Brief ACT Protocol in at-risk adolescents with conduct disorder and impulsivity

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The aim of this preliminary research is to explore the effect of a brief protocol based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) applied to five adolescents (15-17 years old) with conduct disorder and impulsivity, who had received treatment for the last few years without positive results. Problematic behaviors were aggressive, impulsive, and oppositional reactions at school, home, and neighborhood (e.g., drugs or alcohol consumption, legal violations, oppositionist and defiant reactions, etc.). A brief ACT protocol was designed to functionally suit the presence of impulsivity and the absence of self-control repertory of these adolescents as well as the resistance to psychological treatment. The brief protocol was focused on four aspects: (a) to set a context between the therapist and the adolescents to promote the sense of personal responsibility, (b) to confront the adolescents with the effect of their behavior regulation (pros and cons) and the experience of creative hopelessness, (c) to clarify personally important valued directions, and (d) to promote defusion skills so that the adolescents could take charge of their private experiences and choose actions according to their values. Four 90-min, individual sessions were implemented over two weeks. Participants and teachers’ reports obtained before, during, and after the treatment implementation showed a high positive change. In addition, 1-year follow-up information showed an important change in a wide range of areas such as family, social relationships, school achievement, and occupational status. These results suggest that brief ACT protocols can have a great impact on at-risk population. Limitations were discussed (AU)

[Therapeutic effects of exercise-based treatment programme on children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of an exercise-based treatment programme (dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention-deficit treatment, DDAT) on various subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD: Ninety-one ADHD children with standing balance dysfunction (ADHD-I 43, ADHD-HI 15 and ADHD-C 33) were given DDAT for 6 months, the efficacy of DDAT was evaluated before DDAT, three, six months after the treatment and three month after end of the treatment according to SNAP-IV, before and after the treatment by balancing function test and Conners Parents Rating Scale. RESULT: Inattention subscale scores of ADHD-I, ADHD-HI and ADHD-C before and after the interventions were 1.99 ± 0.34, 0.96 ± 0.31, 2.17 ± 0.31and 1.19 ± 0.45, 0.81 ± 0.28, 1.32 ± 0.37, differences of ADHD-I and ADHD-C were significant (P < 0.05), hyperactivity subscale scores of three subtypes of ADHD were 0.81 ± 0.35, 2.01 ± 0.35, 1.96 ± 0.33 vs.0.45 ± 0.33, 0.79 ± 0.41, 1.10 ± 0.35, there were significant differences as well (P < 0.05). The score of hyperactivity symptom was reduced more compared to that of inattention symptom by the SNAP-IV scale parent forms. There were significant difference before and after the treatment based on Conners parent scale for conduct problem (1.11 ± 0.48 vs. 0.76 ± 0.44) , learning problem (1.97 ± 0.58 vs.1.60 ± 0.67), psychosomatic problems (0.61 ± 0.49 vs. 0.29 ± 0.35) , activity/ hyperactivity (1.46 ± 0.69 vs.1.09 ± 0.55) and anxiousness (1.05 ± 0.63 vs.0.62 ± 0.47) as well (P < 0.05); the standing balance dysfunction improved for most of the children, total effective rate was 87.9%, no significant difference was found among the three subtypes (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: DDAT is a safe and efficient intervention for the ADHD children with standing balance dysfunction, the improvement on hyperactivity symptom was better than that on inattention symptom. This study shows that an exercise-based treatment programme for cerebellum function improves symptoms of ADHD and balance function.

Is the residential combined (psychotherapy plus medication) treatment of patients with severe personality disorder effective in terms of suicidality and impulsivity?

