The network structure of psychopathological and resilient responses to the pandemic: A multicountry general population study of depression and anxiety.

Commonly identified patterns of psychological distress in response to adverse events are characterized by resilience (i.e., little to no distress), delayed (i.e., distress that increases over time), recovery (i.e., distress followed by a gradual decrease over time), and sustained (i.e., distress remaining stable over time). This study aimed to examine these response patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety and depressive symptom data collected across four European countries over the first year of the pandemic were analyzed (N = 3,594). Participants were first categorized into groups based on the four described patterns. Network connectivity and symptom clustering were then estimated for each group and compared. Two thirds (63.6%) of the sample displayed a resilience pattern. The sustained distress network (16.3%) showed higher connectivity than the recovery network (10.0%) group, p = .031; however, the resilient network showed higher connectivity than the delayed network (10.1%) group, p = .016. Regarding symptom clustering, more clusters emerged in the recovery network (i.e., three) than the sustained network (i.e., two). These results replicate findings that resilience was the most common mental health pattern over the first pandemic year. Moreover, they suggest that high network connectivity may be indicative of a stable mental health response over time, whereas fewer clusters may be indicative of a sustained distress pattern. Although exploratory, the network perspective provides a useful tool for examining the complexity of psychological responses to adverse events and, if replicated, could be useful in identifying indicators of protection against or vulnerability to future psychological distress.

ICD-11 prolonged grief disorder: Prevalence, predictors, and co-occurrence in a large representative sample.

The International Classification of Diseases has recently defined Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) with symptoms such as longing, worry, and intense emotional pain that exceed sociocultural norms more than 6 months after the loss. This study aims to (a) estimate the prevalence of this new diagnostic category, (b) identify its sociodemographic and loss-related predictors, and (c) assess the co-occurrence of PGD with other psychological disorders and substance abuse. A large representative sample of Spanish adults (N = 1498) participated. Several multivariate binary logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression models were used. Results showed a 9.95% prevalence in the total sample. Catholic beliefs were a positive predictor, while higher income and more time since loss significantly decreased the odds of PGD. PGD significantly increased the likelihood of anxiety, depression, somatisation, post-traumatic stress disorder, loneliness and substance use. Our study contributes to assessing the multicultural PGD validity, as our results from a large representative sample are comparable to those in other countries with the PGDS. Our findings have direct implications for the assessment and treatment of bereavement, identifying for practitioners variables that make individuals more vulnerable to PGD. Results highlighted the high co-occurrence of PGD with other psychological illnesses and increased drug use.

Auditing the research practices and statistical analyses of the group-level temporal network approach to psychological constructs: A systematic scoping review.

Network analyses have become increasingly common within the field of psychology, and temporal network analyses in particular are quickly gaining traction, with many of the initial articles earning substantial interest. However, substantial heterogeneity exists within the study designs and methodology, rendering it difficult to form a comprehensive view of its application in psychology research. Since the field is quickly growing and since there have been many study-to-study variations in terms of choices made by researchers when collecting, processing, and analyzing data, we saw the need to audit this field and formulate a comprehensive view of current temporal network analyses. To systematically chart researchers' practices when conducting temporal network analyses, we reviewed articles conducting temporal network analyses on psychological variables (published until March 2021) in the framework of a scoping review. We identified 43 articles and present the detailed results of how researchers are currently conducting temporal network analyses. A commonality across results concerns the wide variety of data collection and analytical practices, along with a lack of consistency between articles about what is reported. We use these results, along with relevant literature from the fields of ecological momentary assessment and network analysis, to formulate recommendations on what type of data is suited for temporal network analyses as well as optimal methods to preprocess and analyze data. As the field is new, we also discuss key future steps to help usher the field's progress forward and offer a reporting checklist to help researchers navigate conducting and reporting temporal network analyses.

Measurement invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) across four European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) are self-report measures of major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. The primary aim of this study was to test for differential item functioning (DIF) on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 items based on age, sex (males and females), and country. METHOD: Data from nationally representative surveys in UK, Ireland, Spain, and Italy (combined N = 6,054) were used to fit confirmatory factor analytic and multiple-indictor multiple-causes models. RESULTS: Spain and Italy had higher latent variable means than the UK and Ireland for both anxiety and depression, but there was no evidence for differential items functioning. CONCLUSIONS: The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores were found to be unidimensional, reliable, and largely free of DIF in data from four large nationally representative samples of the general population in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Exploring the structure of the GAD-7 scale in primary care patients with emotional disorders: A network analysis approach.

