Search

BackgroundPsychiatry is nearly entirely reliant on patient self-reporting, and there are few objective and reliable tests or sources of collateral information available to help diagnostic and assessment procedures. Technology offers opportunities to collect objective digital data to complement patient experience and facilitate more informed treatment decisions. ObjectiveWe aimed to develop computational algorithms based on internet search activity designed to support diagnostic procedures and relapse identification in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. MethodsWe extracted 32,733 time-stamped search queries across 42 participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 74 healthy volunteers between the ages of 15 and 35 (mean 24.4 years, 44.0% male), and built machine-learning diagnostic and relapse classifiers utilizing the timing, frequency, and content of online search activity. ResultsClassifiers predicted a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders with an area under the curve value of 0.74 and predicted a psychotic relapse in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders with an area under the curve of 0.71. Compared with healthy participants, those with schizophrenia spectrum disorders made fewer searches and their searches consisted of fewer words. Prior to a relapse hospitalization, participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were more likely to use words related to hearing, perception, and anger, and were less likely to use words related to health. ConclusionsOnline search activity holds promise for gathering objective and easily accessed indicators of psychiatric symptoms. Utilizing search activity as collateral behavioral health information would represent a major advancement in efforts to capitalize on objective digital data to improve mental health monitoring.

BackgroundRecent research has emphasized the need for accessing information about patients to augment mental health patients’ verbal reports in clinical settings. Although it has not been introduced in clinical settings, computational linguistic analysis on social media has proved it can infer mental health attributes, implying a potential use as collateral information at the point of care. To realize this potential and make social media insights actionable to clinical decision making, the gaps between computational linguistic analysis on social media and the current work practices of mental health clinicians must be bridged. ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify information derived from patients’ social media data that can benefit clinicians and to develop a set of design implications, via a series of low-fidelity (lo-fi) prototypes, on how to deliver the information at the point of care. MethodsA team of clinical researchers and human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers conducted a long-term co-design activity for over 6 months. The needs-affordances analysis framework was used to refine the clinicians’ potential needs, which can be supported by patients’ social media data. On the basis of those identified needs, the HCI researchers iteratively created 3 different lo-fi prototypes. The prototypes were shared with both groups of researchers via a videoconferencing software for discussion and feedback. During the remote meetings, potential clinical utility, potential use of the different prototypes in a treatment setting, and areas of improvement were discussed. ResultsOur first prototype was a card-type interface that supported treatment goal tracking. Each card included attribute levels: depression, anxiety, social activities, alcohol, and drug use. This version confirmed what types of information are helpful but revealed the need for a glanceable dashboard that highlights the trends of these information. As a result, we then developed the second prototype, an interface that shows the clinical state and trend. We found that focusing more on the changes since the last visit without visual representation can be more compatible with clinicians’ work practices. In addition, the second phase of needs-affordances analysis identified 3 categories of information relevant to patients with schizophrenia: symptoms related to psychosis, symptoms related to mood and anxiety, and social functioning. Finally, we developed the third prototype, a clinical summary dashboard that showed changes from the last visit in plain texts and contrasting colors. ConclusionsThis exploratory co-design research confirmed that mental health attributes inferred from patients’ social media data can be useful for clinicians, although it also revealed a gap between computational social media analyses and clinicians’ expectations and conceptualizations of patients’ mental health states. In summary, the iterative co-design process crystallized design directions for the future interface, including how we can organize and provide symptom-related information in a way that minimizes the clinicians’ workloads.

Author(s): Michelle Chao [sup.1] [sup.2] , Jun Min Koay [sup.1] [sup.3] , Anna Van Meter [sup.1] [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.268433.8, 0000 0004 1936 7638, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, [...], Previous research has examined how mood affects individuals' judgment. Our study aims to extend this research to evaluate the influence of mood on judgment in vivo. Using a smartphone-based design, we prompted participants (N = 103) three times a day to rate their mood and perform one of three judgment tasks three times a day for one week: (1) evaluate their self-efficacy on a word unscrambling task, (2) identify face emotions, or (3) judge risk by pumping virtual balloons. Our results showed that, contrary to our hypotheses, mood did not have a significant effect on the judgments individuals made. Prior task performance and task trial were significant predictors of self-efficacy; sex and task trial were associated with face emotion recognition; and balloons popped the day prior, and task trial influenced how individuals evaluated risk. The in vivo design of this study is a novel and more ecologically valid than some earlier work, but it is not without limitations, including the self-reported nature of mood, and potential for unmeasured third variable effects. This research raises questions about the validity of lab-based studies of the relation between mood and judgment, and shows the capacity of in vivo research and technology to challenge and enhance our understanding of how mood influences behavior.

