{"title":"Breastfeeding and Postpartum Depression: A Review of Relationships and Potential Mechanisms.","authors":"Erin J Henshaw","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01471-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01471-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Postpartum depression (PPD) and breastfeeding are important, interrelated health factors. It is established that women who breastfeed exclusively have lowered likelihood of developing significant PPD. Yet, many questions remain around what factors are involved. The purpose of this review is to provide updated information about the relationship between PPD and breastfeeding.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Both psychological and physiological factors have emerged as important moderators and mechanisms of the relationship between postpartum depression and breastfeeding. Breastfeeding self-efficacy, self-compassion, and engagement with the infant during feeding all modify or mediate the relationship, and a complex dynamic relationship among cortisol, oxytocin, progesterone, and estrogen is involved. Importantly, recent intervention studies suggest psychosocial interventions may impact both breastfeeding and mood. Providers and researchers should recognize the interrelationship between the breastfeeding and PPD and apply this understanding to patient care through integrated education and care for both mood and breastfeeding enhancement.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71421619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Betty Pfefferbaum, Phebe Tucker, Vijayabharathi Ekambaram, Richard L Van Horn
{"title":"Children's Sleep and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Betty Pfefferbaum, Phebe Tucker, Vijayabharathi Ekambaram, Richard L Van Horn","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01475-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01475-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic and protracted home confinement required adjustments to schedules and routines generating concern about children's sleep. This review describes general considerations regarding children's sleep, changes and disturbances in their sleep during the pandemic, and the association of sleep measures with health and psychological outcomes in general and in the context of the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>A number of studies found an increase in the duration of children's sleep with later bedtimes and waketimes for some children. The research also documented sleep disturbances and associations between children's sleep and psychological outcomes. The extent to which increased sleep duration and changed sleep behaviors translated into improved sleep quality and/or a change in sleep disturbances remains unclear. This review suggests the importance of considering children's sleep in other mass trauma situations including, for example, natural and man-made disasters, as well as pandemics.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92153146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Media Use and Youth Mental Health: Intervention-Focused Future Directions.","authors":"Jane Harness, Sarah E Domoff, Heide Rollings","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01476-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01476-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>The purpose of this review is to highlight the challenges related to the study of the relationship between social media use and youth mental health and propose a path forward in intervention-focused research.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Recent findings relay the need to conceptualize the effects of social media use on youth mental health in a nuanced way. Unique, discrete social media experiences may either contribute to an individual's well-being, ill-being, or both. Social media use may contribute to well-being for one person, but ill-being for another. Similarly, social media use may contribute to well-being for one person at one point in their life but then contribute to ill-being at a different point in their life. As such, it is difficult to make broad overarching conclusions about this incredibly nuanced relationship. Intervention-focused research include authors' plans to create a social media single session intervention (SSI) designed to promote insight about social media's effects on well- or ill-being, as well as self-efficacy and knowledge to make changes to social media use.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138440402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Art Therapy Interventions for Syrian Child and Adolescent Refugees: Enhancing Mental Well-being and Resilience.","authors":"Anies Al-Hroub","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01474-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01474-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>This critical review primarily aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of recent studies conducted within the past 3 years, with a specific focus on the use of art therapy within Syrian child and adolescent refugee populations. The central objective of this inquiry is to explore the impact of art therapy interventions and provide critical insights into their effectiveness in enhancing the mental well-being and resilience of these young refugees.