Research of COVID-19-Pandemic mental health impact focus on three groups: the general population, (2) so called vulnerable groups (e.g. individuals with mental disorders) and (3) individuals suffering COVID-19 including Long-COVID syndromes.

We investigate whether individuals with a history of depression in the past, react to the COVID-19 pandemic with increased depressive symptoms.

Longitudinal Data stem from the NAKO-Baseline-Assessment (2014-2019, 18 study centers in Germany, representative sampled individuals from 20 to 74 years) and the subsequent NAKO-COVID-Assessment (5-11/2020). The sample for analysis comprises 115.519 individuals. History of psychiatric disorder was operationalized as lifetime self-report for physician-diagnosed depression. Depressive symptoms were measured with the PHQ 9.

Mean age of the sample at baseline was 49.95 (SD 12.53). It comprised 51.70 women; 14 % of the individuals had a history of physician-diagnosed depression. Considering a PHQ-Score with cut-off 10 as a clinical relevant depression, 3.65 % of the individuals without history of depression and 24.19 % of those with a history of depression were depressed at baseline. The NAKO-COVID-Assessment revealed 6.53 % depressed individuals without any history of depression and a similar rate of 23.29 % in those with history of depression.

In contrast to that what we expected, individuals with a history of a physician-diagnosed depression, did not react with increasing depressiveness during the first phase of the pandemic in Germany. Several reasons could be discussed. Whether there medium and long-term impact remains open.

No significant relationships.

Long-term neuropsychiatric consequences of critical illness are well known. Therefore, it is expected that critical COVID-19 patients might also present several psychiatric symptoms such as depression, with inevitable negative effect on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), commonly used as an indicator of illness and treatment impact.

To identify depressive symptoms in critical COVID-19 survivors and to examine its association with HRQoL domains.

This preliminary study involved critical COVID-19 patients admitted into the Intensive Care Medicine Department (ICMD) of a University Hospital, between October and December of 2020. Patients with an ICMD length of stay (LoS)≤24h, terminal illness, major auditory loss, or inability to communicate at the follow-up time were excluded. From 1-2 months after discharge, all participants were evaluated by telephone at follow-up appointment, with Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (depression) and EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level EQ-5D-5L (HRQoL). This study is part of the longitudinal MAPA project.

Eighty-three patients were included with a median age of 63 years (range: 31-86) and the majority were male (63%). The most reported problems on EQ-5D-5L domains were usual activities (82%) and mobility (76%). About 27% presented depressive symptoms, and with more problems of self-care (68%vs41%; p=0.029), pain/discomfort (86%vs49%; p=0.002), and anxiety/depression (96%vs54%; p<0.001).

These preliminary results are in line in previous studies in critical COVID-19 survivors, with depression being associated with worse HRQoL. Bearing this in mind, follow-up approaches with an early screening and treatment of these psychiatric symptoms will be fundamental to optimize the recovery of these patients.

No significant relationships.

The impact of the Covid-19 on the quality of life (QOL) have been reported and highlighted by several research studies worldwide.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life among Greek general population of Argolida, taking into consideration the socio-demographic characteristics.

Information on the socio-demographic characteristics and Covid related data of the respondents was collected by a questionnaire including age, gender, education level, marital status, health status, smoking history, sedentary lifestyle, job status. A 5-point Likert scale (MVQOLI) was used to examine the QOL. Comparisons on the variables were performed using Kruskal-Wallis H Test and x2 test, using SPSS Statistics (version 20).

A total of 620 Greek adults (Females n =381) were requested to answer by filling the questionnaire or Google Form. The results showed statistically significant differences in higher level QOL depending on a number of variables that are presented in the table. Table Demographic characteristics of the study with higher level QOL

The results showed that female sex, married, higher educated respondents, non smokers were significantly associated with higher QOL. The findings can certainly offer guidelines in developing programs and interventions for all domains of QOL.

No significant relationships.

The many negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic especially on vulnerable groups like patients suffering from drug addiction have been anticipated by experts early on. While drug consumption patterns of patients in opioid substitution treatment (OST, N=24) seemed hardly influenced at the early stage of the pandemic in Austria, the impact on the mental health of this population remained unclear.

The main goal was to investigate long-term consequences of the pandemic in terms of PTSD and clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among patients in OST between December 2020 and February 2021.