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of combined treatment-medication plus psychodynamic psychotherapy-and psychodynamic psychotherapy alone on the outcome variables of suicidality and impulsivity in a population of adult inpatients with severe personality disorder (SPD). This is a naturalistic-empirical (observational) study under the conditions of clinical practice (an intensive specialized inpatient psychotherapeutic program [SIPP]). The sample consisted of 33 inpatients with SPD who were allocated to two subgroups (groups A and B). The patients in group A received psychodynamic psychotherapy and adjunctive pharmacotherapy, whereas the patients in group B received multimodal psychodynamic psychotherapy only. A statistically significant reduction in suicidality score was observed in the patients in group A, whereas a tendency for significant reduction in impulsivity score was observed in group B after the SIPP termination. Pharmacotherapy combined with multimodal psychodynamic psychotherapy, always within the SIPP, seems more effective in the case of suicidality rather than impulsivity.

Brain circuitry of compulsivity and impulsivity.

Impulsivity and compulsivity have been considered opposite poles of a continuous spectrum, but their relationship appears to be more complex. Disorders characterized by impulsivity often have features of compulsivity and vice versa. The overlaps of the constructs of compulsivity and impulsivity warrant additional investigation, not only to identify the similarities and differences, but also to examine the implications for prevention and treatment strategies of both compulsive and impulsive behaviors.

Evaluation of neurofeedback in ADHD: the long and winding road.

Among the clinical applications of neurofeedback, most research has been conducted in ADHD. As an introduction a short overview of the general history of neurofeedback will be given, while the main part of the paper deals with a review of the current state of neurofeedback in ADHD. A meta-analysis on neurofeedback from 2009 found large effect sizes for inattention and impulsivity and medium effects sizes for hyperactivity. Since 2009 several new studies, including 4 placebo-controlled studies, have been published. These latest studies are reviewed and discussed in more detail. The review focuses on studies employing (1) semi-active, (2) active, and (3) placebo-control groups. The assessment of specificity of neurofeedback treatment in ADHD is discussed and it is concluded that standard protocols such as theta/beta, SMR and slow cortical potentials neurofeedback are well investigated and have demonstrated specificity. The paper ends with an outlook on future questions and tasks. It is concluded that future controlled clinical trials should, in a next step, focus on such known protocols, and be designed along the lines of learning theory.

Impulsive and compulsive behaviors in Parkinson's disease.

Impulsive-compulsive behaviors (ICBs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are a common and devastating side effect of dopamine replacement therapy. In this review we describe the phenomenology, prevalence, and risk factors of patients with PD. Results of behavioral studies assessing the neuropsychological profile of patients with PD emphasize that the ICBs, which are behavioral addictions, are not hedonically motivated. Rather, other factors such as the inability to cope with uncertainty may be triggering ICBs. New insights from functional imaging studies, strengthening the incentive salience hypothesis, are discussed, and therapeutic guidelines for the management of ICBs in PD are given.

The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression, anger, and self-control for Korean soldiers.

This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to control depression, anger, and self-control in soldiers from South Korea. Using a pretest-posttest design, the sample was composed of an experimental group (n = 16) and a control group (n = 12). The experimental group participated in four sessions of CBT. No significant differences were found between the groups with regard to demographic characteristics. Changes in the variables after the intervention were analyzed using Wilcoxon's signed-rank sum test. The depression scores decreased significantly after the intervention (z = -3.05, p = 0.002); whereas, the scores of state-trait anger and self-control did not change. In the control group, none of the outcome variable scores changed significantly. The results indicate that the developed CBT program might be an effective modality to decrease the depression of soldiers who are in military service.

