Psychopathological Symptoms and Mentalizing Capabilities in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa before and during Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID 19 pandemic, associated with confinement and social isolation, seems to have impacted the course of many mental disorders in children and adolescents. Specifically, it has created a global context likely to increase eating disorders' (Eds') risk and symptoms and to decrease factors that protect against EDs. Previous studies have highlighted a link between mentalizing deficits and clinical problems. This study aims to compare Covid-Period vs. NON-Covid Period adolescent patients affected by Anorexia Nervosa (AN) considering their psychopathological symptoms and their mentalizing capabilities. Method(s): 206 female adolescents (aged between 12 and 17 years) affected by AN were recruited from the Service for Eating Disorders at S. Gerardo Hospital in Monza. Exclusion criteria were the presence of intellectual disabilities and neurological disorders. The first group of 94 subjects was recruited between September 2018 and February 2020 (NON-Covid Period), and the second group of 112 individuals was recruited between August 2020 and May 2022 (Covid Period). The following instruments were administrated: EDI-3 (Eating Disorders Inventory-3) was used to provide a standardized clinical evaluation of symptomatology associated with eating disorders;SCL-90R (Symptom Checklist 90- Revised) was used to assess psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms;Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) was used to assess mentalizing skills, considering that Reflective functioning (RF) is the operationalization of the mental processes underlying the capacity to mentalize. Result(s): A preliminary analysis of data showed worse values in primary and composites scales of EDI-3, higher levels of general psychopathological suffering (SCL-90 composite scales) and more marked levels of hypo-mentalization (RFQ-u) in the Covid-Period subjects: the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion(s): Although these results are still preliminary, it is possible to hypothesize a correlation between marked levels of hypo-mentalization and higher rates of psychopathological suffering and a worse clinical pattern of Anorexia Nervosa. It is also possible to hypothesize that a preventive intervention to strengthen the reflexive functions may result protective factor against the onset of more severe clinical manifestations and comorbidities;mentalizing abilities could be an important target for therapeutic interventions. Further research should be conducted on larger samples and with a new assessment after treatment interventions.

The 1st year of the COVID-19 epidemic in Estonia: a population-based nationwide sequential/consecutive cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the population prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and changes in the prevalence in the adult general population in Estonia during the 1st year of COVID-19 epidemic. STUDY DESIGN: This was a population-based nationwide sequential/consecutive cross-sectional study. METHODS: Using standardised methodology (population-based, random stratified sampling), 11 cross-sectional studies were conducted from April 2020 to February 2021. Data from nasopharyngeal testing and questionnaires were used to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 RNA prevalence and factors associated with test positivity. RESULTS: Between April 23, 2020, and February 2, 2021, results were available from 34,915 individuals and 27,870 samples from 11 consecutive studies. The percentage of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 decreased from 0.27% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.10%-0.59%) in April to 0.04% (95% CI = 0.00%-0.22%) by the end of May and remained very low (0.01%, 95% CI = 0.00%-0.17%) until the end of August, followed by an increase since November (0.37%, 95% CI = 0.18%-0.68%) that escalated to 2.69% (95% CI = 2.08%-2.69%) in January 2021. In addition to substantial change in time, an increasing number of household members (for one additional odds ratio [OR] = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.02-1.29), reporting current symptoms of COVID-19 (OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.59-3.09) and completing questionnaire in the Russian language (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.15-2.99) were associated with increased odds for SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 population prevalence needs to be carefully monitored as vaccine programmes are rolled out to inform containment decisions.

W57. MENTAL HEALTH DATA COLLECTION IN THE ESTONIAN BIOBANK: INSTRUMENTS, METHODOLOGY AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Background: Background: Common psychiatric disorders are clinically heterogeneous and often display many overlapping symptoms as well as comorbidity across psychiatric disorders, hence complicating the genetic investigation of these disorders. To facilitate new discoveries and gain better understanding of the genetics of psychiatric problems, large well-phenotyped biobank samples are greatly needed. The Estonian Biobank (EstBB;N=200,000) is a data-rich national biobank that joins genomic, biomarker, electronic health record (EHR), national registry and questionnaire data to significantly advance the current knowledge of the genetic underpinnings of complex and rare diseases. We aimed to expand the EstBB database with rich phenotypic questionnaire-based information on a broad set of symptoms of common psychiatric disorders and related phenotypes. Methods: Methods: We compiled an online questionnaire “Wellbeing and mental health” which included self-report brief screening instruments to capture a broad range of symptoms on current and/or lifetime depression, anxiety disorders, mania, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, psychotic experiences, suicidal thoughts and behavior, cognition, substance (ab)use, problematic gambling and related risk- and protective factors, such as childhood adversity, stressful life events, social support, lifestyle, sociodemographic factors and life satisfaction. In addition, the participants were asked about the side effects, discontinuation and switching of medications prescribed for a mental health problem in their lifetime. Since the start of the data collection coincided with the peak of the second COVID-19 wave in Estonia, we included items related to current perceived stress, burnout and change in mental health during the pandemic. When selecting instruments, preference was given based on 1) reliability and validity of the instruments;2) whether an Estonian adaptation and/or validation has been conducted;3) application in other large biobanks (e.g. the UK Biobank) for future harmonization or replication;4) short length. Results: Results: The invitations to participate in the online mental health study were e-mailed out to all living EstBB participants with available e-mail addresses (N=184,622), followed by two e-mail reminders. The active data collection phase spanned over three months from March to May 2021. The preliminary response rate was 46.7% (N = 86,222) out of all who were contacted. We will present preliminary results on the comparison of respondents and non-respondents based on demographic data, psychiatric diagnoses in EHR and psychiatric polygenic risk scores. Discussion: Discussion: We have significantly expanded the EstBB resource with phenotypic information on a broad range of psychiatric symptoms and related phenotypes to facilitate future research in psychiatric genetics. Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.