Longitudinal Family Functioning and Mental Health in Transgender and Nonbinary Youth and Their Families.

This study examined concordance of family members' perspectives of family functioning and mental health across two years in families with transgender and/or nonbinary youth (TNBY). Participants were 89 family members (30 TNBY, age 13-17 years; 44 cisgender caregivers; 15 cisgender siblings, age 14-24 years) from 30 families from the U.S. New England region. Family members completed an online survey every 6-8 months for 5 waves between December 2015 and Feb 2019. Surveys assessed family functioning (quality of communication, satisfaction with family) and the following mental health-related outcomes: depression and anxiety symptoms, non-suicidal self-injury, suicidality, self-esteem, and resilience. Analyses tested concordance of family functioning and mental health across family members. Reports of family functioning changed over time, and family members were not consistently concordant in their reports of family functioning. Caregivers perceived a higher quality family communication than TNBY at all waves and higher than siblings at some waves. Perceptions of family satisfaction did not show a clear pattern between family member types across waves. The greatest concordance of perceived family functioning was between caregivers and siblings and between TNBY and siblings. Across all waves, TNBY reported more severe depression and anxiety symptoms than their caregivers and siblings, and more non-suicidal self-injury than their siblings. Compared to siblings, TNBY reported higher self-esteem, but less resilience. This study highlights opportunities for intervention in clinical work with TNBY and their families. Providers working with families with TNBY should use family systems approaches to support the mental health of all family members.

Exploring online and offline social experiences and interaction patterns of young adults with psychosis with the social media and internet social engagement questionnaire: Analyses and future directions.

Objective: Social interactions and experiences are increasingly occurring online, including for young adults with psychosis. Healthy social interactions and experiences are widely recognized as a critical component of social recovery, yet research thus far has focused predominantly on offline interactions with limited understanding of these interactions online. We developed the Social Media and Internet sociaL Engagement (SMILE) questionnaire to assess the type, frequency, and nature of online social interactions and experiences among young adults with early psychosis to better assess online social activity and ultimately support personalized interventions. Methods: Participants (N = 49) completed the SMILE questionnaire which asked about online platforms used, frequency of use, and if positive and negative experiences were more likely to happen online or offline. Participants completed additional self-report measures of victimization, positive psychotic symptoms, social functioning, and demographics. Exploratory factor analysis and correlations between identified factors and clinical measures of interest were completed. Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors: positive engagement, victimization, and internalizing experiences. Most participants (6%-37%) experienced positive engagement offline. Victimization occurred equally online and offline (8%-27% and 4%-24%, respectively). Most participants (37%-51%) endorsed internalizing experiences as occurring equally offline and online, but approximately a third of participants reported internalizing experiences more frequently offline (20%-35%). Victimization was moderately (r = 0.34) correlated with overall online social experiences, suggesting more online time may increase the likelihood of victimization. Age was inversely related to the frequency of overall online social experiences. Conclusion: Young adults with early psychosis experience positive and negative social experiences online and offline. New scales and measures to comprehensively assess the nature and function of online social interactions and experiences are needed.

Performance of cut-offs of the ASAS Health Index to discriminate between treatment groups in patients with axial spondyloarthritis in the TICOSPA trial.

