depression

Anemia in pregnancy is associated with psychiatric symptoms and poor psychiatric symptoms, this study investigates the 6-month trends of anxiety and birth outcomes. Considering the controversies surrounding the impact of anemia on psychiatric symptoms, this study investigates the 6-month trends of anxiety and depression in anemic pregnant women with threatened abortion (TA).

A case-control retrospective cohort study conducted among 282 participants who enrolled in a registry of pregnant women with TA in Babol city from December 2022 to October 2023. Fifty individuals with anemia (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL) who were matched with 50 without anemia based on age, pregnancies, education, and gestational age, were included. The BSI-18 (Brief Symptom Inventory) was used to assess depression, anxiety, and psychological distress at the beginning, three and six-month follow-ups.

The prevalence of anemia among women diagnosed with TA was found to be 17.7%. At the beginning, compared to normal individuals, anemic women had higher rates of depression (32% vs. 14%), anxiety (34% vs. 22%), and psychological distress (66% vs. 48%). Moreover, at 3- and 6-month follow-ups, the frequency of psychiatric symptoms in anemic women was significantly higher. The Generalized Estimating Equations model showed that although both groups had a decreasing trend of frequency anemic women experience a slower rate of decrease in psychiatric symptoms compared to non-anemic women.

Anemia in women with TA is associated with high rates of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, as well as a slow recovery rate.

Anxiety and depression are significant factors that can increase the likelihood of concurrent substance use in patients undergoing treatment.

This study aims to address the gap in knowledge regarding the treatment of anxiety and depression resulting from substance withdrawal by evaluating the effectiveness of ginseng on depression and anxiety symptoms in patients at addiction treatment clinics in Ahvaz.

This research is categorized as applied research and falls under experimental designs for data collection. It was a randomized clinical trial with a pre-test and post-test design involving two groups. The statistical population included all patients visiting addiction treatment clinics in Ahvaz during 2023 - 2024. A total of 68 participants meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly assigned to two groups: One receiving ginseng and the other a placebo (34 participants each). One group received 100 mg capsules of ginseng, while the other received a placebo for four weeks. All participants were assessed at the beginning of the study and after the intervention using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS). Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance, utilizing SPSS-26 software.

The study involved 68 individuals aged 28 to 59 years, with a mean age of 43.22 ± 8.89. The mean ± standard deviation of depression and anxiety in the pre-test of the intervention group was 29.85 ± 6.19 and 25.00 ± 6.06, respectively, and in the placebo group was 27.79 ± 7.21 and 23.91 ± 4.82, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation of depression and anxiety in the post-test of the intervention group was 15.44 ± 11.37 and 12.26 ± 10.40, respectively, and in the placebo group was 11.91 ± 10.83 and 13.32 ± 10.10, respectively. The results indicate no significant difference between post-test and pre-test scores in the intervention group compared to the placebo group (P > 0.05).

The results indicate that there was no significant difference in post-test means compared to pre-test means in the intervention group relative to the placebo group. However, further randomized trials with larger sample sizes are necessary for confirmation. Findings should be interpreted with caution.

Hormone therapy is commonly used to treat breast cancer but can cause mood disorders and sleep disturbances, negatively impacting patients' well-being.

This trial aimed to evaluate the effects of melatonin on sleep problems and mood changes in breast cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy.

The study was conducted at Omid Hospital in Isfahan, Iran, using a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled design. Participants were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and were randomly assigned to receive either 6 mg of melatonin or a placebo daily for 4 weeks. Sleep quality, depression levels, and mood states were measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaires at the beginning and end of the 4-week follow-ups.

Sixty participants (34 in the melatonin group and 26 in the placebo group) completed the study. Melatonin administration significantly improved sleep quality, latency, duration, and reduced the use of sleep-promoting medication, according to the PSQI scores. However, there were no significant improvements in depression severity or mood disorders, as assessed by the CES-D and POMS questionnaires, in either group following the 4-week melatonin supplementation period.

