Validation and psychometric properties of the Somatic and Psychological HEalth REport (SPHERE) in a young Australian-based population sample using non-parametric item response theory

The Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain Project, a longitudinal study of adolescent brain development

We describe the Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain (QTAB) dataset and provide a detailed methodology and technical validation to facilitate data usage. The QTAB dataset comprises multimodal neuroimaging, as well as cognitive and mental health data collected in adolescent twins over two sessions (session 1: N = 422, age 9-14 years; session 2: N = 304, 10-16 years). The MRI protocol consisted of T1-weighted (MP2RAGE), T2-weighted, FLAIR, high-resolution TSE, SWI, resting-state fMRI, DWI, and ASL scans. Two fMRI tasks were added in session 2: an emotional conflict task and a passive movie-watching task. Outside of the scanner, we assessed cognitive function using standardised tests. We also obtained self-reports of symptoms for anxiety and depression, perceived stress, sleepiness, pubertal development measures, and risk and protective factors. We additionally collected several biological samples for genomic and metagenomic analysis. The QTAB project was established to promote health-related research in adolescence.

Persistence of Anxiety/Depression Symptoms in Early Adolescence: A Prospective Study of Daily Life Stress, Rumination, and Daytime Sleepiness in a Genetically Informative Cohort

In this prospective study of mental health, we examine the influence of three interrelated traits - perceived stress, rumination, and daytime sleepiness - and their association with symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence. Given the known associations between these traits, an important objective is to determine the extent to which they may independently predict anxiety/depression symptoms. Twin pairs from the Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain (QTAB) project were assessed on two occasions (N = 211 pairs aged 9-14 years at baseline and 152 pairs aged 10-16 years at follow-up). Linear regression models and quantitative genetic modeling were used to analyze the data. Prospectively, perceived stress, rumination, and daytime sleepiness accounted for 8-11% of the variation in later anxiety/depression; familial influences contributed strongly to these associations. However, only perceived stress significantly predicted change in anxiety/depression, accounting for 3% of variance at follow-up after adjusting for anxiety/depression at baseline, although it did not do so independently of rumination and daytime sleepiness. Bidirectional effects were found between all traits over time. These findings suggest an underlying architecture that is shared, to some degree, by all traits, while the literature points to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and/or circadian systems as potential sources of overlapping influence and possible avenues for intervention.

Mental Load and Fatigue Assessment Instruments: A Systematic Review

Mental load and fatigue are important causes of performance decreases and accidents in different activities. However, a robust systematic review, detailing the instruments used to quantify them, is currently lacking. The purpose of this study was to summarize and classify by derivations the validated instruments used to quantify mental load and fatigue. The most representative electronic databases in the scope of this review, PubMed, WOS, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO (until September 2020) were searched for studies that included instruments to analyze mental load and fatigue. The quality of the selected studies was scored using a quality assessment checklist. A total of 40 papers were included. Most of the papers used subjective scales (75%) to quantify mental load and fatigue, with a small presence of behavioral (n = 5) and objective techniques (n = 5). Less is known about the analysis of mental load and fatigue using a combination of derivations. Despite the high cost and complexity of objective techniques, research that applies these measures is important for further analysis of brain processes in mental load and fatigue. The design of a battery of tests that include the three types of derivations also seems necessary.

Items analysis of the Frailty Index (FI-35): Insight in the contribution of each item to the level of frailty

Background

The FI-35 is a valid multidimensional Chinese frailty assessment instrument. Like other scales, functional measures rely on the information the total score provides. Our research aimed to analyze the contribution of each item.

Methods

Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the sample characteristics. The expected item score (EIS) was used to determine how the items contribute to the generic measure of frailty.

Results

This study showed that most of the EIS curves increased across the entire range of frailty levels, and most of the items discriminate relatively well over the entire frailty range. Items differentially contributed to the total frailty score and differentially discriminated between frailty levels.

Conclusions

Although nearly all items monotonically increased with frailty levels, there were large differences between items in their ability to differentiate between persons being either weakly, moderately or highly frail.

Limited recovery from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 at 8 months in a prospective cohort

Global attention is gradually turning to focus on the problem of prolonged illness following acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), commonly termed “Long COVID” or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). While an increasing number of reports now recognise this condition, accurate characterisation of its prevalence, clinical features and natural history is complicated by choice of denominator population, lack of case definition and marked self-selection bias. Nevertheless, a picture is emerging of a syndrome characterised predominantly by fatigue, dyspnoea, chest tightness and “brain fog” present in around 10–30% of individuals at 2–3 months post-acute infection and affecting both those with initial severe illness and those in whom acute infection was mild [1–3].

In a longitudinal cohort, a significant proportion of patients had persistent symptoms 8 months after initial #COVID19 infection. There was no significant improvement in symptoms or health-related quality of life between 4- and 8-month assessments.https://bit.ly/2Wtb7IX

Suicidality in 12-Year-Olds: The Interaction Between Social Connectedness and Mental Health

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) are a leading cause of death in adolescence. To date, most research with youth has focused on risk factors for suicide; and less attention has been paid to resilience factors. This study examined whether positive beliefs and social connectedness moderate associations between mental health symptoms and STB. A community sample of 12-year-olds (N = 60) completed self-report questionnaires on their STB, mental health symptoms, positive beliefs and social connectedness. Nearly 20% of the adolescents reported STB. STB was associated with increased mental health symptoms and lower scores on the resilience measures. A significant moderating effect of social connectedness showed that youth with a combination of poor mental health and high levels of social support exhibited lower levels of STB. There was no significant moderating effect of positive beliefs. These results indicate that social support should be screened for in primary care and incorporated into youth suicide prevention programs.

