Mood and physiological effects of visual stimulation with images of the natural environment in individuals with depressive and anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: Nature therapies are gaining attention as non-pharmacological treatments for depressive and anxiety disorders, but research on their effectiveness in patients is limited. This study investigates the mood-improving effects of visual stimulation with natural environmental images in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. METHODS: We conducted a randomized crossover comparison trial involving 60 right-handed adult participants with depressive or anxiety disorders and receiving outpatient treatment. Visual stimuli of natural environments consisted of green-themed nature images, while the control stimuli featured urban scenes dominated by buildings. The stimulation lasted for 3 min, during which orbital prefrontal brain activity was measured using a 2-channel Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) system, and heart rate variability was assessed using fingertip accelerated plethysmography. RESULTS: Mood enhancement effects were observed in both the depressive and anxiety disorder groups following visual stimulation with nature images. In the depression group, orbital prefrontal oxygenated hemoglobin concentration significantly increased after visual stimulation with nature images, while there were no significant changes in the anxiety group. However, in the anxiety group, a correlation was found between reduced orbital prefrontal oxygenated hemoglobin in response to nature images and increased mood-enhancement. Furthermore, the severity of depressive symptoms did not significantly affect the intervention effects, whereas heightened anxiety symptoms was associated with a smaller mood enhancement effect. DISCUSSION: Our study demonstrates the benefits of nature image stimulation for patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. Differential orbital prefrontal brain activity impacts notwithstanding, both conditions exhibited mood enhancement, affirming the value of nature image stimulation.

Mother-to-infant bonding difficulties are associated with future maternal depression and child-maltreatment behaviors: A Japanese nationwide longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Mother-to-infant bonding difficulties (MIBD) are considered risk factors for postpartum depression and child-maltreatment behaviors. However, few longitudinal studies have examined this hypothesis. This study aims to explore the relationship between MIBD and subsequent maternal depression and child-maltreatment behaviors using longitudinal data from a 2021 Japanese nationwide survey. METHODS: We studied 658 first-time mothers who had given birth within the past year and had not reported postpartum depression or child-maltreatment behaviors at baseline. The Japanese version of Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) was used to measure MIBD. Subjects were monitored for six months and subsequently completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and responded to inquiries about child-maltreatment behaviors. RESULTS: After adjusting for covariates, MIBD was associated with higher odds of maternal depression (OR=1.737, 95 % CI [1.078, 2.797]) and child-maltreatment behaviors (OR=2.040, 95 % CI [1.401, 2.970]) six months later. Further analysis indicated that MIBD was particularly associated with a heightened risk of emotional abuse (OR=2.172, 95 % CI [1.486, 3.176]). Sensitivity analysis confirmed these findings through multiple approaches, such as applying inverse probability weighting to mitigate selection bias, using an alternative MIBS cutoff score of 5, and adopting a time-varying model to account for the dynamic nature of depressive symptoms and child-maltreatment behaviors. CONCLUSION: Proactive screening for MIBD could serve as a valuable tool in the early detection of maternal depression and potential child-maltreatment behaviors.

Evaluating the impact of a short bout of stair-climbing on creative thinking in a between-subjects pretest posttest comparison study.

Recent studies have indicated potential links between short bouts of physical activity like stair-climbing and enhanced creative thinking. However, previous research featured limitations, such as using an uncommon 3 flights round-trip design and lacking baseline creative thinking evaluations. To rectify these limitations and build a more comprehensive understanding, the present study adopts a between-subjects pretest posttest comparison design to scrutinize the effects of ascending stair-climbing on both divergent and convergent thinking. 52 subjects underwent a pretest, followed by random assignment to one of four interventions: ascending stair-climbing for 2, 5, or 8 flights, or taking an elevator for 8 flights, before progressing to a posttest. The results revealed a notable improvement in convergent thinking, measured by the increased number of solved matchstick arithmetic problems (d = 1.165), for participants who climbed 2 flights of stairs compared to those who took the elevator. However, climbing 5 or 8 flights showed no such impact on convergent thinking, and stair-climbing, regardless of the number of flights, did not influence divergent thinking. These findings underscore the utility of brief stair-climbing as an accessible means to enhance convergent thinking in everyday settings, providing a nuanced insight into the relationship between physical activity and creative thinking processes.

The prevalence and risk factors of suicidal ideation in women with and without postpartum depression.

