Anne Orgler Sordi

Fatores associados a abandono precoce do tratamento em psicoterapia de orientação analítica

Abstract Introduction: The efficacy of psychoanalytic psychotherapy is well established in controlled clinical trials; however, someindividual characteristics that predict better outcomes are yet poorly studied. This study aimed at evaluating the association ofdemographics data, psychiatric diagnosis, clinical impairment, quality of life, aspects of psychotherapy suitability, defensivestyle and dropout before 3 months. Method: A consecutive sample of 56 subjects was evaluated after psychotherapy indication through a standardized protocol,World Health Organization Quality of Life Bref (WHOQOL-Bref), Self Report Questionnaire, Defensive Style Questionnaire,Scale of Defensive Functioning of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV-TR) andGlobal Assessment of Functioning, and followed for 3 months. Results: Dropout rate was 12.5%. There was no difference between groups in respect to Global Assessment of Functioning, SelfReport Questionnaire and Defensive Style Questionnaire scores. Dropout patients reported to be satisfied with their health,despite psychopathological severity, even when other variables were controlled (p < 0.0001). The group that remained inpsychotherapy was better adjusted before treatment and had average or superior estimated intelligence (p < 0.05). More dropoutpatients presented lower levels of defensive style, by means of the Scale of Defensive Functioning of DSM-IV-TR.

Mental states as part of countertransference responses in psychotherapists facing reports of traumatic events of mourning and sexual violence.

Abstract The study aims to compare the mental states and countertransference responses of 92 psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists, male and female, experienced and inexperienced, facing written reports of real patients who experienced traumatic events. Two vignettes were presented: one of a sexual violence, the other the sudden death of a significant person. The Mental States Rating System (MSRS; Bouchard, Picard, Audet, Brisson, & Carrier, 1998), the MSRS Self-Report (Goldfeld & Bouchard, 2004), and the Inventory of Countertransference Behavior (ICB; Friedman & Gelso, 2000) were used. Results showed that the mourning vignette led to more reflective responses (MSRS) and the rape case was associated with more negative countertransference reactions (ICB). Female participants were more reflective (MSRS); male therapists used less mentalized states (MSRS Self-Report) and expressed more negative reactions (ICB) for both scenarios. Experienced therapists showed more positive reactions on the ICB. The construct validity of the instruments is discussed in relation to the findings.

Correlates of unprotected sex in a sample of young club drug users

OBJECTIVES: To assess the demographic characteristics, psychiatric symptoms, substance use patterns, and sexual risk behaviors in a sample of club drug users to identify factors associated with unprotected sex during the 12 months prior to the interview. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed the targeted sampling and ethnographic mapping approaches via face-to-face interviews conducted at bars and electronic music festivals using an adapted, semi-structured version of the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs questionnaire. The sample comprised 240 male and female young adults who had used ecstasy and/or LSD in the 90 days prior to the interview and who were not receiving treatment for alcohol or drug abuse. RESULTS: Of the 240 subjects selected (mean age: 22.9±4.5 years), 57.9% were men; of the male subjects, 52.5% reported having had unprotected sex in the previous 12 months. Of the total sample, 63.33% reported having had unprotected sex. Multivariate regression analysis showed that anal sex (PR = 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.044–1.543; p = 0.017) and the use of alcohol/drugs to make sex last longer (PR = 1.430; 95% CI: 1.181–1.732; p<0.001) are associated with unprotected sex. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of intervention strategies aimed at reducing sexually risky behaviors should take into consideration the specific characteristics of drug users and should include the development of safer sex negotiation skills.

High levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor are associated with treatment adherence among crack-cocaine users

Due to the complexity of crack -cocaine addiction treatment, the identification of biological markers that could help determining the impact or outcome of drug use has become a major subject of study. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the association of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) levels in crack -cocaine users with treatment adherence and with drug addiction severity. A sample of 47 male inpatient crack- cocaine users were recruited in a treatment unit, and blood samples were collected at admission and discharge in order to measure BDNF and TBARS serum levels. Subjects were split into 2 groups: treatment non-completers (n=23) and treatment completers (n=24). The completer group had a tendency of higher levels of BDNF than non-completers at admission (16.85±3.24 vs. 14.65±5.45, p=0.10), and significant higher levels at discharge (18.10±4.88 vs. 13.91±4.77, p=0.001). A negative correlation between BDNF levels at admission and years of crack use was observed. We did not find significant changes in TBARS levels during inpatient treatment, although the completer group tended to decrease these levels while non-completers tend to increase it. These findings suggest an association between higher levels of BDNF and better clinical outcomes in crack- cocaine users after detoxification. We believe that the variation in BDNF and TBARS found here add evidence to literature data that propose that such biomarkers could be used to better understand the physiopathology of crack- cocaine addiction.

Who seeks public treatment for substance abuse in Brazil? Results of a multicenter study involving four Brazilian state capitals.

