Resilience to the effects of social stress: evidence from clinical and preclinical studies on the role of coping strategies

Single administration of a psychedelic [(R)-DOI] influences coping strategies to an escapable social stress

Psychedelic compounds have potentially rapid, long-lasting anxiolytic, antidepressive and anti-inflammatory effects. We investigated whether the psychedelic compound (R)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine [(R)-DOI], a selective 5-HT2A receptor partial agonist, decreases stress-related behavior in male mice exposed to repeated social aggression. Additionally, we explored the likelihood that these behavioral changes are related to anti-inflammatory properties of [(R)-DOI]. Animals were subjected to the Stress Alternatives Model (SAM), an escapable social stress paradigm in which animals develop reactive coping strategies - remaining in the SAM arena (Stay) with a social aggressor, or dynamically initiated stress coping strategies that involve utilizing the escape holes (Escape) to avoid aggression. Mice expressing these behavioral phenotypes display behaviors like those in other social aggression models that separate animals into stress-vulnerable (as for Stay) or stress-resilient (as for Escape) groups, which have been shown to have distinct inflammatory responses to social stress. These results show that Stay animals have heightened cytokine gene expression, and both Stay and Escape mice exhibit plasma and neural concentrations of the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) compared to unstressed control mice. Additionally, these results suggest that a single administration of (R)-DOI to Stay animals in low doses, can increase stress coping strategies such as increasing attention to the escape route, promoting escape behavior, and reducing freezing during socially aggressive interaction in the SAM. Lower single doses of (R)-DOI, in addition to shifting behavior to suggest anxiolytic effects, also concomitantly reduce plasma and limbic brain levels of the inflammatory cytokine TNFα.

Chronic defeat stress induces monoamine level dysregulation in the prefrontal cortex but not in the hippocampus of OF1 male mice

Chronic social stress can increase susceptibility to chronic diseases such as depression. One of the most used models to study the physiological mechanisms and behavioral outcomes of this type of stress is chronic defeat stress (CDS) in male mice. OF1 male mice were subjected to a stress period lasting 18 days. During that time, non-stressed animals were housed in groups. The cluster analysis of the behavioral profile displayed during the first social interaction divided subjects into two groups: active/aggressive (AA) and passive/reactive (PR). The day after the end of the stress period, the following behavioral analyses were performed: the sucrose preference test (SPT) on day 19, the open field test (OFT) on day 20, and the forced swim test (FST) on day 21. Immediately after completing the last test, animals were weighed, and blood samples were obtained. Then, they were sacrificed, and their prefrontal cortices and hippocampi were removed and stored to analyze monoamine levels. Stressed animals displayed anhedonia, and solely the PR mice continued to show higher levels of immobility in the OFT and FST. All stressed animals, regardless of the coping strategy, presented higher plasma corticosterone levels. In addition, stressed mice showed lower levels of tyrosine, dopamine, DOPAC, MHPG, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, and 5-HIAA levels but higher serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortex, not in the hippocampus. In conclusion, our results show that CSD induces differences in monoamine levels between brain areas, and these differences did not respond to the coping strategy adopted.

The role of internet addiction and academic resilience in predicting the mental health of high school students in Tehran

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization defines mental health as a combination of two dimensions: the negative dimension, or negative mental health, which indicates the presence of mental disorders, symptoms, and problems, and the positive dimension, or positive mental health, which includes emotions and positive personal characteristics such as self-esteem, resilience against environmental challenges, a sense of integrity, and self-efficacy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of internet addiction and academic resilience in predicting the mental health of high school students in Tehran, Iran.

METHOD

The research method employed was a survey. 758 people participated in the study, and the samples consisted of high school students in Tehran during the academic year 2022-2023. The process of collecting information was carried out by distributing the questionnaire link through virtual networks and schools. The research utilized Young's Internet Addiction Test, Samuels' Academic Resilience Inventory, and Goldberg's Mental Health Questionnaire as the research tools. Statistical tests, including Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis, were employed to investigate the relationships between variables.

RESULT

The effect of internet addiction on mental health (ß=0.39) is negative and significant at the 0.001 level, while the effect of academic resilience on mental health (ß=0.66) is positive and significant at the 0.001 level. These two variables collectively predict 53% of the variance in students' mental health. This indicates that as internet addiction increases among students, their mental health significantly decreases, whereas higher levels of academic resilience correspond to higher mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has elucidated the role of internet addiction and academic resilience in predicting the mental health of high school students in Tehran. Given the significance of adolescent mental health, it is imperative for healthcare professionals and other stakeholders to develop intervention and prevention models to address mental health crises and plan for the enhancement of adolescent mental health.

Quality of Life Among Older Adults With Frailty: A Structural Equation Modeling

PURPOSE

Frailty is a complex age-related clinical condition among older adults. Quality of life (QOL) among older adults with frailty is an important topic of interest. The current cross-sectional study aimed to develop a structural equation model to identify factors affecting QOL.

METHOD

A total of 180 older adults with frailty were recruited from general units in two hospitals in Fuzhou, China. Data were collected using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Geriatric Depression Scale-15, and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data.

RESULTS

The final model exhibited a good fit. Poor sleep quality was associated with depression, passive coping style, and poor QOL. Depression was also associated with poor QOL. Passive coping style was associated with better QOL.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that sleep quality has direct and indirect effects on QOL of older adults with frailty through depression and passive coping style. Recommendations are that care providers pay attention to biological and physiological variables, symptom status, and functional status of older adults with frailty. This study also provides a theoretical basis for developing interventions that may lead to improvements in QOL among older adults with frailty. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 62(5), 49-55.].

Activation of NOP receptor increases vulnerability to stress: role of glucocorticoids and CRF signaling

RATIONALE

Recently, we demonstrated that the activation of the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) receptor (NOP) signaling facilitates depressive-like behaviors. Additionally, literature findings support the ability of the N/OFQ-NOP system to modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

OBJECTIVES

Considering that dysfunctional HPA axis is strictly related to stress-induced psychopathologies, we aimed to study the role of the HPA axis in the pro-depressant effects of NOP agonists.

METHODS

Mice were treated prior to stress with the NOP agonist Ro 65-6570, and immobility time in the forced swimming task and corticosterone levels were measured. Additionally, the role of endogenous glucocorticoids and CRF was investigated using the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone and the CRF1 antagonist antalarmin in the mediation of the effects of Ro 65-6570.

RESULTS

The NOP agonist in a dose-dependent manner further increased the immobility of mice in the second swimming session compared to vehicle. By contrast, under the same conditions, the administration of the NOP antagonist SB-612111 before stress reduced immobility, while the antidepressant nortriptyline was inactive. Concerning in-serum corticosterone in mice treated with vehicle, nortriptyline, or SB-612111, a significant decrease was observed after re-exposition to stress, but no differences were detected in Ro 65-6570-treated mice. Administration of mifepristone or antalarmin blocked the Ro 65-6570-induced increase in the immobility time in the second swimming session.

CONCLUSIONS

Present findings suggest that NOP agonists increase vulnerability to depression by hyperactivating the HPA axis and then increasing stress circulating hormones and CRF1 receptor signaling.

Self-Perceived Stress in Association with Emotional Experiences Following Patient Death and Coping Adequacy among Clinical Nurses in Lithuania: A Cross-Sectional Study

(1) Background: Stress is defined as a psychological sensation related to a change in both human physiology and behavior in response to a threat or challenge. As the prevalence of stress is increasing globally, nurses represent a risk group for exposure to stress-related psychological alterations. The aim of this study was to explore how clinical nurses in Lithuania cope with the perceived chronic stress in relation to additional emotional experiences following the death of a patient. (2) Methods: During a four-week period of October 2023, a total of 283 female nurses, aged between 20 and 70 years old, were enrolled in a single cross-sectional study. The PSS-10 (perceived stress scale) and the Brief-COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) questionnaires were applied to assess the level of self-perceived stress and the use of coping styles along with the adequate strategies. Furthermore, the nurses' emotions, evoked following patient death, were classified depending on their valence. Both the multiple linear and logistic regression statistical analyses were conducted to examine the associations between dependent and independent variables. (3) Results: The study identified that more than half of the nurses experienced patient death several times a month. A moderate-to-high level of the symptoms of mental chronic stress were suffered by 76% of caregivers. The psychological arousal following the death of a patient may induce the occurrence of emotional complexity that refers to competitive feelings, namely, helplessness (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 1.7, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1; 2.9), disappointment (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1; 3.5), anxiety (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2; 4.2), and guilt (ORadj 4.7, 95% CI 1.4; 5.7), and can serve as a potential trigger for chronic stress development in clinical nurses. In terms of emotion-focused stress control (β 0.1, 95% CI -0.1; -0.2, R2 = 0.12), Lithuanian nurses had low control of the perceived chronic stress. The use of problem-focused coping (β -0.2, 95% CI -0.3; -0.1, R2 = 0.09) was also not addressed to an appropriate extent. The use of the avoidance coping style was associated with moderate-high levels of chronic stress perceived by nurses (β 0.5, 95% CI 0.4; 0.7, R2 = 0.24). Furthermore, the avoidant coping strategy related to behavioral disengagement was significantly related to resilience to chronic stress in an adverse way. The cognitive process of self-blame was considered as a meaningful maladaptive behavior component for magnifying chronic stress in nurses. (4) Conclusions: The study highlights the need to implement the recommendations for boosting the nurses' mental health. Hospitals should contribute to psychological assistance along with providing necessary training on stress-coping strategies for clinical nurses. In order to promote the sustainability of mental health through additional social support interventions, it would be useful to upgrade the clinical nurses' daily routines with mindfulness-based trainings.