Pharmacological, experimental therapeutic, and transcranial magnetic stimulation treatments for compulsivity and impulsivity.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been recently drawn apart from anxiety disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) and clustered together with related disorders (eg, hoarding, hair pulling disorder, skin picking), which with it seems to share clinical and neurophysiological similarities. Recent literature has mainly explored brain circuitries (eg, orbitofrontal cortex, striatum), molecular pathways, and genes (eg, Hoxb8, Slitrk5, Sapap3) that represent the new target of the treatments; they also lead the development of new probes and compounds. In the therapeutic field, monotherapy with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is recommendable, but combination or augmentation with a dopaminergic or glutamatergic agent is often adopted. A promising therapy for OCD is represented by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which is suitable to treat compulsivity and impulsivity depending on the protocol of stimulation and the brain circuitries targeted.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and the outcome of dialectical behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a worse prognosis than individuals with BPD alone. A common view is that the emotional instability and impulsivity of BPD should be treated before attempting to address trauma. However, PTSD symptoms may interfere with patients' ability to benefit from such 'stabilizing' treatments. METHODS: The effect of BPD-PTSD comorbidity on self-harm and BPD symptom outcomes was evaluated in 89 patients receiving dialectical behaviour therapy, using multilevel modelling. RESULTS: Patients with comorbid BPD-PTSD showed a trend towards elevated BPD symptoms throughout the treatment year (ß = 2.12, 95% CI = -0.21-4.44, p = 0.07). There was a three-way interaction between PTSD comorbidity, treatment completion and time, whereby PTSD comorbidity was associated with less reduction in self-harm frequency over time, but only in those completing the full 12 months of treatment (incident risk ratio = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.04-1.30, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Patients with comorbid PTSD had a poorer outcome from dialectical behaviour therapy than those with BPD alone, possibly because of the negative impact of unaddressed trauma. The results provide further grounds for recently developed treatments targeting BPD traits and PTSD symptoms simultaneously.

Video game therapy for emotional regulation and impulsivity control in a series of treated cases with bulimia nervosa.

Although standard psychological treatments have been successful in treating several core features in eating disorders (ED), other characteristics such as emotional regulation or impulsivity appear to be more resistant to change. There is a growing body of evidence to support the efficacy of cognitive remediation for cognitive and emotional difficulties in ED. Playmancer/ Islands is a video game (VG) designed to specifically treat mental disorders, characterized by problems in impulse control. The objective of the game is to increase self-control over emotions, decision making and behaviours. The aim of this study is to describe the results from a consecutive series of nine bulimia nervosa patients who were treated with the VG in addition to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The outcomes included clinical and psychopathological questionnaires, and physiological measures were obtained during the VG. Emotional regulation improved, heart rate variability increased, and respiratory rate and impulsivity measures reduced after the treatment. These findings suggest that VG training may enhance treatment for ED.

Two-year impact of personality-targeted, teacher-delivered interventions on youth internalizing and externalizing problems: a cluster-randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the 2-year impact of teacher-delivered, brief, personality-targeted interventions on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in an adolescent U.K. sample. METHOD: This cluster-randomized trial was run in 19 London schools (N = 1,024 adolescents). Trained school-based professionals delivered two 90-minute, CBT-based group interventions targeting 1 of 4 personality-risk profiles: anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, impulsivity, or sensation seeking. Self-report depression, anxiety, and conduct disorder symptoms were assessed at 6-month intervals. RESULTS: Interventions were associated with significantly reduced depressive, anxiety, and conduct symptoms (p < .05) over 2 years in the full sample, reduced odds of severe depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74, CI = 0.58-0.96), and conduct problems (OR = 0.79, CI = 0.65-0.96), and a nonsignificant reduction in severe anxiety symptoms (OR = 0.79, CI = 0.59-1.05). Evaluating a priori personality-specific hypotheses revealed strong evidence for impulsivity-specific effects on severe conduct problems, modest evidence of anxiety sensitivity-specific effects on severe anxiety, and no evidence for hopelessness-specific effects on severe depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Brief, personality-targeted interventions delivered by educational professionals can have a clinically significant impact on mental health outcomes in high-risk youth over 2 years, as well as personality-specific intervention effects in youth most at risk for a particular problem, particularly for youth with high levels of impulsivity. Clinical trial registration information-Adventure: The Efficacy of Personality-Targeted Interventions for Substance Misuse and Other Risky Behaviors as Delivered by Educational Professionals.

Antisaccadic training to improve impulsivity in binge eating disorder.

