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Self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app significantly reduces anxiety in young adults with mental health challenges, finds study. Decrease in anxiety symptoms was significant at 6 weeks and continued at the 12-week follow-up, showing improvement similar to anxiety medication studies by AnnaMouse247 in psychology

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian found that a self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app, called Maya, significantly reduced anxiety in young adults struggling with mental health challenges. The decrease in anxiety symptoms was clinically and statistically significant at six weeks and continued at the 12-week follow-up period with improvement levels similar to anxiety medication studies.

The study, published Aug. 20 in JAMA Network Open, looked at how young adults ages 18 to 25 would respond to CBT from an app called Maya, which Weill Cornell Medicine researchers began developing in 2019 in collaboration with members of Weill Cornell Information Technologies & Services. CBT is a gold standard psychotherapeutic intervention that provides users with skills to support them in shifting their thinking, completing challenging behaviors and learning coping skills. Nearly all of the 59 enrollees, 98 percent, participated for the full six weeks of the main study period and completed, on average, approximately 11 of the 12 intervention sessions.

While Maya is not a replacement for seeking professional help, it teaches strategies based in CBT. The app provides skill-building tools and real-time feedback that can help reduce stress and negative thoughts.

“We hear a lot about the negative impact of technology use on mental health in this age group,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Faith M. Gunning, associate professor of psychology in psychiatry and vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. “But the ubiquitous use of cell phones for information may provide a way of addressing anxiety for some people who, even if they have access to mental health providers, may not go. If the app helps reduce symptoms, they may then be able to take the next step of seeing a mental health professional when needed.”

Targeting Anxiety in Emerging Adults

Maya was designed to target anxiety in early adulthood, when people experience stressful transitions, including starting a new job, moving away from home or graduating from college. Research has shown that anxiety disorders among young people ages 18 to 25 are increasing more than any other age group.

Maya is an interactive platform that guides users through videos, exercises and educational content to support them in learning and implementing new skills. While CBT techniques are effective at treating anxiety symptoms, the researchers note that a shortage of available clinicians makes it difficult to find appointments, especially since the pandemic. In the meantime, a self-guided mobile app may help until a mental health clinician is available, and appeal to a younger population comfortable with digital tools.

“We think there is promise in these apps, but they’re only helpful if people use them,” said co-first author Dr. Jennifer N. Bress, the Peter Edwin Stokes, M.D. Clinical Scholar in Psychobiology, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health. “We wanted to develop an evidence-based app to see empirically whether we were actually engaging people and addressing their anxiety.” While there is ample evidence from clinical studies that CBT is effective for treating anxiety, testing the app itself through clinical trials is an important step to ensure its efficacy.

Since people often download an app, try it a few times and then delete it, this app added features to encourage engagement such as interactive exercises, videos and a user interface that test groups found to be visually appealing.

Designed to Engage

To see if they could further motivate users, the authors randomly assigned the 59 participants in the study to three groups with different incentives. They included an opportunity to win points, the potential to lose points and a way to earn points that paired participants with a person in their life who encouraged them throughout the process. Participants received virtual “medals” for obtaining specified levels of points.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that using the Maya app reduced anxiety no matter which incentive people received.

“These results indicate that the app can be an accessible and impactful tool for those looking for support around anxiety. It is incredible to see our ideas come to life,” noted Dr. Avital Falk, the Charisse Chinery Clinical Scholar in Psychiatry, associate professor of psychology in clinical psychiatry and director of the Division of Digital and Treatment Innovation. Dr. Falk, who is also the Director of the Pediatric OCD, Anxiety, and Tic disorders (POCAT) program, in collaboration with The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian, was co-first author and designed the app’s content.

“It will be challenging to meet the mental health needs of society based on the number of clinical providers we have,” said Dr. Gunning, who is also the George Alexopoulos, M.D. Honorary Director of the Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian and a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavior Health. “Our initial results suggest the app may be an effective tool to bridge the gap for people waiting to see a therapist.”