OBJECTIVE: To test trial and longitudinal known group discrimination of thresholds of meaning for improvement and health states of the ASAS Health Index (ASAS HI) in patients with active axSpA treated in a randomized study. METHODS: Data from baseline and week 48 from the tight-controlled, treat-to-target trial TICOSPA study were used. The performance of different thresholds to assess change or health states of the ASAS HI were evaluated between arms and against changes in patients' relevant outcomes and various external responder criteria. Analyses were performed by comparing the mean values t-tests or proportion of responders of continuous and dichotomous external criteria respectively. Trial discrimination of the ASAS HI thresholds were assessed by odds ratios and Phi coefficient in a large number of potential ASAS HI thresholds. Differences in health states in relevant external outcomes between ASAS HI responders and non-responders was assessed by comparing the best performing improvement and state thresholds by using t-tests and chi-square, as appropriate. Missing data on outcomes was handled by non-responder imputation (NRI). RESULTS: All 160 patients had available ASAS HI data. Trial discrimination was larger for absolute ASAS HI change of ≥2.0, ≥2.5, and ≥3.0 points followed by ASAS HI 20 % improvement. Odds ratio ranged between 1.27 and 1.75 for absolute and between 1.0 and 1.64 for relative improvement outcomes. Longitudinal discrimination of ASAS HI improvement ≥30 % or ≥ 3.0 points had a larger reduction in patient global and disease activity and reached more often remission compared to patients with no significant improvement in global functioning. Patients who achieved ASAS HI ≤ 5.0 compared with patients who did not achieve such states were more likely to have ASAS partial remission, ASDAS inactive disease or ASDAS low activity at week 48. CONCLUSIONS: The data-driven thresholds of the ASAS HI identified in a longitudinal observational setting perform well in the context of a randomized trial.

A Framework for Measuring Neighborhood Walkability for Older Adults-A Delphi Consensus Study.

While mobility in older age is of crucial importance for health and well-being, it is worth noting that currently, there is no German language framework for measuring walkability for older adults that also considers the functional status of a person. Therefore, we combined the results of an expert workshop, a literature review, and a Delphi consensus survey. Through this, we identified and rated indicators relevant for walkability for older adults, additionally focusing on their functional status. The expert workshop and the review led to an extensive list of potential indicators, which we hope will be useful in future research. Those indicators were then adapted and rated in a three-stage Delphi expert survey. A fourth additional Delphi round was conducted to assess the relevance of each indicator for the different frailty levels, namely "robust," "pre-frail," and "frail." Between 20 and 28 experts participated in each round of the Delphi survey. The Delphi process resulted in a list of 72 indicators deemed relevant for walkability in older age groups, grouped into three main categories: "Built environment and transport infrastructure," "Accessibility and meeting places," and "Attractiveness and sense of security." For 35 of those indicators, it was suggested that functional status should be additionally considered. This framework represents a significant step forward in comprehensively covering indicators for subjective and objective walkability in older age, while also incorporating aspects of functioning relevant to older adults. It would be beneficial to test and apply the indicator set in a community setting.

The relationship of neurocognitive and social cognitive performance to social competence and appropriateness on a performance-based social skills assessment in individuals with psychosis and unaffected controls.

Social deficits are common in psychosis. The Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA) is a performance-based measure used to approximate an individual's social skills. Those with psychosis perform worse than do unaffected controls. Prior work has examined two social skills domains derived from the SSPA: social competence and social appropriateness. Social competence and appropriateness are associated with neurocognition and functioning outcomes. However, no study to date has examined the relationship of social cognition to social competence and appropriateness. We aimed to examine the relationships among different aspects of social cognition and performance-based social functioning and hypothesized that social cognitive performance would be related to social competence and appropriateness. We also hypothesized that after controlling for neurocognition, social cognition would account for unique variance in social competence and appropriateness in separate regression models. Forty-one participants who had experienced psychosis and 42 unaffected controls completed a comprehensive battery of neurocognitive, social cognitive, and social functioning measures. Social competence was associated with neurocognition and some aspects of social cognition, while social appropriateness was only marginally associated with neurocognition. Regression models revealed that social cognition did not account for additional and unique variance in social competence or appropriateness, after adjusting for demographic covariates and neurocognition. Findings suggest that aspects of social functioning performance are differentially related to neurocognitive and social cognitive skills. Social skill interventions may be most effective when targeting both neurocognitive and social cognitive skills in treatment.

Soil and stone terraces offset the negative impacts of sloping cultivation on soil microbial diversity and functioning by protecting soil carbon.