Prefrontal cortical synaptoproteome profile combined with machine learning predicts resilience towards chronic social isolation in rats

Chronic social isolation (CSIS) of rats serves as an animal model of depression and generates CSIS-resilient and CSIS-susceptible phenotypes. We aimed to investigate the prefrontal cortical synaptoproteome profile of CSIS-resilient, CSIS-susceptible, and control rats to delineate biochemical pathways and predictive biomarker proteins characteristic for the resilient phenotype. A sucrose preference test was performed to distinguish rat phenotypes. Class separation and machine learning (ML) algorithms support vector machine with greedy forward search and random forest were then used for discriminating CSIS-resilient from CSIS-susceptible and control rats. CSIS-resilient compared to CSIS-susceptible rat proteome analysis revealed, among other proteins, downregulated glycolysis intermediate fructose-bisphosphate aldolase C (Aldoc), and upregulated clathrin heavy chain 1 (Cltc), calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II (Cam2a), synaptophysin (Syp) and fatty acid synthase (Fasn) that are involved in neuronal transmission, synaptic vesicular trafficking, and fatty acid synthesis. Comparison of CSIS-resilient and control rats identified downregulated mitochondrial proteins ATP synthase subunit beta (Atp5f1b) and citrate synthase (Cs), and upregulated protein kinase C gamma type (Prkcg), vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (Slc17a7), and synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 A (Sv2a) involved in signal transduction and synaptic trafficking. The combined protein differences make the rat groups linearly separable, and 100% validation accuracy is achieved by standard ML models. ML algorithms resulted in four panels of discriminative proteins. Proteomics-data-driven class separation and ML algorithms can provide a platform for accessing predictive features and insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic neurotransmission involved in stress resilience.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) serves as an objective correlate of distress and symptom burden in multiple sclerosis

Background

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is frequently seen in people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Heart rate variability (HRV) is an easy and objective index for evaluating ANS functioning, and it has been previously used to explore the association between ANS and the experience of symptom burden in other chronic diseases. Given ANS functioning can be influenced by physical and psychological factors, this study investigated whether emotional distress and/or the presence of ANS dysfunction is associated with symptom severity in people living with MS.

Methods

Participants with MS and healthy controls (HC) with no history of cardiac conditions were recruited to self-collect HR data sampled from a chest strap HR monitor (PolarH10). Short-term HR signal was collected for five minutes, and time and frequency HRV analyses were performed and compared between groups. HRV values were then compared to self-reported distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale) and MS participants' self-reported measures of symptom burden (SymptoMScreen).

Results

A total of n = 23 adults with MS (51 ± 12 years, 65 % female, median Patient Determined Disease Steps [PDDS]: 3.0) and n = 23 HCs (43 ± 18 years, 40 % female) completed the study procedures. All participants were able to complete the chest strap placement and HR data capture independently. Participants with MS, compared to the HC participants, had a significantly lower parasympathetic activation as shown by lower values of the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD: 21.86 ± 9.84 vs. 43.13 ± 20.98 ms, p = 0.002) and of high-frequency (HF) power band (HF-HRV: 32.69 ± 12.01 vs. 42.39 ± 7.96 nu, p = 0.016), indicating an overall lower HRV in the MS group. Among individuals with MS, HF-HRV was significantly correlated with the severity of self-reported MS symptoms (r = -0.548, p = 0.010). Participants with MS also reported higher levels of distress compared to HC participants (18.32 ± 6.05 vs. 15.00 ± 4.61, p = 0.050), and HRV correlated with the severity of distress in MS participants (r = -0.569, p = 0.007). A significant mediation effect was also observed, with emotional distress fully mediating the association between HRV and symptom burden.

Conclusions

These findings suggest the potential for ANS dysfunction, as measured by HRV (i.e., lower value of HF power), to be utilized as an objective marker of symptom burden in people living with MS. Moreover, it is apparent that the relationship between HRV and symptom burden is mediated by emotional distress.

Stress inoculation during adolescence attenuates social stress-induced increase in ethanol intake in adult male mice

Social stress exposure heightens the risk of substance abuse disorder development, especially when endured during adolescence, influencing long-term mental health. This study investigates early-life stress's potential to confer resilience against later-life stressors. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined the impact of a single social defeat (SD) incident during adolescent mice's lives on subsequent voluntary ethanol consumption following repeated adult social stress exposure. Half of the adolescent mice experienced SD at postnatal day 28. Three weeks later (postnatal day 49), defeated groups encountered four confrontations with aggressive residents every 72 h, while control groups were exposed to non-resident exploration. A day after the last SD, defeated mice were classified as resilient or susceptible based on their response to a social interaction test (SIT), a model for depressive behavior. To assess ethanol consumption during young adulthood, researchers used the 'drinking in the dark' and oral ethanol self-administration paradigms. Stress inoculation (IS) slightly increased resilient animals in the SIT. In mice without IS exposure during adolescence, susceptible defeated mice displayed higher ethanol consumption and motivation than control and resilient mice. IS in adolescence effectively counteracted this effect, as IS-SD groups, whether resilient or susceptible, showed no increase in ethanol intake. These groups also exhibited similar motivation to control, measured by the progressive ratio. Notably, elevated IL-6 levels seen in SD-S mice were absent in IS-exposed mice. Additionally, IS-exposed groups had lower prefrontal cortex IL-6 and CX3CL1 levels. These findings support the hypothesis that IS, induced by moderate-intensity stress during adolescence, can enhance resilience to more severe stressors in adulthood.

Influence of leptin and its receptors on individuals under chronic social stress behavior

Stress is the body's physiological reaction to a dangerous or threatening situation, leading to a state of alertness. This reaction is necessary for developing an effective adaptive response to stress and maintaining the body's homeostasis. Chronic stress, caused mainly by social stress, is what primarily affects the world's population. In the last decades, the emergence of psychological disorders in humans has become more frequent, and one of the symptoms that can be observed is aggressiveness. In the brain, stress can cause neuronal circuit alterations related to the action of hormones in the central nervous system. Leptin, for example, is a hormone capable of acting in brain regions and neuronal circuits important for behavioral and emotional regulation. This study investigated the correlation between chronic social stress, neuroendocrine disorders, and individual behavioral changes. Then, leptin and its receptors' anatomical distribution were evaluated in the brains of mice subjected to a protocol of chronic social stress. The model of spontaneous aggression (MSA) is based on grouping young mice and posterior regrouping of the same animals as adults. According to the regrouping social stress, we categorized the mice into i) harmonic, ii) attacked, and iii) aggressive animals. For leptin hormone evaluation, we quantified plasma and brain concentrations by ELISA and evaluated its receptor and isoform expression by western blotting. Moreover, we verified whether stress or changes in leptin levels interfered with the animal's body weight. Only attacked animals showed reduced plasma leptin concentration and weight gain, besides a higher expression of the high-molecular-weight leptin receptor in the amygdala and the low-molecular-weight receptor in the hippocampal region. Aggressive animals showed a reduction in the cerebral concentration of leptin in the hippocampus and a reduced high-and low-molecular-weight leptin receptor expression in the amygdala. The harmonic animals showed a reduction in the cerebral concentration of leptin in the pituitary and a reduced expression of the high-molecular-weight leptin receptor in the amygdala. We then suggest that leptin and its receptors' expression in plasma and specific brain areas are involved in how individuals react in stressful situations, such as regrouping stress in MSA.

