Cannabis use and familial vulnerability to psychosis have been associated with social cognition deficits. This study examined the potential relationship between cannabis use and cognitive biases underlying social cognition and functioning in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP), their siblings, and controls.

We analyzed a sample of 543 participants with FEP, 203 siblings, and 1168 controls from the EU-GEI study using a correlational design. We used logistic regression analyses to examine the influence of clinical group, lifetime cannabis use frequency, and potency of cannabis use on cognitive biases, accounting for demographic and cognitive variables.

FEP patients showed increased odds of facial recognition processing (FRP) deficits (OR = 1.642, CI 1.123–2.402) relative to controls but not of speech illusions (SI) or jumping to conclusions (JTC) bias, with no statistically significant differences relative to siblings. Daily and occasional lifetime cannabis use were associated with decreased odds of SI (OR = 0.605, CI 0.368–0.997 and OR = 0.646, CI 0.457–0.913 respectively) and JTC bias (OR = 0.625, CI 0.422–0.925 and OR = 0.602, CI 0.460–0.787 respectively) compared with lifetime abstinence, but not with FRP deficits, in the whole sample. Within the cannabis user group, low-potency cannabis use was associated with increased odds of SI (OR = 1.829, CI 1.297–2.578, FRP deficits (OR = 1.393, CI 1.031–1.882, and JTC (OR = 1.661, CI 1.271–2.171) relative to high-potency cannabis use, with comparable effects in the three clinical groups.

Our findings suggest increased odds of cognitive biases in FEP patients who have never used cannabis and in low-potency users. Future studies should elucidate this association and its potential implications.

Psychotherapy serves as the foundation of care for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), with pharmacotherapy being regarded as a supplementary measure to be considered when necessary. In clinical practice, however, most of BPD patients receive medication.

A major problem in the treatment of BPD is the lack of compliance derived from the pathological impulsivity of BPD patients. The use of long-acting antipsychotics (LAI) may be an option.

This work aims to address the use of long-acting injectables in borderline personality disorder.

Non-systematic review of literature using the PubMed ® database, based on terms “Borderline Personality Disorder” and “Long-acting antipsychotics”. Only six articles were found.

Several studies have shown promising results in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics. A six-month study using IM risperidone demonstrated significant improvement, while LAI Aripiprazole also exhibited positive outcomes in individuals with BPD and Substance Abuse. Additionally, Palomares et al. (2015) found that palmitate paliperidone LAI reduced impulsive-disruptive behaviors and enhanced overall functioning in BPD patients. Carmona et al. (2021) compared oral and LAI antipsychotics and concluded that LAIs may have a role to play in the management of BPD.

Treatment with LAIs may play an important role in clinical and functional improvement in BPD patients.

None Declared

Humanistic studies applied to the health-illness clinic go beyond explaining cause-effect relationships among disease phenomena, treatments, and preventions. Qualitative research aims to understand symbolic relationships built in life experiences among the manifestations and the people. How to act in front of a person whose physical appearance and odour can be unpleasant, such as in the HNC - Head Neck Cancer? Or whose life history may have been marked by deviant behaviours and negligence in self-care?

To interpret emotional meanings attributed through open interviews conducted with relatives about the domestic care of patients with HNC under clinical treatment.

Sample composed of family caregivers of patients with HNC, sent sequentially by colleagues from the clinical service who were informed of the research. The study used the Clinical-Qualitative Method (Turato. Portuguese Psychos. J, 2000 2(1): 93-108). Semi-Directed Interview with Open-ended Questions In-Depth and Field Notes was used for data collection. The employ of the Seven Steps of the Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis (Faria-Schützer et al. Cien Saude Colet. 2021; 26(1): 265-274) has permitted the understanding of the topics. Sample closed with 12 persons according to the information saturation strategy (Fontanella et al. Cad Saude Publica. 2008; 24(1): 17-27), conducted by the first author, a female psychologist. To interpret the empirical material, we use Medical/Health Psychology, the psychodynamics of relationships of the Balintian framework, disease and illness while modes of un-health, psychic defence mechanisms against anguish. Validation by peers from the Lab of Clinical-Qualitative Research Laboratory, at the State University of Campinas.