Melatonin supplementation effectively alleviated sleep disturbances caused by hormone therapy in breast cancer patients. However, the study did not find substantial evidence supporting the use of melatonin for improving mood disorders or depression in this specific context.

Extensive evidence demonstrates that neuronal autophagic and cytoskeletal elements play critical roles in neuroplasticity. Dysregulation of neuroplasticity has been implicated in the pathology of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Transcription factor EB (TFEB) and stathmin are key regulators of autophagy and microtubule formation, respectively.

The current study aimed to compare the levels of hippocampal TFEB and stathmin proteins in PTSD and depressed animal models of rats.

Three groups of male rat pups (n = 8) were used. The first group, designated as the depressed group, was exposed to maternal separation stress and related stressors. The second group, representing the PTSD model, was exposed to single-prolonged stress. The third group served as the control. Anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors were evaluated using the elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swimming test (FST). Hippocampal TFEB and stathmin protein levels were measured using western blotting. Data were analyzed using Prism software. One-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests were performed to evaluate statistical differences between groups in behavioral tasks. Independent t -tests were used to assess differences in protein levels between groups.

The TFEB protein levels were increased in both PTSD and depressed rats, while stathmin levels were decreased. The effect of depression on TFEB expression was significantly higher than in PTSD. Conversely, stathmin reduction was more pronounced in PTSD compared to depressed rats.

These results suggest that changes in stathmin and TFEB protein levels may be associated with anxiety- and depression-like behaviors.

The aim of this study is to investigate the possible role of the hippocampal BDNF-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in the antidepressant-like activity of ellagic acid (EA) in mice.

Male BALB/C mice were divided into 5 groups; vehicle (0.1 ml/day), sertraline (5mg/kg), EA (1 mg/kg), EA+BKM120 (PI3K inhibitor), EA+MK2206 (AKT inhibitor). EA, sertraline and vehicle were injected intraperitoneally for 14 days. Locomotor activity was determined by open field test. The tail suspension test was used to detect the antidepressant-like effect. After behavioral tests, hippocampal tissue was obtained and Western blot analyzes were performed for BDNF and pAKT1. 

Sertraline and EA provided a reduction in immobility time in the tail suspension test when compared with the control group. BKM120 and MK2206 administration reversed this effect of EA. No statistical difference was found between groups in terms of locomotor activity. EA treatment caused an increase in hippocampal BDNF and pAKT1 levels in mice. While inhibitory agent administrations did not affect the increase of BDNF induced by EA, MK2206 administration reversed the increase in pAKT1 observed with EA.

It has shown that EA has an antidepressant-like effect in mice without changing locomotor activity, and this effect may be mediated by the BDNF-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

Research into managing depression and fatigue, two typical symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), is constantly expanding. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of the modified Mediterranean (MED) diet or the Traditional Persian (TP) diet in terms of fatigue and depression severity in patients with MS.

In this single-center, single-blind, randomized clinical trial, 90 patients were enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to either the MED or TP diet intervention and control groups for two months between July 2022 and February 2023, in Shiraz, Iran. The Krupp Questionnaire for Fatigue Severity Scale and the Beck Depression questionnaire were used. The Chi square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, One-way ANOVA, and backward elimination technique were employed. STATA statistical software (version 17) was utilized for data analysis. P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The mean age of 90 participants was 35.64±9.12, and 82.2% were women. The analysis revealed a negative correlation between fatigue severity and MED diet intervention (-4.17 [-8.18-0.16]; P=0.04). However, there was no association between fatigue severity and TP diet intervention (-3.82 [-7.96, 0.32]; P=0.07). The analysis showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between lower depression scores and TP diet intervention (-2.89 [-5.59, -0.19]; P=0.03). However, there was no association between depression scores and MED diet intervention (P=0.22). Lower depression score was also associated with older age and higher socioeconomic status (P=0.002 and P=0.006). It was also shown that longer duration of disease (P=0.05) and higher fatigue severity (P=0.001) were associated with higher depression scores. 