Effects of a Spiritual Care Program on Body Image and Resilience in Patients with Second-Degree Burns in Iran

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of a spiritual care program (SCP), on the body image and resilience of second-degree burn patients in Iran. In this semi-experimental study, 60 patients with second-degree burns were selected in the Tehran Mottahari Burns Hospital, Iran in 2022. These patients were divided through random allocation into two intervention and control groups. The patients of both groups filled out Beck's self-esteem Test (BSCT) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) before, immediately, and 3 months after the intervention. In the intervention group, SCP was performed for eight sessions over two weeks. Firstly, the 4D Model of Spiritual Health and Well-Being was examined, then two one-hour sessions were held with each patient about each dimension, with a total of four dimensions including eight sessions, in which these dimensions were examined and discussed. There was no difference in the score of body image (P = 0.326) and resilience (P = 0.597) before intervention in the control and intervention groups. However, the mean of body image score in the intervention group immediately (109.56 ± 4.86) and 3 months after (109.16 ± 6.06) the intervention was significant, respectively. Also, the mean of resilience score in the intervention group was significant immediately (85.86 ± 6.78) and 3 months after the intervention (85.73 ± 6.27). It is suggested for healthcare providers to use the SCPs to reduce the recovery time of burned patients and reduce complications and treatment costs.

Differential recruitment of brain circuits during fear extinction in non-stressed compared to stress resilient animals

Dysfunctional fear responses in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be partly explained by an inability to effectively extinguish fear responses elicited by trauma-related cues. However, only a subset of individuals exposed to traumatic stress develop PTSD. Therefore, studying fear extinction deficits in animal models of individual differences could help identify neural substrates underlying vulnerability or resilience to the effects of stress. We used a rat model of social defeat in which rats segregate into passively and actively coping rats. In previous work, we showed that passively coping rats exhibit disruptions in social interaction whereas actively coping rats do not display behaviors differently from controls, indicating their resilience. Here, adult male rats exposed to 7 days of social defeat were tested for fear extinction, retention of extinction, and persistence of retention using contextual fear and ethologically-relevant fear tests. Passively coping rats exhibited elevated freezing in response to the previously extinguished context. Analyses of cFos expressing cells across select brain regions showed high correlations within dorsal hippocampal subregions, while passively coping rats had high correlations between the dorsal hippocampus CA1 and the central and basolateral subregions of the amygdala. Importantly, although control and actively coping rats showed similar levels of behavioral extinction, there was little similarity between activated structures, suggesting stress resilience in response to chronic social defeat involves an adaptive differential recruitment of brain circuits to successfully extinguish fear memories.

Gains and Losses: Resilience to Social Defeat Stress in Adolescent Female Mice

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is a unique period of psychosocial growth during which social adversity can negatively influence mental health trajectories. Understanding how adolescent social stress impacts males and females and why some individuals are particularly affected is becoming increasingly urgent. Social defeat stress models for adolescent male mice have been effective in reproducing some physical/psychological aspects of bullying. Designing a model suitable for females has proven challenging.

METHODS

We report a version of the adolescent male accelerated social defeat stress (AcSD) paradigm adapted for females. Early adolescent C57BL/6J female mice (N = 107) were exposed to our modified AcSD procedure twice a day for 4 days and categorized as resilient or susceptible based on a social interaction test 24 hours later. Mice were then assessed for changes in Netrin-1/DCC guidance cue expression in dopamine systems, for inhibitory control in adulthood using the Go/No-Go task, or for alterations in dopamine connectivity organization in the matured prefrontal cortex.

RESULTS

Most adolescent females showed protection against stress-induced social avoidance, but in adulthood, these resilient females developed inhibitory control deficits and showed diminution of prefrontal cortex presynaptic dopamine sites. Female mice classified as susceptible were protected against cognitive and dopaminergic alterations. AcSD did not alter Netrin-1/DCC in early adolescent females, contrary to previous findings with males.

CONCLUSIONS

Preserving prosocial behavior in adolescent females may be important for survival advantage but seems to come at the price of developing persistent cognitive and dopamine deficiencies. The female AcSD paradigm produced findings comparable to those found in males, allowing mechanistic investigation in both sexes.

In critique of moral resilience: UK healthcare professionals' experiences working with asylum applicants housed in contingency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic

This research explores the experiences of UK NHS healthcare professionals working with asylum applicants housed in contingency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a critical understanding of the concept of moral resilience as a theoretical framework, we explore how the difficult circumstances in which they worked were navigated, and the extent to which moral suffering led to moral transformation. Ten staff from a general practice participated in semistructured interviews. Encountering the harms endured by people seeking asylum prior to arrival in the UK and through the UK's 'Hostile Environment' caused healthcare staff moral suffering. They responded to this in several ways, including: (1) feeling grateful for their own fortunes; (2) defining the limitations of their professional obligations; (3) focusing on the rewards of work and (4) going above and beyond usual care. Although moral resilience is reflected in much of the data, some participants described how the work caused ideological transformations and motivated challenges to systems of oppression. We show how current moral resilience theory fails to capture these transformative political and social responses, warning of how, instead, it might encourage healthcare staff to maintain the status quo. We caution against the widespread endorsement of current formulations of moral resilience in contemporary social and political climates, where the hostile and austere systems causing suffering are the result of ideological political decisions. Future work should instead focus on enabling working conditions to support, and developing theory to capture, collective resistance.

Factors associated with mental health of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying societal measures have impacted children and their families all over the world. Little is known about the factors associated with mental health outcomes in young children (i.e., 1 to 6 years old) during the pandemic. The current study aimed to examine associations with potential risk and protective factors, i.e., direct COVID-19 exposure factors as well as within-family characteristics.

METHODS

Caregivers of children aged 1-6 years old were recruited in the Netherlands to participate in an ongoing longitudinal research project. In the current study, baseline data-collected during the 1st year of the pandemic-are reported. The final sample consisted of 2762 caregivers who answered questionnaires assessing negative and positive dimensions of their children's mental health (i.e., anxiety, depressive symptoms, anger, sleep problems, positive affect, and self-regulation). Furthermore, caregivers provided information regarding: (1) Direct COVID-19 related factors, i.e., parental infection and death of a family member or close friend due to COVID-19, (2) Family related COVID-19 factors, i.e., parental perceived impact of the pandemic and COVID-19 related parent-child emotion regulation strategies (i.e., active, avoidant and information-focused strategies), (3) General caregiver's distress, i.e., parental mental health, parental feelings of rejection towards their child. Regression analyses were used to examine associations with children's mental health.

RESULTS

Direct COVID-19 related factors were not associated with more mental health problems in the children, though parental COVID-19 infections were related with less anger in children. Family related COVID-19 factors and caregiver's distress were related with children's mental health. Higher parental perceived negative impact of the pandemic, lower parental perceived positive impact of the pandemic, more avoidant as well as more active and information-focused parent-child emotion regulation strategies, more caregiver's mental health problems and more parental feelings of rejection towards their child were related with more mental health problems in the child.

CONCLUSION

Direct exposure to COVID-19 was not related with more mental health problems in the child. Family related COVID-19 factors and caregiver's distress appear to play a more important role for young children's mental health. Findings may inform prevention and intervention programs for potential future global crises as well as other stressful events.

Effectiveness of the acceptance and commitment therapy on resilience and quality of life in patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) is defined as an ongoing symptomatic illness in patients who have recovered from their initial COVID-19 infection which causes long term respiratory problems, muscle atrophy, etc. So, the current research aimed to examine effectiveness of the acceptance and commitment therapy on resilience and health-related quality of life of PCS patients. The research deployed a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-tests and 3-month follow-up with wait-list group. Thirty PCS patients from a specialized facility in Iran were recruited using available sampling method and were randomly assigned to either treatment or wait-list groups, each group 15 subjects. The subjects answered to Connor and Davidson's (2003) Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the World Health Organization's (1995) Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The posttest score of resilience in the treatment and wait-list groups were 19.6 and 14.47, respectively, and their follow-up scores were 17.13 and 14.55, respectively. Also, total score of HRQoL in the treatment and wait-list groups in the posttest were 65.07 and 55.73 and in the follow-up were 63.27 and 54.6, respectively. The results showed that there were significant differences in the posttest scores of the dependent variables based on the groups. Also, the MANCOVA showed that the acceptance and commitment therapy was still significantly effective on the dependent variables three months after the last session. The ACT can significantly increase PCS patients' resilience and HRQoL even 3months after the intervention. The implications and limitations of the research are further discussed.

