Bullying in Spanish secondary schools: gender-based differences

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of bullying in its various forms from the perspective of all of the individuals involved (victims, bullies, and witnesses) and to explore its distribution as a function of gender. The study had a correlational design and used a representative sample of 1500 Spanish students attending compulsory secondary education in the academic year 2007-2008. It applied an instrument measuring different types of bullying, taken from the studies conducted by Díaz-Aguado, Martínez, and Martín (2004) and the Defensor del Pueblo (Spanish Ombudsman’s Office)-UNICEF (2007). The findings reveal that all the types of bullying considered take place at school and that there is an inverse relationship between the severity and the prevalence of bullying behaviors, with verbal abuse proving to be the most common type of abusive behavior. Boys are involved in all kinds of bullying incidents as bullies significantly more often than girls are, except in cases involving ‘talking about someone behind their back’; in these situations, girls are involved significantly more often as bullies than boys are. As for victimization, boys are victims of direct physical abuse significantly more often than girls are, while girls are more often the subject of malicious gossip (AU)

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Serotonin transporter clustering in blood lymphocytes as a putative biomarker of therapeutic efficacy in major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Serotonin transporter (SERT) binding is decreased in lymphocytes of depression patients and this decrease is partially reversed by antidepressant medication. However, recent evidence has shown that clustering of SERT on cell membranes is very important for receptor functionality. Alteration in SERT clustering on peripheral lymphocytes does not affect symptoms severity. At the most it is associated or predicts responsivity to treatment. METHODS: We collected blood samples from 38 untreated and newly diagnosed depression patients at the time of diagnosis and after 8weeks of pharmacological treatment and of 38 control subjects. We used the Hamilton Scale to quantify the level of depression in patients both before and after pharmacological treatment. We then used immunocytochemistry to assess SERT protein clusters in lymphocyte blood samples. RESULTS: We found an increase in SERT cluster size, but not the number of SERT clusters, in naïve depression patients compared to control subjects. Based on the distribution of SERT cluster size we differentiated the naïve depression patients into two groups (D-I and D-II). Naïve D-I and D-II patients initially showed similar Hamilton scores. However, after pharmacological treatment the D-II patients showed a greater decrease in Hamilton scores than did the D-I patients, and they had an increase in the number of SERT clusters. LIMITATIONS: The data should be replicated in a larger cohort of patients and with a proper clinical trial. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that SERT clustering in blood lymphocytes may be a putative biomarker for antidepressant efficacy in major depressive disorder.

[Longitudinal study comparing depressive female patients with and without premenstrual exacerbation]. / Estudio longitudinal comparativo entre pacientes con y sin exacerbación premenstrual de la depresión.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there are any differences in the clinical features of depression, personality and the G factor among women with and without premenstrual exacerbation (PE) of depression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety-nine outpatients diagnosed with major depression (DSM-IV) were interviewed twice. At baseline, the patients were not taking medication. The 74 patients who achieved remission (Hamilton rating scale for depression ≤7) after 16 weeks were evaluated again through the 16-personality factor (16-PF) questionnaire (5(th) edition) and the D48 (or Dominos) test. RESULTS: No differences in clinical characteristics or prognosis were found between the two groups of women, except for the greater presence of seasonal features among women with PE. Women with PE also scored higher for self-control on the 16-PF and scored lower on the D48 (Domino) test. The logistic analysis showed that higher self-control scores increased the risk for PE in 51.3% of the sample, while higher scores on the D48 test decreased the risk in 8.6%. CONCLUSIONS: There were no differences between the two groups in the clinical features or prognosis of depression, except for the higher rates of seasonal features in the PE group. In contrast, differences were found in personality traits and the D48 between the two groups.

Creencias vinculadas al uso del preservativo masculino en adolescentes españoles sexualmente activos / Beliefs linked to the usage of male condom in sexually active spanish teenagers

El objeto de este trabajo es identificar qué creencias sobre el preservativo masculino influyen en su uso. Participan en esta investigación 315 adolescentes activos sexualmente (55.6 por ciento de los hombres y 44,6 porciento de mujeres) con una media de edad de 18 a 27 años