Adhering to the MED diet could reduce fatigue scores in MS patients while having no effect on the depression score. In contrast, adhering to the TP diet recommendation could reduce depression scores without affecting fatigue scores in MS patients.Trial registration number: IRCT20181113041641N1.

The Internet has become an integral part of human life. One field that is dramatically expanding is internet gaming, which can be harmful to those who overplay. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between internet gaming disorder, stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder among high school students in Tehran.

This study used a descriptive survey-based data collection method. The research population consisted of all students who studied in Tehran during the research. The sample included 122 students who were selected by the convenient sampling method. The research instruments were the Internet Gaming Disorder Test-10 (IGDT-10), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Obsessive Belief Questionnaire-Child Version (OBQ-CV). Descriptive statistics, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze data..

The results showed a significant correlation between IGD and perceived stress, with a correlation coefficient of 0.645 (P<0.01). In contrast, there was a negative association between IGD and obsessional beliefs, but the correlation was not significant with a correlation coefficient of 0.014 and a significance level of 0.88 (P<0.01). Furthermore, the impact of the predictor variables on the dependent variable is statistically accepted. Based on the R2 coefficient of 0.457, this model can explain more than 47% of the variance in IGD. Additionally, perceived stress has a Beta coefficient of 0.663, which confirms the hypothesis that perceived stress predicts IGD positively (P<0.01). In contrast, obsessional beliefs have a Beta coefficient of 0.123, which means they cannot significantly predict IGD.

It seems IGD is significantly related to perceived stress, and those with higher stress are more prone to IGD symptoms. Meanwhile, there is no correlation with obsessional beliefs. IGD appears to be more characterized by impulsivity than compulsivity. If the hallmark of behavioral addictions is the initial impulsivity followed by compulsivity, IGD may be more akin to an impulse-control disorder than a behavioral addiction.

Diagnosing children's cancer can cause significant disruptions in the child and family life, putting parents and children at risk for psychosocial problems, including reduced quality of life through increased anxiety, stress, and depression, which necessitates solutions like emotion-focused therapy (EFT) to reduce complications. This research investigated the effectiveness of EFT in reducing anxiety, stress, and depression in couples with children with cancer.

The research used a semi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design, control and experimental groups, and a three-month follow-up. The statistical population of the study included 40 couples with a child with cancer in Ferdous City. The collected data were analyzed utilizing inferential statistics and a step-by-step regression analysis under the normality assumption. Data were analyzed using statistical techniques (descriptive, inferential) and SPSS22. The research hypotheses were investigated utilizing ANCOVA and MANCOVA.

With the pretest control of the test significance levels, there was a significant difference between the couples with a child with cancer in the experimental and control groups concerning anxiety, stress, and depression reduction (P<0.001, F-5.299). The respective differences of 19.78, 20.50, and 44.67 for anxiety, stress, and 44.67 for depression highlight the significant effect of EFT on anxiety, stress, and depression of the experimental group at a 95% confidence level and p<0.05.

EFT affects and reduces the anxiety, stress, and depression of couples with children with cancer. The emotion-based developed package created a safe space to resolve past wounds and increase awareness, expression, and acceptance of repressed emotions, leading to a new meaning for life and adjusting the disease through a different perspective toward emotions caused by mental turmoil and anxiety.

Rapid technological advances have led to increased use of cyberspace among medical students. Despite the benefits, there are concerns about the unwanted effects of excessive use of cyberspace on mental health. Depression and anxiety, two of the most common mental health disorders worldwide, have been of particular interest in this context. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of depression and anxiety among medical students and explore its association with Cyberspace use.

This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 355 medical students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences using stratified random sampling. Data was collected through the following instruments: Demographic Information Questionnaire, Young’s Internet Addiction Test, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Data analysis was conducted utilizing SPSS software version 26. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests (Spearman’s correlation coefficient) were employed.

The results revealed that 27.3% of participants exhibited severe depression, 13% displayed severe anxiety, and 10.7% manifested symptoms of internet addiction. There was a positive association among depression, anxiety, and internet addiction (P<0.0001). Additionally, an inverse notable disparity between internet addiction and educational level was discovered (P<0.05). Also, a significant correlation was shown between depression, anxiety, internet addiction, and marital status (P<0.05).