Cultivation of sloping land is a main cause for soil erosion. Conservation practices, such as soil and stone terraces, may reduce the impacts of erosion but their impacts on soil microbial diversity and functioning related to carbon (C) and nutrient metabolisms remain unclear. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of slope gradients (5°, 8°, 15°, 25°) and conservation practices (cultivated, uncultivated, soil terrace, and stone terrace) on bacterial and fungal diversities, metagenomic and metabolomic functioning associated with basic soil properties. Our results showed that steep slopes at 25° significantly decreased soil pH, silt percentage, and bacterial and fungal abundances, but that soil and stone terraces increased soil organic C (SOC), silt and clay contents, and fungal abundance compared to sloping cultivated lands. In addition, soil and stone terraces increased both bacterial and fungal alpha diversities, and relative abundances of Crenarchaeota, Nitrospirota, and Latescibacterota, but reduced the proportions of Actinobacteriota and Patescibacteria, thus shifting microbial beta diversities, which were significantly associated with increased SOC and silt content. For metagenomics, soil and stone terraces greatly increased the relative abundance of functional genes related to Respiration, Virulence, disease and defense, Stress response, and nitrogen and potassium metabolisms, such as Denitrification and Potassium homeostasis. For soil metabolomics, a total of 22 soil metabolites was enriched by soil and stone terraces, such as Lipids and lipid-like molecules (Arachidonic acid, Gamma-Linolenic acid, and Pentadecanoic acid), and Organoheterocyclic compounds (Adenine, Laudanosine, Methylpyrazine, and Nicotinic acid). To sum up, soil and stone terraces could reduce some of the negative impacts of steep slope cultivation on soil microbial diversity as well as their metagenomic and metabolomic functioning related to C and nutrient metabolism useful for soil health improvement, potentially bolstering the impact of sustainable practices in erosion hotspots around the world.

Assessment of patient-reported outcomes in vitreomacular interface disorders: A systematic literature review.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) assess the impact of disease on quality of life from the patient's perspective. Our purpose was to provide an overview of current PROMs used for vitreomacular interface disorders: macular hole, epiretinal membrane, and vitreomacular traction. We review the content coverage of all identified PROMs, assess them against quality-of-life issues as identified from earlier qualitative studies, and assess their psychometric quality (measurement properties). We identified 86 studies that used a PROM and 2 qualitative studies on quality of life of patients with a vitreomacular interface disorder. Current PROMs used in vitreomacular interface disorders have a limited content coverage and unknown psychometric quality. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire was used most. None of the condition-specific PROMs used patient consultation during content development, and there is only a small overlap between the content of PROMs and quality-of-life issues in qualitative studies. Reporting of psychometric quality was sparse, and mostly limited to concurrent validity and responsiveness. There is a need for properly developed and validated PROMs in vitreomacular interface disorders.

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Rhombencephalosynapsis: A Clinical Report.

Rhombencephalosynapsis (RES) is a hindbrain malformation characterized by a missing cerebellar vermis with apposition or fusion of the cerebellar hemispheres. The present clinical case report provides a comprehensive, longitudinal overview of cognitive and affective manifestations in a 22-year-old patient with RES. The patient shows clinical signs of emotional reactivity and dysregulation, impulsivity, and impairments in executive functioning since early childhood. These features fit the constellation of neuropsychiatric symptoms observed in patients with congenital and acquired abnormalities of the posterior vermis. It is proposed that patients with RES may show affective and cognitive difficulties which increase their vulnerability to psychological stress and risk of developing mental health issues.

Measurement invariance and differential item functioning of the functionality appreciation scale (FAS) in Colombia and Spain.

The Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS) is increasingly used in diverse national and linguistic contexts. However, limited work has assessed the extent to which the instrument demonstrates measurement invariance and differential item functioning (DIF) across nations and respondent characteristics. Here, we examined measurement invariance and DIF of the FAS using archival data from adults in Colombia (Mebarak et al., 2023) and Spain (Zamora et al., 2024). Participants included 1420 (women n = 804, men n = 616) respondents from Colombia and 838 (women n = 415, men n = 423) respondents from Spain who completed translations of the FAS. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure of the FAS in both national groups. Additionally, the FAS achieved full measurement invariance (up to latent mean invariance) across both groups. We also found that the FAS lacked DIF as a function of age, body mass index (BMI), and gender identity across both national groups. Older participants (relative to younger participants), men (relative to women), and participants with lower BMIs (relative to those with higher BMIs) had higher FAS scores. These results support the notion that the FAS is measuring a common underlying construct across these national groups and respondent characteristics.

