Yomishi Kasahara

Dysfunctional parenting as a risk factor to lifetime depression in a sample of employed Japanese adults: evidence for the 'affectionless control' hypothesis.

BACKGROUNDnAlthough many case-control studies have replicated an association between dysfunctional parenting and a lifetime diagnosis of depression, few epidemiological studies have explored the association. In addition, little is known about the association in non-western countries.nnnMETHODSnUsing logistic regression analyses, additive and interactive contributions of parental child-rearing behaviours, as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), toward the risk for having a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder were explored in 418 employed Japanese adults. The diagnosis was provided by using the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, lifetime version. The analyses were conducted for male and female subjects separately.nnnRESULTSnParental care rather than parental protection was primary in predicting lifetime depression in both male and female subjects. An interactive combination of low care and high protection (affectionless control) was a significant risk factor for lifetime depression in male respondents reporting child-rearing behaviours of both parents and female respondents reporting paternal child-rearing behaviours. Model improvements when entering the PBI scores were larger in male subjects than in female subjects.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe results suggested that a combination of low care and over-protection increases a risk to lifetime depression even in a non-clinical sample; that an association between dysfunctional parenting (particularly low care) and the development of depression is independent of culture; and that Japanese boys are more sensitive than Japanese girls to dysfunctional parenting as regards the development of depression.

The Test-Retest Reliability of the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime Version

The test-retest reliability of the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime Version (IDDL) was investigated, based on 57 first-degree relatives of probands with major depression. The subjects were first interviewed using the SCID, and then the IDDL was administered to them twice at a 1-month interval. The chance-corrected agreement in diagnosing a lifetime history of DSM-III-R major depression was high between the 2 trials of the IDDL (kappa = 0.77), and between the SCID and each of the 2 IDDL trials (kappa = 0.75 for the 1 trial, and 0.68 for the 2nd trial). The positiveness on all items except increased appetite and weight gain was also highly concordant between the 2 trials. These results strongly suggest that time-stable data with sufficient validity for diagnosing a lifetime history of depression can be given by using the IDDL.

Identification of L-DOPA immunoreactivity in some neurons in the human mesencephalic region : a novel DOPA neuron group ?

The presence of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) immunoreactivity is reported for the first time in some neurons in the human mesencephalic region, using an immunohistochemical method with a newly raised, highly specific anti-L-DOPA antiserum. We have found many L-DOPA-positive/dopamine (DA)-positive and a few L-DOPA-positive/DA-negative cell bodies in dopaminergic regions in the midbrain. The present results suggest the existence of more than one neuronal group of L-DOPA in the human mesencephalon. L-DOPA in one group is an intermediate metabolite for decarboxylation to DA and in another group may exist as an end-product. L-DOPA in the latter neurons could be a neuromodulator and/or neurotransmitter. Thus, we suggest that L-DOPA plays an important role besides being an intermediate of DA in the human mesencephalon.

Dimensions of schizophrenic positive symptoms: an exploratory factor analysis investigation

Abstract Current psychopathology classifies schizophrenic positive symptoms into four groups: delusions, hallucinations, formal thought disorder, and catatonic symptoms. The present study explores the factor structure of different positive symptoms to refine this classification. The 35 positive symptoms of 429 psychiatric patients, consecutively admitted to any of 95 mental hospitals, with diagnosis of the ICD-10 F20 schizophrenia, were studied. After excluding those items with a base rate of 10% or less, factor analysis yielded six factors. The first factor was loaded by most of Schneider’s first-rank symptoms and two specific auditory hallucinations; the second by all the catatonic symptoms and incoherence; the third by bodily delusions/hallucinations; the fourth by delusions of persecution and reference; the fifth by grandiose and religious delusions; and the sixth by visual and miscellaneous hallucinations. The finding that schizophrenic positive symptoms may have more than four dimensions suggests the need for reclassification of schizophrenic symptoms and for reconsideration of evidence-based diagnostic criteria for the disorder.