For this presentation, we listed three categories from the free-floating re-readings: (1) Certain need to recognize the care provided as a handling strategy with effort, putting in this ‘validation’ their relief regarding natural suffering of the care process; (2) Caregiver’s psychological fantasies of omnipotence in the care process, frequently perceiving the reality a phenomenologically and necessarily distorted by the caregiver. (3) Moments of impotence feeling in front of the finitude reality that it knows will arrive.

The family caregivers can present certain emotional defences, such as subtle magical thinking, in which they distort the reality experienced as a management strategy and validation of their care. They act so to alleviate their psychological and existential suffering. Group meetings with family members to talk openly about the difficulties on the psychological management of patients with HNC, coordinated by a psychotherapist, are effective as a space for creativity in daily management at home and a space for catharsis.

None Declared

The population ageing is a reality associated with an increase in prevalence of Dementia. The use of benzodiazepines is often postulated as a risk factor in these syndromes.

Contrary to recommendations for its short-time use, long-term and chronic use are common, with an estimated 8,7% of elderly people in the US taking benzodiazepines.

To clarify the most recent evidence on the use of benzodiazepines and the risk of developing dementia.

Non-systematic review of literature, using PubMed as database and filtering the results for meta-analysis.

Four articles were included in this review.

Zhong G et al. concluded that risk of dementia increased in consumers of benzodiazepines and it was associated with higher doses.

In turn, AlDawasari A et al., when trying to clarify the use of different sedative-hypnotic drugs, found and increased risk with the consumption of benzodiazepines. After exclusion of articles with confounders and adjustment for protopathic bias, the risk was not maintained.

Lucchetta RC et al. concluded that the risk exists but without inferring differences between doses or duration of action.

Finally, Penninkilampi R e Eslick GD investigated this association, after controlling for the protopathic bias, concluding, contrary to AlDawasari et al., that the association benzodiazepines consumption and dementia do not result from this bias.

We cannot draw robust and concrete conclusions between benzodiazepines consumption and the pathogenesis of dementia because not only is the literature limited, but results are also heterogeneous.

However, these prescriptions must be carried out cautiously, especially in the elderly, due to the known adverse effects associated with them.

None Declared

We examined whether cannabis use contributes to the increased risk of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities in Europe.

We used data from the EU-GEI study (collected at sites in Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) on 825 first-episode patients and 1026 controls. We estimated the odds ratio (OR) of psychotic disorder for several groups of migrants compared with the local reference population, without and with adjustment for measures of cannabis use.

The OR of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities, adjusted for age, sex, and recruitment area, was 1.80 (95% CI 1.39–2.33). Further adjustment of this OR for frequency of cannabis use had a minimal effect: OR = 1.81 (95% CI 1.38–2.37). The same applied to adjustment for frequency of use of high-potency cannabis. Likewise, adjustments of ORs for most sub-groups of non-western countries had a minimal effect. There were two exceptions. For the Black Caribbean group in London, after adjustment for frequency of use of high-potency cannabis the OR decreased from 2.45 (95% CI 1.25–4.79) to 1.61 (95% CI 0.74–3.51). Similarly, the OR for Surinamese and Dutch Antillean individuals in Amsterdam decreased after adjustment for daily use: from 2.57 (95% CI 1.07–6.15) to 1.67 (95% CI 0.62–4.53).

The contribution of cannabis use to the excess risk of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities was small. However, some evidence of an effect was found for people of Black Caribbean heritage in London and for those of Surinamese and Dutch Antillean heritage in Amsterdam.

Meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have been used to elucidate the most reliable neural features associated with various psychiatric disorders. However, it has not been well-established whether each of these neural features is linked to a specific disorder or is transdiagnostic across multiple disorders and disorder categories, including mood, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders.

