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BackgroundThere is an urgent need to improve early accessibility to psychoeducational interventions for informal caregivers of individuals with eating disorders (EDs). We adapted the BREF programme, a short, single-family, psycho-educational intervention originally developed for caregivers in severe mental disorders, to EDs (BREF-ED) and assessed at diagnosis announcement. We hypothesised that it has a good acceptability and effectiveness in reducing short-term caregivers’ self-reported levels of burden and depressive symptoms.MethodsData of caregivers who participated in the BREF-ED programme were analysed. Adherence, satisfaction, and perceived usefulness were evaluated. Changes in self-reported burden and depression symptoms were measured pre-, post-, and 3 months after the intervention using the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression scale (CES-D).ResultsOf the 53 caregivers included in the study, 52 participants completed the BREF-ED programme. As compared to baseline, ZBI scores showed a significant reduction after the intervention (Cohen’s d = 0.61, p < 0.001), and at the 3-month assessment (Cohen’s d = 0.62, p < 0.001). The CES-D scores also significantly decreased by the end of the third session (Cohen’s d = 0.83, p < 0.001) and at the 3-month follow-up (Cohen’s d = 0.77, p < 0.001). Satisfaction scores were high, with 90.1% of participants reporting being “very satisfied” and 9.9% “satisfied.”ConclusionsPreliminary findings demonstrated high adherence rates, caregiver satisfaction, and a positive impact on burden and related depressive symptoms immediately after the programme and at short-term follow-up. This time- and resource-efficient programme has the potential for easy dissemination.

Lower cognitive functioning in old age has been associated with personality traits or systemic inflammatory markers. Associations have also been found between personality traits and inflammatory markers. However, no study has explored the inter-relationships between these three components simultaneously. The present study aims to better understand the inter-relationships among personality traits, inflammatory markers, and cognitive performance in elderly individuals without dementia. This study utilizes a network analysis approach, a statistical method that allows visualization of the data's unique pairwise associations. We performed a cross-sectional analysis on 720 elderly individuals without dementia, using data from Colaus|PsyColaus, a population-based study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Revised NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-R) was used to assess personality traits, and interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were used as peripheral inflammatory markers. Cognitive domains were investigated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Verbal Fluency Test, the Stroop Test, the DO40, and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding (FCSR) test. Openness was associated with verbal fluency and Agreeableness with immediate free recall. In contrast, no association between inflammatory markers and personality traits or cognition was identified. In elderly individuals without dementia, a high level of Openness or Agreeableness was associated with executive functioning/semantic memory and episodic memory, respectively.

Abstract In an online-based survey conducted among a representative sample (n = 5000) of the French general population, the category of alcohol use, i.e. no-alcohol use (NAU: 18.5%), low-risk drinking (LRD: 59.4%), hazardous drinking (HD: 14.9%), and alcohol use disorder (AUD: 7.2%) was determined, using the AUDIT questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models, using LRD as the reference, showed that younger adults were more likely to report NAU, but also HD, and AUD; women were less likely to report HD and AUD, while high occupational status was associated with reduced NAU and increased HD.

Caring for a relative with a severe mental disorder puts family caregivers to a great risk of depression. While overall caregiving burden is a strong predictor of depression, the contribution of the various dimensions of burden to caregivers’ depression as well as their relationships with depressive symptoms has received little attention. 384 family caregivers completed a cross-sectional online survey including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and the Brief Experience of Caregiving Inventory (BECI), measuring caregiving burden and experience. We estimated the structure of the relationships between caregiving experiences (i.e., ZBI and BECI subscales) and CES-D symptoms using a network approach. Negative Emotion/Consequences, (lack of) Positive Personal Experience, and Stigma/Effects on Family were the most connected caregiving dimensions to depression. To untangle the role of the Negative Emotion/Consequences component (by far the most central node in estimated networks), a secondary analysis incorporating its composing items was estimated. Losing control over life, feeling strained around the relative and impaired self-perceived health emerged as central nodes. Interestingly, these caregiving-related dimensions or experiences were differentially connected to depressive symptoms. We discuss how these findings might help future research and inform tailored psychoeducational interventions for family caregivers of people with a severe mental disorder.

Abstract Women with alcohol use disorder (AUD) might be particularly vulnerable to psychiatric comorbidities. However, population surveys have yielded disparate findings. We used data from the French Mental Health in the General Population survey to investigate gender-related risks of psychiatric comorbidities associated with AUD. A cross-sectional survey based on face-to-face interviews, including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, was conducted among 38,717 subjects. Logistic regression models were used to assess risks of psychiatric comorbidities associated with AUD. After adjustment for socio-demographics and other psychiatric disorders, both women and men with AUD were at higher risk of comorbid depressive disorder (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0–3.4 in women, and OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.7–2.4 in men), bipolar I disorder (2.5; 1.4–4.4 in women vs. 2.6; 1.9–3.4 in men), and psychotic disorder (1.6; 1.01–2.5 in women vs. 1.8; 1.4–2.3 in men). Women with AUD exhibited an increased risk of comorbid panic disorder (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.2) while the increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was significant in men only (OR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.6–4.2). The increased risk of comorbid substance use disorder (SUD) was more elevated in women, compared to men (12.9; 8.1–18.1 vs. 4.8; 4.0–5.8 in men). Most of psychiatric conditions were over-represented in both women and men with AUD, relative to controls. Gender-specific findings were that women with AUD had an increased risk of comorbid SUD or panic disorder, while men had a significantly higher risk of comorbid PTSD.

