Philippe Golay, Lilith Abrahamyan Empson, Nadir Mebdouhi, Caroline Conchon, Vincent Bonnarel, Philippe Conus, Luis Alameda
{"title":"Statistical implication analysis: a novel approach to understand the reciprocal relationships between outcomes in early psychosis.","authors":"Philippe Golay, Lilith Abrahamyan Empson, Nadir Mebdouhi, Caroline Conchon, Vincent Bonnarel, Philippe Conus, Luis Alameda","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001430","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0033291724001430","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients can respond differently to intervention in the early phase of psychosis. Diverse symptomatic and functional outcomes can be distinguished and achieving one outcome may mean achieving another, but not necessarily the other way round, which is difficult to disentangle with cross-sectional data. The present study's goal was to evaluate implicative relationships between diverse functional outcomes to better understand their reciprocal dependencies in a cross-sectional design, by using statistical implication analysis (SIA).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Early psychosis patients of an early intervention program were evaluated for different outcomes (symptomatic response, functional recovery, and working/living independently) after 36 months of treatment. To determine which positive outcomes implied other positive outcomes, SIA was conducted by using the Iota statistical implication index, a newly developed approach allowing to measure asymmetrical bidirectional relationships between outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Two hundred and nineteen recent onset patients with early psychosis were assessed. Results at the end of the three-years in TIPP showed that working independently statistically implied achieving all other outcomes. Symptomatic and functional recovery reciprocally implied one another. Living independently weakly implied symptomatic and functional recovery and did not imply independent working.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The concept of implication is an interesting way of evaluating dependencies between outcomes as it allows us to overcome the tendency to presume symmetrical relationships between them. We argue that a better understanding of reciprocal dependencies within psychopathology can provide an impetus to tailormade treatments and SIA is a useful tool to address this issue in cross-sectional designs.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496229/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154873","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}
Emily Kruger, Laura Hall, Anton P Martinez, Richard P Bentall
{"title":"Cognitive behavioral self-help interventions for individuals experiencing psychosis: a systematic review.","authors":"Emily Kruger, Laura Hall, Anton P Martinez, Richard P Bentall","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001545","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0033291724001545","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Little is known about the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) specific self-help for psychosis, given that CBT is a highly recommended treatment for psychosis. Thus, research has grown regarding CBT-specific self-help for psychosis, warranting an overall review of the literature. A systematic literature review was conducted, following a published protocol which can be found at: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/export_record_pdf.php. A search was conducted across Scopus, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science to identify relevant literature, exploring CBT-based self-help interventions for individuals experiencing psychosis. The PICO search strategy tool was used to generate search terms. A narrative synthesis was conducted of all papers, and papers were appraised for quality. Ten studies were included in the review. Seven papers found credible evidence to support the effectiveness of CBT-based self-help in reducing features of psychosis. Across the studies, common secondary outcomes included depression, overall psychological well-being, and daily functioning, all of which were also found to significantly improve following self-help intervention, as well as evidence to support its secondary benefit for depression, anxiety, overall well-being, and functioning. Due to methodological shortcomings, long-term outcomes are unclear.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496232/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154868","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}
{"title":"Adolescent internet use and symptoms of depression: a rejoinder.","authors":"Caroline Fitzpatrick","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724000412","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724000412","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154841","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}
Robyn E Wootton, Kyle Dack, Hannah J Jones, Lucy Riglin, Paul Madley-Dowd, Carolina Borges, Panagiota Pagoni, Christine Roth, Anne Lise Brantsæter, Elizabeth C Corfield, Camilla Stoltenberg, Anne-Siri Øyen, George Davey Smith, Helga Ask, Anita Thapar, Evie Stergiakouli, Alexandra Havdahl