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety symptoms are one of the most frequent manifestations in people attending primary care, although how the symptoms are associated is unclear. This study aimed to establish the symptom structure of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) using a novel network approach in combination with traditional analytical tools. METHODS: A sample of 1704 primary care patients with emotional disorders (i.e., anxiety, depression, and/or somatization) completed the GAD-7 to report their anxiety symptoms. We examined the GAD-7 structure using exploratory graph analysis (EGA) compared to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The EFA results showed a one-factor solution, but EGA revealed a two-factor solution (cognitive-emotional and somatic). "Worrying too much" and "difficulty relaxing" were the most relevant symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the possible distinction between the somatic and cognitive-emotional components of the GAD-7, thus permitting more specific screening in primary care settings.

Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others.

Given the need to understand both the negative and positive psychological consequences of the current global COVID-19 pandemic (Brewin et al. in Perspectives in Public Health 10.1177/1757913920957365 2020), the aim of this study was to test a cognitive model of post-traumatic symptoms (PTS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) during confinement caused by the SARS-COV-2 epidemic. In line with cognitive models of trauma elaboration (Park in Psychological Bulletin 10.1037/a0018301), we included in our model some beliefs associated to the world (e.g., primal beliefs about a good world), to the self (e.g., death anxiety or orientation toward the future) and to others (e.g., suspiciousness or identification with humanity). To evaluate the explanatory model, a national representative sample of adults between the ages of 18 and 75 (N = 1951) was surveyed between 7th and 13th April, 2020, in the middle of a strict 7-week national confinement. Structural equation modelling yielded a very similar model to the one initially specified. The results highlight the role of both negative and positive core beliefs, which are pertinent to the current pandemic threat, in the appearance of PTS and PTG, respectively. In short, primal beliefs about a good world, openness to the future and identification with humanity were associated with PTG; while suspiciousness, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety about death and also identification with humanity were associated with PTS and consequent impairment. This is an innovative study of different pathways to traumatic responses and growth during a pandemic. Future research is needed to replicate its findings.

The Study of Psychopathology from the Network Analysis Perspective: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Network analysis (NA) is an analytical tool that allows one to explore the map of connections and eventual dynamic influences among symptoms and other elements of mental disorders. In recent years, the use of NA in psychopathology has rapidly grown, which calls for a systematic and critical analysis of its clinical utility. METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of published empirical studies applying NA in psychopathology, between 2010 and 2017, was conducted. We included the literature published in PubMed and PsycINFO using as keywords any combination of "network analysis" with the terms "anxiety," "affective disorders," "depression," "schizophrenia," "psychosis," "personality disorders," "substance abuse" and "psychopathology." RESULTS: The review showed that NA has been applied in a plethora of mental disorders in adults (i.e., 13 studies on anxiety disorders; 19 on mood disorders; 7 on psychosis; 1 on substance abuse; 1 on borderline personality disorder; 18 on the association of symptoms between disorders), and 6 on childhood and adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: A critical examination of the results of each study suggests that NA helps to identify, in an innovative way, important aspects of psychopathology like the centrality of the symptoms in a given disorder as well as the mutual dynamics among symptoms. Yet, despite these promising results, the clinical utility of NA is still uncertain as there are important limitations on the analytic procedures (e.g., reliability of indices), the type of data included (e.g., typically restricted to secondary analysis of already published data), and ultimately, the psychometric and clinical validity of the results.

When eco-anger (but not eco-anxiety nor eco-sadness) makes you change! A temporal network approach to the emotional experience of climate change.