OBJECTIVE To assess the characteristics of alcohol and drug users who seek treatment at the Brazilian Unified Health System in Brazil. METHOD A multicenter cross-sectional study involving five clinical and research centers located in four Brazilian state capitals was conducted with 740 in- and outpatients. The only exclusion criterion was the presence of neurological or severe psychiatric symptoms at the moment of the interview. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6) and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) were used to assess the severity of substance use and the problems related. RESULTS There were significantly more men than women in the sample; mean age was 36 years. The drug most frequently used at all sites was alcohol (78%), followed by cocaine/crack (51%). Alcohol was the drug that most commonly motivated treatment seeking, at all centers. ASI-6 Summary Scores for Recent Functioning (SS-Rs) were quite similar among centers. SS-Rs were compared between users who had never received treatment for psychoactive substance abuse (n = 265, 36.1%) and those who had already been treated at one or more occasions (n = 470, 63.9%). This analysis revealed significant differences between the groups in the drug, psychiatric symptoms, legal, and family/social problems areas (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our findings confirm previous evidence suggesting that the management of patients seeking drug abuse treatment should take several different aspects into consideration, e.g., education, employment, and family relationships, which often appear as areas of concern for these individuals.

Childhood Trauma and Resilience: Vulnerabilities to Develop Crack/CocaineDependence

Background: Crack cocaine dependence is a health problem of epidemic proportions and there is lack of evidence concerning vulnerability factors that could lead to crack cocaine use. The aim of this study is to investigate characteristics of resilience in a group of crack cocaine users and its association with childhood trauma and PTSD. Method: This is a case-control study in which we evaluated 218 crack cocaine inpatients users and 215 healthy controls, recruited from the capital city of the southern State of Brazil. Childhood Trauma was evaluated with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; resilience was evaluated with the Resilience Scale; and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was evaluated with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results: Childhood trauma was significantly higher among crack cocaine users in all trauma domains (p<0.001), except for sexual abuse. Most resilience scores was lower among crack cocaine users (p<0.01). Having higher scores of childhood trauma and lower scores of resilience increase the odds to become a crack cocaine user (p<0.001), despite the diagnosis of PTSD. Discussion: Childhood trauma appears to be a risk factor to become a crack cocaine user while resilience features may be a protection factor. To understand factors of vulnerabilities in this population is important for the development of more efficacious treatment and preventive strategies.

Adaptação transcultural do Mental States Rating System para o português brasileiro

INTRODUCTION: This article presents a cross-cultural adaptation of the Mental States Rating System, a content analysis scale applied to spoken, written or taped material, which covers a wide range of countertransference categories. METHOD: The following steps were performed: conceptual equivalence, item equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, functional equivalence, and approval of the final version by the author of the original instrument. RESULTS: The study has reached the objectives of equivalence, and the final Brazilian Portuguese version has been approved by the original author. CONCLUSION: The study provides a Brazilian Portuguese version of an instrument that not only covers all the range of categories encompassed by countertransference described in the literature, but also expands it through the Mental States Theory. This represents a valuable tool for research on psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, where countertransference has proved to be an important resource, especially for the treatment of diseases based on early stages of development, for severe mental diseases and severe trauma.

Adaptação transcultural do Inventory of Countertransference Behavior (ICB) para o português brasileiro

OBJECTIVE: This article presents a cross-cultural adaptation of the Inventory of Countertransference Behavior into Brazilian Portuguese. The Inventory of Countertransference Behavior is a 21-item scale designed to assess countertransferential behavior. This scale, which should be completed by the supervisor after a supervised session, comprehends countertransference and its positive and negative categories. METHOD: The following steps were performed: conceptual equivalence, item equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, functional equivalence, and approval of the final version by the author of the original instrument. RESULTS: The study reached the objectives of equivalence, and the final Brazilian Portuguese version was approved by the original author. CONCLUSION: This adaptation provides a Brazilian Portuguese version of a practical instrument to assess positive and negative countertransference. It represents a valuable instrument for therapists, supervisors and researchers on psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, where countertransference has proved to be an important resource, especially to the treatment of diseases based on early stages of development, as well as to severe cases and severe trauma.

Cocaine and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

Abstract Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been identified as a potential biomarker in many psychiatric disorders, including drug addiction. It is the most abundant member of the neurotrophin family in the brain, and it is involved in neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and cognitive functioning. BDNF is involved in neuroadaptive changes in the dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems that are implicated in cocaine consumption and dependence. After acute cocaine administration in animal models, an increase in BDNF expression may occur in some brain areas. This observation is in agreement with the ability of this drug to induce neuroadaptations in BDNF expression as an immediate early gene. BDNF levels increase during withdrawal and appear to be associated with cravings and a shorter time to relapse. More studies in human and animal models are necessary to understand BDNF variations caused by cocaine and other drug use as well as the implications of other potential factors that could interfere with these variances.

Hepatitis C: clinical and biological features related to different forms of cocaine use

INTRODUCTION Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is related with several liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinomas, leading to more than 0.5 million deaths every year and to a great global burden. It is known that injection drug users show a high prevalence of HCV infection, being considered a risk group for this disease. Cocaine users seem to be in greater risk than other drug users, and several hypotheses for this association are being studied. AIM To review data on HCV infection in cocaine users, taking into consideration the relevance of the different routes of drug administration and other risk behaviors. METHODS This was a narrative review performed in the main scientific databases. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Data suggest that cocaine use could be associated with HCV infection due to the specificities of cocaine consumption pattern, even in those subjects who do not inject drugs, in addition to other risky behaviors, such as tattooing and unprotected sex. Injectable cocaine users seem to be more susceptible to contamination than users who do not inject drugs. However, evidence is pointing to the possibility of infection by sharing drug paraphernalia other than syringes. Moreover, specific immune system impairments caused by cocaine use are also being linked with HCV infection susceptibility, persistence and increased pathological effects.