Dominance status modulates activity in medial amygdala cells with projections to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

The medial amygdala (MeA) controls several types of social behavior via its projections to other limbic regions. Cells in the posterior dorsal and posterior ventral medial amygdala (MePD and MePV, respectively) project to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and these pathways respond to chemosensory cues and regulate aggressive and defensive behavior. Because the BNST is also essential for the display of stress-induced anxiety, a MePD/MePV-BNST pathway may modulate both aggression and responses to stress. In this study we tested the hypothesis that dominant animals would show greater neural activity than subordinates in BNST-projecting MePD and MePV cells after winning a dominance encounter as well as after losing a social defeat encounter. We created dominance relationships in male and female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), used cholera toxin b (CTB) as a retrograde tracer to label BNST-projecting cells, and collected brains for c-Fos staining in the MePD and MePV. We found that c-Fos immunoreactivity in the MePD and MePV was positively associated with aggression in males, but not in females. Also, dominant males showed a greater proportion of c-Fos+ /CTB+ double-labeled cells compared to their same-sex subordinate counterparts. Another set of animals received social defeat stress after acquiring a dominant or subordinate social status and we stained for stress-induced c-Fos expression in the MePD and MePV. We found that dominant males showed a greater proportion of c-Fos+ /CTB+ double-labeled cells in the MePD after social defeat stress compared to subordinates. Also, dominants showed a longer latency to submit during social defeat than subordinates. Further, in males, latency to submit was positively associated with the proportion of c-Fos+ /CTB+ double-labeled cells in the MePD and MePV. These findings indicate that social dominance increases neural activity in BNST-projecting MePD and MePV cells and activity in this pathway is also associated with proactive responses during social defeat stress. In sum, activity in a MePD/MePV-BNST pathway contributes to status-dependent differences in stress coping responses and may underlie experience-dependent changes in stress resilience.

Long-term effects of chronic stress models in adult mice

Neuropsychiatric disorders, such as major depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder, tend to be long-term conditions in whose development and maintenance stress are central pathogenic factors. Translational mouse models are widely used in neuropsychiatric research, exploiting social and non-social stressors to investigate the mechanisms underlying their detrimental effects. However, most studies focus on the short-term consequences of chronic stress, whereas only a few are interested in the long-term course. This is counterintuitive given the human conditions that preclinical models are designed to mimic. In this review, we have summarized the limited work to date on long-term effects of chronic stress in mice models. First, the different models are presented and a definition of short- vs. long-term sequelae is proposed. On this basis, behavioral, endocrine, and vegetative effects are addressed before examining data on cellular and molecular alterations in the brain. Finally, future directions for research on the long-term effects of stress are discussed.

The impact of adversities across the lifespan on psychological symptom profiles in late adulthood: a latent profile analysis

People commonly face adverse circumstances throughout life, which increases risk for psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Adversities may occur during different periods in life. Especially adversity during early periods has been suggested to put individuals at risk for adverse mental health outcomes. Here, we investigated whether timing of adversity during the prenatal period, childhood, or mid-to-late adulthood differentially impacted classification into late adulthood symptom profiles. We performed sex-stratified Latent Profile Analysis to identify latent profiles regarding anxious, depressive, psychotic, and PTSD symptoms in n = 568 Dutch famine birth cohort members (n = 294 women, n = 274 men, mean age(SD) = 72.9(0.8)). Cross-sectional late adulthood symptomatology, childhood traumatic maltreatment, and adulthood trauma were based on self-report questionnaires. Prenatal adversity was considered present when individuals were prenatally exposed to the 1944-45 Dutch famine. In both men and women we identified one anxious/depressive profile and three profiles with approximately equal severity of all symptom types within each profile, yet differentiating in overall severity (low, mild, high) between profiles. We additionally found a PTSD symptom profile in women. In men, logistic regression models showed significant associations between prenatal, childhood and adulthood adversity, and profile classification, with differential effects depending on timing and most profound effects of child maltreatment. In women, childhood and adulthood adversity significantly increased classification probability into almost all profiles, with no significant effect of prenatal adversity. These findings support a time-dependent and sex-specific impact of adversity during different periods across the lifespan on psychological health, with consequences into late adulthood.

Social Support, Coping, and Cancer-Related Health Burden in Long-term Survivors Treated with Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation as Adolescents or Young Adults

Purpose: Long-term adolescent and young adult hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) survivors face complex physical and psychological treatment effects that contribute to cancer-related health burden. We aimed to identify the role of social support and coping strategies on cancer-related health burden. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included HCT recipients from the INSPIRE trial [NCT00799461], who received their first transplant between ages 15 and 39. As our primary outcome, we used the health burden subscale of the Cancer and Treatment Distress measure. We assessed correlates using the Short Form-36v2 physical component summary, brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE), and ENRICHD Social Support Inventory. We used hierarchical multivariable linear regression to identify factors associated with cancer-related health burden, with the first step including sociodemographic and clinical factors, the second step adding physical function, and the third step including social support and coping. Results: Participants (N = 293) were 52% male and 93% white, non-Hispanic, with a mean age of 30.2 (standard deviation 6.6) at first transplant. In step one, sex accounted for ∼3% of the variance (p = 0.006). Adding physical function explained an additional 33% of the variance (p = <0.001). Social support and coping strategies explained 11% of the variance (p = <0.001). The final model explained 47% of the variance; better physical function, more social support, and active coping were associated with lower cancer-related health burden, while female sex, venting, and distraction were associated with higher cancer-related health burden. Conclusion: Supporting physical function and fostering social support and active coping may help mitigate cancer-related health burden in this population. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT00799461.

Assessing Resilience and Its Correlates among Residents of Fort McMurray during the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a global health crisis that has affected the psychological well-being of individuals across the world. The persistence of the pandemic and measures to curtail it have tested people's ability to cope successfully and bounce back from the pandemic, otherwise referred to as resilience. The present study examined resilience levels among residents of Fort McMurray and identified the demographic, clinical and social factors associated with resilience.

METHODS

The study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected data from 186 participants using online questionnaires. The survey included questions assessing sociodemographic information, mental health history and COVID-19-related variables. The main study outcome was resilience measured using the six-item Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). The data from the survey were analyzed using chi-squared tests and binary logistic regression analyses in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25.

RESULTS

The results showed that seven independent variables (age, history of depression, history of anxiety, willingness to receive mental health counselling, support from the government of Alberta and support from employer) were statistically significant within the context of the logistic regression model. A history of an anxiety disorder was demonstrated to best predict low resilience. Participants who had a history of anxiety disorder were five times more likely to show low resilience compared to those without such a history. Participants with a history of depression showed a three-fold likelihood of having low resilience in comparison to those who did not have a history of depression. Individuals who expressed a desire to receive mental health counselling had a four-times likelihood of having low resilience than those who did not express a desire to receive mental health counselling. The results also showed that younger participants were more prone to low resilience compared to older participants. Receiving support from the government and one's employer is a protective factor.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the importance of examining resilience and its associated factors during a pandemic such as COVID-19. The results demonstrated that a history of anxiety disorder, depression and being younger were important predictors of low resilience. Responders who reported the desire to receive mental health counselling also reported expressing low resilience. These findings could be used to design and implement interventions aimed at improving the resilience of individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Influence of gut microbiota on resilience and its possible mechanisms

Excessive stress leads to disruptions of the central nervous system. Individuals' responses to stress and trauma differ from person to person. Some may develop various neuropsychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders, while others may successfully adapt to the same stressful events. These two neural phenotypes are called susceptibility and resilience. Previous studies have suggested resilience/susceptibility as a complex, non-specific systemic response involving central and peripheral systems. Emerging research of mechanisms underlying resilience is mostly focussing on the physiological adaptation of specific brain circuits, neurovascular impairment of the blood-brain barrier, the role of innate and adaptive factors of the immune system, and the dysbiosis of gut microbiota. In accordance with the microbiota-gut-brain axis hypothesis, the gut microbiome directly influences the interface between the brain and the periphery to affect neuronal function. This review explored several up-to-date studies on the role of gut microbiota implicated in stressful events-related resilience/susceptibility. We mainly focus on the changes in behavior and neuroimaging characteristics, involved brain regions and circuits, the blood-brain barrier, the immune system, and epigenetic modifications, which contribute to stress-induced resilience and susceptibility. The perspective of the gut-brain axis could help to understand the mechanisms underlying resilience and the discovery of biomarkers may lead to new research directions and therapeutic interventions for stress-induced neuropsychiatric disorders.

Resource loss, coping strategies and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in survivors of the 2020 Croatia earthquake

BACKGROUND

Conservation of resources theory (COR) establishes a link between resource loss and the stress response. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of resource loss in the form of home damage and the choice of active or passive coping strategies to PTSD symptoms in survivors of the 2020 Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake.