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Recent research conducted within the past 3 years highlights the effectiveness of art therapy as an intervention strategy within Syrian child and adolescent refugee populations. These studies emphasize that art therapy offers a safe and supportive space for these young refugees to express emotions, process trauma, and improve their psychological well-being. It has shown promise in mitigating trauma-related challenges and fostering resilience among this group of refugee populations. Furthermore, art therapy plays a crucial role in preserving cultural identities and has proven to be versatile and adaptable to various artistic modalities. These findings underscore the potential of art therapy as a valuable tool for supporting the mental well-being and resilience of Syrian children and adolescent refugees, warranting further exploration and integration into their care and support programs. Recent studies on the use of art therapy within Syrian child and adolescent refugee communities reveal its potential as a powerful intervention strategy for enhancing mental well-being and resilience in this vulnerable population. The review identifies six key themes, highlighting the therapeutic benefits and versatility of art therapy. As we move forward, these findings offer promising future directions for research and practice in art therapy with this specific group of refugees, emphasizing the need for continued exploration and integration of this approach in supporting Syrian child and adolescent refugees.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71520780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interpersonal Factors, Peer Relationship Stressors, and Gender Differences in Adolescent Depression.","authors":"Julia R Potter, K Lira Yoon","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01465-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01465-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Compared to boys, girls value close relationships more. Thus, heightened affiliative proclivities may serve as a particularly salient psychosocial risk factor for depression in adolescent girls. The purpose of this review is to examine whether the preponderance of depression in girls is because of gender differences in interpersonal vulnerabilities and peer relationship stressors and/or in the associations between these factors and depression.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Girls (vs. boys) exhibit higher levels of co-rumination and affective empathy, but not excessive reassurance-seeking. The prevalence of different forms of peer relationship stressors (e.g., peer victimization) varies by gender depending on the specific type. Evidence is mixed regarding gender differences in the association between peer victimization and depression. Gender differences in the association between peer victimization and depression not only depend on peer victimization subtype but also on the country. Most studies were conducted in non-clinical samples, highlighting the need for future research to assess major depressive disorder (not just depressive symptoms). Future research should also assess interpersonal factors (e.g., co-rumination) and peer relationship stressors together.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41105797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Tools in the Service of Peer and Social Support for Perinatal Mental Health.","authors":"Amit Baumel","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01464-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01464-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>This study is critically evaluating the current status of digital tools for perinatal mental health, specifically focusing on how these tools can enhance peer and social support.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Digital tools could be used to: (1) identify individuals in need and guide them towards appropriate human-supportive care; (2) autonomously train and allocate peers to aid women experiencing perinatal mental health challenges; and (3) amplify support from their natural social network. Despite clear evidence supporting the significance of social support for perinatal mental health, there is a dearth of studies on digital tools aimed at boosting such support, leaving a gap in the evidence. Findings underscore the necessity of developing digital initiatives that explicitly aim to augment social support as an active ingredient of therapeutic change for women's perinatal mental health. To establish clear evidence of digital tools' value in providing digital peer-support, further development and research are indispensable.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41108237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daisy R Singla, Katarina A Savel, Jessica F Magidson, Simone N Vigod, Cindy-Lee Dennis
{"title":"The Role of Peer Providers to Scale Up Psychological Treatments for Perinatal Populations Worldwide.","authors":"Daisy R Singla, Katarina A Savel, Jessica F Magidson, Simone N Vigod, Cindy-Lee Dennis","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01459-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01459-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Psychological treatments remain largely inaccessible to perinatal populations despite their robust effectiveness. This gap is partly due to the limited number of available treatment providers. In this review, we critically evaluate recent literature on task-sharing to peer providers and propose future directions.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>There is a growing evidence base demonstrating that peer providers can effectively deliver psychological treatments for perinatal populations, as well as engage in processes critical to quality assurance, such as measurement-based peer supervision. Findings have also highlighted some benefits of peers over licensed healthcare providers, such as enhanced collaborative relationships, reduced stigma, provision of social comparisons, and increased accessibility. Peer providers may be one solution to improve access to psychological treatments for perinatal populations. However, there is a need to address clinical, professional, and health-system level barriers to effectively leverage this cadre of treatment providers.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41194368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jill Lobbestael, Ghizlane Slaoui, Mario Gollwitzer