Research on the emotional experience of climate change has become a hot topic. Yet uncertainties remain regarding the interplay between climate change-related emotions (i.e., eco-anxiety, eco-anger, eco-sadness), general emotions (i.e., regardless of climate change), and pro-environmental behaviors. Most previous research has focused on cross-sectional studies, and eco-emotions in everyday life have seldom been considered. In this preregistered study, 102 participants from the general population rated their eco-emotions (i.e., eco-anxiety, eco-anger, eco-sadness), general emotions (i.e., anxiety, anger, sadness), and pro-environmental intentions and behaviors daily over a 60-day period. Using a multilevel vector autoregressive approach, we computed three network models representing temporal (i.e., from one time-point to the next), contemporaneous (i.e., during the same time-frame), and between-subject (i.e., similar to cross-sectional approach) associations between variables. Results show that eco-anger was the only predictor of pro-environmental intentions and behaviors over time. At the contemporaneous level, the momentary experience of each eco-emotion was associated with the momentary emotional experience of the corresponding general emotion, indicating the distinctiveness of each eco-emotion and the correspondence between its experience and that of its general, non-climate-related emotion. Overall, our findings 1) emphasize the driving role of eco-anger in prompting pro-environmental behaviors over time, 2) suggest a functional and experiential distinction between eco-emotions, and 3) provide data-driven clues for the field's larger quest to establish the scientific foundations of eco-emotions.

Comparing psychological versus pharmacological treatment in emotional disorders: A network analysis.

Transdiagnostic group cognitive behavioural therapy (TD-GCBT) is more effective in improving symptoms and severity of emotional disorders (EDs) than treatment as usual (TAU; usually pharmacological treatment). However, there is little research that has examined the effects of these treatments on specific symptoms. This study used Network Intervention Analysis (NIA) to investigate the direct and differential effects of TD-GCBT + TAU and TAU on specific symptoms of anxiety and depression. Data are from a multicentre randomised clinical trial (N = 1061) comparing TD-GCBT + TAU versus TAU alone for EDs. The networks included items from the PHQ-9 (depression) and GAD-7 (anxiety) questionnaire and mixed graphical models were estimated at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up. Results revealed that TD-GCBT + TAU was associated with direct effects, mainly on several anxiety symptoms and depressed mood after treatment. New direct effects on other depressive symptoms emerged during the follow-up period promoted by TD-GCBT compared to TAU. Our results suggest that the improvement of anxiety symptoms after treatment might precipitate a wave of changes that favour a decrease in depressive symptomatology. NIA is a methodology that can provide fine-grained insight into the likely pathways through which treatments exert their effects.

On climate anxiety and the threat it may pose to daily life functioning and adaptation: a study among European and African French-speaking participants.

The notion of climate anxiety has gained traction in the last years. Yet uncertainty remains regarding the variations of climate anxiety across demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age) and its associations with adaptive (i.e., pro-environmental) behaviors. Moreover, the point-estimate proportion of people frequently experiencing climate anxiety has seldom been probed. In this study, we assessed climate anxiety (including its related functional impairments), along with demographic characteristics, climate change experience, and pro-environmental behaviors, in 2080 French-speaking participants from eight African and European countries. 11.64% of the participants reported experiencing climate anxiety frequently, and 20.72% reported experiencing daily life functional consequences (e.g., impact on the ability to go to work or socialize). Women and younger people exhibited significantly higher levels of climate anxiety. There was no difference between participants from African and European countries, although the sample size of the former was limited, thus precluding any definite conclusion regarding potential geographic differences. Concerning adaptation, climate anxiety was associated with pro-environmental behaviors. However, this association was significantly weaker in people reporting frequent experiences of climate anxiety (i.e., eco-paralysis) than in those with lower levels. Although this observation needs to be confirmed in longitudinal and experimental research, our results suggest that climate anxiety can impede daily life functioning and adaptation to climate change in many people, thus deserving a careful audit by the scientific community and practitioners. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material. Available at: 10.1007/s10584-022-03402-2.

An Experience Sampling Measure of the Key Features of Rumination.

Objective: Research indicates that rumination can be viewed as a dynamic process that fluctuates over time, within hours and days. An increasing number of intensive longitudinal studies on rumination are accordingly being conducted and published using experiencing sampling methodology (ESM), a technique with measurements in everyday life. Yet, this literature suffers from a profound caveat: rumination has so far been conceptualized and measured as a unitary construct in these ESM studies. This is unfortunate, since such a unitary view contrasts with prominent contemporary models that regard rumination as a multifaceted construct, wherein the key features are not interchangeable and should therefore be measured separately. Moreover, no validated ESM measure of the key features of rumination has yet been developed. Therefore, we developed and validated an ESM protocol and the first ESM questionnaire to assess rumination as a multifaceted construct, measuring five features of rumination. Method: We conducted an ESM study in a community sample of 40 French-speaking participants. They answered the five rumination ESM items in French four times a day for fourteen days. At the end of the ESM assessment period, participants completed trait-like questionnaires of rumination, depression, and general anxiety. Results: The ESM rumination items exhibited good psychometric properties, including excellent within-person variability and convergent validity with corresponding trait-like constructs. Conclusions: Although further validation is warranted, this novel ESM assessment protocol of rumination as a multifaceted construct (validated in French and translated into English) will allow future researchers to study how rumination's features fluctuate and interact with other constructs over time.