In a cross-sectional survey study (N=123) an adapted version of the impact of event scale (IES-R) was applied to evaluate PTSD symptoms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical symptoms were assessed by the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), and respective changes due to the pandemic were documented. Sociodemographic and COVID-19 related factors, as well as data on drug consumption patterns were collected.

A binary logistic regression analysis confirmed the negative long-term consequences of psychological and economic COVID-19 related factors on a higher risk for PTSD due to the pandemic. The high-risk PTSD group also demonstrated higher levels and a deterioration of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms since the pandemic.

Among our sample of patients in OST, 27% were at risk of PTSD due to the pandemic, and 30 to 50% reported concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Health care facilities might use these findings as a valuable source of information, when special attention is needed.

No significant relationships.

The worldwide pandemic exacerbated the new role of the media.If previously the discussion was on whether new or traditional media had primacy in popularity and exposure, nowadays the question is whether communicating health issues through social and traditional media leads to understanding their content better and to more trust in both types of media.

We set the following objectives for this study:(1) to examine trust in the traditional and new media among university students,(2) according to the level of media trust to compose a psychological portrait,establish the most prevalent coping strategies,and emotional reactions to the pandemic.

213 university students (55.9% women,Mage=19 years) were tested from December 2020-March 2021.We examined the attitude towards information on coronavirus presented in the media and to investigate the level of severity of neurotic states,the level of psychological stress,and basic coping strategies used by respondents.

showed that although students generally prefer to use Internet news, trust in traditional media increased during the pandemic. We examined a general psychological portrait of young people derived from trust in the media. In the group of students who trust media information, we found indifference (39% of respondents) and helplessness (24.4%). In the group convinced that the media are hiding the actual state of affairs, anger prevailed (32.4%). The third group, confident that the media exaggerate everything, experienced indifference and anger (38.5% and 32.7%, respectively).

We may conclude that desire to learn more accurate and unbiased information firsthand indicates students’ attitude towards traditional media as more reliable sources of information.

No significant relationships.

The aim of the study was to adapt the Coping Self-efficacy Scale for research Russian population in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic for researching positive personal resources to overcome peritraumatic COVID-19 distress. To solve this task we also used Impact of Event Scale (Horowitz) and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (Tadeshi & Calhoun) - both adapted by M. Magomed-Eminov. These two methods allow us to assess the connection coping self-efficacy with both the traumatic experience and the experience of post-traumatic growth. And to use the results to prevent mental health.

342 participants (students and masters; 18,2% male, 81,8% female; age: 20-30 years).

Russian version of Coping self-efficacy scale developed in Psychological Helping and resocialization Department Lomonosov Moscow State University; Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory – PTGI (Tadeshi & Calhoun), Impact of Event Scale (Horowitz), - both adapted by M. Magomed-Eminov.

Russian version of Coping self-efficacy scale has high reliability-consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.916). Detected significant correlation between coping self-efficacy and post-traumatic growth (rS = 0,261, p < 0,01) and significant negative correlation between coping self-efficacy and intensity of the impact of stressful events (IES) (rS = - 0,140, p < 0,05).

The obtained results confirmed the high psychometric effectiveness of the Self-efficacy Coping Scale. The connections indicate the existence of positive ways of coping to distress. The results obtained suggest that further research on the positive consequences will expand the repertoire of tools predicted the ability of a modern person to cope with adversity and use experience for deeper involvement of human resources.

No significant relationships.

The current pandemic crisis disturbed the life of universities and college campuses leading to an overwhelming effect on the educational system, social life, and mental health of students. In this scenario, coping strategies like resilience and hope provide a counterbalance in periods of uncertainty and stress.

This study aims to: a) evaluate the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic; b) characterize the hope and resilient coping levels of graduate students.

Using a convenience sampling method, online self-reported data were collected between April 2020 to January 2021. The information gathered includes a Sociodemographic Form, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) and the Herth Hope Index (HHI).

A total of Portuguese 1522 students (75.1% women and 24.9% men) took part in this study. The sample mean age was 22.88±6.93 years [range 18-59 years]. We identified a significant prevalence of symptoms of stress (35.7%), anxiety (36.2%) and depression (28.5%) in our population. The BRSCS score indicated that 60.2% of students exhibited low, 22.7% moderate and 17.1% high levels of resilient coping. The HHI mean was 35.53±5.92 [range 12-48].