{"title":"Testing maternal effects of vitamin-D and omega-3 levels on offspring neurodevelopmental traits in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study.","authors":"Robyn E Wootton, Kyle Dack, Hannah J Jones, Lucy Riglin, Paul Madley-Dowd, Carolina Borges, Panagiota Pagoni, Christine Roth, Anne Lise Brantsæter, Elizabeth C Corfield, Camilla Stoltenberg, Anne-Siri Øyen, George Davey Smith, Helga Ask, Anita Thapar, Evie Stergiakouli, Alexandra Havdahl","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001466","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0033291724001466","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Maternal vitamin-D and omega-3 fatty acid (DHA) deficiencies during pregnancy have previously been associated with offspring neurodevelopmental traits. However, observational study designs cannot distinguish causal effects from confounding.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>First, we conducted Mendelian randomisation (MR) using genetic instruments for vitamin-D and DHA identified in independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Outcomes were (1) GWAS for traits related to autism and ADHD, generated in the Norwegian mother, father, and child cohort study (MoBa) from 3 to 8 years, (2) autism and ADHD diagnoses. Second, we used mother-father-child trio-MR in MoBa (1) to test causal effects through maternal nutrient levels, (2) to test effects of child nutrient levels, and (3) as a paternal negative control.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Associations between higher maternal vitamin-D levels on lower ADHD related traits at age 5 did not remain after controlling for familial genetic predisposition using trio-MR. Furthermore, we did not find evidence for causal maternal effects of vitamin-D/DHA levels on other offspring traits or diagnoses. In the reverse direction, there was evidence for a causal effect of autism genetic predisposition on lower vitamin-D levels and of ADHD genetic predisposition on lower DHA levels.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Triangulating across study designs, we did not find evidence for maternal effects. We add to a growing body of evidence that suggests that previous observational associations are likely biased by genetic confounding. Consequently, maternal supplementation is unlikely to influence these offspring neurodevelopmental traits. Notably, genetic predisposition to ADHD and autism was associated with lower DHA and vitamin-D levels respectively, suggesting previous associations might have been due to reverse causation.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496238/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154874","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}
Liia M M Kivelä, Eiko I Fried, Willem van der Does, Niki Antypa
{"title":"Examining contemporaneous and temporal associations of real-time suicidal ideation using network analysis.","authors":"Liia M M Kivelä, Eiko I Fried, Willem van der Does, Niki Antypa","doi":"10.1017/S003329172400151X","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S003329172400151X","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Suicidal ideation arises from a complex interplay of multiple interacting risk factors over time. Recently, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has increased our understanding of factors associated with real-time suicidal ideation, as well as those predicting ideation at the level of hours and days. Here we used statistical network methods to investigate which cognitive-affective risk and protective factors are associated with the temporal dynamics of suicidal ideation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The SAFE study is a longitudinal cohort study of 82 participants with current suicidal ideation who completed 4×/day EMA over 21 days. We modeled contemporaneous (<i>t</i>) and temporal (<i>t +</i> 1) associations of three suicidal ideation components (passive ideation, active ideation, and acquired capability) and their predictors (positive and negative affect, anxiety, hopelessness, loneliness, burdensomeness, and optimism) using multilevel vector auto-regression models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Contemporaneously, passive suicidal ideation was positively associated with sadness, hopelessness, loneliness, and burdensomeness, and negatively with happiness, calmness, and optimism; active suicidal ideation was positively associated with passive suicidal ideation, sadness, and shame; and acquired capability only with passive and active suicidal ideation. Acquired capability and hopelessness positively predicted passive ideation at <i>t +</i> 1, which in turn predicted active ideation; acquired capability was positively predicted at <i>t +</i> 1 by shame, and negatively by burdensomeness.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings show that systematic real-time associations exist between suicidal ideation and its predictors, and that different factors may uniquely influence distinct components of ideation. These factors may represent important targets for safety planning and risk detection.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496231/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154870","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}
{"title":"Exposure to green spaces and schizophrenia: a systematic review.","authors":"Louise Marcham, Lyn Ellett","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001533","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0033291724001533","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The mental health benefits of exposure to green spaces are well known. This systematic review summarizes the evidence of green space exposure for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), focusing on incidence and mental health outcomes, including mental health symptoms and health service use. The study was pre-registered (PROSPERO ID: CRD42023431954), and conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Seven databases, reference lists, and gray literature sources were searched. Methodological quality was assessed using The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. 