Clinical studies demonstrated the efficacy of rTMS treatment in major depressive disorder. However, the results of meta-analyses are contradictory due to the heterogeneity of the included studies.

The aim was to analyse the effectiveness of rTMS for treatment-resistant major depression.

A systematic literature review of English-language articles published in the last 10 years was performed on PubMed and Scopus databases according to PRISMA guideline principles. To assess the effects of rTMS on response and remission rates, random-effects model and inverse variance method were used.

23 randomized double-blind sham-controlled studies met the inclusion criteria for quantitative analysis for response (n= 1020 patients) and 12 studies for remission (n= 846 patients). The relative risk for response and remission were 2.19 (95% CI: 1.68-2,86, p=0.000 n=912) and 2.65 (95% CI: 1.32-5,31, p=0.002, n=603), respectively using rTMS as add on treatment (in patients after two antidepressant treatment failures) compared to standard pharmacotherapy. I2analysis showed no considerable heterogeneity in the combined effect sizes neither for remission studies (I2=23.36%) nor for response studies (I2=0.00%).

Transcranial magnetic stimulation became an evidence-based, effective treatment for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, either as a monotherapy or as an augmentation of pharmacotherapy. However, because of the lack of standardized protocol, a substantial methodological heterogeneity exists. According to our results, rTMS was significantly more effective than sham rTMS in both response and remission outcomes, which is consistent with previous meta-analyses, but the effect size was a bit smaller than what was reported previously.

No significant relationships.

Depression in the elderly is common and closely interrelated with the deterioration of the quality of life, especially in the institutionalized elderly.

In this work, we propose to determine the prevalence of depression in the elderly in institution, to assess their quality of life and to evaluate the correlations between depression and the quality of life.

Our study concerned 30 elderly subjects institutionalized at the retirement home(Sousse, Tunisia). Three validated Arabic version scales were used: The 30-item GDS (Geriatric Depression Scale), the MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination) and the SF36 (assessing the quality of life).

The mean age of our population was 75±7.3 years, the sex ratio was 1.73. The prevalence of depression was 37%. The elderly had a cognitive impairment in 16.7%. The mean global SF36 score were 11.2, attesting an altered quality of life in all our subjects: the mental component (9.43) were more altered than the physical one (13.03). No correlation between depression and quality of life was found. Depression was significantly correlated with the presence of a medical history (p=0.05). Depression had a negative and statistically significant correlation with the physical score of SF36 (r=-0.41, p=0.02) and tended towards significance for the “general health” dimension of SF36 (r=-0.32, p=0.08).

Our study shows a high frequency of depression in the institutionalized elderly as well as a deterioration in their quality of life. Depression is strongly linked to deterioration in physical condition.Our results underline the influence of somatic diseases as a major risk factor for depression in the elderly.

No significant relationships.

Depression is characterized by a pattern of specific changes in the network organization of brain functioning.

We researched a graph structure specificity in a depressive student sample by analyzing resting-state EEG. All possible combinations of graph metrics, frequency bands, and sensors/sources levels of networks were examined.

We recorded resting-state EEG in fourteen participants with high Beck Depression Inventory score (24.4 ± 9.7; 20.4 ± 1.5 y.o.; 14 females; 1 left-handed) and fourteen participants with a low score (6.8 ± 3.7; 21.3 ± 2.0 y.o.; 8 females; 1 left-handed). We applied weighted phase-lag index (wPLI) to construct functional networks at sensors and sources levels and computed characteristic path length (CPL), clustering coefficient (CC), index of modularity (Q), small-world index (SWI) in 4-8, 8-13, 13-30, and 4-30 Hz frequency bands. We used Mann-Whitney U-test (p < 0.05) to investigate between-group differences in the graph metrics.

The depressive sample was characterized by increased CC and Q in the 4-30 Hz band networks and decreased CPL in the beta-band network (sensors-level for CPL and CC, and sources-level for Q).

