Michel Hansenne

Plasma oxytocin levels and anxiety in patients with major depression.

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasmatic levels of oxytocin (OT) have been found to change in mood disorders. In post-mortem studies, the numbers of OT-expressing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus have been reported to be increased. Moreover, OT is considered as an endogenous antistress hormone. It has also revealed antidepressive effects. OT may contribute to the dysregulation of the HPA system in major depression. The aim of the study was to assess a possible relationship between anxiety and plasma oxytocin (OT) levels in depressive patients. Severity of depression was estimated with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and anxiety by using the Spielberger State-Anxiety Inventory. Results showed a significant negative correlation between oxytocin and the scored symptoms depression (r=-0.58, p=0.003) and anxiety (r=-0.61, p=0.005).

Increasing emotional competence improves psychological and physical well-being, social relationships, and employability

This study builds on earlier work showing that adult emotional competencies (EC) could be improved through a relatively brief training. In a set of 2 controlled experimental studies, the authors investigated whether developing EC could lead to improved emotional functioning; long-term personality changes; and important positive implications for physical, psychological, social, and work adjustment. Results of Study 1 showed that 18 hr of training with e-mail follow-up was sufficient to significantly improve emotion regulation, emotion understanding, and overall EC. These changes led in turn to long-term significant increases in extraversion and agreeableness as well as a decrease in neuroticism. Results of Study 2 showed that the development of EC brought about positive changes in psychological well-being, subjective health, quality of social relationships, and employability. The effect sizes were sufficiently large for the changes to be considered as meaningful in peoples lives.

The Impact of Trait Emotional Intelligence on Nursing Team Performance and Cohesiveness

Claims about the positive influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on work team performance are very numerous, both in commercial and scientific literature. However, despite the huge interest that media and business consultants put in EI and its fast-growing use in organizations, there is very little empirical evidence to support these claims. In this study, we investigated the relationships between EI, performance, and cohesiveness in 23 nursing teams. EI was assessed using the modified version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale and cohesiveness with the Group Cohesiveness Scale. Finally, nursing team performance was measured at four different levels: job satisfaction, chief nursing executives rating, turnover rate, and health care quality. Results showed that health care quality was positively correlated with emotion regulation. Emotion regulation was also positively correlated with group cohesiveness. Surprisingly, it also appears that emotion appraisal was negatively correlated with the health care quality provided by teams. These results suggest that EI and, more specifically, Emotional Regulation may provide an interesting new way of enhancing nursing teams cohesion and patient/client outcomes.

Psychometric properties of the temperament and character inventory-revised (TCI-R) in a Belgian sample.

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Przybeck, Svrakic, & Wetzel, 1994) is a self-questionnaire developed to assess the 7 dimensions of personality described by Cloninger et al. (1994) with a total of 29 subscales. In 1999, a revised version was proposed by Cloninger (TCI–R). In this study, we present psychometric properties of the TCI–R from 958 French-speaking participants of Belgium. Women exhibited higher scores for harm avoidance, reward dependence, and cooperativeness dimensions. The proposed factorial structure of 4 temperament dimensions and 3 character dimensions was confirmed. The TCI–R inventory had good test–retest reliabilities as well as good alpha coefficients. The addition of 3 new subscales to the original scale for Persistence has produced a very reliable dimension in the TCI–R.

ANDROPAUSE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: MINOR SYMPTOMS RATHER THAN PATHOLOGICAL ONES

This study examined the psychological symptomatology of men diagnosed with andropause and the association between calculated free testosterone (T) and depressed mood, anxiety and quality of life. Subjects were 153 men, aged 50-70 years, who participated in a screening of andropause. Total testosterone, FSH, LH and SHBG levels were measured. Depressed mood was assessed with the Carroll Rating Scale, anxiety with the anxiety-insomnia dimension of the General Health Questionnaire, and quality of life with the World Health Organisation Quality of Life questionnaire. The results showed that levels of free T decreased with age, whereas FSH and LH increased. Carroll Rating Scale scores were higher among hypogonadal subjects, but the mean score was low and not pathological. A negative correlation was observed between severity of depression as assessed by the Carroll Rating Scale and free T levels. However, subjects with a significant score on this scale did not exhibit different free T levels compared to subjects with a non-significant depressive score. Anxiety and quality of life did not differ between hypogonadal and eugonadal subjects. The present study therefore suggests that andropause is not characterised by specific psychological symptoms, but may be associated with depressive symptoms that are not considered as pathological.