Patients with binge eating disorder (BED) show generally increased impulsivity and especially increased food-related impulsivity. Both are closely linked to the core pathology of BED, which relates to regular binge eating episodes with experienced loss of control. The antisaccade task is an established paradigm assessing response inhibition as a pivotal component of impulsivity. It requires participants to execute antisaccades; that is, they are supposed to look in the opposite direction of a stimulus that automatically catches attention by appearing in the peripheral visual field. High rates of prosaccades to the peripheral stimuli are considered indicators of increased impulsivity. Presenting food pictures as peripheral stimuli, this task can be used to investigate food-related impulsivity. We propose modifications of this task in order to design it as an antisaccadic training in which BED patients practise the suppression of food-related responses, which should result in enhanced control over their eating behaviour.

[Obsessive compulsive disorder--intrusive thoughts, impulses and repetitive behaviours as an expression of a significant disease]. / Zwangsstörungen--wenn wiederholte gedanken, impulse und handlungen ausdruck einer erkrankung sind.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is common and associated with marked impairment and reduced quality of life. In the general practitioner's office as well as in the specialist's consultation, patients with OCD usually present intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours (compulsions). OCD sufferers generally recognize their obsessions and compulsions as irrational. Without treatment, OCD often takes a chronic course. Some basic aspects can help to identify patients suffering from OCD earlier and to initiate sufficient therapy. With evidence-based treatment with cognitive-behavioral therapy and adequate psychopharmacotherapy, many patients can achieve complete symptom remission. Initial treatment can be initiated in the general practitioner's office.

Le trouble obsessionnel-compulsif est une maladie mentale qui affecte la qualité de vie d'une manière significative. Dans le cabinet du médecin généraliste, mais aussi chez le spécialiste, les patientes souffrant de troubles obsessionnels-compulsifs décrivent souvent des pensées intrusives inhabituelles et des comportements répétitifs. Bien que les pensées obsessionnelles et les compulsions sont reconnues par les patients comme insensées, elles continuent à se manifester. Sans traitement, le trouble obsessionnel-compulsif devient souvent chronique. Des connaissances de base peuvent déjà aider les médecins à reconnaître le plus tôt possible les patients souffrant de troubles obsessionnels et à proposer un traitement approprié. Avec thérapie cognitivo-comportementale, qui peut être combinée avec un traitement pharmacologique, on obtient souvent une réduction significative, même complète des symptômes. Bien que ce traitement doive être effectué par des psychothérapeutes qualifiés, des premières mesures thérapeutiques peuvent déjà être utilisées par les médecins généralistes.

Neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes in Latino childhood cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND: Children with brain tumors and leukemia are at risk for neurocognitive and behavioral late effects due to central nervous system-directed therapies. Few studies have examined these outcomes in ethnic minority samples, despite speculation that socio-demographic factors may increase vulnerability for adverse neurobehavioral outcomes. We evaluated the neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes and their impact on the health-related quality of life in survivors of childhood cancer drawn from Latino families in the Los Angeles region. PROCEDURE: Using culturally-relevant recruitment strategies, 73 predominantly Spanish-speaking parents of pediatric brain tumor or leukemia survivors completed standardized questionnaires, including the Conners parent-report and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scales. Clinical and socio-demographic factors influencing the development of neurocognitive and behavioral dysfunction were examined. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of the children placed at or above the "elevated" level for difficulties with attention, school-based learning, and peer relations. Younger age at diagnosis significantly predicted dysfunction in inattention, learning problems, and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Children whose parents were less adherent to the non-Hispanic white culture were more likely to have problems with peer relations and executive functioning. HRQL was significantly lower in survivors with neurocognitive and behavioral dysfunction relative to those with normal range scores on the Conners scale. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the child's age at diagnosis, acculturation appears to predict select neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes in this socio-demographically homogeneous sample of Latino families. Further research is needed to understand the interaction of ethnic and cultural factors with therapeutic exposures in determining the adverse neurobehavioral outcomes, so as to optimally design interventions.

A comprehensive examination of delay discounting in a clinical sample of Cannabis-dependent military veterans making a self-guided quit attempt.