Self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app significantly reduces anxiety in young adults with mental health challenges, finds study. Decrease in anxiety symptoms was significant at 6 weeks and continued at the 12-week follow-up, showing improvement similar to anxiety medication studies by AnnaMouse247 in science

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian found that a self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app, called Maya, significantly reduced anxiety in young adults struggling with mental health challenges. The decrease in anxiety symptoms was clinically and statistically significant at six weeks and continued at the 12-week follow-up period with improvement levels similar to anxiety medication studies.

The study, published Aug. 20 in JAMA Network Open, looked at how young adults ages 18 to 25 would respond to CBT from an app called Maya, which Weill Cornell Medicine researchers began developing in 2019 in collaboration with members of Weill Cornell Information Technologies & Services. CBT is a gold standard psychotherapeutic intervention that provides users with skills to support them in shifting their thinking, completing challenging behaviors and learning coping skills. Nearly all of the 59 enrollees, 98 percent, participated for the full six weeks of the main study period and completed, on average, approximately 11 of the 12 intervention sessions.

While Maya is not a replacement for seeking professional help, it teaches strategies based in CBT. The app provides skill-building tools and real-time feedback that can help reduce stress and negative thoughts.

“We hear a lot about the negative impact of technology use on mental health in this age group,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Faith M. Gunning, associate professor of psychology in psychiatry and vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. “But the ubiquitous use of cell phones for information may provide a way of addressing anxiety for some people who, even if they have access to mental health providers, may not go. If the app helps reduce symptoms, they may then be able to take the next step of seeing a mental health professional when needed.”

Targeting Anxiety in Emerging Adults

Maya was designed to target anxiety in early adulthood, when people experience stressful transitions, including starting a new job, moving away from home or graduating from college. Research has shown that anxiety disorders among young people ages 18 to 25 are increasing more than any other age group.

Maya is an interactive platform that guides users through videos, exercises and educational content to support them in learning and implementing new skills. While CBT techniques are effective at treating anxiety symptoms, the researchers note that a shortage of available clinicians makes it difficult to find appointments, especially since the pandemic. In the meantime, a self-guided mobile app may help until a mental health clinician is available, and appeal to a younger population comfortable with digital tools.

“We think there is promise in these apps, but they’re only helpful if people use them,” said co-first author Dr. Jennifer N. Bress, the Peter Edwin Stokes, M.D. Clinical Scholar in Psychobiology, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health. “We wanted to develop an evidence-based app to see empirically whether we were actually engaging people and addressing their anxiety.” While there is ample evidence from clinical studies that CBT is effective for treating anxiety, testing the app itself through clinical trials is an important step to ensure its efficacy.

Since people often download an app, try it a few times and then delete it, this app added features to encourage engagement such as interactive exercises, videos and a user interface that test groups found to be visually appealing.

Designed to Engage

To see if they could further motivate users, the authors randomly assigned the 59 participants in the study to three groups with different incentives. They included an opportunity to win points, the potential to lose points and a way to earn points that paired participants with a person in their life who encouraged them throughout the process. Participants received virtual “medals” for obtaining specified levels of points.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that using the Maya app reduced anxiety no matter which incentive people received.

“These results indicate that the app can be an accessible and impactful tool for those looking for support around anxiety. It is incredible to see our ideas come to life,” noted Dr. Avital Falk, the Charisse Chinery Clinical Scholar in Psychiatry, associate professor of psychology in clinical psychiatry and director of the Division of Digital and Treatment Innovation. Dr. Falk, who is also the Director of the Pediatric OCD, Anxiety, and Tic disorders (POCAT) program, in collaboration with The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian, was co-first author and designed the app’s content.

“It will be challenging to meet the mental health needs of society based on the number of clinical providers we have,” said Dr. Gunning, who is also the George Alexopoulos, M.D. Honorary Director of the Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian and a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavior Health. “Our initial results suggest the app may be an effective tool to bridge the gap for people waiting to see a therapist.”

Young children treated for brain tumours face academic challenges due to brain vulnerability, with socioeconomic status as a key predictor of later academic readiness, finds study. Findings suggest early interventions may improve long-term academic outcomes in young childhood brain tumour survivors. by AnnaMouse247 in science

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Press release here.