AIM: Suicidal ideation (SI) is a severe mental health issue in the postpartum period. As depression is a major risk factor of SI, it is often considered that the risk factors of SI are the same as those of postpartum depression. However, SI occurs in women without postpartum depression as well. The aim of this study is to separately examine the prevalence and risk factors of SI in postpartum women with and without depression. METHODS: We used data of 5688 postpartum women from a 2021 Japanese nation-wide survey, whose age and geographical distributions were nationally representative. Postpartum depression was evaluated with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and SI was measured with the 10th item of EPDS. RESULTS: The prevalence of SI in women with and without depression (EPDS≥9) was 51.8 % and 3.3 %, respectively. Younger age and low family support were risk factors common to both women with and without depression. Being single, currently working, history of depressive disorders, and family members' visits to support being cancelled were risk factors of SI for women with depression. In contrast, primipara, history of psychiatric disorders other than depressive disorders, infectious disease other than colds during pregnancy, and feeling of loneliness increased since COVID-19 were risk factor of SI for women without depression. CONCLUSION: Although with a low prevalence, SI occurs in women without postpartum depression, which has unique risk factors indicating distinct psychopathological mechanisms. These findings call for tailored SI intervention strategies according to whether postpartum depression is present or not.

Toward a computational understanding of how reminiscing about positive autobiographical memories influences decision-making under risk.

Recent computational psychiatric research has dissected decision-making under risk into different underlying cognitive computational constructs and identified disease-specific changes in these constructs. Studies are underway to investigate what kind of behavioral or psychological interventions can restore these cognitive, computational constructs. In our previous study, we showed that reminiscing about positive autobiographical memories reduced risk aversion and affected probability weighting in the opposite direction from that observed in psychiatric disorders. However, in that study, we compared positive versus neutral memory retrieval by using a within-subjects crossover posttest design. Therefore, the change of decision-making from baseline is unclear. Furthermore, we used a hypothetical decision-making task and did not include monetary incentives. We attempt to address these limitations and investigated how reminiscing about positive autobiographical memories influences decision-making under risk using a between-subjects pretest posttest comparison design with performance-contingent monetary incentives. In thirty-eight healthy, young adults, we found that reminiscing about positive memories reinforced the commonly observed inverted S-shaped nonlinear probability weighting (f = 0.345, medium to large in effect size). In contrast, reminiscing about positive memories did not affect risk aversion in general. Given that the change in probability weighting after reminiscing about positive memories is in the opposite direction from that observed in psychiatric disorders, our results indicate that positive autobiographical memory retrieval might be a useful behavioral intervention strategy for amending the altered decision-making under risk in psychiatric diseases.

Associations of parent-child exercise with family relations and parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Due to COVID-19 pandemic and behavior restrictions, deterioration of family relations and mental health in child-rearing households has been reported. This study examined whether frequent parent-child exercise (PCE) is associated with improved family relations and parental mental health under COVID-19. METHODS: Using data from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS), a nationwide survey conducted in August-September 2020, we extracted respondents with children aged 6 to 18 years (n = 2960). Logistic regression was performed to investigate the association between PCE frequency and changes in family relations and parental mental health. RESULTS: Compared with participants with 6-12-years old children, those with 13-18-years old children reported less PCE. Among participants with 6-12-years old children, compared to those without PCE, those conducted PCE more than once per week reported more improved relation with children and greater happiness (ORs ≥ 1.69), controlling covariates. Those conducted PCE 3 or more times a week also reported decreased loneliness (OR = 0.68). Whereas PCE conducted 1-2 times a month was not associated with any changes in participants with children of 6-12-years old, it was associated with more improved relations with children and spouses in participants with children of 13-18-years old (ORs ≥ 1.98). DISCUSSION: This study is the first to investigate the association of PCE with family relations and parental mental health under COVID-19. Our results suggest that PCE may enhance family relations and parental mental health and the effect may differ according to child's age.

An intestinal volvulus caused by multiple magnet ingestion: an unexpected risk in children.

It has been reported that ingested magnets can cause intestinal fistula formation or perforation, leading to intestinal obstruction. However, there are no previous case reports that magnet ingestion additionally caused an intestinal volvulus. We report herein the case of a 1-year-old boy in whom the ingested magnets caused a volvulus of part of the small intestine leading to the resection of the necrotic portion. We think that if more than one magnet is found as a foreign body in the intestine, they should be removed immediately by laparotomy. Clinicians who care for children should be aware of this unexpected risk.