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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the increase in sensitivity of a single risperidone administration in relation to energy intake of Wistar rats treated with cafeteria diet from birth to adulthood (119 days).

During the lactation period, six litters of Wistar rats (dam + 8 pups each litter) were fed one of the following two diets: Control (n = 3) or Cafeteria (n = 3) diets and water ad libitum. After weaning, the males were placed in individual cages, receiving the same diet offered to their respective dams (Control = 18; or Cafeteria = 18) until adulthood (119 postnatal days). The following parameters were evaluated: food and energy intake; macronutrient intake; weight gain; adipose tissue relative weight; sucrose preference; food intake after an administration of risperidone (0.1 mg/kg body weight).

The Cafeteria group showed a higher energy intake in relation to the Control group (p < 0.001). The consumption of energy beyond the individual needs can be understood as a hyperphagic condition. Also, the Cafeteria group reported greater weight gain (p = 0.048) and accumulation of adipose tissue (p < 0.001) with respect to the Control group. These results indicate that the cafeteria diet generated obesity in animals. The Cafeteria group showed reduced sucrose preference (p = 0.031), which is associated with the development of anhedonia-like behavior. In the food intake test, risperidone showed a greater sensitivity in Cafeteria animals, promoting a decrease in their energy intake in relation to the Control group that received risperidone (p = 0.040).

The cafeteria diet promoted hyperphagia, anhedonia-like behavior and obesity in animals. Acute risperidone administration showed greater sensitivity in the Cafeteria group, with a decrease in energy intake. The reported effects may be related to a downregulation of the dopaminergic system in the NAc region.

The efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for schizophrenia in community and general psychiatric settings has been widely investigated and its practice recommended in primary and secondary care. In secure forensic mental health services the evidence is less established. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of group CBT for schizophrenia in a high secure hospital.

In all, 27 male forensic patients completed a manualised CBT group and were compared on primary and secondary outcomes to patients receiving treatment as usual (TAU). Primary outcomes were positive and negative symptoms as measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS). A secondary outcome was interpersonal functioning as measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64).

CBT participants showed improvement on negative symptoms; affective flattening, alogia, anhedonia and avolition; in comparison to participants in TAU. CBT participants also showed reductions in delusions and hallucinations on the SAPS but not the PSYRATS. TAU participants improved on positive symptoms as measured by the PSYRATS. CBT participants showed reductions in overall interpersonal problems, and most notably in being socially inhibited and self-sacrificing. No iatrogenic effects of treatment were found; improvements in depression anxiety and stress were reported by group completers, which contrasted to experiences of the TAU group.

Absence of random allocation to CBP or TAU groups retains the risk of recruitment bias. Findings are preliminary given the sample size. Multiple outcome assessments increase risk of a type I error.

CBT for schizophrenia can be effective with clients in secure forensic mental health settings. Improvements in negative symptoms and interpersonal functioning appear to be particular gains. Self-report measures might be subject to specific demand characteristics in such settings.

The evaluation includes a comparator group in a high secure setting, which is typically absent in reported evidence for this population (Blackburn, 2004). The study also investigated changes in interpersonal functioning, which has previously been noted as an important but absent outcome in CBT for psychosis (Haddock et al., 2009). Iatrogenic outcomes were also considered in the evaluation to ensure no adverse effects were experienced from treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the prevalence and nature of presentation of unipolar depression in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) (2009) checklist for systematic reviews was followed where possible.

Seven studies were included in the qualitative synthesis from a total of 261 records identified. The quality of the studies was then assessed: scores for each study design ranged from between 3 and 6 of a possible score total of 6. The frequency of depression ranged between studies from 4 to 22 per cent. four studies showed over 50 per cent of patients appeared to suffer from psychotic symptoms. Low mood, anhedonia and irritability were described as features of depression, although no fixed pattern of psychopathology arose from across the studies (excluding psychosis). This review has provided evidence to suggest that depression is a frequent occurrence in the PWS population. One study found that the incidence of depression differed between the genetic subtypes, raising questions regarding the relationship between genotype and behavioural phenotypes. A high proportion of individuals with depression suffered from psychotic symptoms.

The small number of heterogeneous studies included in this study precluded meta-analysis of the results. This highlights the need for further original research in this field.

An increased awareness of the frequency of depressive symptoms within the PWS population will aid in the timely diagnosis and management of the disorder which will reduce psychiatric morbidity. The noted high proportion of psychotic symptoms associated with depression should raise the index of suspicion with clinicians and aid appropriate management decisions.

This review has provided preliminary evidence for the nature of presentation of unipolar depression in PWS. It has highlighted the possibility of an increased propensity towards depression with psychotic symptoms. There is some suggestion of a differing presentation and course of unipolar depression between the common genetic subtypes of PWS which warrants further investigation.