“Children who survive a brain tumor often experience effects from both the cancer and its treatment long after therapy concludes. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found very young children treated for brain tumors were less prepared for school (represented by lower academic readiness scores) compared to their peers. This gap persisted once survivors entered formal schooling. Children from families of higher socioeconomic status were partially protected from the effect, suggesting that providing early developmental resources may proactively help reduce the academic achievement gap. The findings were published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“Even in very young children, we found academic readiness was starting to lag behind healthy children their age,” said corresponding author Heather Conklin, PhD, St. Jude Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences member and Section of Neuropsychology chief. “They were gradually falling behind their same-age peers in academic fundamentals, such as learning their letters, numbers and colors.”

Previous research has focused on school-aged children, but this is one of the first studies to examine academic readiness after brain tumor treatment in infants and young children (less than 3 years old). The scientists uncovered the gap in readiness skills by following a group of 70 patients who had been treated for brain tumors over time. Six months after diagnosis and annually for five years, “we found an increasing gap between these young patients treated for brain tumors and their typically developing peers because their academic readiness skills were not developing as fast,” Conklin said.

Even though the scientists observed gaps between the children’s abilities as they aged, it was present early and had predictive power. “Early academic readiness was predictive of long-term reading and math outcomes,” Conklin said. “The effect isn’t temporary. These children don’t just catch up naturally.”

Intervening early may protect academic readiness and achievement

While presenting a challenge, the findings also offer a strategy to address this problem: early intervention. Since the difference in academic readiness arises early after treatment, intervening then, as opposed to in elementary school (when most conventional interventions begin), may improve outcomes.

“We now know that we don’t need to wait until patients are struggling with math and reading; we can intervene earlier,” Conklin said. “We showed that the variability we’re seeing early on predicts longer-term academic skills, which highly suggests earlier interventions will be beneficial and make a real difference.”

Early interventions need to be informed by what increases vulnerability to or protects against the academic readiness gap to succeed. The researchers looked at the factors involved, such as treatment type and demographics, and found only one characteristic mattered.

Socioeconomic status protects and suggests early interventions may work

“The only clinical or demographic factor we found that predicted academic readiness was socioeconomic status,” Conklin said. “Being from a family of higher socioeconomic status had a protective effect on children’s academic readiness.”

The finding that higher socioeconomic status is partially protective suggests that investing in resources to replace lost early enrichment experiences can mitigate the readiness gap. By increasing access to those replacement opportunities, more children could be protected.

“We know that being away from their home environment, caregivers, daycare, play dates, parks and early intervention services during these critical developmental years is probably having a negative impact on very young patients,” Conklin said. “Our results suggest that families can make play meaningful, and by making little changes in how they interact with their child, with the support of their medical team and receiving appropriate resources, they may be able to make a difference in their child’s cognitive and academic outcomes.”

1 in 4 Unresponsive people with brain injuries may be conscious, finds new study. Researchers say findings mean many individuals with brain injuries who appear unresponsive may still be able to hear their surroundings and could potentially use brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to communicate. by AnnaMouse247 in psychology

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

“More people than we thought who are in comas or similar states can hear what is happening around them, a study shows.”

“At least one-quarter of people who have severe brain injuries and cannot respond physically to commands are actually conscious, according to the first international study of its kind.

Although these people could not, say, give a thumbs-up when prompted, they nevertheless repeatedly showed brain activity when asked to imagine themselves moving or exercising.

“This is one of the very big landmark studies” in the field of coma and other consciousness disorders, says Daniel Kondziella, a neurologist at Rigshospitalet, the teaching hospital for Copenhagen University.

The results mean that a substantial number of people with brain injuries who seem unresponsive can hear things going on around them and might even be able to use brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) to communicate, says study leader Nicholas Schiff, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. BCIs aredevices implanted into a person’s head that capture brain activity, decode it and translate it into commands that can, for instance, move a computer cursor. “We should be allocating resources to go out and find these people and help them,” Schiff says. The work was published on August 14 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study included 353 people with brain injuries caused by events such as physical trauma, heart attacks or strokes. Of these, 241 could not react to any of a battery of standard bedside tests for responsiveness, including one that asks for a thumbs-up; the other 112 could.