The network structure of paranoia dimensions and its mental health correlates in the general population: The core role of loneliness.

Paranoid ideas are the most common abnormal beliefs in the schizophrenia spectrum, are also prevalent in non-clinical populations, and are highly correlated with other mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and low levels of well-being. Two previous studies with the same British population sample used confirmatory factor analysis and network analysis to show that the spectrum of paranoid beliefs is made up of four factors or dimensions (i.e., interpersonal sensitivity, mistrust, ideas of reference and ideas of persecution). The aims of this study are: 1) to explore the distribution and the structure of paranoid beliefs in a Spanish general population by applying the network approach and 2) to use network analysis to explore for the first time whether specific domains of paranoid ideation (i.e., dimensions) are specifically associated with mental health correlates such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, and well-being. We found a continuous distribution of paranoid beliefs among the 1328 individuals constituting the sample (e.g., 29,2 % did not endorse any items, 4.6 % endorsed half of the items, while 0.8 % endorsed all paranoid items). Paranoid ideas form three dimensions; interpersonal sensitivity, mistrust, and ideas of persecution (ideas of reference did not form a separate factor). The network model showed that loneliness has a pivotal role in connecting paranoid ideation with general psychopathology measures (i.e., depression, anxiety, loneliness and well-being). Research and clinical implications derived from our findings are also discussed.

A multicomponent positive psychology group intervention for people with severe psychiatric conditions; a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy and effectiveness of a theory-driven multicomponent positive psychology intervention to improve well-being for individuals with severe psychiatric conditions (SPCs) in comparison with treatment as usual (TAU). This intervention moves away from the traditional psychiatric perspectives that focused on symptoms and deficits, promoting a broader view of outcomes such as noncritical self-acceptance, strengths, and positive relationships with others, among other things. METHOD: A two-arm randomized and outcome-blinded trial with pre-post and 6-month follow-up evaluations was conducted to assess the intervention. A total of 141 participants were allocated to either the experimental condition or the waiting list group receiving their TAU. A mixed-effect model was used to examine the efficacy of the intervention and a repeated-measures Student's t-test for the follow-up effectiveness analysis. RESULTS: The intervention protocol was highly acceptable for participants, showing very high participant satisfaction as well as good attendance and adherence rates. At the end of the group therapy, participants reported a significant improvement in self-acceptance and environmental mastery and, these changes were maintained in the follow-up assessment after 6 months. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results of this randomized control trial provide further evidence supporting that positive psychology approaches can be a powerful complementary strategy to promote more comprehensive psychiatric rehabilitation services for people with SPCs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The mediating role of controllability appraisals and coping strategies on adaptive functioning after job loss: a path model.

Job loss is a stressful event that increases the risk of experiencing depression and anxiety, especially during the initial months of unemployment. This study examined differences in psychological symptoms and resilient functioning accounted by employment status. The results pointed out that recently unemployed compared to currently employed individuals had lower levels of perceived controllability and resilience as well as higher levels of depression and anxiety. Path analyses showed that lower controllability appraisals at wave 1 of recently unemployed compared to employed individuals, in turn, predicted a lower use of active coping and reappraisal at wave 2, with the latter further accounting for lower levels in resilience. Higher use of distraction further mediated the relation between employment status and higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. Our findings demonstrate the importance of controllability appraisals and coping strategies used to promote adaptive psychological functioning following job loss.

A symptom-based definition of resilience in times of pandemics: patterns of psychological responses over time and their predictors.