METHODS

A total of 374 adults (29.9% men) aged 18-64 years living in the counties surrounding the epicenter of the Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake participated in an online cross-sectional survey. The questionnaire included the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Coping Inventory, and the binary item assessing whether or not the participants' home was damaged.

RESULTS

Hierarchical regression analysis showed that home damage was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms. Participants whose homes were damaged by the earthquake were significantly more likely to use passive coping strategies, namely avoidance and emotional venting, and one active coping strategy, action, than those whose homes were spared. Finally, more frequent use of passive coping was associated with a higher risk of PTSD symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The study corroborates the COR theory link between resource loss and the stress response, as well as the general consensus that passive coping is a less adaptive strategy than active coping. In addition to passive coping, individuals who lacked resources may have been inclined to take some active steps because they either needed to repair or relocate their homes and because most buildings were only moderately to minimally damaged in the Petrinja earthquake.

Behavioral flexibility impacts on coping and emotional responses in male mice submitted to social defeat stress

Behavioral flexibility permits the appropriate behavioral adjustments in response to changing environmental demands. The present study aimed to evaluate if variability in baseline flexibility can enable differences in coping strategies, changes in neuroplasticity, and behavioral outcomes in responses to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). Male C57BL6 mice were submitted to the Morris Water Maze (MWM) using an extended protocol for reversal learning to assess. The animals were divided into low and high behavioral flexibility groups based on their performance on the last day of acquisition versus the four days of reversal learning. The CSDS was applied for ten consecutive days, and coping strategies were evaluated during the physical interaction on the first and last day of stress. A battery of behavioral tests to assess social and emotional behavior was conducted 24 h after the CSDS protocol. The complexity of prefrontal cortex (PFC) neuronal morphology was evaluated by the Golgi-Cox method. Animals with High Flexibility exhibited changes in their CSDS coping strategies, from active to passive coping, during the CSDS protocol. Low Flexibility mice had no alterations in the coping strategies during CSDS. After social stress, High Flexibility was associated with reduced social interaction with an aggressive Swiss mouse, higher latency to immobility in the tail suspension test, and reduced latency to self-care in the sucrose splash test. High Flexibility mice also displayed higher dendritic complexity on pyramidal neurons from the prelimbic and infralimbic prefrontal cortex compared to Low Flexibility mice. These results suggest That High Flexibility is associated with increased neuroplasticity in cortical areas and better emotional responses related to behavioral despair and motivation. However, exposure to CSDS reversed the beneficial effects of High Flexibility in male mice. Thus, this study suggests that baseline variability in behavioral flexibility, even in inbred strains, might be associated with differences in coping strategies, PFC morphology, and behavioral responses to social stress.

GluN2D expression is regulated by restraint stress and supports active stress coping bouts

Stress coping strategies represent critical responses to environmental challenges, and active coping has been linked to stress resilience in humans. Understanding the neuroadaptations that support these strategies may provide insights into adaptive and maladaptive stress responses. NMDA receptors (NMDARs) play key roles in neuroadaptation, and NMDARs have been specifically implicated in stress responsiveness. Constitutive knockout mice have been used to implicate the GluN2D NMDAR subunit in regulation of stress-sensitive and affective behavior, but the brain regions in which GluN2D expression changes drive these effects remain unknown. Here we report that following an acute restraint stressor, GluN2D subunit expression is specifically decreased in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a key region involved in stress processing, in male but not female mice, with no differences found in the thalamus or ventral hippocampus in either sex. Rodents engage in active struggling events during restraint stress that may represent active coping strategies to stress. Thus, we assessed active coping bouts during acute and chronic restraint stress sessions in GluN2D knockout mice. During the first restraint session, GluN2D knockout mice exhibited a pronounced decrease in struggling bouts during restraint stress relative to wild-type littermates, consistent with a role of GluN2D in active coping responses to stress. Repeated, daily restraint sessions revealed a sex-specific role of GluN2D expression on certain aspects of active coping behaviors, with male GluN2D KO mice exhibiting a decrease in total coping bouts measured across five sessions. However, BNST-specific knockdown of GluN2D in male mice did not alter active coping bouts, suggesting either a multi-synaptic role of GluN2D and/or a developmental role of GluN2D in this behavior. Altogether, these data are consistent with a growing literature suggesting that exploration of GluN2D control of stress circuit actions may lead to a novel therapeutic target to consider for stress-related mood disorders.

Validity of a German Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument based on the ESC Cardiovascular Prevention Guidelines

Background: Following guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention of the European Society for Cardiology (ESC), the current study validated the German Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument in participants who underwent coronary angiography. Methods: 314 participants (M_age = 69.7 ± 12.0; 69 % male) completed the German Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument and validated comparison scales to measure depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), Type D personality (DS14), work stress (ERI), family stress (SMSS), trauma (PC-PTSD), and anger and hostility (Z-scale of MMPI-2). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that the psychosocial risk factors were separate entities rather than a signs or symptoms of a single broad indication of distress (CFI = .872, RMSEA = .056, SRMR = .058). Intraclass coefficients (ICC), kappa and diagnostic accuracy indicators (receiver operator characteristic [ROC] curves, sensitivity, specificity, and the positive and negative predictive values [PPV; NPV]) indicated that most screener scales were sufficient to good. We also compared patients with established coronary heart disease (CHD; n = 213) to those with no current CHD (n = 100) and found overall similar results. Discussion: The German version of the Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument has an acceptable performance. Aside from minor improvements, the screening instrument could be implemented in the cardiological practice to screen patients on multidimensional psychosocial risk.

Decreased sensitivity to antidepressant drugs in Wistar Hannover rats submitted to two animal models of depression

The Wistar Hannover rat (WHR) is a strain commonly used for toxicity studies but rarely used in studies investigating depression neurobiology. In this study, we aimed to characterise the behavioural responses of WHR to acute and repeated antidepressant treatments upon exposure to the forced swim test (FST) or learned helplessness (LH) test. WHR were subjected to forced swimming pre-test and test with antidepressant administration (imipramine, fluoxetine, or escitalopram) at 0, 5 h and 23 h after pre-test. WHR displayed high immobility in the test compared to unstressed controls (no pre-swim) and failed to respond to the antidepressants tested. The effect of acute and repeated treatment (imipramine, fluoxetine, escitalopram or s-ketamine) was then tested in animals not previously exposed to pre-test. Only imipramine (20 mg/kg, 7 days) and s-ketamine (acute) reduced the immobility time in the test. To further investigate the possibility that the WHR were less responsive to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the effect of repeated treatment with fluoxetine (20 mg/kg, 7 days) was investigated in the LH model. The results demonstrated that fluoxetine failed to reduce the number of escape failures in two different protocols. These data suggest that the WHR do not respond to the conventional antidepressant treatment in the FST or the LH. Only s-ketamine and repeated imipramine were effective in WHR in a modified FST protocol. Altogether, these results indicate that WHR may be an interesting tool to investigate the mechanisms associated with the resistance to antidepressant drugs and identify more effective treatments.

Resilience to social defeat stress in adolescent male mice

Adverse social experiences during adolescence are associated with the appearance of mental illness in adulthood. Social defeat (SD) is an ethologically valid murine model to study the consequences of social stress. In adolescent mice, SD induces depressive-like behaviors, increased anxiety and potentiates the reinforcing effects of cocaine and alcohol. However, not all mice exposed to SD will be susceptible to these effects. Adult mice resilient to the effects of SD show a consistent phenotype being resilient to depressive-like behaviors and to the increase in cocaine and alcohol consumption. The aim of the present study was to characterize the resilient phenotype to depressive-like behaviors and increase cocaine and ethanol rewarding effects of mice socially defeated during adolescence. To that end, adolescent mice were exposed to repeated SD, and 24 h after the last encounter, they underwent a social interaction test (SIT) in order to evaluate depressive-like behaviors. Cocaine-induced reward conditioning and ethanol intake was evaluated in two different sets of mice 3 weeks after the last SD using cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) and oral ethanol self-administration (SA). The neuroinflammation response was measured at the end of the experimental procedure by measuring striatal and cortical levels of IL-6 and CX3CL1. The results confirmed that a comparable percentage of adolescent mice develop resilience to depressive-like behaviors to that observed in adult mice. However, increased anxiety was more severe in resilient mice. Likewise, an increased preference for an ineffective dose of cocaine and an increased ethanol consumption was observed in resilient mice compared to controls. The increase in IL-6 and CX3CL1 was mainly observed in the striatum of susceptible mice compared to that of control mice. Our results confirm that, contrary to prior assumptions in adults, responses to SD stress are more complex and singular in adolescents, and caution should be taken for the correct interpretation and translation of those phenotypes.