This project aims to advance our understanding of the disorder-specific and transdiagnostic neural features associated with mood, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders as well as to refine the methodology used to compare multiple disorders.

We conducted an exhaustive PubMed literature search followed by double-screening, double-extraction, and cross-checking to identify all whole-brain, case-control fMRI activation studies of mood, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders in order to construct a large-scale meta-analytic database of primary studies of these disorders. We then employed multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) with Monte-Carlo simulations to correct for multiple comparisons as well as ensemble thresholding to reduce cluster size bias to analyze primary fMRI studies of mood, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders followed by application of triple subtraction techniques and a second-order analysis to elucidate the disorder-specificity of the previously identified neural features.

We found that participants diagnosed with mood, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders exhibited statistically significant (p < .05 – 0.0001; FWE-corrected) differences in neural activation relative to healthy controls throughout the cerebral cortex, limbic system, and basal ganglia. In addition, each of these psychiatric disorders exhibited a particular profile of neural features that ranged from disorder-specific, to category-specific, to transdiagnostic.

These findings indicate that psychiatric disorders exhibit a complex profile of neural features that vary in their disorder-specificity and can be detected with large-scale fMRI meta-analytic techniques. This approach has potential to fundamentally transform neuroimaging investigations of clinical disorders by providing a novel procedure for establishing disorder-specificity of observed results, which can be then used to advance our understanding of individual disorders as well as broader nosological issues related to diagnosis and classification of psychiatric disorders.

None Declared

Network analysis has been used to explore the interplay between psychopathology and functioning in psychosis, but no study has used dedicated statistical techniques to focus on the bridge symptoms connecting these domains.

The current study aims to estimate the network of depressive, negative, and positive symptoms, general psychopathology, and real-world functioning in people with first-episode schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder, focusing on bridge nodes.

Baseline data from the OPTiMiSE trial were analysed. The sample included 446 participants (age 40.0±10.9 years, 70% males). The network was estimated with a Gaussian graphical model (GGM), using scores on individual items of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), and the Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale. Stability, strength centrality, expected influence (EI), predictability, and bridge centrality statistics were computed. The top 20% scoring nodes on bridge strength were selected as bridge nodes.

Nodes from different rating scales assessing similar psychopathological and functioning constructs tended to cluster together in the estimated network (Fig. 1). The most central nodes (EI) were Delusions, Emotional Withdrawal, Depression, and Depressed Mood. Bridge nodes included Depression, Conceptual Disorganisation, Active Social Avoidance, Delusions, Stereotyped Thinking, Poor Impulse Control, Guilty Feelings, Unusual Thought Content, and Hostility. Most of the bridge nodes belonged to the general psychopathology subscale of the PANSS. Depression (G6) was the bridge node with the highest value.

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The current study provides novel insights for understanding the complex phenotype of psychotic disorders and the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of comorbidity and functional impairment after psychosis onset.

None Declared

Understanding the psychological meanings of a rigorous protocol for introducing a drug to patients is a challenge of emotional management for clinical professionals. Clozapine is an effective drug for patients with schizophrenia resistant to treatment with first and second-generation antipsychotics. This medication has agranulocytosis as an important side effect. The medication protocol requires frequent blood draws to monitor any effect on blood cells. Investigating patients’ emotional perceptions about the experience with this procedure was the triggering question of our study.

To interpret emotional/symbolic meanings attributed by patients with schizophrenia to the protocol of introduction of clozapine in follow-up at a specialized university service.

Clinical-qualitative design of Turato. Semi-directed interviews with open-ended questions in-depth were conducted face-to-face with participants using clozapine. Closed sample by the theoretical information saturation criterion described by Fontanella. Data were treated by Faria-Schutzer’s Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis, employing psychodynamic concepts of the theoretical framework of Medical Psychology.