The study indicated a notable correlation between cyberspace usage and the prevalence of depression and anxiety in medical students. Additional research is necessary to develop productive interventions that target the potential negative impacts of cyberspace usage on the mental well-being of medical students, consequently advancing the community healthcare system.

One of today's social problems is behavioral abnormalities and aggression and ways to deal with it. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and cognitive behavioral therapy on the attention and aggression of high school students in Kerman.

With a control group, this semi-experimental study administered tests before and after the intervention. All 45 male and female students enrolled at Kerman's second-year secondary school were included in the statistical population. Fifteen of them were allocated at random to one of three groups: control, experimental group 1, or group 2. The first group had 18 45-minute NLP sessions, whereas the second group received 6 60-minute CBT sessions. None of the interventions were given to the control group. The data was collected using the DASS-21 scale.

Compared to the control group, the educational groups that focused on cognitivebehavioral approaches and natural language processing had lower average indices of mental health evaluation. Students' anxiety and stress levels were significantly reduced after receiving instruction in both techniques, according to multivariate variance analysis. Comparing the three groups' matched results from the follow-up test, there was no difference in statistical significance in anxiety reduction between the two methods; however, there was a significant difference in lowering stress and depression, with the NLP method showing greater efficacy.

cognitive-behavioral training is an effective method in increasing the mental health of students and this intervention can be used to improve academic performance in clinics and school health.

The goal of this study was to examine how self-criticism and cognitive flexibility relate to depression, taking into account the moderating effect of emotion control in depressed undergraduate females.

The present study's statistical population consisted of all female students at Isfahan Azad University in 1402 who exhibited signs of depression. 384 people were chosen using cluster random selection from the study's target population as a sample, using Cochran's formula. The research variables were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Gross & John Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Gilbert et al. Self-Criticism Scale, the Dennis & Vander Wal Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, and the questionnaire on demographic characteristics. The acquired data were examined using the regression analysis technique and the statistical program SPSS version 27.

Findings showed that there is a significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and self-criticism with depression, cognitive flexibility and self-criticism with emotion regulation, and also between emotion regulation and depression (p<0.01). Also, the findings indicated that emotion regulation has a moderating role in the relationship between cognitive flexibility and self-criticism with depression (p<0.01).

Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the relationship between cognitive flexibility and self-criticism with depression is not a simple linear relationship and emotion regulation can affect this relationship.

Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder with adverse effects on both physical and psychological health. Taekwondo is posited to exert a positive influence on depression, yet its efficacy warrants further verification.

This study employed meta-analysis to quantify the intervention effect of Taekwondo on depression. Concurrently, based on subgroup analysis results, an optimal intervention program was suggested. Multiple databases were searched, including English (Web of Science, PubMed), Chinese (CNKI, WANFANG DATA), and Korean (RISS, KISS, DBPIA), to retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying Taekwondo's impact on depression, published up to Jan 2024. The Cochrane bias risk tool version 2 (RoB 2.0) was utilized for literature bias risk assessment. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software facilitated the meta-analysis, subgroup analysis, and publication bias evaluation.

Fifteen articles, encompassing 1945 participants, were included in the study. The primary findings indicated a significant reduction in depression risk due to Taekwondo intervention (Effect Size [ES]=-0.635, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed the most substantial intervention effects in elderly individuals (ES=-1.025, P=0.004) and women (ES=-1.114, P=0.009). Taekwondo exercises, when conducted over 12 wk (ES=-0.922, P<0.001), three times per week (ES=-0.729, P<0.001), for 60 min per session (ES=-0.980, P=0.003), and at low intensity (ES= -1.777, P=0.024), yielded the greatest depression mitigation effects.

Taekwondo is an effective means to alleviate depression, particularly in older women. The study recommends a low-intensity Taekwondo exercise regimen, consisting of 60-minute sessions, three times weekly for 12 wk, as an optimal exercise prescription for best outcomes.