The study findings indicate a substantial portion of the students is at high risk of psychological consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study recommends that is needed to get a wider picture of today’s “new normal” education and to develop supportive strategies to enhance students’ mental health and well-being in future pandemics.

No significant relationships.

Dysfunctional breathing is experienced as “difficulty in inhaling” and is similar to the symptoms of COVID-19 (Gavriatopoulou et al., 2020), which justifies the relevance of studying this phenomenon in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To identifiy a relationship between self-management styles and the severity of dysfunctional breathing in the uninfected COVID-19 population of Russia.

The author used the socio-demographic questionnaire, the Naimigen Questionnaire (Van Dixhoorn, Duivenvoordent, 1985) and J. Kuhl’s and A. Fuhrman’s Self-Government Test (Kool, Furman, 1998; Kul, Kvirin, Kool, 2020). The study was conducted online from April 27 to December 28, 2020. It was attended by 1,362 people from all regions of Russia (38.3 ±11.4y.o.).

The components are Self-regulation (r = -0.454, p = 0.000) and Self-Control (r =-0.197, p=0.000). There is also a component of Will Development (r=-0,297, p = 0,000) and Sensitivity to oneself (r=-0,480, p=0,000). It is important to note that dysfunctional breathing has a strong positive correlation with the component of life stress experiencing (=0.335, p=0.000). At the same time, the components of Self-regulation and Self-sensitivity have large correlation coefficients, which indicates their greater role.

People with low self-regulation and self-control, as well as with less expressed will and sensitivity to themselves, are more likely to have dysfunctional breathing and a more pronounced experience of life stress in a pandemic. The described components can be used as “targets” for individualized psychotherapy of dysfunctional breathing in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was supported of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624.

The study was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624.

As publications on social media have become an important regulator of group opinions, moods and psychological well-being during the spread of COVID-19, it seems necessary to study the contribution of various information as a source of preserving the psychological resources of the population.

To analyze the content in communities created during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to assess the image of health professionals on social media.

Using datamining methods, we analyzed publications about medical staff in a large community ‘StopCoronavirus.RF’ which unites more than 400 thousand users.

More than 700 thousand entries were ‘liked’ in the community from March 2020 to March 2021; more than 125000 thousand posts were shared, about 290 thousand comments were written, and all community publications were viewed more than 3 billion times. Publications about medical staff working in the ‘red zones’ in Russia are distinguished by the largest number of ‘likes’ (more than 5000) and comments (more than 300). In the publications and comments, the model of modern heroes saving human lives is emphasized. This type of information contributes to the reduction of anxiety and promotion of psychological safety in case of COVID-19 contraction through establishing confidence in the competence of medical staff and their involvement in the fight against the pandemic.

These results suggest that the image of a doctor on social media during the pandemic has acquired special value for the population. Publications on the work of medical staff in the ‘red zones’ help to cope with anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-04-60174.

No significant relationships.

Lithium is commonly administered to patients in an outpatient department (OPD) setting. Regular monitoring of lithium levels and renal function in accordance with published guidelines is required. In our unit, this is usually performed at OPD review. During the COVID-19 pandemic, reviews were either postponed or done remotely.

1. To devise a system to ensure that patients receiving lithium had appropriate blood test monitoring in the absence of traditional OPD appointments. 2. To assess the efficacy of this intervention by recording blood test dates and comparing with pre-COVID compliance.

All outpatients receiving lithium, identified from the hospital database, received (1) a letter summarising the monitoring guidelines and (2) prospectively dated blood request forms. Patients at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 were advised to attend their primary care setting. Others were encouraged to attend primary care or our phlebotomy department. Compliance was measured by accessing the hospital’s laboratory enquiry computer based system and compared with pre-COVID-19 figures. Information was anonymised, as per General Data Protection Regulations.

57 patients receiving lithium were identified. Prior to the first Irish lockdown in March 2020, 16 (28%) were overdue testing. Three months into the pandemic, 15 patients (26%) were overdue testing.

In the absence of routine outpatient appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic, the provision of written guidelines and completed blood request forms for patients receiving lithium was effective in ensuring monitoring of lithium levels and renal function. This system can be utilised as an alternative/adjunct to OPD review benefitting patients and health service delivery.

No significant relationships.

Health care professionals exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are facing high levels of stress.

The aim was to evaluate the quality of sleep (QoS) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), among health care professionals treating patients with COVID-19, as well as quantifying the magnitude of symptoms of depression and levels of anxiety.

