerning the diagnostic difficulties of selective mutism (the child, the teenager and the persons who became adult during our observation) regarding current views on SM. In this study we presented the current view on the etiology, course and available therapies for selective mutism. Owing to updating the clinical knowledge about SM and describing three cases, we highlighted the controversies around the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder. Selective mutism might be a preliminary diagnosis, often leading to the diagnosis of other disorders of diverse etiology and course. Among the psychiatric aspects of the disorder, the 'anxiety component' of SM is crucial. In individuals with selective mutism, developmental disorders, social cognition and neurocognition deficits or dysfunctions of auditory processing often coexist. The severity and the type of comorbidities may determine the future course of the illness and the final effects of the therapy.

A lost track in ICHD 3 beta: A comprehensive review on osmophobia.

Background Osmophobia (Os) has been reported to be much more prevalent in migraine (M) than in other primary headaches, and its high specificity in the differential diagnosis between M and tension-type headache (TTH) has been reported. Os was included in the ICHD II Appendix as a diagnostic criterion of M. It disappeared in ICHD-3 beta. To understand this choice, we reviewed the literature after 2004. Methods This was a systematic review. We searched in PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane library for "osmophobia", "odour/odorphobia AND headache", "odour/odor hypersensitivity AND headache" and "olfactory hypersensitivity AND headache". Results 112 papers cited Os as an accompanying symptom of headache; 16 focused on Os in M diagnosis. With the data from 40 articles, we calculated the pooled prevalence of Os in 14,360 patients (2281 pediatric) affected by M (n = 12,496) and TTH (n = 1864). In M, the prevalence was 48.5% (CI 95% 41.4 to 55.8%) in adults and 23.4% (CI 95% 15.7 to 33.4%) in pediatric patients; in TTH, the prevalence was 8.9% (CI 95% 4.6 to 13.5%) in adults and 7.9% (CI 95% 3.3 to 18.1%) in pediatric patients. Ten of these papers allowed us to calculate the sensibility and specificity of Os in differential diagnosis between M and TTH. In adults, the value of specificity was 94.1% (CI 95% 88.9 to 96.9%), and sensitivity was 51.4% (CI 95% 38.4 to 64.2%). In pediatric patients, specificity was 92.0% (CI 95% 81.9 to 96.7%), and sensitivity was 22.1% (CI 95% 10.1 to 41.8%). Conclusion The literature endorses the inclusion of Os among M diagnostic criteria. On this ground, the decision to remove Os from ICHD 3 beta appears unjustified and a revision of this choice is recommended.

Specific and social fears in children and adolescents: separating normative fears from problem indicators and phobias

Objective: To distinguish normative fears from problematic fears and phobias. Methods: We investigated 2,512 children and adolescents from a large community school-based study, the High Risk Study for Psychiatric Disorders. Parent reports of 18 fears and psychiatric diagnosis were investigated. We used two analytical approaches: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)/item response theory (IRT) and nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: According to IRT and ROC analyses, social fears are more likely to indicate problems and phobias than specific fears. Most specific fears were normative when mild; all specific fears indicate problems when pervasive. In addition, the situational fear of toilets and people who look unusual were highly indicative of specific phobia. Among social fears, those not restricted to performance and fear of writing in front of others indicate problems when mild. All social fears indicate problems and are highly indicative of social phobia when pervasive. Conclusion: These preliminary findings provide guidance for clinicians and researchers to determine the boundaries that separate normative fears from problem indicators in children and adolescents, and indicate a differential severity threshold for specific and social fears.

Specific and social fears in children and adolescents: separating normative fears from problem indicators and phobias.