Assessing Participation in Stroke Survivors: Psychometric Properties of the Participation Measurement Scale (PM-Scale) Brazil.

Initial evidence supports the reliability of the Participation Measurement Scale (PM-Scale) in Brazil, but further exploration of its psychometric properties is needed for Brazilian stroke survivors. The aim of the study is to analyze the reliability, convergent validity, internal consistency, and accuracy of the PM-Scale Brazil. A methodological study involved three assessments over intervals of 7-14 days. Reliability was evaluated through the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient to evaluate the alignment of the PM-Scale Brazil with the SATIS-Stroke. Internal consistency was assessed through Cronbach's α. Accuracy was estimated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The study involved 110 stroke survivors, revealing adequate intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. A significant weak correlation was observed between the PM-Scale and SATIS-Stroke. Internal consistency and accuracy were adequate. The PM-Scale Brazil demonstrates good reliability, internal consistency, and sensitivity. However, its weak correlation with SATIS-Stroke suggests limited convergent validity.

Assessing Participation in Stroke Survivors: Reliability and Validity of the PM-Scale BrazilIn our study, we looked at how well the PM-Scale Brazil works for measuring participation after stroke. We found that it gives consistent and reliable results, meaning it can be trusted. Although it is sensitive to identifying participation issues, it did not strongly agree with another measure called SATIS-Stroke. This might be because the two tools measure different things: SATIS-Stroke looks at activities and participation broadly, while the PM-Scale focuses specifically on participation.

Functioning Management and Recovery, a psychoeducational intervention for psychiatric residential facilities: a multicenter follow-up study.

AIM: Functional Management and Recovery is a standardized Psychoeducational Intervention, derived from "Integro", an effective salutogenic-psychoeducational intervention for people in recovery journey, designed to improve recovery and functioning of individuals with psychotic disorders in Psychiatric Residential Facilities (PRFs). The aim of this study is to evaluate the primary and secondary outcomes of this intervention elaborated specifically for PRFs where evidence based structured interventions seem rare and desirable. METHODS: 66 individuals with psychotic disorders were recruited in 9 PRFs dislocated in the North, Center and South Italy and 63 underwent a multicenter follow-up study with a two time-point evaluation (t0, pre-treatment and t1, 6 months; ). At each time point, social functioning was assessed as primary outcome by the Personal and Social Performance scale (PSP); furthermore, psychopathological status was assessed by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Recovery by Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), Cognitive Functioning by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), Stress management by Stress-Scale, Cognitive Flexibility by Modified Five-Point Test (M-FPT), Emotional Intelligence by Emotional Intelligence Index (EI-I), the PRF Atmosphere and the Opinion of users about the PFR by an ad hoc questionnaire. The Abilities Knowledge, the Utility and Pleasantness of sessions were measured by an ad hoc list of items. RESULTS: 63 individuals out of 66, 52 (82,5%) affected by schizophrenia and 11 (17,5%) by bipolar I disorder with psychotic symptoms according to DSM-5-TR completed the study. At the end of the study, 43 (68,3%) were male, 57 (90.5%) were single, 5 (7.9%) engaged, 1 (1.6%) married; 45 (71.4%) unemployed. The total scores of PSP, RAS, BPRS, BANS, Stress management, Abilities Knowledge, Utility and Pleasantness of sessions showed a statistically significant improvement at t1 vs. t0. Two sub-scales out of 5 of M-FPT showed a statistically significant improvement. The Emotional Intelligence, the Unit Atmosphere and the Opinion of Users about PFR improved without statistical significance. Six months after the end of the follow-up study 22 individuals of the sample were dismissed with a very high turnover. CONCLUSIONS: After a six-month follow-up (a short period of time), these results showed improvement in functioning, the primary outcome, as well as in the following secondary outcome variables: RAS, BPRS, BANS, Stress management, Abilities Knowledge, two sub-scales out of 5 of M-FPT, Utility and Pleasantness of sessions. Overall, a remarkable impact of psychoeducational structured intervention on the key Recovery variables is observed. Further studies are needed to address extent and duration of these improvements.