126 studies were screened, and 12 studies were eligible for inclusion. Seven studies found that exposure to green space was associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia (lowest to highest green space exposure: HRs = 0.62-0.37; IRRs = 1.52-1.18), with five studies reporting a dose-response relationship. Of these studies, four examined childhood exposure and the remainder examined adult exposure. Regarding health service use, proximity to green space was not significantly associated with length of hospital admission, though greater green space exposure was associated with reduced hospital admission rates. Three studies found reduced symptoms of anxiety (<i>d</i> = -0.70-2.42), depression (<i>d</i> = -0.97-1.70) and psychosis (<i>d</i> = -0.94) with greater green space exposure. Exposure to green space reduces the risk of schizophrenia, and there is emerging evidence of the potential benefits of green space for reducing symptoms and health service use among people with SSDs. Future research using experimental and longitudinal designs will provide more robust evidence of the benefits of green space for people with SSDs.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496216/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154871","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}
Gil Shner-Livne, Nadav Barak, Ido Shitrit, Rany Abend, Tomer Shechner
{"title":"Late positive potential reveals sustained threat contingencies despite extinction in adolescents but not adults.","authors":"Gil Shner-Livne, Nadav Barak, Ido Shitrit, Rany Abend, Tomer Shechner","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724001314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Major theories link threat learning processes to anxiety symptoms, which typically emerge during adolescence. While this developmental stage is marked by substantial maturation of the neural circuity involved in threat learning, research directly examining adolescence-specific patterns of neural responding during threat learning is scarce. This study compared adolescents and adults in acquisition and extinction of conditioned threat responses assessed at the cognitive, psychophysiological, and neural levels, focusing on the late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) component indexing emotional valence.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Sixty-five adults and 63 adolescents completed threat acquisition and extinction, 24 h apart, using the bell conditioning paradigm. Self-reported fear, skin conductance responses (SCR), and ERPs were measured.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Developmental differences emerged in neural and psychophysiological responses during threat acquisition, with adolescents displaying heightened LPP responses to threat and safety cues as well as heightened threat-specific SCR compared to adults. During extinction, SCR suggested comparable reduction in conditioned threat responses across groups, while LPP revealed incomplete extinction only among adolescents. Finally, age moderated the link between anxiety severity and LPP-assessed extinction, whereby greater anxiety severity was associated with reduced extinction among younger participants.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In line with developmental theories, adolescence is characterized by a specific age-related difficulty adapting to diminishing emotional significance of prior threats, contributing to heightened vulnerability to anxiety symptoms. Further, LPP appears to be sensitive to developmental differences in threat learning and may thus potentially serve as a useful biomarker in research on adolescents, threat learning, and anxiety.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142140898","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}
Yingying Wang, Clara Miguel, Marketa Ciharova, Arpana Amarnath, Jingyuan Lin, Ruiying Zhao, Marieke B J Toffolo, Sascha Y Struijs, Leonore M de Wit, Pim Cuijpers
{"title":"The effectiveness of psychological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials published over last 30 years.","authors":"Yingying Wang, Clara Miguel, Marketa Ciharova, Arpana Amarnath, Jingyuan Lin, Ruiying Zhao, Marieke B J Toffolo, Sascha Y Struijs, Leonore M de Wit, Pim Cuijpers","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724001375","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although numerous studies have examined the effects of psychological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), their overall effectiveness remains unclear. We aimed to estimate their overall effect by combining all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing psychological treatments to control groups for OCD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a meta-analysis of 48 RCTs with 55 comparisons published between 1992 and 1 January 2023. The primary outcome was OCD symptom severity, with Hedges' g calculated at post-treatment and follow-up. Random-effects models were employed for all analyses, and the risk of bias was assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In general, psychological treatments demonstrated a significantly large effect (<i>g</i> = -1.14; 95% CI [-1.31 to -0.97]; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 72.23%) on reducing OCD symptom severity post-treatment, this finding remained consistent across measures and after excluding outliers, but lost significance in the sensitivity analysis for only studies with low risk of bias. Type of treatment, control group and treatment format were associated with treatment effects. Moreover, more severe baseline OCD symptom severity predicted higher degree of treatment efficacy. No significant differences were observed in dropout rates between the treatment and control groups. Treatment effects lost significance at 3-6 and 6-12 month follow-ups. 87% of RCTs were rated at high risk of bias.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Psychological treatments are effective in reducing OCD symptom severity. However, caution should be exercised when interpreting these results due to the high heterogeneity and risk of bias across RCTs. Future studies with more rigorous methodology are required, as well as studies examining their long-term effectiveness.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142140900","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}