Elevated CC and Q may relate to an increase of intramodular connectivity, and CPL reduction reflects the global connectivity increasing. We hypothesize that intramodular hyperconnectivity could explain the rise of global functional connectivity in participants with depressive symptoms. Funding: This research has been supported by the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Lomonosov Moscow State University ‘Brain, Cognitive Systems, Artificial Intelligence’.

No significant relationships.

Nowadays, relapses are typical in patients with schizophrenia and may have serious implications due to most of them are caused by a lack of adherence to treatment.Therefore, numerous long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI) have been developed as aripiprazole depot who need a proper oral supplementation. Since November 2020, FDA approved a new treatment indication with a double injection start and a single dose of 20mg of oral aripiprazole, with the aim of avoiding oral supplementation during the next 14 days.

The purpose of our study is to expose our experience with the new double injection start with aripiprazole LAI, regarding the rehospitalization rate.

A prospective study (n=17 patients) has been developed between November 2020 and October 2021 with the purpose of studying the rehospitalization and antipsychotic adherence after the new guideline of aripiprazole

After an 11-month-follow-up, it is noticed a 65% non-rehospitalization rate and a 76% proper treatment persistence rate. The 94% did not present any kind of side effects, only one patient had a case report of bullous pemphigoid. Regarding the concomitant use of other antipsychotics, 82% of the patients remained in monotherapia. The average stay time was shortened (11 days) regarding the standard dose (14 days).

The new LAI regimen is well tolerated in our patients obtaining a high treatment persistence after several months of hospital discharge. It was already possible to shorten the time of rehospitalization, not having to add oral aripiprazole for 14 days. Most patients were discharged are on antipsychotic monotherapy and have not been rehospitalized in the short term.

No significant relationships.

Despite the large amount of research concerning the impact of COVID-19 on health care workers, to date few targeted MHWs. Moreover, none has investigated the vulnerability due to exposure to previous traumatic events among health care workers.

This study aimed to investigate the psychological distress in MHWs after the first lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the more impacted regions of the North of Italy, to understand which COVID-19, sociodemographic and professional variables as well as previous stressful life experiences, could have had greater negative effects.

The online survey occurred from 28-June to 10-August 2020. This included questions regarding sociodemographic factors, professional information, COVID-19 exposure. Moreover, three validated self-report questionnaires were administered: Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21).

271 MHWs completed the survey. At least 20% had elevated levels of psychological distress with post-traumatic symptoms. Stratifying for professional roles, the nurses resulted the most affected, with significantly higher scores in terms of intrusive thoughts, hyperarousal and avoidance behaviors. Several variables affected psychological distress in MHWs, but stronger effects were done by age, professional roles, increased workload and worst working environment during COVID-19 pandemic, to had experienced the separation of family members, but also had experienced during their life of a severe human suffering (physical and/or psychological) on oneself or on a loved one.

Our data underlying the importance of recent but also previous severe stressful events as risk factors to develop post-traumatic symptoms reducing the resilience of the subjects investigated.

No significant relationships.

the recent covid19 pandemic is not devoid of psychological risks on paramedical staff. Among them, those who work in the operating theaters are exposed to such risks.

to determine the perceived stress level and the psychological impact of COVID-19 on paramedics in the operating room.

This is an observational, descriptive and analytical study carried out in the operating rooms of Sahloul University Hospital during a 3 month period. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire composed of 5 main parts (socio-demographic characteristics, occupational characteristics, exposure to COVID-19, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Hospital Anxiety and depression scale (HADS)).

96 paramedical staff participated in our study. The average perceived stress score was significantly higher among anesthetists. 48% of participants had anxiety. Anesthetists had significantly higher anxiety scores (p = 0.001). 26.1% of participants had definite depression. Of those with definite depression, 35.3% were anesthetists (p = 0.028). Factors significantly associated with the occurrence of anxiety were: psychiatric history, increased workload, contact with a positive coronavirus patient in the operating room, and severe perceived stress. However, the factors significantly associated with the occurrence of depression were: initial training in the management of covid-19 patients, personal infection with SARS-COV2 and severe perceived stress.