From the analysis of nine patients, three categories emerged: 1) “Anyway, I come here to stay alive”: frequent blood collections of the protocol seem to have a good impact on patient’s adherence to treatment; 2) To re-signify a psychiatric illness: the protocol reinforcing an embodiment of a medical diagnosis; 3) “It is a very big precaution”: the protocol as real and emotional support to deal with the possibility of serious side effects.

Although blood collection is a repetitive experience for patients, such a routine does not mean that the procedure brings symbolizations that are more charged than the disease itself. Patients can benefit from the commitment to attend blood collection frequently, as it removes them from possible social isolation, allowing social interaction; it brings the perception of emotional security due to the commitment to the clinical team. These benefits can lead the patient to develop new meanings for their life condition. Future qualitative research can be conducted to study the meanings of medical protocols in other diagnostic situations.

None Declared

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a highly prevalent mental illness that is associated with clinically significant distress, functional impairment, and poor emotional regulation. Primary functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of GAD report neural abnormalities in comparison to healthy controls. However, many of these findings in the primary literature are inconsistent, and it is unclear whether they are specific to GAD or shared transdiagnostically across related disorders.

This meta-analysis seeks to establish the most reliable neural abnormalities observed in individuals with GAD, as reported in the primary fMRI activation literature.

We conducted an exhaustive literature search in PubMed to identify primary studies that met our pre-specified inclusion criteria and then extracted relevant data from primary, whole-brain fMRI activation studies of GAD that reported coordinates in Talairach or MNI space. We then used multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) with ensemble thresholding to examine the differences between adults with GAD and healthy controls in order to identify brain regions that reached statistical significance across primary studies.

Patients with GAD showed statistically significant (α=0.05–0.0001; family-wise-error-rate corrected) neural activation in various regions of the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia across a variety of experimental tasks.

These results inform our understanding of the neural basis of GAD and are interpreted using a frontolimbic model of anxiety as well as specific clinical symptoms of this disorder and its relation to other mood and anxiety disorders. These results also suggest possible novel targets for emerging neurostimulation therapies (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) and may be used to advance our understanding of the effects of current pharmaceutical treatments and ways to improve treatment selection and symptom-targeting for patients diagnosed with GAD.

None Declared

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to identify the neural activity of both youth and adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) in comparison to healthy age-matched controls. Previously reported abnormalities in depressed youth appear to mostly align with those found in depressed adults; however, some of the reported aberrant brain activity in youth has not been consistent with what is observed in adults, and to our knowledge there has not yet been a formal, quantitative comparison of these two groups. In addition, it is not known whether these observed differences between youth and adults with depression are attributable to developmental age or length-of-illness.

The aim of this study is to elucidate the similarities and differences in patterns of abnormal neural activity between adults and youth diagnosed with MDD and to then determine whether these observed differences are due to either developmental age or length-of-illness.

We used multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) with ensemble thresholding and triple subtraction to separately determine neural abnormalities throughout the whole brain in primary studies of depressed youth and depressed adults and then directly compare the observed abnormalities between each of those age groups. We then conducted further comparisons between multiple subgroups to control for age and length-of-illness and thereby determine the source of the observed differences between youth and adults with depression.

Adults and youth diagnosed with MDD demonstrated reliable, differential patterns of abnormal activation in various brain regions throughout the cerebral cortex that are statistically significant (p < .05; FWE-corrected). In addition, several of these brain regions that exhibited differential patterns of neural activation between the two age groups can be reliably attributed to either developmental age or length-of-illness.

These findings indicate that there are common and disparate patterns of brain activity between youth and adults with MDD, several of which can be reliably attributed to developmental age or length-of-illness. These results expand our understanding of the neural basis of depression across development and course of illness and may be used to inform the development of new, age-specific clinical treatments as well as prevention strategies for this disorder.

None Declared

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent mental illness that frequently originates in early development and is pervasive during adolescence. Despite its high prevalence and early age of onset, our understanding of the potentially unique neural basis of MDD in this age group is still not well understood, and the existing primary literature on the topic includes many new and divergent results. This limited understanding of MDD in youth presents a critical need to further investigate its neural basis in youth and presents an opportunity to also improve clinical treatments that target its neural abnormalities.