ObjectiveMost studies of pediatric bipolar disorder (BP) combine youth who have manic symptoms, but do not meet criteria for BP I/II, into one "not otherwise specified" (NOS) group. Consequently, little is known about how youth with cyclothymic disorder (CycD) differ from youth with BP NOS. The objective of this study was to determine whether youth with a research diagnosis of CycD (RDCyc) differ from youth with operationalized BP NOS.MethodParticipants from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study were evaluated to determine whether they met RDCyc criteria. Characteristics of RDCyc youth and BP NOS youth were compared at baseline, and over eight-years follow-up.ResultsOf 154 youth (average age 11.96 (3.3), 42% female), 29 met RDCyc criteria. RDCyc youth were younger (p = .04) at baseline. Over follow-up, RDCyc youth were more likely to have a disruptive behavior disorder (p = .01), and were more likely to experience irritability (p = .03), mood reactivity (p = .02), and rejection sensitivity (p = .03). BP NOS youth were more likely to develop hypomania (p = .02), or depression (p = .02), and tended to have mood episodes earlier in the eight-year follow-up period.LimitationsRDCyc diagnoses were made retrospectively and followed stringent criteria, which may highlight differences that, under typical clinical conditions and more vague criteria, would not be evident.ConclusionThere were few differences between RDCyc and BP NOS youth. However, the ways in which the groups diverged could have implications; chronic subsyndromal mood symptoms may portend a severe, but ultimately non-bipolar, course. Longer follow-up is necessary to determine the trajectory and outcomes of CycD symptoms.

ObjectivesOver the past two decades, there has been tremendous growth in research regarding bipolar disorder (BD) among children and adolescents (ie, pediatric BD [PBD]). The primary purpose of this article is to distill the extant literature, dispel myths or exaggerated assertions in the field, and disseminate clinically relevant findings.MethodsAn international group of experts completed a selective review of the literature, emphasizing areas of consensus, identifying limitations and gaps in the literature, and highlighting future directions to mitigate these gaps.ResultsSubstantial, and increasingly international, research has accumulated regarding the phenomenology, differential diagnosis, course, treatment, and neurobiology of PBD. Prior division around the role of irritability and of screening tools in diagnosis has largely abated. Gold-standard pharmacologic trials inform treatment of manic/mixed episodes, whereas fewer data address bipolar depression and maintenance/continuation treatment. Adjunctive psychosocial treatment provides a forum for psychoeducation and targets primarily depressive symptoms. Numerous neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies, and increasing peripheral biomarker studies, largely converge with prior findings from adults with BD.ConclusionsAs data have accumulated and controversy has dissipated, the field has moved past existential questions about PBD toward defining and pursuing pressing clinical and scientific priorities that remain. The overall body of evidence supports the position that perceptions about marked international (US vs elsewhere) and developmental (pediatric vs adult) differences have been overstated, although additional research on these topics is warranted. Traction toward improved outcomes will be supported by continued emphasis on pathophysiology and novel therapeutics.

The article discusses the importance of psychological interventions in treating bipolar disorder (BD) alongside medication. It highlights various evidence-based psychological interventions such as psychoeducation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and family-focused therapy (FFT) that have shown positive outcomes in managing BD. The paper emphasizes the need for personalized treatment plans based on individual needs and stages of the disorder, as well as the challenges of accessing evidence-based psychological interventions globally due to factors like awareness, availability, and affordability. The authors recommend large-scale efforts to develop and implement psychological interventions for BD, optimize treatments based on treatment moderators, and work towards equitable access to these interventions worldwide. [Extracted from the article]

Patients' race and age have each been identified as risk factors for experiencing restraint events during psychiatric hospitalization. Restraint duration is also an important variable in determining disparities in treatment. To the authors' knowledge, no studies to date have examined the effect of the interaction of race and age on restraint use and duration in inpatient psychiatric settings. This retrospective chart review of electronic medical records of patients admitted between 2012 and 2019 sought to examine whether race and age interacted in predicting differences in the use and duration of restraints in a psychiatric inpatient setting. Logistic and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on data from a sample of 29,739 adolescent (ages 12–17 years) and adult (ages ≥18 years) inpatients to determine whether the interaction of race and age group (adolescent or adult) significantly predicted a restraint event or differences in restraint duration. Black (adjusted OR [AOR]=1.85) and multiracial (AOR=1.36) patients were more likely to experience a restraint event than were their White peers. Black race was also significantly (p=0.001) associated with longer restraint duration. No significant interaction was detected between race and age in predicting restraint events or duration. Although the interaction between race and age did not predict restraint events or duration, the findings indicate racial disparities in the frequency and duration of restraint events among Black and multiracial individuals and may inform efforts to reduce these events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DSM-IV-TR defines four subtypes of bipolar disorder (BP): bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymic disorder and bipolar not otherwise specified (NOS). However, cyclothymic disorder in children is rarely researched, or often subsumed in an "NOS" category. The present study tests the replicability of findings from an earlier study, and expands on the criterion validity of cyclothymic disorder in youth. Using the Robins and Guze (1970) framework we examined the validity of cyclothymic disorder as a subtype of BP. Using a youth (ages 5-17) outpatient clinical sample (N = 894), participants with cyclothymic disorder (n = 53) were compared to participants with other BP spectrum disorders (n = 399) and to participants with non-bipolar disorders (n = 442). Analyses tested differences in youth with cyclothymic disorder and bipolar disorder not otherwise specified who do, and those who do not, have a parent with BP. Compared to youth with non-bipolar disorders, youth with cyclothymic disorder had higher irritability (p less than 0.001), more comorbidity (p less than 0.001), greater sleep disturbance (p less than 0.005), and were more likely to have a family history of BP (p less than 0.001). Cyclothymic disorder was associated with a younger age of onset compared to depression (p less than 0.001) and bipolar II (p = 0.05). Parental BP status was not significantly associated with any variables. Results support that cyclothymic disorder belongs on the bipolar spectrum. Epidemiological studies indicate that cyclothymic disorder is not uncommon and involves significant impairment. Failing to differentiate between cyclothymic disorder and bipolar NOS limits our knowledge about a significant proportion of cases of bipolarity.