Leveraging Novel Technologies and Artificial Intelligence to Advance Practice-Oriented Research.

Mental health services are experiencing notable transformations as innovative technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly utilized in a growing number of studies and services.These cutting-edge technologies carry the promise of substantial improvements in the field of mental health. Nevertheless, questions emerge about the alignment of novel technologies and AI systems with human needs, especially in the context of vulnerable populations receiving mental healthcare. The practice-oriented research (POR) model is pivotal in seamlessly integrating these emerging technologies into clinical research and practice. It underscores the importance of tight collaboration between clinicians and researchers, all driven by the central goal of ensuring and elevating client well-being. This paper focuses on how novel technologies can enhance the POR model and highlights its pivotal role in integrating these technologies into clinical research and practice. We discuss two key phases: pre-treatment, and during treatment. For each phase, we describe the challenges, present the major technological innovations, describe recent studies exemplifying technology use, and suggest future directions. Ethical concerns and the importance of aligning humans and technology are also considered, in addition to implications for practice and training.

War experiences and relationship problems predict pain sensitivity cross-sectionally among patients with chronic primary pain.

BACKGROUND: Most patients suffering from chronic pain are more susceptible to pain and pressure due to higher pain sensitivity. Since psychosocial factors play a central role in developing and maintaining chronic pain, investigating associations between pain sensitivity and psychosocial stressors promises to advance the biopsychosocial understanding of chronic pain. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to replicate Studer et al.'s (2016) findings about associations of psychosocial stressors with pain sensitivity in a new sample of patients with chronic primary pain (ICD-11, MG30.0). METHODS: A pain provocation test was used on both middle fingers and earlobes to assess pain sensitivity among 460 inpatients with chronic primary pain. Potentially life-threatening accidents, war experiences, relationship problems, certified inability to work, and adverse childhood experiences were assessed as potential psychosocial stressors. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate associations between psychosocial stressors and pain sensitivity. RESULTS: We partially replicated Studer et al.'s findings. Similar to the original study, patients with chronic primary pain showed enhanced pain sensitivity values. Within the investigated group, war experiences (ß = 0.160, p < .001) and relationship problems (ß = 0.096, p = .014) were associated with higher pain sensitivity. In addition, the control variables of age, sex, and pain intensity also showed a predictive value for higher pain sensitivity. Unlike Studer et al., we could not identify a certified inability to work as a predictor of higher pain sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that beyond age, sex, and pain intensity, the psychosocial stressors of war experiences and relationship problems were associated with higher pain sensitivity.

Persistent symptoms after COVID-19 in children and adolescents from Argentina.

OBJECTIVES: Although long COVID-19 is widely recognized in adults, less information is available about this condition in children, especially in developing countries. Here, we studied the long-term symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection beyond 3 months and the associated risk factors in a pediatric population. METHODS: This observational study included 639 Argentinian children and adolescents with previously confirmed COVID-19 from June 2020-June 2021 and 577 children without previous COVID-19. Parents completed a survey about symptoms that their child had for >3 months after the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: At least one persistent symptom was observed more frequently in children with previous COVID-19 than in the non-COVID-19 group (34% vs 13%, P <0.0001). SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the risk of headache, dizziness, loss of taste, dyspnea, cough, fatigue, muscle pain, and loss of weight by three- to seven-fold. The loss of smell was only reported in infected children. After controlling for the other variables, older age, symptomatic COVID-19, and comorbidities were independent predictors of long-term symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of children experienced persistent symptoms after COVID-19. Older age, symptomatic infection, and comorbidities were shown to be risk factors for long COVID-19. Pediatric long COVID-19 is a new condition that requires further investigation.

Negative mood regulation as a mechanism of change in cognitive therapy for depression.