Neurobiological mechanisms of mood disorders: Stress vulnerability and resilience

Stress is an important factor in the development of several human pathologies. The response of rodents and humans to stress depends on many factors; some people and rodents develop stress-related mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety in humans, depression-like and anxiety-like behavior in mice and rats, while others report no new psychological symptoms in response to chronic or acute stress, and are considered susceptible and resilient to stress, respectively. Resilience is defined as the ability to thrive in the face of adversity and is a learned process that can help protect against occupational stressors and mental illnesses. There is growing interest in the underlying mechanisms involved in resilience and vulnerability to depression caused by stress, and some studies have demonstrated that individual variability in the way animals and humans respond to stress depends on several mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, neuronal plasticity, immunology and genetic factors, among others not discussed in this review, this review provides a general overview about this mechanism.

Diversity of Hemodynamic Reactive Profiles across Persons—Psychosocial Implications for Personalized Medicine

This study analyzed the individual differences in hemodynamic time patterns and reactivity to cognitive and emotional tasks, and explored the diversity of psycho-physiological profiles that could be used for the personalized prediction of different diseases. An analysis of heart rate (HR)—blood pressure (BP) relationship patterns across time using cross-correlations (CCs) during a logical-mathematical task and a task recalling negative emotions (rumination) was carried out in a laboratory setting on 45 participants. The results showed maximum HR–BP CCs during the mathematical task significantly more positive than the maximum HR–BP CCs during the rumination task. Furthermore, our results showed a large variety of hemodynamic reactivity profiles across the participants, even when carrying out the same tasks. The most frequent type showed positive HR–BP CCs under cognitive activity, and several positive–negative HR–BP CCs cycles under negative emotional activity. In general terms, our results supported the main hypothesis. We observed some distinct time-based “coordination strategies” in the reactivity of the autonomic nervous system under emotional vs. cognitive loading. Overall, large individual, as well as situational, specificities in hemodynamic reactivity time patterns were seen. The possible relationships between this variety of profiles and different psychosocial characteristics, and the potential for integrative predictive health within the provision of highly personalized medicine, are discussed.

Age disparities in mental health during the COVID19 pandemic: The roles of resilience and coping

BACKGROUND

The COVID19 pandemic has caused a mental health crisis worldwide, which may have different age-specific impacts, partly due to age-related differences in resilience and coping. The purposes of this study were to 1) identify disparities in mental distress, perceived adversities, resilience, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic among four age groups (18-34, 35-49, 50-64, and ≥65); 2) assess the age-moderated time effect on mental distress, and 3) estimate the effects of perceived adversities on mental distress as moderated by age, resilience and coping.

METHODS

Data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample (n = 7830) administered during the pandemic. Weighted mean of mental distress and adversities (perceived loneliness, perceived stress, and perceived risk), resilience, and coping were compared among different age groups. Hierarchical random-effects models were used to assess the moderated effects of adversities on mental distress.

RESULTS

The youngest age group (18-34) reported the highest mental distress at baseline with the mean (standard error) as 2.70 (0.12), which showed an incremental improvement with age (2.27 (0.10), 1.88 (0.08), 1.29 (0.07) for 35-49, 50-64, and ≥65 groups respectively). The older age groups reported lower levels of loneliness and perceived stress, higher perceived risk, greater resilience, and more relaxation coping (ps < .001). Model results showed that mental distress declined slightly over time, and the downward trend was moderated by age group. Perceived adversities, alcohol, and social coping were positively,whereas resilience and relaxation were negatively associated with mental distress. Resilience and age group moderated the slope of each adversity on mental distress.

CONCLUSIONS

The youngest age group appeared to be most vulnerable during the pandemic. Mental health interventions may provide resilience training to combat everyday adversities for the vulnerable individuals and empower them to achieve personal growth that challenges age boundaries.

Delta Opioid Receptors and Enkephalinergic Signaling within Locus Coeruleus Promote Stress Resilience

The noradrenergic nucleus locus coeruleus is a key component of the stress circuitry of the brain. During stress, the neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is secreted onto LC, increasing LC output and norepinephrine concentration in the brain, which is thought to promote anxiety-like behavior. LC is also innervated by several structures that synthesize and release the endogenous opioid peptide enkephalin onto LC upon stressor termination. While the role of CRF neurotransmission within LC in mediating anxiety-like behavior and the behavioral response to stress has been well characterized, the role of enkephalinergic signaling at LC-expressed δ-opioid receptors has been comparatively understudied. We have previously shown that acute stressor exposure increases LC activity and anxiety-like behavior for at least one week. Here, we extend these findings by showing that these effects may be mediated at least in part through stress-induced downregulation of DORs within LC. Furthermore, overexpression of DORs in LC blocks the effects of stress on both LC firing properties and anxiety-like behavior. In addition, intra-LC infusions of enkephalin blocked stress-induced freezing behavior and promoted conditioned place preference. These findings indicate that enkephalinergic neurotransmission at DORs within LC is an important component of the behavioral response to stress and may drive reward-related behavior as well.

Validity of a multidimensional comprehensive psychosocial screening instrument based on the ESC cardiovascular prevention guidelines - Evidence from the general and cardiovascular patient population

AIM

To evaluate the psychometric properties and validity of the updated version of the Dutch multidimensional Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument in patients with coronary heart disease and the general population, based upon guideline recommendations from the European Society for Cardiology.

METHOD

678 participants (M_age = 48.2, SD = 16.8; 46% male) of the Dutch general population and 312 cardiac patients (M_age = 65.9, SD = 9.9; 77% male) who recently received percutaneous coronary intervention completed the Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument and validated questionnaires for depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), Type D personality (DS14), hostility (CMHS), anger (STAS-T), trauma (SRIP), and chronic work and family stress (ERI, MMQ-6).

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that the eight screened risk factors were best measured as separate entities, rather than broader indications of distress. Inter-instrument agreement, assessed with the intraclass coefficient (ICC) and the screening accuracy indicators (receiving operator characteristic [ROC] curves, sensitivity, specificity, and the positive and negative predictive values [PPV; NPV]) were good for most screened risk factors. PPV was low in low prevalence risk factors like anxiety, trauma, and depression.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the current version of the Comprehensive Psychosocial Screening Instrument has an acceptable performance in both populations, with a fair to excellent level of agreement with established full questionnaires. Besides a few suggestions for further refinement, the screener may be implemented in primary care and cardiological practice.

The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Gut Microbiota Modulates Conspecific Aggression in Diversely Selected Laying Hens

The gut microbiota plays an important role in regulating brain function, influencing psychological and emotional stability. The correlations between conspecific aggression, gut microbiota, and physiological homeostasis were further studied in inbred laying chicken lines, 63 and 72, which were diversely selected for Marek’s disease, and they also behave differently in aggression. Ten sixty-week-old hens from each line were sampled for blood, brain, and cecal content. Neurotransmitters, cytokines, corticosterone, and heterophil/lymphocyte ratios were determined. Cecal microbiota compositions were determined by bacterial 16s rRNA sequencing, and functional predictions were performed. Our data showed that the central serotonin and tryptophan levels were higher in line 63 compared to line 72 (p < 0.05). Plasma corticosterone, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios, and central norepinephrine were lower in line 63 (p < 0.05). The level of tumor necrosis factor α tended to be higher in line 63. Faecalibacterium, Oscillibacter, Butyricicoccus, and Bacteriodes were enriched in line 63 birds, while Clostridiales vadin BB60, Alistipes, Mollicutes RF39 were dominated in line 72. From the predicted bacterial functional genes, the kynurenine pathway was upregulated in line 72. These results suggested a functional linkage of the line differences in serotonergic activity, stress response, innate immunity, and gut microbiota populations.

Repeated Yueju, But Not Fluoxetine, Induced Sustained Antidepressant Activity in a Mouse Model of Chronic Learned Helplessness: Involvement of CaMKII Signaling in the Hippocampus

OBJECTIVE

Depression is characterized with long disease length, whereas one major disadvantage of current mainstream treatment of depression is a high rate of relapse and recurrence. A sustained antidepressant activity is proposed to facilitate the prevention of relapse/recurrence. Here we compared the long-term antidepressant effect of Yueju, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, and a conventional antidepressant, fluoxetine, as well as revealing the underlying mechanism of long-term antidepressant effect of Yueju.

METHODS

Clinical long-term depression condition was modelled by using chronic learned helplessness (cLH) protocol in ICR strain mice. The short-term and long-term antidepressant effects of drugs were assessed with learned helplessness (LH), tail suspension test (TST), forced swim test (FST), and novelty-suppressed feeding (NSF) test. The expression of PKA, CaMKII signaling, and NR1, the NMDA receptor subunit, in hippocampus was determined. A CaMKII inhibitor (KN-62) was used to assess the role of CaMKII signaling in antidepressant effects of Yueju or fluoxetine.