{"title":"Sadism and Personality Disorders.","authors":"Jill Lobbestael, Ghizlane Slaoui, Mario Gollwitzer","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01466-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01466-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Sadistic pleasure-the enjoyment of harm-infliction to others-can have devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The goal of the current review is to illuminate the nomological net of traits related to sadism. We aim to achieve an understanding of the current empirical status on the link between sadism and personality disorders, psychopathy, the Dark Triad, and basic personality traits in clinical and community-based samples.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>The field is dominated by self-report studies on the Dark Triad with convenience samples. The link with DSM personality disorders has hardly been empirically studied. Existing evidence shows that sadism is most strongly related to increased psychopathic personality traits. Sadism can originate both from the interpersonal, affective, and behavioural basis of dark personality traits. There are diverging ideas on the differential status between sadism, psychopathy, and other dark traits. Research is needed on the causal impact of the broader range of personality disorders on sadism, in more diverse samples, including behavioural assessments of sadistic pleasure, as well as on the interplay of such personality traits with situational and affective aspects, and victim attitudes.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10654167/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49675434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bodyl A Brand, Elske J M Willemse, Iris M H Hamers, Iris E Sommer
{"title":"Evidence-Based Recommendations for the Pharmacological Treatment of Women with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.","authors":"Bodyl A Brand, Elske J M Willemse, Iris M H Hamers, Iris E Sommer","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01460-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01460-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Despite clear evidence that sex differences largely impact the efficacy and tolerability of antipsychotic medication, current treatment guidelines for schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) do not differentiate between men and women. This review summarizes the available evidence on strategies that may improve pharmacotherapy for women and provides evidence-based recommendations to optimize treatment for women with schizophrenia.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>We systematically searched PubMed and Embase for peer-reviewed studies on three topics: (1) sex differences in dose-adjusted antipsychotic serum concentrations, (2) hormonal augmentation therapy with estrogen and estrogen-like compounds to improve symptom severity, and (3) strategies to reduce antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. Based on three database studies and one RCT, we found higher dose-adjusted concentrations in women compared to men for most antipsychotics. For quetiapine, higher concentrations were specifically found in older women. Based on two recent meta-analyses, both estrogen and raloxifene improved overall symptomatology. Most consistent findings were found for raloxifene augmentation in postmenopausal women. No studies evaluated the effects of estrogenic contraceptives on symptoms. Based on two meta-analyses and one RCT, adjunctive aripiprazole was the best-studied and safest strategy for lowering antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. Evidence-based recommendations for female-specific pharmacotherapy for SSD consist of (1) female-specific dosing for antipsychotics (guided by therapeutic drug monitoring), (2) hormonal replacement with raloxifene in postmenopausal women, and (3) aripiprazole addition as best evidenced option in case of antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. Combining these strategies could reduce side effects and improve outcome of women with SSD, which should be confirmed in future longitudinal RCTs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10654163/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49675433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medard K Adu, Belinda Agyapong, Vincent I O Agyapong
{"title":"Children's Psychological Reactions to Wildfires: a Review of Recent Literature.","authors":"Medard K Adu, Belinda Agyapong, Vincent I O Agyapong","doi":"10.1007/s11920-023-01451-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11920-023-01451-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>This review aims to synthesize currently available literature regarding the impact of wildfire on mental health, specifically the psychological reactions of children to wildfires. The information gathered from this review will help health experts understand and address the mental health needs of children during wildfire disasters and may serve as a base for future studies to evaluate evidence-based public health responses to mitigate adverse outcomes.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>The results identified post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, stress, alcohol/substance misuse, hopelessness, low resilience, reduced quality of life, and self-esteem as the psychological conditions manifesting in children and adolescent post-wildfire disaster. PTSD was the most evaluated psychological reaction in the participants (7 out of eight studies). This review highlights that deleterious mental health effects, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicidality, can persist in children for years post-wildfire disaster. Factors such as gender, direct exposure to the wildfire, re-traumatization, and resilience informed or ameliorated the severity of the impact of wildfire on children and adolescents. Our findings further emphasize the need for multi-year funding and programs to support children and adolescents' mental health, including children with disabilities in the communities that have experienced wildfire disasters.</p>","PeriodicalId":11057,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41233177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}