We included 201 health care professionals in a cross-sectional, web-based study by applying 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Scale, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, 36-item Health Survey of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF36), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and additional survey constructed for the purpose of the study.

Poor QoS and HRQoL correlated with high health anxiety and severe depressive symptoms and several demographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that higher scores on GAD-7 (beta = .71, p < .01) and lower scores on mental health (MH) subscale on SF36 questionnaire (beta = –.69; p < .01) were independent predictors of the higher PSQI score (adjusted R2 = .61, p < .01 for overall model). Higher scores on GAD-7 (beta = .68, p < .01) and worse self-perceived mental status (beta = .25; p < .05) were independent predictors of the lower SF36 scores (adjusted R2 = .73, p < .01 for overall model).

The major MH burden of health care professionals treating infected patients during the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that they need psychological support.

No significant relationships.

Long-term COVID-19 effects has been recently described as persistent and prolonged symptoms after an acute and severe SARS-COV-2 (1). An important concern is that the sequelae of severe COVID-19 may suppose a substantial outpatient 's burden for the specialized services in reopening pandemic phase (2).

To describe the frequency of mental health service use in COVID-19 hospitalized patients after discharge and to estimate the costs associated to the post- discharge consultations.

We used a 1-year follow-up cohort of 1455 COVID-19 inpatients hospitalized in La Paz University Hospital of Madrid, Spain between March 16th and April 15th, 2020. Data were retrieved from Psychiatry Service (PS) electronic health records and we described the frequency of mental health reason for consultation. We used information published by the Madrid health Office to estimate the cost of initial and following appointments.

Our sample consisted of 1,455 patients admitted with a COVID-19 diagnosis between March 16th and April 15th, 2020, and then discharged. Roughly half of them were men (776, 53%), 238 (16%) had a prior history of mental health problems, and 44 (3%) died. 193 participants (13%) visited the mental health department after being discharged. The total cost was estimated in 103,581 USD, of which two-thirds corresponded to patients with prior history of mental health problems.

Our results indicate that the mental health burden of severe COVID-19 inpatient s after discharge was substantial during the first year of follow-up. This generate important economic impact to mental health providers and society at large.

No significant relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the mental state of not only quarantined citizens and patients, but also health workers.

The aim of the study was to assess of the mental health of doctors involved in work in the “red zone” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

77 respondents were interviewed using the HADS questionnaires and the Maslach burnout test. For statistical data processing Microsoft Office Excel 2016, IBM SPSS were used.

An increase on the depression scales was noted in 7%, anxiety in 23%, and anxiety and depression together 27%. According to the Maslach questionnaire, 32 (41.5%) doctors noted a reaction of the type of “emotional devastation”. 10 (12.9%) doctors noted a reaction “reduction of professional achievements”. Three doctors (3.8%) had a dehumanization reaction in the form of dull emotions to colleagues and patients.

Work in the “red zone” has a significant negative impact on the mental health of doctors and medical personnel

No significant relationships.

About 66% of chromosomal microdeletions and microduplications associated with pathological conditions are inherited [Smajlagić D. et al., 2021]. The mechanisms of incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity of CNV are not fully understood. The presence of concomitant CNVs in the genome of healthy parents may have a modifying effect.

Identification of additional CNVs in healthy carriers with 7q31.1 microdeletions.

CNVs were revealed by Agilent Technologies 60K microarray and confirmed by qPCR.

We examined 3 families with inherited 7q31.1 microdeletions affecting only the IMMP2L gene, which is associated with intellectual disability, developmental delay and autism spectrum disorders. Family 1: Proband has intellectual disability, developmental delay, sensorimotor alalia. Microdeletion was inherited from the father, and a healthy sibling is also a carrier of rearrangement. In sibs, additional CNVs were identified: arr[hg19]: 4q31.21(144722583_144939143)×3; 9p12p11.2(43588066_43836428)×3; 16p11.2(32066967_33773163)×1; and 17q21.31(44199517_44577208)×3. Family 2: Proband suffers from development delay, speech disorder and autism. Microdeletion was of paternal origin. The father additionally demonstrated microduplication 16p11.2p11.1(33967926-35204414)×3. Family 3: Proband was diagnosed with development delay and cerebral palsy. The mother is a carrier of a similar 7q31.1 microdeletion; two concomitant CNVs were identified in her karyotype: 9p13.1(39176840_40614884)×3; and 16p11.2p11.1(32833891_35204414)×3. Thus, healthy parents in 3 families have CNV in a common region 16p11.2, which contains the TP53TG3 gene. It is important that TP53TG3 expression is associated with epistatic CNV-CNV interactions [Sun, Kardia 2010].