Health-related quality of life in 153 children with neuromuscular disorders in Latin America: is it age, functional dependence or diagnosis?

Neuromuscular diseases impact on children's health related quality of life but there is a lack of studies in Latin America that measured this construct. To respond to this need, this study aimed to explore quality of life and its relationship with age, functional dependence and specific diagnosis in children and adolescents in Latin America. A cross-sectional correlation study was carried out with 133 caregivers on children (2-18 years old) with various neuromuscular disorders. Parents reported on their children's health related quality of life through the PedsQL GCS and the PedsQL NMM. Differences in quality of life were found when comparing children with high functional dependence with those with mild dependence (p = 0.05). No significant differences were found regarding the child diagnosis. Finally, quality of life was highly correlated with the child's age, even when controlling for functional dependence differences between ages. Children and adolescents with neuromuscular show a diminished health related quality of life, not only in physical functioning but in their psychosocial functioning. Health related quality of life may vary according to the child's age and functional dependence.

Loneliness, sleep and daily stress: Evidence of direct and indirect effects.

This study investigated: i) the effects of loneliness on self-reported sleep outcomes and daily stress/hassles, ii) whether the effects of loneliness on sleep outcomes were mediated through prior-day stress/hassles and iii) if the effects of loneliness on daily stress/hassles were mediated through prior-night sleep measures. Using a 7-day diary design, this study aimed to investigate relationships between loneliness, daily sleep outcomes and daily stress/hassles. Participants (N = 174, Mage 19.95, 86.2% female) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale once before a 7-day online diary twice per day. Measures of daily stress and hassles were completed before bed and sleep outcomes the following day. Multilevel modelling found higher levels of loneliness were associated with poorer sleep quality, greater pre-sleep arousal, morning tiredness, fewer total hours slept and higher levels of daily stress and hassles across the 7-day study. Loneliness was found also to have indirect effects on sleep quality, pre-sleep arousal and morning tiredness through prior-day daily stress and hassles. In addition, loneliness also had indirect effects on daily stress and hassles through prior night sleep measures. The current findings suggest that interventions aimed at mitigating the effects of loneliness should also incorporate components that target modifiable risk factors such as sleep and stress.

Psychosocial and executive functioning late effects in pediatric brain tumor survivors after proton radiation.

PURPOSE: Pediatric brain tumor survivors can experience detrimental effects from radiation treatment. This cross-sectional, large cohort study examined late psychosocial and executive functioning effects in pediatric patients treated ≥ 3 years after proton radiation therapy (PRT). METHODS: Parents of 101 pediatric brain tumor survivors completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. Standard scores were compared to published normative means, rates of impairment (T-score > 65) were calculated, and demographic and clinical characteristics were examined. RESULTS: Mean age at PRT was 8.12 years and mean interval from PRT to assessment was 6.05 years. Half were female (49.5%), 45.5% received craniospinal irradiation (CSI), and 58.4% were diagnosed with infratentorial tumors. All mean T-scores were within normal range. Mean T-scores were significantly elevated compared to the norm on the withdrawal, initiate, working memory, and plan/organize scales. Rates of impairment were notably high in working memory (24.8%), initiate (20.4%), withdrawal (18.1%), and plan/organize (17.0%). Greater withdrawal was significantly associated with CSI and also with chemotherapy and diagnosis of hearing loss. Mean T-scores were significantly lower than the norm on the hyperactivity, aggression, conduct problems, and inhibition scales. No significant problems were identified with social skills or depression. Interval since treatment was not correlated with any scale. CONCLUSION: Although psychosocial and executive functioning was within the normal range, on average, social withdrawal and metacognitive executive functioning (working memory, initiating, planning/organizing) were areas of concern. Targeted yearly screening and proactive executive skill and social interventions are needed for this population.

Constructing the "Family Personality": Can Family Functioning Be Linked to Parent-Child Interpersonal Neural Synchronization?