Few studies have compared the concentration of trace elements and antioxidants in the serum of depressed and non-depressed as well as children on dialysis with and without anxiety.

 A prospective cross-sectional research was conducted. Forty children undergoing dialysis were assessed to define the correlation between mean serum levels of Selenium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, vitamin C, and vitamin E and their deficient levels with mood disorders. The Child Depression Inventory (CDI) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) scorings were applied. According to Scorings, patients were divided into no depression and depression and no anxiety and anxiety disorders groups.

Eighteen hemodialysis and 22 peritoneal dialysis patients were enrolled. The median of age was 11 years. Twenty-two patients (55%) were males. Selenium, copper, and vitamin C deficiencies were found in 32.5%, 15%, and 2.5% of patients, respectively. Anxiety and depression disorders were diagnosed in 82.5% and 67.5% of patients, respectively. No relationship between gender, modality of dialysis, duration from onset of dialysis, serum levels of hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen, albumin, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, manganese, and vitamin C with anxiety and depression disorders (p > 0.05 for all). The severity of depression was higher in hemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis patients (P < 0.001). The Serum level of Vitamin E significantly was higher in depressed in comparison with non-depressed cases (P=0.02).

There was no relationship between trace elements and vitamin C serum level and depression or anxiety disorders. An unreported finding was significantly higher level of vitamin E in depressed patients in comparison to those without it.

The demand for orthodontic treatment to correct malocclusion has increased worldwide. A main cause of applying for orthodontics treatment may arise from mental disorders, such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between BDD, the real need for orthodontic treatment based on the ICON index, and inquiry about orthodontics treatment in women. 

In a case-control study, 414 women from the public outpatient dental clinic of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, completed a demographic questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for BDD (BDD-YBOCS). A specialist also determined the ICON index for each participant. 

Among 414 subjects, 52 patients (31 in the orthodontics and 21 in the control group) (p=0.182) had a BDD-YBOCS score of 20 or above. The frequency of BDD, based on a definite diagnosis by an interview with a psychiatric specialist, was 6.28% among the orthodontic patients, which was significantly more than that of other dental patients (p<0.05). The mean ICON index score was found to have a significant difference between the orthodontic patients and the controls (p<0.001). No correlation was found between the severity of ICON and BDD-YBOCS scores in all the participants (p=0.804), in the cases (p=0.655), or the controls (p=0.403). 

The current study found no correlation between ICON and BDD score. However, a significantly higher rate of BDD subjects receiving orthodontic procedures suggests using the BDD-YBOCS survey in dental clinics to screen patients suspected of having BDD for further psychological management.

Fear of falling (FOF) is a critical and highly prevalent neuropsychological disorder in stroke patients, confining the individual in mobility, activities of daily living, and communication. Screening and detecting FOF is crucial in effective and efficient rehabilitation management. Considering that none of the questionnaires that assess the FOF in patients with stroke are single-item, the present study was conducted to design and validate a single-item scale (FOF rating scale [FOF-RS]) for a faster and step-by-step screening of the FOF in stroke patients. Also, considering the impact of psychosocial factors such as anxiety and depression on the fear of falling in these patients, they were controlled in this study.

In a cross-sectional study, 180 participants suffering post-stroke symptoms were recruited from public and private rehabilitation clinics, including Rafideh Hospital, Loqman Hospital, Tajrish SHohada Hospital, Nizam Mafi Clinic, Hasti Clinic, and Iran Rehabilitation Faculty Clinic through convenience sampling in Tehran City, Iran. Sampling was conducted within 3 months, between December 2021 and March 2022. The cut-off point and validity indicators were computed for FOF-RS, considering FES-I (falls efficacy scale-international) as a criterion measure.

Based on receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, the resulting cut-off point for the FOF-RS (>3) had a satisfactory level of specificity (82.30) and sensitivity (77.61). Also, the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 32.8 and 97.1, respectively. 

The FOF-RS has an adequate level of diagnostic accuracy and may well be used as a fast tool for screening FOF. Besides, it could assess step-by-step protocols in chronic stroke patients.