OBJECTIVE:: To distinguish normative fears from problematic fears and phobias. METHODS:: We investigated 2,512 children and adolescents from a large community school-based study, the High Risk Study for Psychiatric Disorders. Parent reports of 18 fears and psychiatric diagnosis were investigated. We used two analytical approaches: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)/item response theory (IRT) and nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS:: According to IRT and ROC analyses, social fears are more likely to indicate problems and phobias than specific fears. Most specific fears were normative when mild; all specific fears indicate problems when pervasive. In addition, the situational fear of toilets and people who look unusual were highly indicative of specific phobia. Among social fears, those not restricted to performance and fear of writing in front of others indicate problems when mild. All social fears indicate problems and are highly indicative of social phobia when pervasive. CONCLUSION:: These preliminary findings provide guidance for clinicians and researchers to determine the boundaries that separate normative fears from problem indicators in children and adolescents, and indicate a differential severity threshold for specific and social fears.

The structure of psychopathology in adolescence and its common personality and cognitive correlates.

The traditional view that mental disorders are distinct, categorical disorders has been challenged by evidence that disorders are highly comorbid and exist on a continuum (e.g., Caspi et al., 2014; Tackett et al., 2013). The first objective of this study was to use structural equation modeling to model the structure of psychopathology in an adolescent community-based sample (N = 2,144) including conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, substance use, anxiety, depression, phobias, and other emotional symptoms, assessed at 16 years. The second objective was to identify common personality and cognitive correlates of psychopathology, assessed at 14 years. Results showed that psychopathology at 16 years fit 2 bifactor models equally well: (a) a bifactor model, reflecting a general psychopathology factor, as well as specific externalizing (representing mainly substance misuse and low ADHD) and internalizing factors; and (b) a bifactor model with a general psychopathology factor and 3 specific externalizing (representing mainly ADHD and ODD), substance use and internalizing factors. The general psychopathology factor was related to high disinhibition/impulsivity, low agreeableness, high neuroticism and hopelessness, high delay-discounting, poor response inhibition and low performance IQ. Substance use was specifically related to high novelty-seeking, sensation-seeking, extraversion, high verbal IQ, and risk-taking. Internalizing psychopathology was specifically related to high neuroticism, hopelessness and anxiety-sensitivity, low novelty-seeking and extraversion, and an attentional bias toward negatively valenced verbal stimuli. Findings reveal several nonspecific or transdiagnostic personality and cognitive factors that may be targeted in new interventions to potentially prevent the development of multiple psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Pure animal phobia is more specific than other specific phobias: epidemiological evidence from the Zurich Study, the ZInEP and the PsyCoLaus.

Interest in subtypes of mental disorders is growing in parallel with continuing research progress in psychiatry. The aim of this study was to examine pure animal phobia in contrast to other specific phobias and a mixed subtype. Data from three representative Swiss community samples were analysed: PsyCoLaus (n = 3720), the ZInEP Epidemiology Survey (n = 1500) and the Zurich Study (n = 591). Pure animal phobia and mixed animal/other specific phobias consistently displayed a low age at onset of first symptoms (8-12 years) and clear preponderance of females (OR > 3). Meanwhile, other specific phobias started up to 10 years later and displayed almost a balanced sex ratio. Pure animal phobia showed no associations with any included risk factors and comorbid disorders, in contrast to numerous associations found in the mixed subtype and in other specific phobias. Across the whole range of epidemiological parameters examined in three different samples, pure animal phobia seems to represent a different entity compared to other specific phobias. The etiopathogenetic mechanisms and risk factors associated with pure animal phobias appear less clear than ever.

Low stability of diagnostic classifications of anxiety disorders over time: A six-year follow-up of the NESDA study.