INTRODUCTION: Early child development occurs within an interactive environment, initially dominated by parents or caregivers, and is heavily influenced by the dynamics of this social context. The current study probed the neurobiology of "family personality", or family functioning, in the context of parent-child dyadic interaction using a two-person neuroimaging modality. METHODS: One hundred and five parent-child dyads (child mean age 5 years 4 months) were recruited. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning was employed to measure neural synchrony while dyads completed a mildly stressful interactive task. Family functioning was measured through the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale IV (FACES-IV). RESULTS: Synchrony during stress was significantly greater than synchrony during both baseline and recovery conditions for all dyads. A significant interaction between neural synchrony in each task condition and familial balanced flexibility was found, such that higher levels of balanced flexibility were associated with greater changes in frontal cortex neural synchrony as dyads progressed through the three task conditions. DISCUSSION: Parent-child dyads from families who display heightened levels of balanced flexibility are also more flexible in their engagement of neural synchrony when shifting between social conditions. This is one of the first studies to utilize a two-person imaging modality to explore the links between family functioning and interbrain synchrony between parents and their children.

Is symptom outcome the whole story?-A multilevel meta-analysis of systemic therapy for adults including family system functioning.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic Therapy conceives mental health symptoms in the context of social systems. Previous meta-analyses on Systemic Therapy focused on symptoms. This meta-analysis aims to focus on family system functioning while including all types of outcomes. METHOD: We conducted a systematic literature research in multiple databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central). We included RCT-studies on adults with psychiatric diagnoses, which compared Systemic Therapy with active psychosocial control. The literature research resulted in 171 coded effect sizes of 32 RCTs. We conducted a random-effects three-level meta-analysis. We categorized outcomes into symptoms of patients, family system functioning, further secondary outcomes of patients, and psychopathology of family members. RESULTS: The results show a small significant overall effect size of g = .30 (CI: .15-.45, p < .001, k = 171, s = 32) for all outcomes. Systemic Therapy revealed small effect sizes with regard to family system functioning (g = .34, z = 3.51, p = .0004, k = 26, s = 12), symptoms (g = .30, z = 3.74, p = .0002, k = 73, s = 29), and further secondary outcomes (g = .32, z = 3.83, p = .0001, k = 63, s = 19). The effect sizes for psychopathology of family system members were reported rarely (k = 9, s = 6). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis shows the potential relevance of investigating family system functioning as a primary outcome for Systemic Therapy.

Screening for depression in patients with epilepsy: same questions but different meaning to different patients.

PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) such as the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E), a 6-item epilepsy-specific PROM, is used to screen for major depressive disorder symptoms for patients with epilepsy (PWE). The validity and interpretation of PROMs can be affected by differential item functioning (DIF), which occurs when subgroups of patients with the same underlying health status respond to and interpret questions about their health status differently. This study aims to determine whether NDDI-E items exhibit DIF and to identify subgroups of PWE that exhibit DIF in NDDI-E items. METHODS: Data were from the Calgary Comprehensive Epilepsy Program database, a clinical registry of adult PWE in Calgary, Canada. A tree-based partial credit model based on recursive partitioning (PCTree) was used to identify subgroups that exhibit DIF on NDDI-E items using patients' characteristics as covariates. Differences in the identified subgroups were characterized using multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 1,576 patients in this cohort, 806 (51.1%) were female, and the median age was 38.0 years. PCTree identified four patient subgroups defined by employment status, age, and sex. Subgroup 1 were unemployed patients ≤ 26 years old, subgroup 2 were unemployed patients > 26 years, subgroup 3 were employed females, while subgroup 4 were employed male patients. The subgroups exhibited significant differences on education level, comorbidity index scores, marital status, type of epilepsy, and driving status. CONCLUSION: PWE differed in their interpretation and responses to questions about their depression symptoms, and these differences were a function of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Patient-reported depression screening measures are prone to differential item functioning (DIF), which occurs when patients with the same levels of depression respond to and interpret the questions on the measures differently, as a result of different socio-demographic characteristics. Heterogeneity in how epilepsy patients interpret and respond to depression measures, if not identified, could lead to measurement biases that threaten the validity of inferences from patient-reported outcome measure scores to inform clinical and healthcare decisions for epilepsy management. Using data from a clinical registry of patients with epilepsy, the tree-based item response theory model was used to examine the presence of DIF in the items comprising the patient-reported Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E) scale. Four subgroups of epilepsy patients were noted to exhibit DIF on NDDI-E items. These groups were defined by interactions among employment status, age and sex. These characteristics affect the interpretation of NDDI-E item scores. It is recommended that clinicians carefully scrutinize responses to individual items alongside the overall NDDI-E score in different patient groups to inform clinical decisions for epilepsy management.