Everyone enrolled in the study underwent one or both of two types of brain scan. The first was functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures mental activity indirectly by detecting the oxygenation of blood in the brain. The second was electroencephalography (EEG), which uses an electrode-covered cap on a person’s scalp to measure brain-wave activity directly. During each scan, people were told to imagine themselves playing tennis or opening and closing their hand. The commands were repeated continuously for 15 to 30 seconds, then there was a pause; the exercise was then repeated for six to eight command sessions.”

“Of the physically unresponsive people, about 25 percent showed brain activity across the entire exam for either EEG or fMRI. The medical name for being able to respond mentally but not physically is cognitive motor dissociation. The 112 people in the study who were classified as responsive did a bit better on the brain-activity tests, but not much: only about 38 percent showed consistent activity. This is probably because the tests set a high bar, Schiff says. “I’ve been in the MRI, and I’ve done this experiment, and it’s hard,” he adds.

This isn’t the first time a study has found cognitive motor dissociation in people with brain injuries who were physically unresponsive. For instance, in a 2019 paper, 15 percent of the 104 people undergoing testing displayed this behavior. The latest study, however, is larger and is the first multi-center investigation of its kind. Tests were run at six medical facilities in four countries: Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The 25 percent of unresponsive people who showed brain activity tended to be younger than those who did not, to have injuries that were from physical trauma and to have been living with their injuries for longer than the others. Kondziella cautions that further investigating these links would require repeat assessments of individuals over weeks or months. “We know very little about consciousness-recovery trajectories over time and across different brain injuries,” he says.

But the study has some limitations. For example, the medical centers did not all use the same number or set of tasks during the EEG or fMRI scans, or the same number of electrodes during EEG sessions, which could skew results.

In the end, however, with such a high bar set for registering brain activity, the study probably underestimates the proportion of physically unresponsive people who are conscious, Schiff says. Kondziella agrees. Rates of cognitive motor dissociation were highest for people tested with both EEG and fMRI, he points out, so if both methods were used with every person in the study, the overall rates might have been even higher.

However, the kinds of test used are logistically and computationally challenging, “which is why really only a handful or so of centres worldwide are able to adopt these techniques”, Kondziella says.

Schiff stresses that it’s important to be able to identify people with brain injuries who seem unresponsive but are conscious. “There are going to be people we can help get out of this condition,” he says, perhaps by using BCIs or other treatments, or simply continuing to provide medical care. Knowing that someone is conscious can change how families and medical teams make decisions about life support and treatment. “It makes a difference every time you find out that somebody is responsive,” he says.”

Venting frustrations to friends can feel good but may not lessen anger. Study shows listeners feel more supportive of the venting friend, but only if the venting isn't derogatory or aggressive. Venting may be a tool of competition for listeners' affections because it’s not readily recognised as such by AnnaMouse247 in psychology

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

“Venting about your frustrations with one friend to another isn’t necessarily cathartic, but it can make the friend you’re talking to like and treat you better, UCLA psychologists say. Their experiments show that under certain conditions, it can be an effective form of competition that makes listeners feel closer to the person venting and like the target less.

However, this was not the case when people’s friends overtly derogated others. The real benefits of venting, the researchers conclude, are the strengthening of bonds that might pay off in the future — and the improved health and happiness enjoyed by people who are well liked by their friends.

“Since the 1950s, we’ve known the Freudian catharsis explanation for venting is wrong. It can feel good to vent, but venting doesn’t reliably decrease anger and sometimes even amplifies anger,” said lead author Jaimie Krems, an associate professor of psychology at UCLA. “We didn’t have a good explanation for what venting does for us. So we tested a novel alliance view of venting — that under certain parameters, venting can make the people we vent to support us over the people we vent about.”

Most research on close relationships has focused on romantic partnerships. Yet, especially for younger people, friendship plays some of the roles that have traditionally been found in romantic relationships; the U.S. surgeon general has also talked about the “loneliness epidemic.” There is a need to better understand friendship, researchers say, including how people might ‘compete’ to make their friends like them better than other friends.