Delay discounting (DD), an index of impulsivity, reflects individuals' preference for smaller immediate rewards to larger delayed rewards. The current study examined (a) relations between DD and quantity, frequency, and severity of Cannabis use, as well as several other measures of co-occurring substance use and clinical severity, and (b) whether DD predicted Cannabis-cessation outcomes. Cannabis-dependent United States (U.S.) veterans (N = 72; 95% male) who were interested in making serious self-quit attempts were evaluated prior to their cessation attempts, during which they completed a computerized DD task, and were followed throughout six months postattempt. Results indicated that higher DD was significantly correlated with higher compulsive craving for Cannabis (ρ = .29, p < .05), younger age of first Cannabis use (r = -.32, p < .01), earlier commencement of regular Cannabis smoking (r = -.25, p < .05), and seeking professional help for a previous Cannabis quit attempt (ρ = .27, p < .05). DD did not significantly predict any Cannabis-cessation outcomes in the first week postattempt or during the 6-month follow-up. These results add to the literature on DD, which has focused on users of tobacco, alcohol, opioids, and cocaine, by demonstrating that DD is sensitive to developmental trajectories of Cannabis dependence, but does not reliably predict cessation outcomes. Results also suggest that DD may carry less relevance for Cannabis than for other substances of abuse.

Alcoholics Anonymous and reduced impulsivity: a novel mechanism of change.

ABSTRACT   Reduced impulsivity is a novel, yet plausible, mechanism of change associated with the salutary effects of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Here, the authors review their work on links between AA attendance and reduced impulsivity using a 16-year prospective study of men and women with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) who were initially untreated for their drinking problems. Across the study period, there were significant mean-level decreases in impulsivity, and longer AA duration was associated with reductions in impulsivity. In turn, decreases in impulsivity from baseline to Year 1 were associated with fewer legal problems and better drinking and psychosocial outcomes at Year 1, and better psychosocial functioning at Year 8. Decreases in impulsivity mediated associations between longer AA duration and improvements on several Year 1 outcomes, with the indirect effects conditional on participants' age. Findings are discussed in terms of their potential implications for research on AA and, more broadly, interventions for individuals with AUDs.

Trial of CBT for impulse control behaviors affecting Parkinson patients and their caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of a novel cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-based intervention delivered by a nurse therapist to patients with Parkinson disease (PD) with clinically significant impulse control behaviors (ICB). METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial comparing up to 12 sessions of a CBT-based intervention compared to a waiting list control condition with standard medical care (SMC). A total of 27 patients were randomized to the intervention and 17 to the waiting list. Patients with a Mini-Mental State Examination score of <24 were excluded. The coprimary outcomes were overall symptom severity and neuropsychiatric disturbances in the patients and carer burden and distress after 6 months. Secondary outcome measures included depression and anxiety, marital satisfaction, and work and social adjustment in patients plus general psychiatric morbidity and marital satisfaction in carers. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in global symptom severity in the CBT intervention group vs controls, from a mean score consistent with moderate to one of mild illness-related symptoms (χ(2) = 16.46, p < 0.001). Neuropsychiatric disturbances also improved significantly (p = 0.03), as did levels of anxiety and depression and adjustment. Measures of carer burden and distress showed changes in the desired direction in the intervention group but did not change significantly. General psychiatric morbidity did improve significantly in the carers of patients given CBT. CONCLUSIONS: This CBT-based intervention is the first to show efficacy in ICB related to PD in terms of patient outcomes. The hoped-for alleviation of carer burden was not observed. The study demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefit of a psychosocial treatment approach for these disturbances at least in the short term, and encourages further larger-scale clinical trials. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: The study provides Class IV evidence that CBT plus SMC is more effective than SMC alone in reducing the severity of ICB in PD, based upon Clinical Global Impression assessment (χ(2) = 16.46, p < 0.001): baseline to 6-month follow-up, reduction in symptom severity CBT group, 4.0-2.5; SMC alone group, 3.7-3.5.