BACKGROUND: Stability of diagnosis was listed as an important predictive validator for maintaining separate diagnostic classifications in DSM-5. The aim of this study is to examine the longitudinal stability of anxiety disorder diagnoses, and the difference in stability between subjects with a chronic versus a non-chronic course. METHODS: Longitudinal data of 447 subjects with a current pure anxiety disorder diagnosis at baseline from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety were used. At baseline, 2-, 4-, and 6-year follow-up mental disorders were assessed and numbers (and percentages) of transitions from one anxiety disorder diagnosis to another were determined for each anxiety disorder diagnosis separately and for subjects with a chronic (i.e. one or more anxiety disorder at every follow-up assessment) and a non-chronic course. RESULTS: Transition percentages were high in all anxiety disorder diagnoses, ranging from 21.1% for social anxiety disorder to 46.3% for panic disorder with agoraphobia at six years of follow-up. Transition numbers were higher in the chronic than in the non-chronic course group (p=0.01). LIMITATIONS: Due to the 2 year sample frequency, the number of subjects with a chronic course may have been overestimated as intermittent recovery periods may have been missed. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that anxiety disorder diagnoses are not stable over time. The validity of the different anxiety disorder categories is not supported by these longitudinal patterns, which may be interpreted as support for a more pronounced dimensional approach to the classification of anxiety disorders.

Social anxiety disorders in clinical practice: differentiating social phobia from avoidant personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To outline the problems around overlap between social phobia (SAD) and avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) and provide guidelines that may assist clinicians to differentiate these conditions. CONCLUSIONS: A constellation of symptoms can be identified that may distinguish AVPD from SAD, with key features being a strong and pervasively negative self-concept, a view of rejection as equating to a global evaluation of the individual as being of little worth and a sense of not fitting in socially that dates from early childhood. It is important to identify the presence of AVPD in order to anticipate potential problems with engagement and retention in therapy, to target treatment interventions and optimise outcome.

Attention bias modification in specific fears: Spiders versus snakes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is used to manipulate attention biases in anxiety disorders. It has been successful in reducing attention biases and anxious symptoms in social anxiety and generalized anxiety, but not yet in specific fears and phobias. METHODS: We designed a new version of the dot-probe training task, aiming to train fearful participants' attention away from or towards pictures of threatening stimuli. Moreover, we studied whether the training also affected participants' avoidance behavior and their physical arousal upon being confronted with a real threat object. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, students with fear of spiders were trained. We found that the attention manipulation was successful, but the training failed to affect behavior or arousal. In Experiment 2, the same procedure was used on snake-fearful students. Again, attention was trained in the expected directions. Moreover, participants whose attention had been trained away from snakes showed lower physiological arousal upon being confronted with a real snake. LIMITATIONS: The study involved healthy students with normal distribution of the fear of spider/snake. Future research with clinical sample could help with determining the generalizability of the current findings. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of ABM on specific phobia is still in question. The finding in the present study suggested the possibility to alter attentional bias with a dot-probe task with general positive stimuli and this training could even affect the behavior while encountering a real threat.

CLINICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVISED DSM-5 DEFINITION OF AGORAPHOBIA IN TREATMENT-SEEKING ANXIOUS YOUTH.

BACKGROUND: In DSM-5, the agoraphobia core symptom criterion has been revised to require fear about multiple situations from across at least two distinct domains in which escape might be difficult or panic-like symptoms might develop. The present study examined patterns and correlates of the recent change in a sample of anxious youth with symptom presentations consistent with the DSM-IV agoraphobia definition and/or specific phobia (SP) to consider how the recent diagnostic change impacts the prevalence and composition of agoraphobia in children and adolescents. METHOD: Analyses (N = 151) evaluated impairment and correlates of agoraphobic youth who no longer meet the DSM-5 agoraphobia criteria relative to agoraphobic youth who do meet the new DSM-5 criteria. Secondary analyses compared agoraphobic youth not meeting DSM-5 criteria to SP youth. RESULTS: One-quarter of youth with symptom presentations consistent with the DSM-IV agoraphobia definition no longer met criteria for DSM-5 agoraphobia, but showed comparable severity and impairment across most domains to youth who do meet criteria for DSM-5 agoraphobia. Further, these youth showed higher levels of anxiety sensitivity and internalizing psychopathology relative to youth with SP. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of impaired youth with considerable agoraphobic symptom presentations have been left without a specified anxiety diagnosis by the DSM-5, which may affect their ability to receive and/or get coverage for services and their representation in treatment evaluations. Future DSM iterations may do well to include a "circumscribed" agoraphobia specifier that would characterize presentations of fear or anxiety about multiple situations, but that do not span across at least two distinct situational domains.