Background: It has been suggested that resilience is best conceptualized as healthy and stable functioning in the face of a potentially traumatic event. However, most research on this field has focused on self-reported resilience, and other patterns of response when facing adversity, in cross-sectional designs. Objective: Alternatively, we aimed to study changing patterns of psychological responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population, based on patterns of symptoms, and factors contributing to those patterns. Method: A national representative sample of Spain (N = 1,628) responded to an internet-based survey at two assessment points, separated by 1 month (April and May 2020), during the official national confinement stage. Based upon whether participants exhibited absence/presence of distress (i.e., significant trauma-related, depression, or anxiety symptoms) at one or two of the assessment times, patterns of psychological responses were defined by categorizing individuals into one of the four categories: Resilience, Delayed distress, Recovered, and Sustained distress. Results: Analyses of the levels of disturbance associated with the symptoms provided support to that four-fold distinction of patterns of responses. Furthermore, resilience responses were the most common psychological response to the pandemic. Multinomial regression analyses revealed that the main variables increasing the probability of resilience to COVID-19 were being male, older, having no history of mental health difficulties, higher levels of psychological well-being and high identification with all humanity. Also, having low scores in several variables (i.e., anxiety and economic threat due to COVID-19, substance use during the confinement, intolerance to uncertainty, death anxiety, loneliness, and suspiciousness) was a significant predictor of a resilient response to COVID-19. Conclusion: Our findings are consistent with previous literature that conceptualizes resilience as a dynamic process. The clinical implications of significant predictors of the resilience and the rest of psychological patterns of response are discussed.

Antecedentes: Se ha sugerido que la mejor manera de conceptualizar la resiliencia es como un funcionamiento saludable y estable ante un evento potencialmente traumático. Sin embargo, la mayor parte de las investigaciones sobre la resiliencia y otras pautas de respuesta ante la adversidad se han centrado en el uso de cuestionarios de autoinforme de resiliencia en diseños transversales.Objetivo: Alternativamente, nuestro objetivo fue estudiar los cambios en los patrones de las respuestas psicológicas a la pandemia de COVID-19 en la población general y analizar de manera empírica las características que contribuyen a la respuesta resiliente.Métodos: Se utilizó una muestra nacional representativa española (N=1.628), que respondió a una encuesta realizada a través de Internet, en dos momentos de evaluación, separados por un mes, durante la etapa de confinamiento asociada a la pandemia (Abril y Mayo 2020). Se definieron los patrones de respuesta psicológica en función de la ausencia/presencia de malestar (v.g., síntomas significativos de estrés post-traumático, depresión y Ansiedad) en los dos momentos de evaluación, clasificando a los individuos en: resiliencia, malestar tardío, recuperación y malestar sostenido.Resultados: Análisis de los niveles de interferencia apoyaron estos cuatro de patrones dinámicos de respuesta psicológica. Además, la respuesta de resiliencia fue la más común frente a la pandemia. Un análisis de regresión multinomial indicó que los predictores de una mayor probabilidad de resiliencia fueron ser hombre, tener más edad, no tener antecedentes de salud mental, y altos niveles de identificación con la humanidad y de bienestar psicológico. Además, bajos niveles en otras variables (ansiedad y amenaza económica debida a la pandemia, consumo de sustancias durante el confinamiento, intolerancia a la incertidumbre, ansiedad ante la muerte, soledad, y desconfianza) fueron también predictores significativos de una respuesta de resiliencia psicológica al COVID-19.Conclusión: Nuestros hallazgos están en línea con la literatura previa que identifica la resiliencia como un patrón de respuesta común y un proceso dinámico. Se discuten las implicaciones clínicas de los predictores significativos de los cuatro diferentes patrones de respuesta.

Psychological Adjustment in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Positive and Negative Mental Health Outcomes in the General Population.

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, Spain was one of the countries with the highest number of infections and a high mortality rate. The threat of the virus and consequences of the pandemic have a discernible impact on the mental health of citizens. This study aims to (a) evaluate the levels of anxiety, depression and well-being in a large Spanish sample during the confinement, (b) identify potential predictor variables associated to experiencing both clinical levels of distress and well-being in a sample of 2,122 Spanish people. By using descriptive analyses and logistic regression results revealed high rates of depression, anxiety and well-being. Specifically, our findings revealed that high levels of anxiety about COVID-19, increased substance use and loneliness as the strongest predictors of distress, while gross annual incomes and loneliness were strongest predictors of well-being. Finding of the present study provide a better insight about psychological adjustment to a pandemic and allows us to identify which population groups are at risk of experiencing higher levels of distress and which factors contribute to greater well-being, which could help in the treatments and prevention in similar stressful and traumatic situations.

A Temporal Network Approach to Paranoia: A Pilot Study.