Multiple CNVs in apparently healthy carriers of IMMP2L microdeltions may suppress disease phenotype due to the epistatic CNV-CNV interaction. This study was supported by Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 21-75-00112.

No significant relationships.

Disease-causing deletions/amplifications may include a single gene, several exons or single/part of exon, contributing to detection of novel pathogenic genes. The localization of single-gene deletion/amplification within the gene can affect its clinical manifestation.

Improvement of diagnosis of intellectual disability.

aCGH with 60K Agilent microarrays, qPCR.

Among 1099 patients with intellectual disability potentially pathogenic single-gene deletions/amplifications were detected in 51 individuals (5%). qPCR was used to verify aberrations in 21 patients (41%). Ten mutations were of maternal origin, four - paternal, two - de novo, another two were confirmed without analysis of parents, and three could not be confirmed. Single-gene aberrations involving the AGBL4 (exon 2), ASMT (exon 9), CYP2C18 (whole gene), DDX10 (promoter, exons 1-13), GYPA (whole gene), LIG4 (exon 1), LSAMP (intron 1), PSD3 (promoter, exons 1-11), SNTB1 (intron 1), SPOCK3 (exons 6-12), STAG2 (exons 7-34), SYT10 (promoter, exons 1-2), TCAF2 (exon 8), TMPRSS15 (promoter, exons 1-12), and ZDHHC7 (promoter, exons 1-4) genes were described by us for the first time. Deletion or amplification of several exons within a gene can affect transcription as point mutation does, while the copy number change of a whole gene can lead to an abnormal amount of the protein.

Fifteen novel genes potentially responsible for mental health were identified. In most of them aberrations were partial deletions/duplications. Most of abnormalities were inherited from healthy parents indicating the possible presence of a point mutation on the second allele or some modifying factors. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant 21-65-00017.

No significant relationships.

Down syndrome (DS) is a complex condition that causes various health problems and it is accepted that treadmill training is a therapy method for some of them.

The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of various results of treadmill training in children and adults with DS.

We included studies in which participants with DS from every age group received treadmill training, alone or combined with physiotherapy and could optionally be compared to a control group with patients with DS who did not use treadmill training. The search was conducted in medical databases: PubMed, PEDro, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science and involved trials published until July 2021. Following PRISMA criteria, the Risk of Bias assessment was conducted using a tool developed by the Cochrane Collaboration for RCT. The included studies presented multiple outcomes and various methodologies therefore we were not able to conduct any sort of data synthesis, we presented measures of treatment effect as mean differences and corresponding 95% confidence intervals.

5 studies with a total number of 687 participants were included. 10 trials reported on walking onset, 8 on gait parameters or cardiovascular functions, 4 on anti-inflammatory effect and 3 on executive or cognitive functions. We came across 25 different outcomes in different age groups which are presented in a narrative manner. In all outcomes we have observed a positive result favouring the treadmill training.

Introducing treadmill exercise into typical physiotherapy generates improvements of mental and physical health of people with DS of all ages.

No significant relationships.

Eating disorders (ED) are associated with other mental illnesses, but the association of ED with pain is less well understood.

To study the association of ED with headache and abdominal pain in adolescent girls.

In 2015-2018, 917 girls aged 12-17 were examined using the Body Image and Eating Distress scale (Koskelainen et al., 2001) and questions about frequency of recurrent headache and abdominal pain over the past six months. Adolescents were divided into three groups: girls with eating disorders (ED, n = 20); subthreshold eating disorders (SED, n = 88); and a control group (CG, n = 809).

Headaches of varying frequency are were reported by 80% of girls with ED, 70.4% of girls with SED and 52.2% of CG girls. Frequent headaches (every week) were reported by 60% of girls with ED, 40.9% of girls with SED, and 29.9% of CG girls (χ2 = 20.21, p = 0.003). Recurrent abdominal pain was reported by 65% of girls with ED, 56.8% of girls with SED, and by 46.6% of CG girls. Weekly abdominal pain affected 30% of girls with ED, 20.4% of girls with SED and 12.9% of CG girls. Combined weekly pain were commoner in girls with eating distress (in 20% of girls with ED and in 12.5% with SED) than in CG (7.7%, χ2 = 3.92, p = 0.04).

