Caregiving-related experiences associated with depression severity and its symptomatology among caregivers of individuals with a severe mental disorder: an online cross-sectional study.

Caring for a relative with a severe mental disorder puts family caregivers to a great risk of depression. While overall caregiving burden is a strong predictor of depression, the contribution of the various dimensions of burden to caregivers' depression as well as their relationships with depressive symptoms has received little attention. 384 family caregivers completed a cross-sectional online survey including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and the Brief Experience of Caregiving Inventory (BECI), measuring caregiving burden and experience. We estimated the structure of the relationships between caregiving experiences (i.e., ZBI and BECI subscales) and CES-D symptoms using a network approach. Negative Emotion/Consequences, (lack of) Positive Personal Experience, and Stigma/Effects on Family were the most connected caregiving dimensions to depression. To untangle the role of the Negative Emotion/Consequences component (by far the most central node in estimated networks), a secondary analysis incorporating its composing items was estimated. Losing control over life, feeling strained around the relative and impaired self-perceived health emerged as central nodes. Interestingly, these caregiving-related dimensions or experiences were differentially connected to depressive symptoms. We discuss how these findings might help future research and inform tailored psychoeducational interventions for family caregivers of people with a severe mental disorder.

A 1-Day Training Course to Disseminate the BREF Psychoeducational Program to Caregivers and Promote Network Establishment between Psychiatry Departments and Family Associations.

OBJECTIVE: Although international guidelines state that psychoeducation to caregivers should be provided systematically, it remains insufficiently available in psychiatry. This study reports the development and evaluation of an original training course aimed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to implement "BREF," a psychoeducational program for caregivers. METHODS: The BREF program training course, a free, 1-day course incorporating peer role-play was developed. In addition to psychiatrists, nurses, and psychologists, caregivers were involved as preceptors. Participants were mental health professionals and volunteer caregivers. Participants to the first 28 sessions of the course (n=467) completed a post-course questionnaire (n=341) and a cross-sectional questionnaire (n=56). Quantitative data on satisfaction, learning, and behavior changes following the course were collected equating to levels 1, 2, and 3 of Kirkpatrick's model. RESULTS: After the course, high levels of satisfaction and commitment were observed with 100% of responders recommending the course and 81% intending to implement the BREF program. Confidence mean score to implement BREF was 7.9/10 (±1.4) with no significant effect of course session. At cross-sectional evaluation, 73% of responders reported improvements in skills related to providing psychoeducation to caregivers, 64% stated that the BREF program was implemented/under implementation, and 66% stated that their department had connected with a family association. CONCLUSIONS: Training course sessions alone can increase psychoeducational programs for caregivers and network establishment. The BREF program training course demonstrates a high level of participant satisfaction and is a promising method to disseminate psychoeducation to caregivers, thus addressing a major shortage in mental health organization.

The puzzle of quality of life in schizophrenia: putting the pieces together with the FACE-SZ cohort.

BACKGROUND: The determinants of quality of life (QoL) in schizophrenia are largely debated, mainly due to methodological discrepancies and divergence about the concepts concerned. As most studies have investigated bi- or tri-variate models, a multivariate model accounting for simultaneous potential mediations is necessary to have a comprehensive view of the determinants of QOL. We sought to estimate the associations between cognitive reserve, cognition, functioning, insight, depression, schizophrenic symptoms, and QoL in schizophrenia and their potential mediation relationships. METHODS: We used structural equation modeling with mediation analyses to test a model based on existing literature in a sample of 776 patients with schizophrenia from the FondaMental Foundation FACE-SZ cohort. RESULTS: Our model showed a good fit to the data. We found better functioning to be positively associated with a better QoL, whereas better cognition, better insight, higher levels of depression, and schizophrenic symptoms were associated with a lower QoL in our sample. Cognitive reserve is not directly linked to QoL, but indirectly in a negative manner via cognition. We confirm the negative relationship between cognition and subjective QoL which was previously evidenced by other studies; moreover, this relationship seems to be robust as it survived in our multivariate model. It was not explained by insight as some suggested, thus the mechanism at stake remains to be explained. CONCLUSION: The pathways to subjective QoL in schizophrenia are complex and the determinants largely influence each other. Longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these cross-sectional findings.

Mental Health of People with Dementia During COVID-19 Pandemic: What Have We Learned from the First Wave?

BACKGROUND: People with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers are populations highly vulnerable to COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. A better knowledge of the living conditions during the first lockdown is necessary to prevent the risk of poor mental health (PMH) in this population. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to compare the mental health of caregivers of PWD living at home or in nursing-homes and to identify specific factors influencing their mental health. METHODS: We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional online survey in France from March 17 to May 11, 2020. Three hundred and eighty-nine caregivers accompanying a PWD living at home (HC) and 159 accompanying a PWD living in a nursing home (NHC) participated in the study. Caregivers' mental health including anxiety, depression, stress, and burden was assessed with self-reported standardized scales. RESULTS: Half of the caregivers exhibited PMH, including depression, anxiety, or self-reported stress. Similar PMH rates were provided whatever the PWD place of residence. Regarding HC, our results also highlighted a number of risk factors for PMH, including the fact that caregiver live with PWD, to give increased support to PWD, and to feel more isolated for managing PWD since lockdown. CONCLUSION: PMH was observed for caregivers of PWD during lockdown, whatever PWD living place, suggesting that concern for PWD may explain more of caregiver distress than increased material tasks. In the future, it will be necessary to pay attention to caregivers after the crisis by estimating the longer-term impact on their mental health.