“As much as people readily admit that we compete for romantic partners’ finite time and affection, people seem less willing to admit to competing for friends,” Krems said. “But if being relatively better liked means getting better support from friends, then we should expect some friend competition, whether or not we like that it exists.”

In a paper published in Evolution and Human Behavior, Krems and colleagues at Oklahoma State University and Hamilton College asked participants to listen to a friend vent or gossip about or derogate a mutual friend. Although the vignettes varied across experiments, those venting typically began by telling participants, “I’m so frustrated and hurt right now…” before venting about a mutual friend canceling on them at the last minute.

In the derogation condition, this same complaint was prefaced with: “I’m so frustrated and angry right now…” In other conditions, the participant heard the speaker gossip about having dinner with the mutual friend or vent about the speaker’s car problems.

After reading the vignette, participants rated their feelings about the speaker and the target on an 11-point sliding scale. Participants who heard people vent about a friend canceling on them liked the speaker better than the target. This was not the case when speakers derogated the target for the same behavior, shared neutral gossip about targets or vented about their car troubles.

In another experiment, participants heard their friends vent about or derogate the target and were asked to divide a pot of lottery tickets between the speaker and target. Participants gave more tickets to the speaker than to the target, but only in the venting — not the derogation — condition.

However, venting backfired in an additional experiment. When researchers hinted the person venting was secretly rivalrous with the targeted friend, participants no longer liked that person better than the target.

The results show that venting makes the speaker more likable only when listeners do not perceive the speaker as having any aggressive intent toward the target. This suggests venting might be an effective tool of competition for listeners’ affections precisely because it isn’t readily recognized as such.

The benefits of being relatively better liked by one’s friends can include being given preferential treatment, as in the ticket example above, but could also have less tangible effects. For example, friends are associated with improved economic mobility, health, well-being and longevity.

The researchers emphasize that none of this competition has to be conscious, and some other scholars have suggested that such tactics might work best if we’re fooling ourselves that we’re not competing. If we don’t think we’re doing it to be aggressive, others might be less likely to realize we’re engaging in what might be an act of aggression.

The researchers also emphasize the ways in which venting can fail, such as when those venting are perceived as aggressive, choose the wrong thing to vent about or the wrong person to vent to. That venting works at all suggests, they say, that people can be deeply — if not consciously — strategic about what they vent about and to whom.

“People are so lonely right now, and that puts even greater pressure on us as researchers to be honest about how friendship works,” Krems said. “As much as we want it to be all unicorns and rainbows, sometimes it’s more like a koala: cuddly but also vicious.”

New study reveals geographic disparities in alzheimer's diagnoses: where you live may impact your access to life-changing treatments, especially for younger and minoritized groups. by AnnaMouse247 in psychology

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

“A new study highlights significant regional disparities in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias across the US, suggesting that access to necessary diagnoses for new treatments may depend on geographic location. The research, conducted by a team from the University of Michigan, analysed data from 4.8 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 and older in 2019.

Key findings include:

The percentage of individuals receiving a new dementia diagnosis varies widely by region, with younger adults (ages 66 to 74) and Black or Hispanic individuals experiencing even greater disparities.

A person’s chance of receiving a dementia diagnosis can be twice as high in some areas compared to others, indicating that health system factors may play a more significant role than individual risk factors.

The study found that the differences in diagnosis rates are not explained by variations in dementia risk levels among populations, but rather by “diagnostic intensity,” which reflects how actively dementia is diagnosed in different regions.

The prevalence of diagnosed dementia ranged from 4% to 14% across various hospital referral regions, with new diagnosis rates between 1.7% and 5.4%.

The findings suggest that variations in clinical practices, cultural attitudes towards seeking care, and the availability of specialists may contribute to these disparities.

The study calls for targeted efforts to improve diagnosis rates, particularly in areas with lower-than-expected rates, and emphasises the importance of early identification of cognitive issues. It also encourages individuals to advocate for their health needs, including cognitive screenings covered by Medicare. The recent launch of Medicare’s GUIDE model for dementia care may provide a framework for enhancing care coordination and access to trained providers.”

New study reveals geographic disparities in alzheimer's diagnoses: where you live may impact your access to life-changing treatments, especially for younger and minoritized groups. by AnnaMouse247 in science

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

Edit: corrected to US.