Eating disorders in adolescents are often associated with pain, which can lead to late recognition of the disease, worsening its course and prognosis.

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant # 21-15-00033

Eating disorders are associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents. But the relationship between subthreshold eating disorders and suicidality is not well understood.

To examine suicidal behavior in adolescent girls with eating disorders (ED) and subthreshold eating disorders (SED).

The study of 917 girls aged 12–17 used the Body Image and Eating Distress scale (Koskelainen et al., 2001) and questions about intentional self-harm (burns or cuts), suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts. Adolescents were divided into three groups: girls with ED (n = 20); girls with SED (n = 88); and control group (CG, n = 809).

Self-harm was reported by 55% of girls with ED, 35.2% of girls with SED and 20.2% of CG girls (χ2 = 15.82, p <0.001). Suicidal ideation was reported by 65% of girls with ED, 51.1% of girls with SED and 27.2% of CG girls (χ2 = 21.86, p <0.001). Suicidal attempts were reported by 45% of girls with ED, 17.1% of girls with SED and 7.5% of the CG. There were no differences in the prevalence of self-harm and suicidal ideation between the ED and SED groups, rates of suicide attempts were 2.6 times higher in the ED group.

Girls with both ED and SED have a high risk of suicidal behavior: 2.7-4.5 times higher rates of self-harm, 1.9-2.4 times higher rates of suicidal ideation, and 2.3-6 times higher rates of suicidal attempts. Management of such adolescents should include assessment of the risk of suicide.

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant # 21-15-00033.

Alexithymia is a construct which has been described in persons under the autistic spectrum. Besides Autistic Spectrum Disorders, alexithymia nowadays is highly correlated with several psychiatric disorders, among them being Eating Disorders. Several studies suggested a “cognitive-affective” division in the inner experience of patients with Anorexia Nervosa, because of their difficulty in describing, identifying and recognising their own emotions as well as others

This study aims to identify how many adolescents diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa meet the characteristics of alexithymic personality traits and in which domain of these traits they had the most struggles with.

The study lot includes 34 adolescents diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa evaluated by a self report survey: Online Alexithymia Questionnaire-G2 (OAQ-G2). The cut-off scores are: 113 and above - correlated with alexithymia, 95-112 - correlated with possible alexithymia and under 94 - insignificant clinical score. We analyzed the result of every subcategory of the questionnaire in order to determine whether there is an area affected more than others.

The sample included 34 patients, female to male ratio 31:3, evaluated in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, “Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia” Psychiatry Hospital. 29,41% had clinically semnificative scores for alexithymic traits, while 52,94% scored for possibile alexithymia according to the OAQ-G2.

In 82,35% of patients from the lot we identified alexithymic personality traits. The F1 subcategory (difficulty identifying feelings) and F5a (problematic interpersonal process) were the ones that distinguished the alexithymic group from the possible alexithymic one.

No significant relationships.

15-year-old female referred to outpatient unit after COVID lockdown for binge eating and purging with depressive symptoms and anxiety.

To show the importance of a correct diagnosis in an impulsive patient with eating disorder

case report and literature review

The patient presents emotional instability with interpersonal difficulties with high fear of rejection. She suffered from fear of gaining weight and desires to lose weight with rejection of her body image. Fluoxetine and lorazepam are started together with low doses of olanzapine. During the follow up she presented a worsening of mood, onset of self-injuries and an episode of suicidal attempt. A biographical examination was performed, expressing a feeling of academic failure with difficulty concentrating and performing simple tasks. As a child she is described as impulsive, with frequent arguments with classmates. CPT III was performed with a high probability of ADHD. Treatment was started with lisdexamfetamine up to 50 mg with good tolerance. From the beginning of the treatment the patient expressed a feeling of improvement in the control of emotions as well as in the management of her impulsivity. There was an improvement in her academic performance with a decrease in self-injury episodes. The patient was able to express improvement in the sense of incapacity she felt.

This case shows how marked emotional dysregulation and impulsive symptoms improves after diagnosis and subsequent treatment of ADHD, also improving eating symptoms. ADHD is present in eating disorders, especially in those with impulse dyscontrol such as binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa.

No significant relationships.