Semiquantitative analysis of immunoreactivities of tyrosine hydroxylase and aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase in the locus coeruleus of desipramine-treated mice

The influence of antidepressant drugs on catecholaminergic neuron groups of the mouse brain was studied immunohistochemically, using a microphotometric semiquantitative method. The immunoreactive level of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) in the locus coeruleus (LC) was significantly decreased after 2 weeks of antidepressant administration. Our results suggest that long-term exposure to an antidepressant drug, desipramine, significantly affects intracellular catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes. These results may suggest some significant roles of the catecholaminergic neuronal groups to the action of the tricyclic antidepressant drugs.

Dysfunctional parenting and a lifetime history of depression in a volunteer sample of Japanese workers

This study explored whether dysfunctional parenting, as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument, is linked to a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) provided by the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime Version, in a non‐clinical sample from a non‐Western culture. Of a total of 239 Japanese volunteer workers, 22 subjects were diagnosed as having had lifetime MDD. Subjects with lifetime MDD reported a significantly lower ‘maternal care’ score than did those without lifetime MDD. Logistic regression analysis revealed that subjects who reported a lower‘maternal care’score were at a significantly higher risk for lifetime MDD. The results suggest that the link between dysfunctional parenting and MDD may be independent of cultural differences, lending some support to the hypothesis that dysfunctional parenting in childhood may cause adult depression.

Relationship between the melancholic type of personality (Typus melancholicus) and DSM‐III‐R personality disorders in patients with major depression

Abstract The relationship between the melancholic type of personality (TM) and DSM‐III‐R personality disorders (PD) in a sample of 96 outpatients with major depression was investigated using a series of multivariate analyses. The results showed that the personality features of TM were quite different from those of any DSM‐III‐R PD, including obsessive‐compulsive PD, and gave only partial support to the DSM‐III‐R classification of PD into three clusters. It is suggested that if the personality description of TM be included in the Axis II of DSM‐III‐R, the description of the Axis could have a wider range of personality features and could be more useful for the clinical praxis and research of depressive patients.

The relationship of DSM-III-R personality disorder to clinical variables in patients with major depression: Possible difference between personality disorder clusters

Abstract The relationship of DSM‐III‐R personality disorder (PD) to demographic and clinical variables was investigated based on 96 consecutive outpatients with major depression. No significant difference in the variables was found between those with and those without PD. Those with PD from each cluster were compared with those without PD in terms of the variables. In these comparisons many relationships of PD to the variables were found, and these relationships were different between the three PD clusters detailed in DSM‐III‐R. Patients with cluster B PD demonstrated a prominent uniqueness in his/her relationship to the variables. This uniqueness was similar to what had been reported previously with regard to patients with PD. There was no significant difference in the variables between those with cluster C PD and those without PD. Those with cluster A PD may have a negative family history of affective disorders.

Personality disorder diagnoses using DSM-III-R in a Japanese clinical sample with major depression

To investigate the availability of DSM‐III‐R Axis‐II diagnoses in Japan, DSM‐III‐R personality disorders (PDs) were diagnosed in a large sample of Japanese out‐patients with major depression. The SCID‐II was administered to 118 consecutive out‐patients with major depression. In general, the frequency of PD according to DSM‐III‐R criteria in this study was within the range of frequencies reported in North American and European studies. However, schizoid and narcissistic PDs were more frequent in this study. DSM‐III‐R diagnoses of PD would also be potentially useful for assessing personality disturbance in Japan. The DSM‐III‐R criteria for schizoid and narcissistic PDs may not be suitable for Japanese samples.

Personality differences in the Munich Personality Test between patients with major depression and panic disorder

This study attempted to determine whether patients with major depression and panic disorder could be differentiated by personality features, measured by the Munich Personality Test (MPT). One of the six MPT personality dimensions, `rigidity, was developed in relation to the `melancholic type of personality, which may be a specific personality feature of depressive subjects. We therefore hypothesized that the MPT might be sensitive to possible personality differences between patients with major depression and panic disorder. Sixty‐six patients with major depression and 27 patients with panic disorder, taken from consecutive intakes at an outpatient unit, were compared in terms of six personality dimensions of the MPT. The results demonstrated that rigidity could significantly differentiate the two patient groups, even after the possible confounding effects on the personality assessments were statistically partialled out. The MPT was suggested to be powerful for describing distinctive personality features of depressive subjects from anxiety subjects.