Social phobia and avoidant personality disorder: similar but different?

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is regarded as a severe variant of social phobia (SP), consistent with a dimensional model. However, these conclusions are largely drawn from studies based on individuals with SP, with or without comorbid AvPD. The present study hypothesized that there are qualitative differences between AvPD and SP that are undermined by limiting research to participants with SP. The authors sought to test this hypothesis by comparing three groups-SP only, AvPD only, and SP+AvPD-using data extracted from an epidemiological sample of 10,641 adults aged 18 years and over. Screening questions were used in the epidemiological survey to identify ICD-10 personality disorders; from this the author developed a proxy measure for DSM-IV AvPD. Axis I diagnoses, including DSM-IV SP, were identified using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). In this sample, the majority of those with AvPD did not also have SP: The authors found 116 persons with AvPD only, 196 with SP only, and 69 with SP+AvPD. There was little difference between any of the groups on sex, marital status, employment, education, or impairment variables. The SP+AvPD group reported more distress and comorbidity than the SP only and AvPD only groups, which did not differentiate from each other. More feared social situations were endorsed in the SP only group compared to the AvPD only group. Although the finding of few differences between SP only and AvPD only groups among the variables measured in this epidemiological survey fails to provide support for the hypothesis of qualitative differences, the finding that the AvPD only group appears more similar to the SP only group than to the SP+AvPD group also fails to provide support for the alternative continuity hypothesis. The greater distress and additional comorbidity with depression associated with SP+AvPD may be due to the additional symptom load of a second disorder rather than simply representing a more severe variant of social phobia. The use of a proxy for AvPD is a limitation of the study. Future studies should focus on broader clinical variables that have been proposed as qualitatively different between these disorders, and on the possible genetic and environmental factors that might help explain such differences.

Diagnostic classification of specific phobia subtypes using structural MRI data: a machine-learning approach.

While neuroimaging research has advanced our knowledge about fear circuitry dysfunctions in anxiety disorders, findings based on diagnostic groups do not translate into diagnostic value for the individual patient. Machine-learning generates predictive information that can be used for single subject classification. We applied Gaussian process classifiers to a sample of patients with specific phobia as a model disorder for pathological forms of anxiety to test for classification based on structural MRI data. Gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volumetric data were analyzed in 33 snake phobics (SP; animal subtype), 26 dental phobics (DP; blood-injection-injury subtype) and 37 healthy controls (HC). Results showed good accuracy rates for GM and WM data in predicting phobia subtypes (GM: 62 % phobics vs. HC, 86 % DP vs. HC, 89 % SP vs. HC, 89 % DP vs. SP; WM: 88 % phobics vs. HC, 89 % DP vs. HC, 79 % SP vs. HC, 79 % DP vs. HC). Regarding GM, classification improved when considering the subtype compared to overall phobia status. The discriminatory brain pattern was not solely based on fear circuitry structures but included widespread cortico-subcortical networks. Results demonstrate that multivariate pattern recognition represents a promising approach for the development of neuroimaging-based diagnostic markers that could support clinical decisions. Regarding the increasing number of fMRI studies on anxiety disorders, researchers are encouraged to use functional and structural data not only for studying phenotype characteristics on a group level, but also to evaluate their incremental value for diagnostic or prognostic purposes.

Is post-event processing a social anxiety specific or transdiagnostic cognitive process in the anxiety spectrum?