RESULTS

In the mice exposed to chronic learned helplessness (cLH) procedure, administration of Yueju or fluoxetine for 3 weeks elicited comparable antidepressant effects, indicated by learned helplessness test, as well as TST and NSF. However, 5 days after termination of the 3-week-long drug administration, only mice previously treated with Yueju still showed the alleviation of depressive-like behaviors. At this time, the downregulation of PKA and p-CaMKII/CaMKII and upregulation of NMDA receptor subunit NR1 in the hippocampus were normalized in animals previously treated with Yueju. In contrast, none of the expressions of these proteins were changed in mice previously treated with fluoxetine. Interestingly, an administration of KN-62 blunted the antidepressant effect of Yueju.

CONCLUSION

These findings showed the sustained antidepressant efficacy of chronic treatment with routine dose of Yueju and the CaMKII signaling activation may play a critical role in the sustained antidepressant response.

Psychological variables and quality of life in women with endometriosis

BACKGROUND

Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition which has been found to have a detrimental impact upon women's quality of life (QoL). This study investigated the impact of pain self-efficacy, health locus of control (HLOC), coping style and illness uncertainty on QoL in women with endometriosis.

METHOD

Two hundred and thirty women completed online questionnaires. Standard multiple regressions assessed the relationship between the psychological predictors and QoL.

RESULTS

The psychological variables accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance (p < .0005) in scores across the four QoL domains. The model accounted for 55, 26, 10 and 32% of the scores in physical, psychological, social and environmental QoL domains, respectively. Pain self-efficacy made the largest unique contribution, followed by illness uncertainty.

CONCLUSIONS

Women's perception of their ability to manage their pain and how uncertain they felt about their condition, were important factors in QoL, particularly in the physical domain.

Characterizing the behavioral and neuroendocrine features of susceptibility and resilience to social stress

Evaluating and coping with stressful social events as they unfold is a critical strategy in overcoming them without long-lasting detrimental effects. Individuals display a wide range of responses to stress, which can manifest in a variety of outcomes for the brain as well as subsequent behavior. Chronic Social Defeat Stress (CSDS) in mice has been widely used to model individual variation following a social stressor. Following a course of repeated intermittent psychological and physical stress, mice diverge into separate populations of social reactivity: resilient (socially interactive) and susceptible (socially avoidant) animals. A rich body of work reveals distinct neurobiological and behavioral consequences of this experience that map onto the resilient and susceptible groups. However, the range of factors that emerge over the course of defeat have not been fully described. Therefore, in the current study, we focused on characterizing behavioral, physiological, and neuroendocrine profiles of mice in three separate phases: before, during, and following CSDS. We found that following CSDS, traditional read-outs of anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors do not map on to the resilient and susceptible groups. By contrast, behavioral coping strategies used during the initial social stress encounter better predict which mice will eventually become resilient or susceptible. In particular, mice that will emerge as susceptible display greater escape behavior on Day 1 of social defeat than those that will emerge as resilient, indicating early differences in coping mechanisms used between the two groups. We further show that the social avoidance phenotype in susceptible mice is specific to the aggressor strain and does not generalize to conspecifics or other strains, indicating that there may be features of threat discrimination that are specific to the susceptible mice. Our findings suggest that there are costs and benefits to both the resilient and susceptible outcomes, reflected in their ability to cope and adapt to the social stressor.

Vascular and blood-brain barrier-related changes underlie stress responses and resilience in female mice and depression in human tissue

Prevalence, symptoms, and treatment of depression suggest that major depressive disorders (MDD) present sex differences. Social stress-induced neurovascular pathology is associated with depressive symptoms in male mice; however, this association is unclear in females. Here, we report that chronic social and subchronic variable stress promotes blood-brain barrier (BBB) alterations in mood-related brain regions of female mice. Targeted disruption of the BBB in the female prefrontal cortex (PFC) induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviours. By comparing the endothelium cell-specific transcriptomic profiling of the mouse male and female PFC, we identify several pathways and genes involved in maladaptive stress responses and resilience to stress. Furthermore, we confirm that the BBB in the PFC of stressed female mice is leaky. Then, we identify circulating vascular biomarkers of chronic stress, such as soluble E-selectin. Similar changes in circulating soluble E-selectin, BBB gene expression and morphology can be found in blood serum and postmortem brain samples from women diagnosed with MDD. Altogether, we propose that BBB dysfunction plays an important role in modulating stress responses in female mice and possibly MDD.

Impact of Acute and Chronic Psychosocial Stress on Vascular Inflammation

Significance: Atherosclerosis and its complications, such as acute coronary syndromes, are the leading causes of death worldwide. A wide range of inflammatory processes substantially contribute to the initiation and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In addition, epidemiological studies strongly associate both chronic stress and acute psychosocial stress with the occurrence of CVDs. Recent Advances: Extensive research during recent decades has not only identified major pathways in cardiovascular inflammation but also revealed a link between psychosocial factors and the immune system in the context of atherosclerosis. Both chronic and acute psychosocial stress drive systemic inflammation via neuroimmune interactions and promote atherosclerosis progression. Critical Issues: The associations human epidemiological studies found between psychosocial stress and cardiovascular inflammation have been substantiated by additional experimental studies in mice and humans. However, we do not yet fully understand the mechanisms through which psychosocial stress drives cardiovascular inflammation; consequently, specific treatment, although urgently needed, is lacking. Future Directions: Psychosocial factors are increasingly acknowledged as risk factors for CVD and are currently treated via behavioral interventions. Additional mechanistic insights might provide novel pharmacological treatment options to reduce stress-related morbidity and mortality. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 35, 1531-1550.

The impact of stress on the hippocampal spatial code

Hippocampal function is severely compromised by prolonged, uncontrollable stress. However, how stress alters neural representations of our surroundings and events that occur within them remains less clear. We review hippocampal place cell studies that examine how spatial coding is affected by acute and chronic stress, as well as by stress accompanying fear conditioning. Emerging data suggest that chronic stress disrupts the acuity and specificity of CA1 spatial coding, both in familiar and novel contexts, and alters hippocampal oscillations. By contrast, acute stress may have a facilitatory impact on spatial representations. These findings encourage a fresh look at the documented stress-induced changes in hippocampal anatomy and in vitro excitability, and offer a new perspective on the links between stress and memory.

Ethanol intake in male mice exposed to social defeat: Environmental enrichment potentiates resilience

Large preclinical evidence shows that exposure to social defeat (SD) increases vulnerability to drug abuse, increasing the consumption of ethanol. However, not all subjects are equally affected by the changes induced by stress. Previous reports have evidenced that the resilient phenotype to depressive-like behaviors after SD is associated with the resistant phenotype to cocaine-increased rewarding effects and the smaller neuroinflammatory response. The aim of the present study was to further clarify whether the resilient profile to depressive-like behavior also predicts a protection against the increase in ethanol intake induced by SD. The neuroinflammatory profile was studied after the end of the oral ethanol self-administration (SA) procedure, measuring levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and the chemokine CX3CL1 or fractalkine in the striatum and prefrontal cortex. Previous studies have shown that environmental enrichment (EE) is an effective mechanism to dimish the detrimental effects of social stress. In a second study, we aimed to evaluate if EE housing before exposure to SD could potentiate resilience. Our results showed that mice with a phenotype susceptible to SD-induced depressive-like behaviors showed increased ethanol consumption and increased neuroinflammatory signaling. In contrast, despite the lack of effect on depressive-like behaviors, defeated mice previously housed under EE conditions did not show an increase in ethanol SA or an increase in immune response. To sum up, the resilient phenotype to SD develops at different levels, such as depressive-like behaviors, ethanol consumption and the neuroinflammatory response. Our results also point to the protective role of EE in potentiating resilience to SD effects.