Covid-19 pandemic is causing significant symptoms of anxiety and depression among operation room staff. Primary and secondary prevention strategies must then be undertaken.

No significant relationships.

Psychotropic medications are frequently co-prescribed with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Hepatic metabolism both of AP and ART involves the cytochrome P450 enzyme system, potentially leading to a multitude of pharmacokinetic (PK) interactions and serious adverse side effects. The magnitude and clinical impact of PK-interactions can vary significantly.

The scope of this review is to summarize the currently available data regarding drug-drug interactions (DDI) between AP and ART, and to provide recommendations for their management.

A formal search of Embase, Cochrane and Medline was performed, searching for human studies from inception till 2017 on PK-interactions between AP and ART and reporting clinical toxicity as outcomes. Authors also provide their expertise on magnitude and clinical relevance of DDI using PK interaction chart.

Ten case reports including total of 13 patient were analyzed, comprising following AP: aripiprazole (N=2), risperidone (N=4), quetiapine (N=3) and lurasidone (N=1) in combination with various ART regiments. Significant PK-interactions were to occur in cases when aripiprazole was combined with ritonavir and/or cobicistat or efavirenz and/or darunavir; risperidone with indinavir of ritonavir; quetiapine with ritonavir and atazanavir/ritonavir; lurasidone with atazanavir. Adverse events occurred in combinations of aripiprazole with ritonavir/darunavir, risperidone with ritonavir or indinavir, quetiapine with atazanavir and lurasidone with atazanavir.

Psychotropics and antiretrovirals may be used safely, particularly when known DDIs are proactively managed. Clinicians should be aware of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of these agents to best direct therapy and to provide optimal patient care

No significant relationships.

Provision of holisitc, accessible and high quality mental health care to the patients requires sharing of responsibilities & resources, enhanced communication & collaboration at the interface (primary care systems and secondary care mental health services). An innovative model of single point of care for people with severe and enduring mental health problems hosted at a primary care (GP) setting has been developed and evaluated in Walsall, UK.

To develop and evaluate an integrated (multidisciplinary) approach of managing health & social care needs of people with severe mental health disorders.

People with severe & enduring mental health problems were reviewed in primary care (N=65). A comprehensive physical, mental and psychosocial assessments were undertaken by the clinicians that included GP, Psychiatrist and Care-Coordinator.The reviews included: 1) A review of physical health indicators based on the Lester toolkit by practice pharmacist/nurse, including lifestyle, body weight, BMI and blood pressure. 2) Individualised interventions included physical / psychiatric prescribing, social prescribing and advise on lifestyle changes. Stable patients were recommended for stepping down from the secondary care. Outcomes included Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ).

Satisfaction on the PSQ was rated from very good to excellent. Results highlighted multiple benefits including trust generation, improved communication among professionals, physical health screening and prompt clinical decision making (e.g. referral / prescribing). Other benefits included patient access & satisfaction, time and cost efficiency by reducing the number of reviews.

The integtrated CPA reviews offers efficient, holisitc & cost effective model of care with high satisfaction levels for patients and is replicable.

No significant relationships.

Schizophrenia is characterized by impairments in motivation and coping and decrements in psychosocial functioning in major life areas.

This study attempted to examine the links between treatment motivation, coping, and psychosocial functioning for persons with schizophrenia. Design: Cross-sectional survey.

One hundred thirty-eight participants were recruited at random from outpatient psychosocial rehabilitation programs in Moscow-based psychiatric hospitals. The measures of motivation were administered by testers blind to scores on other study variables; measures of coping (COPE, CERQ) and psychosocial functioning (PSP, EQ5D5L, SF36, Q-Les-Q-18) were administered. Data were analyzed using latent construct modeling to test for mediator and moderator effects.