Paranoid beliefs have been conceptualized as a central psychological process linked to schizophrenia and many mental disorders. Research on paranoia has indicated that it is pivotal to consider not only levels but also dynamic aspects of incriminated related mechanisms over time. In the present study, we conceptualized paranoia as a system of interacting elements. To do so, we used temporal network analysis to unfold the temporal dynamics between core psychological paranoia-related mechanisms, such as self-esteem, sadness, feeling close to others, and experiential avoidance. Time-series data of 23 participants with high scores in paranoia and/or interpersonal sensitivity were collected via experience sampling methodology (ESM). We applied a multilevel vector autoregressive (mlVAR) model approach and computed three distinct and complementary network models (i.e., contemporaneous, temporal, and between-subject) to disentangle associations between paranoia-related mechanisms in three different time frames. The contemporaneous model indicated that paranoia and sadness co-occurred within the same time frame, while sadness was associated with both low self-esteem and lack of closeness to others. The temporal model highlighted the importance of feeling close to others in predicting low paranoia levels in the next time frame. Finally, the between-subject model largely replicated an association found in both contemporaneous and temporal models. The current study reveals that the network approach offers a viable data-driven methodology for elucidating how paranoia-related mechanisms fluctuate over time and may determine its severity. Moreover, this novel perspective may open up new directions toward identifying potential targets for prevention and treatment of paranoia-related problems.

Sharing data to better understand one of the world's most significant shared experiences: data resource profile of the longitudinal COVID-19 psychological research consortium (C19PRC) study.

This paper serves to alert IJPDS readers to the availability of a major new longitudinal survey data resource, the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study, which is being released for secondary use via the Open Science Framework. The C19PRC Study is a rich and detailed dataset that provides a convenient and valuable foundation from which to study the social, political, and health status of European adults during an unprecedented time of change as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. Here, we provide an overview of the C19PRC Study design, with the purpose of stimulating interest about the study among social scientists and maximising use of this resource.

Inflammatory gene expression in adipose tissue according to diagnosis of anxiety and mood disorders in obese and non-obese subjects.

Psychiatric disorders have been widely reported to be associated with systemic inflammation upregulation and adiposity. However, there are no data that link adipose tissue inflammation to these mental disorders. The analysis of adipokines and inflammation-related markers in adipose tissue could help to elucidate the potential association between obesity and mental health. An observational study was conducted in samples of patients consisting of non-obese and obese subjects, who were diagnosed with anxiety or mood disorders. Gene expression of adiponectin (ADIPOQ), leptin (LEP) and inflammatory markers (IL6, IL1B, TNF, CCL2, CSF3, ITGAM, and PLAUR) were determined in visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissues. Our results showed that the gene expression of adipokines and inflammation-related markers was higher in the VAT and SAT of obese subjects compared with non-obese subjects. Regarding mental disorders, all the inflammatory genes in the VAT were significantly higher in non-obese subjects with anxiety or mood disorders than in subjects without mental disorders, except for TNF and ITGAM. Additionally, IL6 expression was significantly lower in SAT. In contrast, obese patients diagnosed with anxiety or mood disorders only showed significantly lower expression levels of IL1B in VAT and ADIPOQ in SAT when compared with obese subjects without mental disorders. These data suggest the potential involvement of VAT inflammation in anxiety and mood disorders, involving complex mechanisms which are strongly affected by obesity.

Separation of Plant 6-Phosphogluconate Dehydrogenase (6PGDH) Isoforms by Non-denaturing Gel Electrophoresis.

6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH; EC 1.1.1.44) catalyzes the third and irreversible reaction of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). It carries out the oxidative decarboxylation of the 6-phosphogluconate to yield ribulose-5-phosphate, carbon dioxide and NADPH. In higher plants, 6PGDH has several subcellular localizations including cytosol, chloroplast, mitochondria and peroxisomes ( Corpas et al., 1998 ; Krepinsky et al., 2001 ; Mateos et al., 2009 ; Fernández-Fernández and Corpas, 2016; Hölscher et al., 2016 ). Using Arabidopsis thaliana as plant model and sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruits as a plant with agronomical interest, this protocol illustrates how to prepare the plant extracts for the separation of the potential 6PGDH isoforms by electrophoresis on 6% polyacrylamide non-denaturing gels. Thus, this method allows detecting three 6PGDH isoforms in Arabidopsis seedlings and two 6PGDH isoforms in sweet pepper fruits.