Jae Oh Lee, Hyeri Moon, Soo-Min Zoh, Eunjin Jo, Ji-Won Hur
{"title":"Neural correlates of reward valuation in individuals with nonsuicidal self-injury under uncertainty.","authors":"Jae Oh Lee, Hyeri Moon, Soo-Min Zoh, Eunjin Jo, Ji-Won Hur","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001363","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0033291724001363","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Attitudes toward risk and ambiguity significantly influence how individuals assess and value rewards. This fMRI study examines the reward valuation process under conditions of uncertainty and investigates the associated neural mechanisms in individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a coping mechanism for psychological pain.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study involved 44 unmedicated individuals who reported five or more NSSI episodes in the past year, along with 42 age-, sex-, handedness-, IQ-, and socioeconomic status-matched controls. During the fMRI scans, all participants were presented with decision-making scenarios involving uncertainty, both in terms of risk (known probabilities) and ambiguity (unknown probabilities).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the NSSI group, aversive attitudes toward ambiguity were correlated with increased emotion reactivity and greater method versatility. Whole-brain analysis revealed notable group-by-condition interactions in the right middle cingulate cortex and left hippocampus. Specifically, the NSSI group showed decreased neural activation under ambiguity <i>v.</i> risk compared to the control group. Moreover, reduced hippocampal activation under ambiguity in the NSSI group was associated with increased emotion regulation problems.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study presents the first evidence of reduced brain activity in specific regions during value-based decision-making under conditions of ambiguity in individuals with NSSI. These findings have important clinical implications, particularly concerning emotion dysregulation in this population. This study indicates the need for interventions that support and guide individuals with NSSI to promote adaptive decision-making in the face of ambiguous uncertainty.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142140899","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}
Hsing-Chang Ni, Yi-Lung Chen, Meng-Ying Hsieh, Chen-Te Wu, Rou-Shayn Chen, Chi-Hung Juan, Cheng-Ta Li, Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Hsiang-Yuan Lin
{"title":"Improving social cognition following theta burst stimulation over the right inferior frontal gyrus in autism spectrum: an 8-week double-blind sham-controlled trial.","authors":"Hsing-Chang Ni, Yi-Lung Chen, Meng-Ying Hsieh, Chen-Te Wu, Rou-Shayn Chen, Chi-Hung Juan, Cheng-Ta Li, Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Hsiang-Yuan Lin","doi":"10.1017/S0033291724001387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724001387","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) is a potential beneficial brain stimulation target for autism. This randomized, double-blind, two-arm, parallel-group, sham-controlled clinical trial assessed the efficacy of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) over the RIFG in reducing autistic symptoms (NCT04987749).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Conducted at a single medical center, the trial enrolled 60 intellectually able autistic individuals (aged 8-30 years; 30 active iTBS). The intervention comprised 16 sessions (two stimulations per week for eight weeks) of neuro-navigated iTBS or sham over the RIFG. Fifty-seven participants (28 active) completed the intervention and assessments at Week 8 (the primary endpoint) and follow-up at Week 12.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Autistic symptoms (primary outcome) based on the Social Responsiveness Scale decreased in both groups (significant time effect), but there was no significant difference between groups (null time-by-treatment interaction). Likewise, there was no significant between-group difference in changes in repetitive behaviors and exploratory outcomes of adaptive function and emotion dysregulation. Changes in social cognition (secondary outcome) differed between groups in feeling scores on the Frith-Happe Animations (Week 8, <i>p</i> = 0.026; Week 12, <i>p</i> = 0.025). Post-hoc analysis showed that the active group improved better on this social cognition than the sham group. Dropout rates did not vary between groups; the most common adverse event in both groups was local pain. Notably, our findings would not survive stringent multiple comparison corrections.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings suggest that iTBS over the RIFG is not different from sham in reducing autistic symptoms and emotion dysregulation. Nonetheless, RIFG iTBS may improve social cognition of mentalizing others' feelings in autistic individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":20891,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142140897","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}