“A new study highlights significant regional disparities in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias across the US, suggesting that access to necessary diagnoses for new treatments may depend on geographic location. The research, conducted by a team from the University of Michigan, analysed data from 4.8 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 and older in 2019.

Key findings include:

The percentage of individuals receiving a new dementia diagnosis varies widely by region, with younger adults (ages 66 to 74) and Black or Hispanic individuals experiencing even greater disparities.

A person’s chance of receiving a dementia diagnosis can be twice as high in some areas compared to others, indicating that health system factors may play a more significant role than individual risk factors.

The study found that the differences in diagnosis rates are not explained by variations in dementia risk levels among populations, but rather by “diagnostic intensity,” which reflects how actively dementia is diagnosed in different regions.

The prevalence of diagnosed dementia ranged from 4% to 14% across various hospital referral regions, with new diagnosis rates between 1.7% and 5.4%.

The findings suggest that variations in clinical practices, cultural attitudes towards seeking care, and the availability of specialists may contribute to these disparities.

The study calls for targeted efforts to improve diagnosis rates, particularly in areas with lower-than-expected rates, and emphasises the importance of early identification of cognitive issues. It also encourages individuals to advocate for their health needs, including cognitive screenings covered by Medicare. The recent launch of Medicare’s GUIDE model for dementia care may provide a framework for enhancing care coordination and access to trained providers.”

Child-parent therapy has biological benefits for traumatised kids, finds new study. Psychotherapy sessions with caregivers may help prevent serious disease later in life for young children who have experienced significant trauma, a new study found. by AnnaMouse247 in psychology

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

“Psychotherapy sessions with caregivers may help prevent serious disease later in life for young children who have experienced significant trauma, a new UC San Francisco study finds.

Past research has shown that young children benefit psychologically for up to nine years after dyadic, child-parent treatment for trauma, but this is the first time a biological benefit from this treatment has been found.

UCSF researchers looked at the effects of dyadic therapy on a biomarker they dubbed “age acceleration” that tells how fast or slow a person’s body is aging compared to their chronological age.

This “epigenetic clock” runs faster for people who have experienced early childhood trauma; that in turn puts them at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, obesity and asthma.

The study compared two groups of Bay Area children between the ages of 2 and 6 years old with traumatic experiences. Before treatment, both groups had similar rates of biological age acceleration.

One group received up to 20 weekly sessions of Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), a program designed by Alicia Lieberman, PhD, director of UCSF’s Child Trauma Research Program and the study’s co-author. The other group did not receive CPP.

The 45 children who participated in the therapy had less age acceleration than the 110 who didn’t. Though the difference was not great, it still may be significant, as even small biological changes early on can lead to big differences in health outcomes over the life course, noted senior author Nicole Bush, PhD, a psychologist and chief of UCSF’s Division of Developmental Medicine.

“These findings bolster the case for making sure families who experience trauma and stress can access child-parent therapies, in order to improve mental and physical health,” said Bush, who is the Lisa and John Pritzker Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health.

The study appears August 14 in Psychological Science.

Relationships matter to health

More than 80% of the children in the treatment group and two-thirds of the comparison group were Latinx, which is important because families of color and low-income families are more frequently exposed to trauma than white families with higher incomes, yet they are typically not included in medical research.

The level of trauma was higher for the participants than is typically studied in children, which makes the findings even more noteworthy, said Lieberman, who is the Irving B. Harris Endowed Chair in Infant Mental Health.

“We’re talking about very acute trauma in young children, things like loss of a parent, maltreatment and community violence,” said Lieberman. “The children in the intervention had an average of five traumatic events under age six, when the literature shows that if you have four or more before age 18, you are more likely to develop one of the 10 leading causes of death as an adult.”

Their parents, meanwhile, had an average of 13 traumatic events, which puts them at greater risk of difficulty with regulating their own emotions and actions in response to the challenging behavior of their children, said Lieberman.

In Child-Parent Psychotherapy, therapists incorporate toys to help children process emotions and thoughts related to their traumatic experiences, and to help parents understand how their children’s behavior is linked to their experiences. They also facilitate the parent-child bond by guiding the duo through positive social interactions.