There were strong bivariate relationships between coping, motivation, and psychosocial functioning. The results demonstrated that coping strongly mediated the relationship between motivation and psychosocial functioning. This mediation was evidenced by: 1) the direct path from motivation to a functional outcome no longer being statistically significant after introducing coping into the model; 2) the statistical significance of the indirect path from motivation through coping to functional outcome. There was no support for the moderation hypotheses.

Motivation influences psychosocial functioning through its relationship with coping, and coping is a critical mechanism for explaining the relationship between motivation and psychosocial functioning. These results will be compared with work on motivation, neurocognition, and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia (Nakagami et al. 2008), as well as with gender issues. Professionals working with schizophrenia patients should consider such variables as coping when designing and implementing gender-sensitive intervention programs.

No significant relationships.

16-year-old female who starts psychiatric follow-up due to episodes of anxiety crises with dizziness and tremors.

To expose a case in which it is essential to rule out organic pathology in cases where there is anxiety and physical symptoms.

Case report and literature review

The patient explains that she was in a situation of conflict with her ex-partner, commenting that he did not accept the breakup. Sertraline was prescribed in ascending doses up to 100 mg per day with complete remission of anxiety. 8 months later, she went to the emergency room for loss of consciousness and tremor of the lower limbs. She was diagnosed with conversive disorder and was prescribed lorazepam up to 3 mg per day. Since then, there has been a worsening in the frequency of syncope occurring up to 10 times a day, limiting her academic and social life. She was evaluated by a cardiologist who diagnosed Pots Syndrome (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and started treatment with ivabradine and mineralocorticoids. With this treatment, the episodes were drastically reduced and spaced out to 1-2 per week. The dose of lorazepam is decreased until its withdrawal without worsening of the anxious symptomatology.

This disorder consists of an involvement of the autonomic nervous system in which there is a sudden drop in blood pressure together with an abrupt increase in heart rate. Its treatment is based on increasing blood volume with drugs such as corticosteroids as well as postural measures with adequate water intake.

No significant relationships.

COVID-19-related stigma has been raised as a crisis since the beginning of the pandemic. We intended to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure COVID-19-related stigma, attributed by the non-infected general population, and applied it in Tehran from September to October 2020.

This study measures the COVID-19-related stigma attributed by the non-infected general population using a valid and reliable questionnaire specific to COVID-19-related stigma.

A preliminary questionnaire with 18 items was developed. The score ranged from 18 to 54 while the higher score indicating a higher level of COVID-19-related stigma. Out of 1064 randomly recruited Tehran citizens without a history of COVID-19 infection, 630 participants, who completely responded to the questions on a phone call, entered the study.

The content validity was established with a scale content validity index of 0.90. Item CVI and Item content validity ratio were higher than 0.78 for all items. Internal consistency was confirmed with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.625. Exploratory factor analysis revealed seven latent variables, including “blaming and penalty-seeking behavior”, “social discrimination”, “dishonor label”, “interpersonal contact”, “spreading rumors and myths”, “overvalued idea”, and “apathy toward the patients”. The mean (SD) of the score was 25.1(4.71) in our study. 86.8% of participants reported a low level of stigma with a score below 31. 13.2% of them demonstrated a moderate level of stigma, and none of the participants showed a high level of stigma.

we found a low level of stigmatizing thoughts and behavior in Tehran, which may be due to social desirability bias.

No significant relationships.

A 21-year-old woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder was hospitalized in the Mental Health Day Hospital of Salamanca during the Covid pandemic. The patient engaged with 4 different jobs and a master’s degree, beginning with verbose speech, dysphoria, global insomnia, grandiose delusions, extremely high energy and thinking she has the vaccine. She works the following objectives:illness insight, risk factors, psychopathological stabilization, social skills, slowing down of activities and taking responsibilities.

