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Bloomfield MA, McCutcheon RA, Kempton M, Freeman TP, Howes O. The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response. eLife 2019; 8:46797. [PMID: 31711569 PMCID: PMC6850765 DOI: 10.7554/elife.46797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic psychosocial adversity induces vulnerability to mental illnesses. Animal studies demonstrate that this may be mediated by dopaminergic dysfunction. We therefore investigated whether long-term exposure to psychosocial adversity was associated with dopamine dysfunction and its relationship to psychological and physiological responses to acute stress. Using 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine ([18F]-DOPA) positron emission tomography (PET), we compared dopamine synthesis capacity in n = 17 human participants with high cumulative exposure to psychosocial adversity with n = 17 age- and sex-matched participants with low cumulative exposure. The PET scan took place 2 hr after the induction of acute psychosocial stress using the Montréal Imaging Stress Task to induce acute psychosocial stress. We found that dopamine synthesis correlated with subjective threat and physiological response to acute psychosocial stress in the low exposure group. Long-term exposure to psychosocial adversity was associated with dampened striatal dopaminergic function (p=0.03, d = 0.80) and that psychosocial adversity blunted physiological yet potentiated subjective responses to acute psychosocial stress. Future studies should investigate the roles of these changes in vulnerability to mental illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Ap Bloomfield
- Psychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Translational Psychiatry Research Group, Research Department of Mental Health Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, UCL Institute of Mental Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom.,Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.,The Traumatic Stress Clinic, St Pancras Hospital, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.,National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robert A McCutcheon
- Psychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew Kempton
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tom P Freeman
- Translational Psychiatry Research Group, Research Department of Mental Health Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, UCL Institute of Mental Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver Howes
- Psychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
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Dombrowski K, Sittner K, Crawford D, Welch-Lazoritz M, Habecker P, Khan B. Network Approaches to Substance Use and HIV/Hepatitis C Risk among Homeless Youth and Adult Women in the United States: A Review. Health (London) 2016; 8:1143-1165. [PMID: 28042394 PMCID: PMC5193114 DOI: 10.4236/health.2016.812119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
During the United States economic recession of 2008-2011, the number of homeless and unstably housed people in the United States increased considerably. Homeless adult women and unaccompanied homeless youth make up the most marginal segments of this population. Because homeless individuals are a hard to reach population, research into these marginal groups has traditionally been a challenge for researchers interested in substance abuse and mental health. Network analysis techniques and research strategies offer means for dealing with traditional challenges such as missing sampling frames, variation in definitions of homelessness and study inclusion criteria, and enumeration/population estimation procedures. This review focuses on the need for, and recent steps toward, solutions to these problems that involve network science strategies for data collection and analysis. Research from a range of fields is reviewed and organized according to a new stress process framework aimed at understanding how homeless status interacts with issues related to substance abuse and mental health. Three types of network innovation are discussed: network scale-up methods, a network ecology approach to social resources, and the integration of network variables into the proposed stress process model of homeless substance abuse and mental health. By employing network methods and integrating these methods into existing models, research on homeless and unstably housed women and unaccompanied young people can address existing research challenges and promote more effective intervention and care programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirk Dombrowski
- Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA
| | - Kelley Sittner
- Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA
| | | | | | - Patrick Habecker
- Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA
| | - Bilal Khan
- Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA
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Preston SL. Claiming our place: women with serious mental health issues and support groups for abused women. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH = REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTE MENTALE COMMUNAUTAIRE 2003; 21:101-13. [PMID: 12630134 DOI: 10.7870/cjcmh-2002-0008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Many women with serious mental health issues also deal with abuse and have difficulty accessing services. Despite the fact that groups have been found to be one of the most useful tools in healing from the effects of abuse, many professionals see women with serious mental health issues as unable to benefit from counselling and, in particular, from groups for abused women. This study indicates that, when mental health issues are addressed and the group structures and expectations are modified to allow women control over their participation, serious mental health issues are not a barrier to participation in groups.
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Butterfield MI, Becker ME. Posttraumatic stress disorder in women: assessment and treatment in primary care. Prim Care 2002; 29:151-70, viii. [PMID: 11856664 DOI: 10.1016/s0095-4543(03)00079-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The focus of this article is to provide primary care clinicians with a better understanding of women who have undergone sexual trauma and have related post-traumatic stress disorder. Victimization has adverse physical and mental health effects and affects a woman's clinical presentation, her coping skills, and the primary care intervention strategies needed to treat her. The article reviews issues of victimization and related PTSD among women, including the prevalence and sequel of victimization, and provides a theoretical framework for primary care intervention, treatment, and referral.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marian I Butterfield
- Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA.
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