Overexpression of complement component C4 in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, superior temporal gyrus and associative striatum of patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: In schizophrenia, abnormal synaptic pruning during adolescence may be due to altered expression of the Complement component 4 (C4). Overexpression of C4 genes has been identified in the total cerebral cortex and in 6 different brain regions of schizophrenic patients compared to controls. These alterations should be replicated and extended to other brain regions relevant to schizophrenia. Moreover, it remains unknown whether cerebral and peripheral C4 expression levels are related. METHODS: We explored C4 genes expression both at the cerebral and peripheral levels. Using shinyGEO application we analyzed C4 expression from eight Gene Expression Omnibus datasets obtained from 196 schizophrenic patients and 182 control subjects. First, we compared C4 expression between schizophrenic patients and controls in postmortem cerebral samples from 7 different brain regions. Then, we compared C4 expression between schizophrenic patients and controls in 4 peripheral tissues. RESULTS: At the cerebral level, we provide further evidence of C4 overexpression in schizophrenic patients. Consistently with a previous report, we found C4 overexpression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and in the parietal cortex of schizophrenic patients. The observation of C4 overexpression was further extended to the superior temporal cortex and the associative striatum of schizophrenic patients. Conversely, no significant alteration of C4 expression was observed in peripheral tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis of an excessive Complement activity in various brain regions of schizophrenic patients which may disrupt the synaptic pruning process occurring during adolescence. C4 overexpression may be specific to the cerebral tissue while other alterations of the Complement system may be detected at the systemic level.

Modeling the Longitudinal Effects of Insight on Depression, Quality of Life and Suicidality in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Results from the FACE-SZ Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Up to half of the patients with schizophrenia attempt suicide during their lifetime. Better insight is associated with better functioning but also with increased suicidality. The direction of the relationship between insight and suicidality is not clear, hence we aimed to provide new elements using structural equation modeling. METHODS: Insight, quality of life (QoL), depression, and suicidality were measured at baseline and at 12 months in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The relationships between these variables were investigated by latent difference score models, controlling for chlorpromazine doses, positive and negative symptoms, and general psychopathology. RESULTS: 738 patients were included, and 370 completed the study. Baseline levels of insight predicted changes in suicidality, whereas baseline levels of suicidality did not predict changes in insight, suggesting that better insight underlies suicidality and predicts its worsening. Our results suggest this temporal sequence: better insight → worse QoL → increased depression → increased suicidality, while insight also affects the three variables in parallel. CONCLUSION: Better insight predicts a worsening of QoL, depression and suicidality. These findings contribute to our global understanding of the longitudinal influence of insight on suicidality. We advocate that insight-targeted interventions should not be proposed without the monitoring of depression and suicide prevention.

Event-related brain potential study of expectancy and semantic matching in schizotypy.

Priming studies have revealed semantic processing abnormalities in subjects that display high schizotypal traits. The objective of the present study was to further elucidate the contribution of predictive (expectancy) and integrative (semantic matching) context processing to the semantic deficit described in schizotypy. Thirty-six participants were assigned into high or low schizotypy groups according to their score on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and event-related brain potentials were recorded while these individuals performed semantic judgments based on asymmetrically associated word pairs. Viewed in one direction (forward), the target was highly predictable from the prime, whereas in the backward direction, the prime-to-target association was weak. It was assumed that the forward condition would be dependent on expectancy generation, while the backward condition would rely on semantic matching. In the low-SPQ group, forward and backward related words evoked a reduced (less negative) N400 amplitude compared to unrelated words, resulting in a significant forward and backward N400 priming effect, respectively. By contrast, only forward related words were facilitated in the high-SPQ group, resulting in significant forward priming and a lack of backward priming. Furthermore, the N400 amplitude for forward related words was less negative within the high-SPQ group in comparison to the low-SPQ group, which indicated easier semantic access to predictable words for high-SPQ individuals. Therefore, schizotypy may be associated with an imbalance in the use of predictive and integrative context processing strategies, namely preserved, if not over allocated, expectancy generation along with altered integration of unpredictable words due to semantic matching deficit.

An event-related potential study of predictive and integrative semantic context processing in subjects with schizotypal traits.

Context processing abnormalities may explain thought disorder in schizophrenia/schizotypy. This study aimed to assess predictive and integrative context processing in subjects with high or low scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). The N400 amplitude was recorded during semantic judgment of sentence pairs ending with a lateralized expected or unexpected word from the same or a different category (related and unrelated violation). In both groups, the N400 amplitude was less negative for expected words versus unrelated violations, regardless of which hemisphere received the stimulus, and for related versus unrelated violations, but only for left-hemisphere stimuli. The N400 amplitude for unrelated violations was less negative in subjects with high SPQ scores for both hemispheres. These results indicate that subjects with schizotypal traits use context to predict or integrate congruent words, but fail to inhibit incongruent words.