The present study aims to advance our understanding of the neural basis of MDD in youth by identifying abnormal functional activation in various brain regions compared with healthy controls.

We conducted a meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of MDD by using a well-established method, multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) with ensemble thresholding, to quantitatively combine all existing whole-brain fMRI studies of MDD in youth compared with healthy controls. This method involves a voxel-wise, whole-brain approach, that compares neural activation of patients with MDD to age-matched healthy controls across variations of task-based conditions, which we subcategorize into affective processing, executive functioning, positive valence, negative valence, and symptom provocation tasks.

Youth with MDD exhibited statistically significant (p<0.05; FWE-corrected) hyperactivation and hypoactivation in multiple brain regions compared with age-matched healthy controls. These results include significant effects that are stable across various tasks as well as some that appear to depend on task conditions.

This study strengthens our understanding of the neural basis of MDD in youth and may also be used to help identify possible similarities and differences between youth and adults with depression. It may also help inform the development of new treatment interventions and tools for predicting unique treatment responses in youth with depression.

None Declared

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a prevalent side effect of antipsychotic drugs (AP), and it impairs patients’ quality of life. Because of the distress caused by it, it should be borne in mind when prescribed since it is responsible for treatment nonadherence or discontinuation. SD affects about 45- 80% of males and 30-80% of females that take it. In SD, all phases of the sexual response cycle may be compromised.

This non-systematic review of the literature aims to better understand the antipsychotic-induced SD and its management to better compliance of AP-treated patients without compromising their quality of life.

A semi-structured review on PubMed linking SD as a side effect of AP drugs.

All AP drugs can cause SD. It seems related to their mechanism of activity at receptors D2, 5-HT2, α1, H1, and M, which are also involved in sexual function. They do it by diminishing arousal, decreasing libido by blocking motivation and reward system and orgasm indirectly, provoking erectile dysfunction by vasodilatation, and decreasing woman lubrification. Hyperprolactinemia is a significant cause of sexual dysfunctions. Haloperidol, Risperidone, and Amisulpride (prolactin elevating AP) are more likely to cause SD than Olanzapine, Clozapine, Quetiapine, and Aripiprazole (prolactin sparing AP). Although psychotic disorders (Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders) can impact sexual functioning, according to evidence, there is no denying the role of AP in this issue. Aripiprazole, a D2 partial agonist, has been associated with lower rates of SD and seems to reduce the rates of SD in patients previously treated with other AP. Other AP with the same potential dopamine agonist activity, such as Cariprazine and Brexpiprazole, can probably have the same effect. The management of SD induced by AP drugs should include measuring serum prolactin and modifying risk factors like hypertension, smoking, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia. In that regard, waiting for spontaneous remission, reducing the dose of the AP prescribed, or switching to Aripiprazole are all viable strategies, if possible. Although the evidence supporting the addition of symptomatic therapies is weak, adding dopaminergic drugs (amantadine, bromocriptine, cabergoline) or drugs with specific effects on sexual functioning (such as phosphodiesterase inhibitors or yohimbine) may be helpful in selected cases.

Although all AP drugs can cause sexual dysfunction, it is difficult to determine its true prevalence accurately. AP-induced sexual dysfunction can adversely affect compliance and is one of the factors that must be considered when selecting treatment. In summarizing, Aripiprazole has shown to be the AP with the most favorable profile concerning SD. Cariprazine and Brexpiprazole, being also D2 partial agonists, may cause less SD.

None Declared

The care relationships of physicians and nurses with patients with Covid-19 had pointed to a scenario explorable from a psychological point of view due to the peculiarities of this pandemic. How do clinicians feel, when caring for their co-workers, in a context that was not so common to see colleagues occupy the patient’s place? What emotional experiences arise from this reality? The results of the present study sought to point out how to handle this caring relationship, in an exceptional context.