Interview Versus Performance Assessment of Cognition as Predictors of Real-World Outcomes in a Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study in Schizophrenia.

The Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) is an interview-based scale measuring cognitive impairment and its impact on functioning in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ). It is approved as a coprimary measure of performance-based instruments, such as the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Recent research highlights negative symptoms, social cognition, and functional capacity as mediators of cognitive impairment's impact on functioning. This study compared mediation analysis outcomes using CAI or MCCB scores, providing insights into the utility of interview-based tools in research and clinical practice. The study included 618 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, recruited from 24 Italian psychiatric clinics. Neurocognitive assessments utilized both CAI and MCCB. Mediation analyses explored negative symptoms, social cognition, and functional capacity as mediators of the impact of neurocognition on real-life functioning domains. The study's results extend the validation of the CAI as a coprimary measure that provides valid information on the impact of cognitive impairment on real-life functioning and its possible mediators, complementing the information obtained using the MCCB. Interview-based cognitive assessment might be essential for understanding schizophrenia complexity and its impact on various cognitive and functional domains for clinicians, patients, and caregivers.

The developmental trajectory of prosocial behavior in economically disadvantaged children: General tendencies and heterogeneity.

INTRODUCTION: This study explored the general tendencies and heterogeneous developmental trajectory of prosocial behavior and predictors. METHOD: The present study conducted latent growth model and growth mixture model analyses in a sample of 814 students (Mage = 13.79 years old at baseline; 57% girls) from economically disadvantaged families, classified as being below the local income threshold in China, with four follow-up surveys administered during the following 2 years. RESULTS: The general tendency in the developmental trajectory of prosocial behavior showed a linear decrease. A gender difference in initial levels was observed, with girls showing a higher initial level of prosocial behavior than boys. Family functioning, subjective support, and support utilization significantly affected the intercept, but objective support significantly negatively affected the slope. Heterogeneity in the development of prosocial behavior was best classified with a 3-class solution, including C1 (Rapid-decrease, 10.6%), C2 (Medium-stable, 42.5%), and C3 (High-increase, 46.9%). The patterns of prosocial behavior development in economically disadvantaged children with higher family functioning were more likely to be in the High-increase Class than in the Rapid-decrease Class. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed an average decline in the trajectories of prosocial behavior development in economically disadvantaged children. However, it also captured heterogeneous developmental trajectories. Furthermore, the study revealed that family functioning, subjective support, and support utilization all served as protective factors for prosocial behavior among economically disadvantaged children.

Understanding social situations: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating a novel social cognitive training versus modified problem-solving training for people with psychosis.

Background: Psychotic spectrum disorders (PSD) are associated with poor social function. In this study, we investigate which of two different types of 2-month long training courses is more effective in improving day-to-day interactions and quality of life. Methods/design: Participants with psychotic spectrum disorders will be randomly assigned to one of two training courses. Social functioning, everyday activities, social cognition and symptoms will be assessed at multiple timepoints, including baseline, treatment midpoint, end of treatment and 2-month follow-up. One training focuses on how to make good judgments about what other people may be thinking or feeling in social situations, and why people might act in certain ways in different situations. The other training focuses on different strategies for handling everyday problems and stressors. Both trainings are done in one-on-one sessions with a research staff member. There will be 16-20 training sessions, each about 45-60 minutes long. The investigators will ask participants to attend 2 training sessions per week, so the total training time should be about 2 months. Clinical Trials Registration: PROSPERO, identifier NCT04557124.