The objective is do a follow-up of the patient during her hospitalization in the Mental Health Day Hospital and to carry out a structured search in PubMed and Up-to-Date about psychotherapy and bipolar disorder.

3-month follow-up of a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her hospitalization in the Mental Health Day Hospital in Salamanca and a structured search in PubMed and Up-to-Date in April 2021 in English, French and Spanish, including the last 10 years with the keywords “psychotherapy”, “psychotherapies” and “bipolar disorder “.77 studies were analyzed: 12 included, 65 excluded.

Several randomized trials highlight the efficacy of group psychoeducation and cognitive-behavioural therapy in relapse prevention, improving illness insight, medical adherence and less hospitalizations. Therapeutic alliance plays a significant role in the process. Our patient improved her knowledge of her illness and treatment, her social skills and reconnected with her relatives and slowed down her activity. She then was referred to her community mental heath center psychiatrist.

The insight in bipolar disorder plays an important role in medical adherence and prevention of relapses. Therapeutic alliance improves their insight, their functionality in their daily life and enables close monitoring. Medical treatment should be accompanied by psychotherapy for a complete approach of the treatment.

No significant relationships.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating behavior disorder that is often related to various personality factors. The relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder and eating Disorders has been highlighted.

To present a clinical case of a patient with eating disorder and gastric bezoar, secondary to compulsive hair ingestion.

Bibliographic review of articles published in relation to the comorbidity of these disorders, based on articles published in the last 5 years in Pubmed.

26-year-old female. Diagnosis of restrictive anorexia nervosa. She was admitted to the hospital on two occasions for nutritional disorders. In the last admission, she reported greater anxiety and significant weight loss. She reports that she has limited her food intake, but she does feel thin and is unable to eat for fear of gaining weight. Ruminative thoughts about her body image. During admission, the patient expressed a sensation of fullness, nausea and vomiting, later observing in abdominal X-ray and gastroscopy, the presence of a gastric trichobezoar, which was finally resolved conservatively.

Trichotillomania is observerd in 1 in 2000 people, trichophagia is even less frequent. According to DSM- V, these disorders are grouped within obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. A Trichobezoar is a conglomerate that can be found in the stomach or intestine, composed mainly of hair, previously ingested. Trichotillomania can be associated with anorexia nervosa, especially in patients with obsessive personality traits, which occurs frequently. The gastric slowing that patients with anorexia often present is a factor that favors the formation of the bezoar

No significant relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent recession, have caused a decline in the job market, with the resultant job insecurity increasing the risk of depression. While this affected all genders, suicidal thoughts were observed to be more common among women than men, suggesting that the impact of unemployment on depression varies by gender, with gender differences affecting the outcome of depression.

This study aims to verify the moderating effect of gender on the structural relationship between unemployment, depression, and suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic by using online search trend data.

The study utilized the search trend data from Naver’s Data Lab service, by analyzing the searches of men and women under 65, between March, 2020 and September 12, 2021. The search terms were “unemployment,” “depression,” and “suicide.” The analysis examined 1121 searches using the Model 7 research model through the SPSS Process Macro to verify the moderating effect of gender on the mediating pathways for unemployment, depression, and suicide.

We observed that searches for “unemployment” significantly increased with searches for “depression” (B=1.860, p<.001) and “suicide” (B=.860, p<.001). The analysis further revealed that the correlation between the increase in searches relating to depression and unemployment was seen more in women than men. This resulted in an accompanying increase in the volume of searches for suicide (B=2.341, p<.001).

The job insecurity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to varying degrees of depression according to gender. Thus, social security measures related to unemployment, depression, and suicide interventions require a gender-specific approach.

No significant relationships.

SARS-Co-V2 neuroinvasive ability might be the basis for the onset of delirium and neuropsychiatric outcomes.

We hypothesized that some infected patients with preexisting cognitive dysfunction may present delirium as unique manifestation of COVID-19 infection or as a prodrome of a new episode consistent with the psychiatric history.