5-Hydroxytryptamine 1A Receptors, Major Depression, and Suicidal Behavior

BACKGROUNDnSeveral lines of evidence suggest a clear relationship between serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) hypoactivity and suicidal behavior across several psychiatric diagnoses. Few data are available, however, regarding the possible specific role of 5-HT1A receptors in the biology of suicidality. Therefore, the aim of our study was to use a neuroendocrine strategy to test the hypothesis of a role for 5-HT1A receptors in the biology of suicidal behavior.nnnMETHODSnHormonal (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH], cortisol, prolactin [PRL]) and temperature responses after administration of flesinoxan, a highly potent and selective 5-HT1A receptor full agonist, were assessed in 40 inpatients with major depression, divided into two subgroups (20 suicide attempters and 20 nonattempters), compared with 20 normal control subjects matched for gender and age.nnnRESULTSnCompared with nonattempters, suicide attempters exhibited significantly lower PRL (p = .01), cortisol (p = .014), and temperature (p = .0002) responses. Prolactin (p = .007), cortisol (p = .04), and temperature (p = .00003) responses were also decreased in suicide attempters compared with normal control subjects. In contrast, we did not observe any significant differences in hormonal or temperature responses to flesinoxan between depressed patients without a history of suicide attempt and normal control subjects.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe present study tends to confirm the role of 5-HT and more specifically 5-HT1A receptors in the biology of suicidal behavior in major depression.

Impact of low frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation on event-related brain potentials

Contradictory findings exist concerning the inhibitory function of low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Therefore, the study examines the impact of different duration of low frequency rTMS on ERPs. In 17 subjects, auditory ERPs were measured before and after 1 Hz rTMS delivered over the left prefrontal cortex during 10 min (600 pulses) and 15 min (900 pulses). Results showed that 15 min of 1 Hz rTMS induced a significant increase of P300 latency. There was no effect for early ERP components (N100, P200 and N200). This study confirms and extends that 1 Hz rTMS produces a real inhibitory effect only when the duration of the stimulation is about 15 min. The data suggest that rTMS modifies the speed of cognitive processing rather than the energetical aspect of information processing, and that cortical inhibition induced by the magnetic stimulation affects principally the controlled cognitive processes and not the automatic ones.

Emotional intelligence and personality in major depression: trait versus state effects.

Several studies have explored the link between depression and personality with classical personality questionnaires like the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). However, no studies have been conducted with the revised form of the TCI (TCI-R). Moreover, since a few studies conducted on normal subjects suggest that Emotional Intelligence (EI) would be lower in depression, but that the concept has not been explicitly measured in patients with major depressive disorder, EI was assessed here with the modified version of Schuttes scale among a group of depressive patients. In addition, both personality and EI measures were carried out during the clinical state of depression and after the remission to assess the state versus trait aspect. The study was conducted on 54 major depressive inpatients (20 in remission) and 54 matched controls. As expected, depressive patients exhibited higher score on harm avoidance (HA), and lower scores on persistence (P), self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (C), optimism/emotional regulation subscore, and total EI score as compared with controls. In the period of remission, patients again had elevated scores on HA, and lower scores on SD. In contrast, the total EI score did not differ between controls and depressive patients in remission. The results confirm that some personality dimensions are dependent on both state and trait aspects of depression, and suggest that EI only seems to be affected during the clinical state.

Further evidence on the relationship between dopamine and novelty seeking: a neuroendocrine study

In the biosocial model of Cloninger, three major personality dimensions, novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), and reward dependence (RD) are dependent on central monoaminergic systems, respectively dopaminergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic. This study investigated the relationships between these major personality dimensions and growth hormone (GH) responses to both apomorphine and clonidine challenge tests in healthy subjects. GH responses to apomorphine were significantly correlated with NS when peak relative values were considered (r=0.47, P=0.03). HA and RD did not show any relationships with the endocrine responses. In contrast, no significant relationship existed between GH responses to clonidine and any of the three temperament dimensions. These results gave another support of the hypothesized link between NS and dopaminergic central neurotransmission. In contrast, the results did not confirm the association between RD and noradrenergic central neurotransmission, probably because RD is poorly validated. This partial confirmation might suggest that the link between personality traits and neurotransmission systems is probably indirect.

Personality and mental time travel: A differential approach to autonoetic consciousness

Recent research on autonoetic consciousness indicates that the ability to remember the past and the ability to project oneself into the future are closely related. The purpose of the present study was to confirm this proposition by examining whether the relationship observed between personality and episodic memory could be extended to episodic future thinking and, more generally, to investigate the influence of personality traits on self-information processing in the past and in the future. Results show that Neuroticism and Harm Avoidance predict more negative past memories and future projections. Other personality dimensions exhibit a more limited influence on mental time travel (MTT). Therefore, our study provide an additional evidence to the idea that MTT into the past and into the future rely on a common set of processes by which past experiences are used to envision the future.