Rodents housed with a running wheel can exhibit attenuated cocaine seeking and cocaine-induced psychomotor activation. However, the longevity of the exercise anti-drug protection and the influence of the developmental stage during which exercise is displayed received little attention. Here, females and males C57BL/6J mice, aged 28 (adolescents) or 77 (young adults) days were housed with (n=56) or without (n=28) a running wheel. After 3 weeks in these conditions, half of the exercised mice were deprived of their wheel (n=28) whereas the other half and the sedentary mice (no wheel) were kept in their respective environments throughout experimentation. After 3 additional weeks, mice were tested for initiation of psychomotor sensitization to 9 once-daily intraperitoneal injections of 8 mg/kg cocaine (following 2 drug-free test sessions). The expression of sensitization was assessed on a single test session 30 days after the last sensitizing cocaine injection. Continuously exercised mice (wheel throughout experimentation) were less responsive to the initiation and the expression of cocaine effects, regardless of the gender and the developmental period during which exercise was introduced. Wheel-running during adolescence attenuated in later life the initiation and the expression of sensitization in females and only its expression in males. In adult females and males, previously-exercised and sedentary mice exhibited indiscernible levels of initiation and expression of sensitization. Thus, the likelihood of the long-term protection of exercise against cocaine vulnerability may depend not only on the gender but also and especially on the period of life in which exercise took place.

Wheel-running exercise in laboratory rodents (animal model useful to study the neurobiology of aerobic exercise) decreases behavioral markers of vulnerability to addictive properties of various drugs of abuse including cocaine. However, neurobiological mechanisms underpinning this protective effect are far from being fully characterized and understood. Here, 28-day-old female C57BL/6J mice were housed with (n=48) or without (n=48) a running wheel for 6 weeks before being tested for acute locomotor responsiveness and initiation of locomotor sensitization to intraperitoneal injections of 8 mg/kg cocaine. The long-term expression of sensitization took place 3 weeks after the last session. On the day after, all mice underwent a microPET imaging session with [18F]fallypride radiotracer (dopamine 2/3 receptor (D2/3R) antagonist). Exercised mice were less sensitive to acute and sensitized cocaine hyperlocomotor effects, such attenuation being particularly well-marked for long-term expression of sensitization (partial eta squared = 0.262). Additionally, we found that chronic administrations of cocaine was associated with a clear-cut increase of [18F]fallypride binding potential in mouse striatum (partial eta square = 0.170), presumably reflecting an increase in postsynaptic D2/3R density in this region. Finally, we found evidence that wheel-running exercise was associated with a moderate decrease in D2/3R density in striatum (partial eta squared = 0.075), a mechanism that might contribute to protective properties of such form of exercise against drugs of abuse vulnerability.

Wheel-running in rodents can mitigate addiction-related effects of drugs of abuse like cocaine. However, experiments using conditioned place preference (CPP) are conflicting, warranting further studies. Our purpose was to test whether wheel-running during adolescence could impact the formation and long-term retention of CPP to cocaine in mice. Male C57BL/6J mice were individually housed either with (n=32) or without (n=32) a running wheel from the age of 35 days. Behavioral testing began 3 weeks after such housing, mice underwent a baseline session followed by 10 once-daily conditioning sessions receiving peritoneal injections of 10 mg/kg cocaine and saline on alternate days (n=16), control mice receiving saline every day (n=16). One and 21 days after the last conditioning session, they were tested for CPP. Both groups exhibited comparable well-marked cocaine-induced CPP in both post-conditioning tests resulting in a negligible interaction between housing and the pharmacological treatment (η²p < 0.01). These results, along with the discrepancy found in the literature, question the nature (and the robustness) of the effects that exercise induces on CPP to cocaine.

While animal research has consistently reported preventive effects of exercise against drug abuse vulnerability, little is known about the influence of the developmental stage during which exercise is displayed on addictive drugs responsiveness. This study aimed to determine whether prenatal exercise could attenuate acute cocaine reactivity and psychomotor sensitization in youth offspring. We used a split-plot factorial design where C57BL/6J females were randomly assigned into sedentary or exercised (wheel-running) conditions before and during gestation, the wheels being removed on gestational day 18. Offspring were weaned, gendered and individually housed on 24-28 days old. At 38-42 days old, they were tested for their acute psychomotor responsiveness to 8 mg/kg cocaine and their initiation of sensitization over 8 additional once-daily administrations, the long-term expression of sensitization occurring 30 days later. Adolescent females born from exercised mothers were much less responsive to the acute psychomotor-stimulating effect of cocaine than those born from sedentary mothers (d = 0.75, p = .02), whereas there was no evidence for such a difference in males (d = 0.34, p = .17). However, we did not find sizeable attenuating effects of prenatal exercise on the initiation and the long-term expression of the psychomotor-activating effect of cocaine, in either sex (Cohen’s ds varying from −0.23 to 0.39). These results suggest that prenatal exercise may induce initial protection against cocaine responsiveness in youth females, a finding that warrants further research.