The present study investigates the effects of negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) on symptom severity of depression in 2 cognitive therapies for depression. The sample included the first 146 consecutively recruited patients from a randomized controlled trial. Patients received 22 sessions of either cognitive-behavioral therapy or exposure-based cognitive therapy. They completed the Beck Depression Inventory and Negative Mood Regulation Scale at baseline and treatment termination, as well as after Sessions 7 and 14. Multilevel modeling was applied. We found a significant between-patient effect of NMRE on symptom severity of depression, when NMRE within-patient effects were set to random. There was no significant interactive effect of the between-patient NMRE with type of treatment. However, a significant moderation effect of the within-patient NMRE effect by treatment condition on depression severity was detected, with patients receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy benefiting more from improvements in NMRE. Together, these results empirically support NMRE as a relevant mechanism of change in cognitive therapy for depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A poor and delayed anti-SARS-CoV2 IgG response is associated to severe COVID-19 in children.

BACKGROUND: Most children and youth develop mild or asymptomatic disease during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, a very small number of patients suffer severe Coronavirus induced disease 2019 (COVID-19). The reasons underlying these different outcomes remain unknown. METHODS: We analyzed three different cohorts: children with acute infection (n=550), convalescent children (n=138), and MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, n=42). IgG and IgM antibodies to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, serum-neutralizing activity, plasma cytokine levels, and the frequency of circulating Follicular T helper cells (cTfh) and plasmablasts were analyzed by conventional methods. FINDINGS: Fifty-eight percent of the children in the acute phase of infection had no detectable antibodies at the time of sampling while a seronegative status was found in 25% and 12% of convalescent and MIS-C children, respectively. When children in the acute phase of the infection were stratified according disease severity, we found that contrasting with the response of children with asymptomatic, mild and moderate disease, children with severe COVID-19 did not develop any detectable response. A defective antibody response was also observed in the convalescent cohort for children with severe disease at the time of admission. This poor antibody response was associated to both, a low frequency of cTfh and a high plasma concentration of inflammatory cytokines. INTERPRETATION: A weak and delayed kinetic of antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 together with a systemic pro-inflammatory profile characterize pediatric severe COVID-19. Because comorbidities are highly prevalent in children with severe COVID-19, further studies are needed to clarify their contribution in the weak antibody response observed in severe disease. FUNDING: National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion from Argentina (IP-COVID-19-0277 and PMO-BID-PICT2018-2548).

Impact of attachment behavior on the treatment process of chronic pain patients.

BACKGROUND: Insecure attachment patterns are related to the onset and development of chronic pain. However, it is less documented on how short- and long-term effects of pain therapy might differ with the attachment style in interaction with specific pain conditions. We therefore examined how two different groups of chronic pain patients differ in their treatment trajectories and in regard to attachment. METHOD: N=85/76/67 (T1/T2/T3) patients with medically unexplained musculoskeletal pain (UMP group) were compared to n=89/76/56 patients with joint pain from osteoarthritis (OA group), using multilevel modeling. UMP patients received a multimodal pain program, and OA patients received surgery. Pain intensity before (T1) and after (T2) treatment and at a 6 months follow-up (T3) was assessed by using a visual analog scale of pain. RESULTS: Pain patients report a significant reduction in pain intensity upon the completion of the treatment compared to T1. Over the next 6 months, the pain intensity has further declined for patients with low attachment anxiety. In contrast, patients with highly anxious attachment report an increase in pain intensity. This main effect of anxious attachment on pain is significant when predicting changes both in acute treatment and during follow-up while controlling for group effect. In addition, there is also an interactive effect of group by avoidant attachment. In the UMP group, high scores in avoidant attachment were associated with the lower reduction in pain severity, while in the OA group, high scores in attachment avoidance were associated with a steeper reduction in pain severity. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that insecurely attached patients with pain symptoms only benefit from a multimodal pain therapy in limited ways in regard to posttreatment trajectories. Maintaining positive results over a period of 6 months is a challenge, compared with securely attached patients. SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this study suggest the importance of direct and indirect mechanisms of attachment and its relevance for the management of pain experiences. Therefore, to include the individual attachment patterns in the treatment may be a promising way to enhance the treatment prospects.