The impact of childhood trauma on psychosocial functioning and physical health in a non-clinical community sample of young adults

OBJECTIVE

Given the fundamental emotional, social and physical development that occurs during the early years of life, childhood experiences are formative in shaping a person's life trajectory. Childhood trauma is a prevalent, multifaceted issue with well-documented long-term adverse health effects in clinical populations however; the impact of childhood trauma in the community is less clear. To address this, this study investigated how childhood trauma may impact physical and psychological health, sleep quality and autonomic function in a non-clinical community sample of adults.

METHOD

Participants completed questionnaires, an in-laboratory autonomic assessment (including stress reactivity to mental and physical stressors) and overnight autonomic and sleep monitoring. Overall childhood trauma and its subtypes (e.g. physical abuse, emotional neglect) were defined using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

RESULTS

We identified 22 childhood trauma cases (total score > 36) and, of the 89 non-childhood trauma cases, some individuals also experienced significant levels of trauma in one or more of the childhood trauma subtypes. Childhood trauma and some trauma subtypes were significantly correlated with a myriad of negative physiological and physical health outcomes including elevated psychological distress, increased sleep disturbances, reduced emotional wellbeing and lower perceived social support. Autonomic dysregulation was found in those with high levels of childhood trauma, which was reflected in an increased stress response to laboratory tasks. Notably, the experience of physical abuse in childhood was significantly associated with alterations in nocturnal heart rate and heart rate variability.

CONCLUSION

Together, these results highlight that childhood trauma can have lasting detrimental consequences on an individual's emotional and physical health, sleep quality and stress reactivity.

The Genetic Relationship Between Psychological Distress, Somatic Distress, Affective Disorders, and Substance Use in Young Australian Adults: A Multivariate Twin Study

Psychological distress (PSYCH), somatic distress (SOMA), affective disorders (AD), and substance use (SU) frequently co-occur. The genetic relationship between PSYCH and SOMA, however, remains understudied. We examined the genetic and environmental influences on these two disorders and their comorbid AD and SU using structural equation modeling. Self-reported PSYCH and SOMA were measured in 1,548 twins using the two subscales of a 12-item questionnaire, the Somatic and Psychological Health Report. Its reliability and psychometric properties were examined. Six ADs, involvement of licit and illicit substance, and two SU disorders were obtained from 1,663–2,132 twins using the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview and/or from an online adaption of the same. SU phenotypes (heritability: 49–79%) were found to be more heritable than the affective disorder phenotypes (heritability: 32–42%), SOMA (heritability: 25%), and PSYCH (heritability: 23%). We fit separate non-parametric item response theory models for PSYCH, SOMA, AD, and SU. The IRT scores were used as the refined phenotypes for fitting multivariate genetic models. The best-fitting model showed the similar amount of genetic overlap between PSYCH–AD (genetic correlationrG= 0.49) and SOMA–AD (rG=0.53), as well as between PSYCH–SU (rG= 0.23) and SOMA–SU (rG= 0.25). Unique environmental factors explained 53% to 76% of the variance in each of these four phenotypes, whereas additive genetic factors explained 17% to 46% of the variance. The covariance between the four phenotypes was largely explained by unique environmental factors. Common genetic factor had a significant influence on all the four phenotypes, but they explained a moderate portion of the covariance.

Lingual Gyrus Surface Area Is Associated with Anxiety-Depression Severity in Young Adults: A Genetic Clustering Approach

Here we aimed to identify cortical endophenotypes for anxiety-depression. Our data-driven approach used vertex-wise genetic correlations (estimated from a twin sample: 157 monozygotic and 194 dizygotic twin pairs) to parcellate cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) into genetically homogeneous regions (Chen et al., 2013). In an overlapping twin and sibling sample (n = 834; aged 15–29, 66% female), in those with anxiety-depression Somatic and Psychological Health Report (SPHERE) scores (Hickie et al., 2001) above median, we found a reduction of SA in an occipito-temporal cluster, which comprised part of the right lingual, fusiform and parahippocampal gyrii. A similar reduction was observed in the Human Connectome Project (HCP) sample (n = 890, age 22–37, 56.5% female) in those with Adult Self Report (ASR) DSM-oriented scores (Achenbach et al., 2005) in the 25–95% quantiles. A post hoc vertex-wise analysis identified the right lingual and, to a lesser extent the fusiform gyrus. Overall, the surface reduction explained by the anxiety-depression scores was modest (r = −0.10, 3rd order spline, and r = −0.040, 1st order spline in the HCP). The discordant results in the top 5% of the anxiety-depression scores may be explained by differences in recruitment between the studies. However, we could not conclude whether this cortical region was an endophenotype for anxiety-depression as the genetic correlations did not reach significance, which we attribute to the modest effect size (post hoc statistical power <10%).