To interpret emotional meanings reported by physicians and nurses on their experiences of working at COVID-19 intensive care units during the height of the pandemic.

Clinical-qualitative design of Turato. Data collection with semi-directed interviews with open-ended questions in-depth applied to a sample of six professionals, closed by theoretical information saturation according to Fontanella, in a Brazilian university general hospital. Trigger question: “Talk about the psychological meanings of your experience in face of management of patients with COVID-19 at ICU”. Data treatment by the Seven Steps of the Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis of Faria-Schützer. Theoretical framework from Medical Psychology using Balintian concepts.

We raised initially 4 categories. Three categories were presented preliminarily in this congress, version last year. In this opportunity, we show this special category of analysis that emerged during the deepened discussion of the final results: “The feeling of insecurity: from technique to affective dimension”.

The care relationships between the health professional and the patient hospitalized in the Covid-19 ICU pointed to peculiar transference and countertransference psychodynamic mechanisms between both. Before the pandemic, the care relationship seemed pragmatic and protocolar. During the pandemic, this relationship seemed “more subjective”, building a strongly emotional dimension, as health professionals also began to care for their colleagues in the profession. The egoic defense mechanisms, such as projective and introjective identification were reported as intense.

None Declared

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent mental illness that often first occurs or persists into adulthood and is considered the leading cause of disability and disease burden worldwide. Unfortunately, individuals diagnosed with MDD who seek treatment often experience limited symptom relief and may not achieve long-term remission, which is due in part to our limited understanding of its underlying pathophysiology. Many studies that use task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have found abnormal activation in brain regions in adults diagnosed with MDD, but those findings are often inconsistent; in addition, previous meta-analyses that quantitatively integrate this large body literature have found conflicting results.

This meta-analysis aims to advance our understanding of the neural basis of MDD in adults, as measured by fMRI activation studies, and address inconsistencies and discrepancies in the empirical literature.

We employed multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) with ensemble thresholding, a well-established method for voxel-wise, whole-brain meta-analyses, to conduct a quantitative comparison of all relevant primary fMRI activation studies of adult patients with MDD compared to age-matched healthy controls.

We found that adults with MDD exhibited a reliable pattern of statistically significant (p<0.05; FWE-corrected) hyperactivation and hypoactivation in several brain regions compared to age-matched healthy controls across a variety of experimental tasks.

This study supports previous findings that there is reliable neural basis of MDD that can be detected across heterogenous fMRI studies. These results can be used to inform development of promising treatments for MDD, including protocols for personalized interventions. They also provide the opportunity for additional studies to examine the specificity of these effects among various populations-of-interest, including youth vs. adults with depression as well as other related mood and anxiety disorders.

None Declared

Tobacco is a highly prevalent substance of abuse in patients with psychosis. Previous studies have reported an association between tobacco use and schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between tobacco use and first-episode psychosis (FEP), age at onset of psychosis, and specific diagnosis of psychosis.

The sample consisted of 1105 FEP patients and 1355 controls from the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene–Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study. We assessed substance use with the Tobacco and Alcohol Questionnaire and performed a series of regression analyses using case-control status, age of onset of psychosis, and diagnosis as outcomes and tobacco use and frequency of tobacco use as predictors. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol, and cannabis use.

After controlling for cannabis use, FEP patients were 2.6 times more likely to use tobacco [p ⩽ 0.001; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) [2.1–3.2]] and 1.7 times more likely to smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day (p = 0.003; AOR 1.7; 95% CI [1.2–2.4]) than controls. Tobacco use was associated with an earlier age at psychosis onset (β = −2.3; p ⩽ 0.001; 95% CI [−3.7 to −0.9]) and was 1.3 times more frequent in FEP patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia than in other diagnoses of psychosis (AOR 1.3; 95% CI [1.0–1.8]); however, these results were no longer significant after controlling for cannabis use.

Tobacco and heavy-tobacco use are associated with increased odds of FEP. These findings further support the relevance of tobacco prevention in young populations.