Adolescence is a developmental stage of transition that is marked by multiple biopsychosocial changes that affect their well- and ill-being. This study aims to examine the multidimensional of well- and ill-being among adolescents, and to understand the relationship between well-being and depression using the PERMA model among school-age adolescents.

A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used to recruit 625 school-age adolescents (343 males and 282 females), using convenience sampling technique from the central district of Jordan. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data in relation to depression and well-being.

The analysis revealed that 32% had a well-being score below the median and 19% had severe depressive symptoms. Depression and well-being were moderately correlated, with the connectedness dimension being the most correlated to depression, whereas the engagement dimension was the least correlated. Females had higher scores on all subscales of depression and a significantly higher score on depression than males, whereas males had higher scores on all well-being dimensions and significantly higher scores on overall well-being than females.

Adolescents’ mental health is compromised and affected by their perception of well-being, and a comprehensive psychoeducation for adolescents on how to enhance well-being might combat development of depressive symptoms.

This study used all PERMA model components to provide an in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being, which is a crucial initial phase in better understanding how this age group experiences well-being and how it connects to their ill-being, as indicated by their depressive symptoms. The in-depth description of adolescents’ well-being will aid in planning early intervention and prevention programs for mental illness.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the prevalence and nature of presentation of unipolar depression in individuals with Down syndrome (DS).

The PRISMA (2009) checklist for systematic review was followed where possible.

Eight studies were included in the qualitative synthesis from a total of 634 records identified. The quality of the studies was then assessed: the studies all scored either 5 or 6 out of 6. The incidence of depression ranged between studies from 5 to 13 per cent. It was found that depression is more common in DS than the general intellectual disability population; this on a background of mental ill health of all causes being less common in DS. It was suggested that, excluding organic disorders, depression is the most common psychiatric problem in DS. In terms of the nature of depression, the evidence was less clear. Various “vegetative” and biological symptoms were observed, with no fixed pattern. There was evidence for withdrawal symptoms and psychosis.

The small number of studies included in this review, and their heterogeneity, highlights the need for further original research in this field.

An increased awareness of the frequency of depression in individuals with DS will aid in a timely diagnosis, therefore reduce psychiatric morbidity. Clinicians should be aware of the varied presentation, with no clear clinical picture, in order to maintain a high index of suspicion in an individual presenting with “atypical” symptoms.

This review has provided preliminary evidence that depression may be the most commonly experienced psychiatric disorder in DS.

Classical definitions of motivation typically involve two main components: direction and activation. Motivated behavior is directed toward or away from particular stimuli (i.e., appetitive and aversive motivation). Furthermore, activational aspects of motivation refer to the observation that motivated behavior is characterized by substantial activity, vigor, persistence, and exertion of effort in both the initiation and maintenance of behavior. Although separate neural systems direct organisms toward distinct motivational stimuli (e.g., food, water, sex), there appears to be a common circuitry regulating behavioral activation and the exertion of effort. Mesolimbic dopamine is one of the brain systems mediating activational aspects of motivation and exertion of effort. This system integrates aspects of motivation and motor control functions involved in the instigation of action. Research on the neurobiology of effort has contributed to our understanding of the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders that are characterized by motivational dysfunction.

This chapter explores that landscape between the imagination and practice of ethnographic research as well as a concomitant transition in a sociologist's felt identity. Specifically, it describes the larger effect of building a persona for fieldwork on the self of the ethnographer. The work begins with an examination of the motives behind a proposed study of a deviant counterculture and the efforts that went into crafting a presentation of self appropriate for the milieu. It offers a detailed analysis of the social foundations of the outlaw motorcycle culture and a phase model of their socialization process.

Engagement, motivation, and persistence are usually associated with positive outcomes. However, too much of it can overtax our psychophysiological system and put it at risk. On the basis of a neuro-dynamic personality and self-regulation model, we explain the neurobehavioral mechanisms presumably underlying engagement and how engagement, when overtaxing the individual, becomes automatically inhibited for reasons of protection. We explain how different intensities and patterns of engagement may relate to personality traits such as Self-directedness, Conscientiousness, Drive for Reward, and Absorption, which we conceive of as functions or strategies of adaptive neurobehavioral systems. We describe how protective inhibitions and personality traits contribute to phenomena such as disengagement and increased effort-sense in chronic fatigue conditions, which often affect professions involving high socio-emotional interactions. By doing so we adduce evidence on hemispheric asymmetry of motivation, neuromodulation by dopamine, self-determination, task engagement, and physiological disengagement. Not least, we discuss educational implications of our model.