BACKGROUND: Research on post-event processing (PEP), where individuals conduct a post-mortem evaluation of a social situation, has focused primarily on its relationship with social anxiety. AIMS: The current study examined: 1) levels of PEP for a standardized event in different anxiety disorders; 2) the relationship between peak anxiety levels during this event and subsequent PEP; and 3) the relationship between PEP and disorder-specific symptom severity. METHOD: Participants with primary DSM-IV diagnoses of social anxiety disorder (SAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder with/without agoraphobia (PD/A), or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) completed diagnosis specific symptom measures before attending group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specific to their diagnosis. Participants rated their peak anxiety level during the first group therapy session, and one week later rated PEP in the context of CBT. RESULTS: The results indicated that all anxiety disorder groups showed heightened and equivalent PEP ratings. Peak state anxiety during the first CBT session predicted subsequent level of PEP, irrespective of diagnostic group. PEP ratings were found to be associated with disorder-specific symptom severity in SAD, GAD, and PD/A, but not in OCD. CONCLUSIONS: PEP may be a transdiagnostic process with relevance to a broad range of anxiety disorders, not just SAD.

When social anxiety co-occurs with substance use: does an impulsive social anxiety subtype explain this unexpected relationship?

Although most conceptualizations of social anxiety emphasise that socially anxious individuals are overtly shy, and utilise avoidant behavioural strategies (e.g., risk-aversion, passivity, and submissiveness), there is tentative support for the existence of an approach-motivated subtype, characterised by risk taking and a greater propensity for substance misuse. It is likely that this subtype may help explain the reported co-occurrence of substance misuse and social anxiety. The current study sought to test via latent class analysis whether an approach-motivated social anxiety subtype could be identified within a community sample. A self-report questionnaire was completed by 351 participants (age: 18-74 years). Two distinct social anxiety subgroups were identified: one characterised by prototypical SAD symptomatology (i.e., behavioural inhibition and risk-avoidance), the second by elevated levels of rash impulsiveness, reward sensitivity, risk-taking and co-occurring substance use problems. The current findings provides support for the existence of a distinct approach-motivated social anxiety subtype and indicates that impulsivity may be critical to understanding the comorbid substance use symptomatology of these individuals.

Resting-state neuroimaging studies: a new way of identifying differences and similarities among the anxiety disorders?

This review examines recent functional neuroimaging research of resting-state regional connectivity between brain regions in anxiety disorders. Studies compiled in the PubMed- National Center for Biotechnology Information database targeting resting-state functional connectivity in anxiety disorders were reviewed. Diagnoses included posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (PD), and specific phobia (SP). Alterations to network connectivity were demonstrated in PTSD, GAD, SAD, OCD, and PD in several resting-state investigations. Differences from control subjects were primarily observed in the default mode network within PTSD, SAD, and OCD. Alterations within the salience network were observed primarily in PTSD, GAD, and SAD. Alterations in corticostriatal networks were uniquely observed in OCD. Finally, alterations within somatosensory networks were observed in SAD and PD investigations. Resting-state studies involving SPs as a primary diagnosis (with or without comorbidities) were not generated during the literature search. The emerging use of resting-state paradigms may be an effective method for understanding associations between anxiety disorders. Targeted studies of PD and SPs, meta-analyses of the studies conducted to date, and studies of the impact of specific comorbid presentations, are recommended future research directions.

Anxiety sensitivity: another reason to separate dental fears from blood-injury fears?

Although dental phobia is classified under the heading of blood-injury phobia, studies show differences between the two conditions in terms of frequency of fainting and gender distribution. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), which refers to discomfort and negative attributions to bodily anxiety sensations, was useful in differentiating panic anxiety from other phobic anxieties. No study has compared dental phobia with blood-injury phobia directly. We examined 61 subjects, working at a military aircraft factory, using measures on demographics, dental fears (MDAS - Modified Dental Anxiety Scale) and blood-injury fears (MBPI - Multidimensional Blood/Injury Phobia Inventory), in addition to Anxiety Sensitivity Index. Regression analyses revealed that dental phobia was predicted by ASI, whereas blood/injury phobia was not. Our results provide additional support for the proposed distinction between the two conditions.