Welsh Kearns (squashbee1)

College freshmen are at high risk for mental and socioemotional problems after entering a new environment. However, few investigators have evaluated the associations between empathy and depressive symptoms among college freshmen. The present study examined the presence and associations of affective and cognitive empathy with depressive symptoms among college freshmen in China. In total, 4297 college freshmen completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as an assessment of empathy and the University Personality Inventory to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The empathy scores of females were higher than that of males, and approximately 18.4% of freshmen had high-depressive symptoms (HDS). Freshmen with a higher positive component of affective empathy (empathic concern (EC)) experienced fewer HDS. In contrast, freshmen with a higher negative component of affective empathy (personal distress (PD)) and lower cognitive empathy (perspective taking (PT)) experienced more HDS. EC was negatively asese findings call for the necessity of considering the characteristics of affective and cognitive empathy as a crucial concern in the prevention of depressive symptoms. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a severe psychiatric disorder whose pathological mechanisms are largely unknown. Selleckchem JBJ-09-063 In the field of immuno-psychiatry, several evidences suggested a prominent role of inflammation in MDD not only in peripheral immune system but also in the brain. To date, brain inflammation is traceable in vivo with Positron Emission Tomography (PET), through the quantification of the expression of 18-kda Translocator Protein (TSPO) by active microglia. In this context, this review aimed to summarize the results of all in vivo PET imaging studies that evaluated microglia activation in MDD. A bibliographic search in PubMed up to June 2020 was performed. A total of 9 studies that used first and second generation TSPO radiotracers met our inclusion criteria. Overall the results suggested the presence of TSPO upregulation in MDD, especially in anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, hippocampal formation and insula. Notably, from a therapeutic point of view, results suggested that the symptoms amelioration, caused by both antidepressant medication and cognitive behavioural therapy, may be accompanied by reduced inflammatory status in the brain. Finally, a positive effect of the anti-inflammatory treatment with a cyclooxygenase inhibitor has also been observed. The heterogeneity across the studies in experimental designs, sample selection and methods limited the studies comparison. These findings supported the presence of neuroinflammation in MDD, suggesting that microgliosis may be an important pathophysiological mechanism that merits further investigation as a potential target for novel treatment strategies. These findings supported the presence of neuroinflammation in MDD, suggesting that microgliosis may be an important pathophysiological mechanism that merits further investigation as a potential target for novel treatment strategies. We aimed to examine the occurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a population-based youth sample, assessing both categorical and dimensional presentations of the disorder and its clinical and sociodemographic correlates. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the latest assessment of the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort (n=3,780), a population-based study from Brazil that followed individuals up to age 22 years. We estimated point-prevalence for categorical diagnosis of MDD and comorbid diagnoses using DSM criteria in a structured interview by trained psychologists. Dimensional symptomatology was assessed with the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale-Revised (CES-D-R). Point-prevalence of a current unipolar major depressive e