Tamsulosin facilitates depressive-like behaviors in mice: Involvement of endogenous glucocorticoids

The benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the main source of lower urinary tract symptoms. The BPH is a common age-dependent disease and tamsulosin is an α₁-adrenoceptor blocker widely prescribed for BPH. Beyond the common adverse effects of tamsulosin, increased diagnosis of dementia after prescription was observed. Importantly, a clinical study suggested that tamsulosin may exert antidepressant effects in BPH patients. Considering the expression of α₁-adrenoceptors in the brain, this study aimed to investigate the effects of tamsulosin in the forced swimming and open field tests in mice. For this, tamsulosin (0.001-1 mg/kg) was orally administered subacutely (1, 5 and 23 hr) and acutely (60 min) before tests. Mifepristone (10 mg/kg), a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, and aminoglutethimide (10 mg/kg), a streoidogenesis inhibitor, were intraperitoneally injected before tamsulosin to investigate the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the mediation of tamsulosin-induced effects. Subacute and acute administrations of tamsulosin increased the immobility time in the first exposition to an inescapable stressful situation. In the re-exposition to the swim task, controls displayed a natural increase in the immobility time, and the treatment with tamsulosin further increased this behavioral parameter. Tamsuslosin did not affect spontaneous locomotion neither in naïve nor in stressed mice. Our findings also showed that mifepristone and aminoglutethimide prevented the tamsulosin-induced increase in the immobility time in the first and second swimming sessions, respectively. In conclusion, tamsulosin may contribute to increased susceptibility to depressive-like behaviors, by facilitating the acquisition of a passive stress-copying strategy. These effects seem to be dependent on endogenous glucocorticoids.

Depression, suicidal motivation and suicidal ideation among individuals with asthma: a cross-sectional study

Background

Asthma is a chronic disease associated with risk of depression and suicidal events. The present study estimated the frequency of depression, suicidal motivation (SM) and suicidal ideation (SI) and identified clinical and psychosocial factors associated with these outcomes among individuals with asthma.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of a non-probabilistic sample of 1,358 adults with asthma and controls without asthma. Asthma severity and asthma control were assessed by a physician according to WHO (2009) and GINA (2012) criteria. Depression, SM and SI were screened by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Psychosocial factors were evaluated by a Community Violence Questionnaire, a Social Support Scale, a Stress Perceived Scale and a Resilience Scale. Chi-Square Test, and logistic regression models were performed to evaluate association between variables and outcomes.

Results

Among all participants, 222 (16.30%) had depression, 331 (24.40%) SM and 73 (5.40%) SI. There were 138 (12.10%) individuals with mild depression and SM, and 14 (1.20%) with mild depression and SI. After adjustment, severe asthma (SA) increased the chance of depression by 53.00% whereas mild to moderate asthma (MMA) increased by eleven-fold the likelihood of SI. Perception of low social support increased the chance of depression (OR 3.59; 95% CI, 2.44-5.28) and low resilience by (OR 2.96; 95% CI, 2.00-4.38); distress increased the odds of SM by 37.00%, and low affective support perception raised the likelihood of SI by (OR 6.82; 95% CI, 1.94-2.90).

Conclusions

Asthma, whether mild to moderate or severe, increased the chance of depression and SI. It is noteworthy that individuals with mild depression and MMA are at greater risk for SM and SI. Among the psychosocial variables, perception of low social support and low resilience were the variables associated with depression; distress impacted on SM, and the perception of low affective support raised the chance of SI.

Rethinking stress resilience

Resilience to stressful life events has received considerable attention in both clinical and preclinical studies. A number of neural substrates have been identified as putatively mediating resilience to stress. However, there remains considerable diversity in how resilience is defined and studied. This article aims to examine how resilience is defined and conceptualized in social psychology, public health, and related fields, to better inform the understanding of stress resilience in the neurobiological context, and to differentiate resilience from other patterns of response to stressful experiences. An understanding of resilience through the lens of clinical and applied sciences is likely to lead to the identification of more robust and reproducible neural substrates, though many challenges remain.

Differential chronic social stress models in male and female mice

Chronic stress creates an allostatic overload that may lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Modern causes of chronic stress in humans are mostly social in nature, relating to work and relationship stress. Research into neural and molecular mechanisms of vulnerability and resilience following chronic social stress (CSS) is ongoing and uses animal models to discover efficient prevention strategies and treatments. To date, most CSS studies have neglected the female sex and used male-focused aggression-based animal models such as chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). Accumulating evidence on sex differences suggests differences in the stress response, the prevalence of stress-related illness and in response to treatment, indicating that researchers should expand CSS investigation to include female-focused protocols alongside the popular CSDS protocols. Here, we describe a novel female mouse model of CSS and a parallel modified male mouse model of CSDS in C57BL/6 mice. These new models enable the investigation of vulnerability, coping and downstream effectors mediating short-term and long-term consequences of CSS in both sexes. Our data demonstrate differential effects on male and female mice during, soon after, and many weeks after CSS. Female mice are more prone to body weight loss during CSS and hyperactive anxious behaviour following CSS. Both sexes show reduced social interaction, but only stressed male mice show long-term changes in emotional memory and neuroendocrine function. We further discuss future avenues of research using these models to investigate mechanisms pertaining to sensitivity to CSS and treatment response profiles, in a sex-appropriate manner.

Experimental Social Stress: Dopaminergic Receptors, Oxidative Stress, and c-Fos Protein Are Involved in Highly Aggressive Behavior

Aggression is defined as hostile behavior that results in psychological damage, injury and even death among individuals. When aggression presents itself in an exacerbated and constant way, it can be considered escalating or pathological. The association between social stress and the emergence of exacerbated aggressiveness is common and is suggested to be interconnected through very complex neurobiological factors. For example, alterations in the expression of the dopaminergic receptors D1 and D2, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the c-Fos protein in the cortex have been observed. Our objective was to analyze which factors are involved at the neurobiological level in the highly aggressive response of Swiss Webster adult male mice in a vivarium. In this work, we investigated the relationship among dopaminergic receptors, the production of ROS and the expression of c-Fos. Mice with exacerbated aggression were identified by the model of spontaneous aggression (MSA) based on the grouping of young mice and the regrouping of the same animals in adulthood. During the regrouping, we observed different categories of behavior resulting from social stress, such as (i) highly aggressive animals, (ii) defeated animals, and (iii) harmonic groups. To evaluate the dopaminergic system and the c-Fos protein, we quantified the expression of D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors by Western blotting and fluorescence immunohistochemistry and that of the c-Fos protein by fluorescence immunohistochemistry. The possible production of ROS was also evaluated through the dihydroethidium (DHE) assay. The results showed that aggressive and subordinate mice showed a reduction in the expression of the D1 receptor, and no significant difference in the expression of the D2 receptor was observed between the groups. In addition, aggressive mice exhibited increased production of ROS and c-Fos protein. Based on our results, we suggest that exacerbated aggression is associated with social stress, dysregulation of the dopaminergic system and exacerbated ROS production, which leads to a state of cellular oxidative stress. The overexpression of c-Fos due to social stress suggests an attempt by the cell to produce antioxidant agents to reduce the toxic cellular concentration of ROS.

Behavioral effects of chronic stress in Carioca high- and low-conditioned freezing rats

Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) is a widely used model to study stress-coping strategies in rodents. Different factors have been shown to influence whether animals adopt passive or active coping responses to CUMS. Individual adaptation and susceptibility to the environment seem to play a critical role in this process. To further investigate this relationship, we examined the effects of CUMS on Carioca high- and low-conditioned freezing rats (CHF and CLF, respectively), bidirectional lines of animals selected for high and low freezing in response to contextual cues that were previously associated with footshocks. For this purpose, the behavior of CHF and CLF animals was evaluated in the contextual fear conditioning, open field, elevated T maze, and forced swimming tests before and after 21 days of CUMS. For all tests, CHF rats were more susceptible to the effects of CUMS compared to CLF. CHF animals exposed to CUMS displayed a reduction in freezing behavior, decreased number of entries and time spent in the center of the open field, greater latencies to become immobile, and increased avoidance and escaping behaviors in the elevated T maze. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that a heightened susceptibility to the environment exerts a strong influence on coping responses to chronic stress.

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor system blockade as an innovative strategy for increasing resilience to stress

The ability to successfully cope with stress is known as 'resilience', and resilient individuals are less prone to develop psychopathologies. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of resilience may be instrumental to improve current therapies and benefit high-risk subjects. This review summarizes the complex interplay that exists between physiological and pathological responses to stressful events and the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) - N/OFQ receptor (NOP) system, including: the effects of stress in regulating N/OFQ release and NOP expression; the ability of the N/OFQ-NOP system to modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; behavioral studies; and evidence in humans correlating this peptidergic system with psychopathologies. Available findings support the view that N/OFQ signaling stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, thus increasing stress circulating hormones and corticotropin-releasing factor signaling. Additionally, activation of the NOP receptor inhibits monoamine transmission, including 5-HT, and this may contribute to maladaptive outcomes of stress. Ultimately, the N/OFQ system seems to have an important role in stress vulnerability, and blockade of NOP signaling may provide an innovative strategy for the treatment of stress related psychopathologies.