Mediterranean Diet and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Childhood and adolescence are periods of critical importance in the development of mental health disorders. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been linked to multiple positive health outcomes, including reduced incidence of mental health disorders and fewer psychiatric symptoms. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to an MD and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted of original research that explored the relationship between psychiatric symptoms or disorders and adherence to an MD. The literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, MEDES, Dialnet, and Latindex from inception to November 2022, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of studies. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies (6 cross-sectional, 4 case-control, 2 randomized clinical trials, and 1 longitudinal cohort) out of 450 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 3058 children or adolescents with a mean age range from 8.6 to 16.2 years were included. Among the reviewed studies, 5 (71.42%) of those looking at attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 4 (80%) examining depression, and 2 (50%) assessing anxiety found a significant protective association. Seven articles (53.84%) were found to be of high quality and 6 (46.15%) of moderate quality. CONCLUSION: Adherence to an MD could be a protective factor for mental health in child and adolescent populations. This suggests that promoting an MD could help prevent the onset of clinical psychiatric symptoms, reduce symptom severity, and improve prognosis in young patients. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42021276316.

Delusional beliefs in adolescents with anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or first-episode psychosis: A comparative study.

Delusional thinking is a key symptom of first-episode psychosis (FEP), but it has also been studied in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anorexia nervosa (AN). This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS) in a sample of adolescents diagnosed with a FEP, AN, or OCD, and to compare delusional thinking among the three samples. The sample comprised 60 patients in three groups of 20 diagnosed with OCD, AN, or FEP. Participants underwent assessment by diagnostic interview, the BABS scale, and a measure of depressive symptomatology. Specific instruments were also used to assess the main symptomatology of each disorder. The BABS had good internal consistency, and high validity and reliability. The OCD group scored significantly lower than the other two groups in all scale items except for items 4 (fixation of ideas), 6 (insight), and 7 (delusions of reference). A significant difference only existed between the AN and FEP groups for item 7 (delusions of reference). The BABS scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing delusionality in adolescents diagnosed with OCD, AN, or FEP, with evidence of marked differences between the disorders. Assessing these symptoms could influence management, helping to improve treatment adherence and prognosis.

Effectiveness of enhancing cognitive reserve in children, adolescents and young adults at genetic risk for psychosis: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Offspring of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (Off-BDSZ) have a high genetic risk of developing a mental illness. The aim of this project is to develop and investigate the efficacy of an intervention aimed at this population, based on the concept of cognitive reserve. METHODS: This is a multicenter randomized trial with an experimental test-retest design study with control group. Two groups will be included: a community comparison group (CC) and a Off-BDSZ group. A total of 108 Off-BDSZ and 65 CC aged between 6 and 25 years will be recruited. Off-BDSZ participants will be randomized to receive either Cognitive Reserve EnhAncement ThErapy (CREATE) (n=54), or a supportive approach (n=54). The CC group will be assessed at baseline. The duration of the intervention will be 3 months, with 12 weekly group sessions. The primary outcome will be the improvement in CR measured according to change in the Cognitive Reserve Assessment Scale in Health (CRASH) and Cognitive Reserve scale for Adolescents (CORE-A). All participants will be blindly evaluated using clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging measures at baseline, at three months (after the psychological intervention), and at twelve-month follow-up after treatment completion. DISCUSSION: The results will provide insight into whether the CREATE-Offspring version may enhance cognitive reserve (CR) in child, adolescent and young adult Off-BDSZ as well as advance knowledge about changes in clinical manifestations, neuropsychological performance and brain structure and function associated with improving CR. This novel and cost-effective intervention represents an advance in the framework of preventive interventions in mental health. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03722082. Registered on 26 October 2018.

Cognitive reserve and its correlates in child and adolescent offspring of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

AIM: To analyze cognitive reserve (CR) in child and adolescent offspring of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (SZ-off) or bipolar disorder (BD-off) and compare them with a group of community controls (CC-off). We also aimed to investigate whether there was an association between CR and clinical and neuropsychological variables according to group. METHODS: The study included 46 SZ-off, 105 BD-off and 102 CC-off. All participants completed assessments regarding CR and clinical, neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning. CR was measured with a proxy based on premorbid intelligence, parental occupational level, educational attainment, developmental milestones and sociability. The clinical assessment included the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime, the Semi-structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, and the Global Assessment Functioning scale. The neuropsychological assessment included measures of executive functioning, attention, verbal memory, working memory and processing speed. RESULTS: SZ-off showed a lower level of CR compared to BD-off and CC-off, while BD-off showed an intermediate level of CR between SZ-off and CC-off. Moreover, an association between higher CR and less lifetime psychopathology, fewer prodromal psychotic symptoms, higher psychosocial functioning, and a higher working memory score was observed in all groups, but it was stronger in SZ-off. CONCLUSIONS: CR seemed to be associated with psychopathology, clinical symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and some cognitive functions. SZ-off appeared to benefit more from a higher CR, therefore it could be considered a protective factor against the development of clinical symptomatology and cognitive impairment.

Cognitive reserve in patients with first-episode psychosis as outcome predictor at 5-year follow-up.

Cognitive reserve (CR) is the premorbid brain capacity to cope with neural damage. People with good CR can tolerate higher levels of pathological brain injuries before displaying clinical symptoms than others. This study aimed to analyze CR in a sample of patients diagnosed with first-episode psychosis (FEP) during childhood or adolescence, comparing them to a community control group (CC) and assessing the predictive value of CR regarding psychosocial functioning, clinical symptoms and neuropsychological variables at the 5-year follow-up. 57 patients diagnosed with FEP during childhood or adolescence and 37 controls completed clinical, neuropsychological, and psychosocial functioning assessments at baseline and 5-year follow-up. CR was assessed in both groups at baseline. The FEP group showed lower CR scores than the CC group. Higher CR in the FEP group was associated with fewer psychotic negative symptoms, total psychotic symptoms and depressive symptoms, higher psychosocial functioning, and less impaired memory and attention at the 5-year follow-up. CR is associated with long-term clinical, neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning outcomes in patients diagnosed with FEP during childhood or adolescence.