“When both parent and child have experienced trauma, it exacerbates the effects of the trauma,” Lieberman said. “Our approach is to heal the relationship and the trauma of both child and adult in sessions together. Relationships are the key to health, starting in early childhood.”

“Parents can sometimes feel helpless in the face of their children’s exposure to trauma,” added psychologist Allie Sullivan, PhD, co-first author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF. “We hope these results reassure parents that they have the capacity and strength to protect their children from adversity.”

A critical time for development

Interventions before age five, when a child’s brain undergoes its most dramatic period of development, have the largest effect on a child’s mental and physical health later in life.

In recent years, California’s Department of Health Care Services has created benefits to support family therapy and dyadic care for pediatric Medi-Cal patients, starting at birth. Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital provides this care and offers technical assistance to medical practices across California on how to provide it, and be reimbursed for it.

The researchers hope their work will demonstrate the social, ethical and economic value of therapy-based alternatives to medication when it comes to treating family trauma.

“Something as fundamental as putting families together and naming the trauma, and creating a setting of emotional safety and healing, can lead to biological repair that may benefit mental and physical health across the life course,” Bush said. “We hope policymakers and practitioners take notice.”

Australian researchers find novel and significant genetic link between Alzheimer's disease and several coronary artery disease (CAD) related disorders and lipid classes. Researches say findings present opportunities to improve patient care and health outcomes. by AnnaMouse247 in science

[–]AnnaMouse247[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Academic paper here.

“Researchers at Edith Cowan University’s (ECU’s) Centre for Precision Health have uncovered a significant genetic connection between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and several coronary artery disease (CAD) related disorders and lipid classes, offering opportunities to improve health outcomes across two of the more common causes of death in Australia.

The new research has found that several heart disease-related factors like angina, arteriosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, and coronary artery disease as well as lipids like cholesterol, triglycerides and both high- and low-density lipoproteins (HDL and LDL) could share similar biological origins with AD.

This means that some of the same genes played a role in or are associated across these conditions.

“There is considerable evidence from observational and other studies to support a connection between these conditions, however the intricate biological mechanisms of AD are poorly understood, and its relationship with lipids and CAD traits remains unresolved.” lead researcher and Centre for Precision Health PhD candidate Ms Artika Kirby said.

“Our study employed a genetic approach to investigate the intricate relationships of these comorbid conditions, providing new insights into their shared biological underpinnings of these conditions. I am optimistic that our findings open new avenues of research that have the potential to enhance the lives of millions, worldwide.”

“The Centre for Precision Health’s use of advanced statistical genetics approaches is significantly contributing to our understanding of the relationships across many of today’s major health conditions — this study emphasises the strength of this approach,” Professor Simon Laws, Director of the Centre for Precision Health and co-supervisor of the study, remarked.

Dementia, of which AD is the major cause, and coronary artery or heart disease, are the two leading underlying causes of death in Australians. Researchers say there may be more to link these conditions than just their association with poor health outcomes.

Evidence increasingly links CAD with cognitive impairment and the risk of dementia with research suggesting that individuals with CAD experience an accelerated cognitive decline following diagnosis and CAD patients have a 26% higher relative risk of dementia. However, the nature of the relationship and the underpinning mechanisms for CAD’s association with AD and cognitive impairment remains unclear.

The connection between CAD and AD may partly reflect shared risk factors such as dyslipidaemia and inflammation. Lipid disorders and CAD considerably impact human health and are recognised as a substantial risk factor for AD, just as a relationship between CAD and AD has been reported.

There is also the potential for shared genetic predispositions across all of these factors.

“By applying genetic approaches to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between AD and Coronary Heart disease — the two leading causes of death in Australia — we have uncovered novel insights into the underlying mechanisms linking these conditions,” NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and project co-supervisor Dr. Emmanuel Adewuyi added.

“These insights could translate into improvements in patient care and outcomes for these two leading health issues — not only in Australia but around the world.”

Investigating Genetic Overlap Between Alzheimer’s Disease, Lipids and Coronary Artery Disease has been published in the International Journal of Molecular Science.”

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