We conducted a PubMed literature search to verify whether cognitive impairment might predispose to COVID-19. We included three patients with mild cognitive impairment and delirium at admission for SARS-Co-V2 suspected infection. Delirium was diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria‚ Cognitive Assessment Method and Coma Glasgow Scale.

Literature analysis evidenced patients presenting delirium or delirium-like symptoms as clinical manifestation of COVID-19, plus a cognitive impairment‚ from mild to severe‚ which preexisted or was evidenced during the acute phase or after the infection. Most studies described delirium in patients with a past neurological/psychiatric history. Contrasting data emerged on the potential link between COVID-19 and delirium in patients with cognitive impairment and without a past neuropsychiatric history. Our patients had no history of other medical complications. Our first patient had no psychiatric history‚ the second reported only a depressive episode‚ and the third had story of bipolar disorder. Delirium resolved completely after 2 days in the first patient. The other patients required 4 and 14 days to resolve: delirium appeared as the prodrome of a new psychiatric episode in line with their past history.

Clinicians should acknowledge the possibility that COVID-19 infection may appear as delirium and acute psychiatric sequelae as unique manifestation.

No significant relationships.

Facing educational difficulties related to COVID-19, some teachers can no longer adapt, making them potential candidates for burnout.

We aimed to assess burnout among high school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine its prevalence and factors associated with it.

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, carried out on google drive in May 2021, and relating to 97 Tunisian junior and secondary school teachers from the Sfax region. Burnout was evaluated by the Burnout Measure Short version (BMS-10).

The sex-ratio (M/F) of our population was 0.32 and the average age was 44.23 ± 7.81 years old. The labor load was low, medium and high in respectively 1.4%, 57.6% and 41% of cases. Almost a third of participants (30.6%) reported a low satisfaction with working conditions. The average BMS score was 40.19 ± 13.98. According to the BMS scores, 36.1% of teachers had a very low to a low degree of burnout, 23.6% had burnout while 40.3% had a high to very high degree of exposure to burnout. Furthermore, the BMS score was associated with the female gender (p=0.002), sleep disturbances (p<0.001), suicidal thoughts (p<0.001) and with a medium to a high labor load (p=0.045).

In this study, Tunisian high school teachers in times of COVID-19 reported a high burnout rate. Thus, the protection of this vulnerable population must be an important component of public health measures.

No significant relationships.

The article is devoted to the study of adaptation to the covid-19 pandemic conditions in Russian men and women in the first part of 2020. Respondents assessed the degree of potential danger of various types of social threats caused by the pandemic, as well as the level of their adaptation to changed living conditions during the first lockdown.

The purpose of this study was to identify key differences in adaptation to pandemic conditions in groups of men and women.

The author’s methodology was developed to assess the level of adaptation to COVID-19. The questionnaire included 6 scales on different aspects of life during the lockdown (for example, physical and emotional state, communication, employment during the pandemic, etc.). The sample was N = 80 (residents of Russia age 18-37).

Men significantly higher estimated the potential danger of an epidemic threat to themselves than women. The level of adaptation to conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also differed in two gender groups according to t-test on the scale “Employment in a pandemic”: men were better adapted to work or study in conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic than women.

This can be interpreted from the point of view of the stereotype existing in Russian culture which postulates the performance of household duties and child care is more perceived as a woman’s responsibility. The adaptation of women to remote work during the lockdown was forced to be combined with an increased workload in the family and household sphere.

No significant relationships.

There are two common hypotheses to explain such high comorbidity between nicotine dependence and schizophrenia (SZ): self-medication for decreasing psychiatric symptoms or common environmental risk factors can predispose to both nicotine dependence and other risky behaviors in SZ

Little is known about the influence of cigarette smoking comorbidities such substance use disorder (SUD), criminal history, or risky decision among patients with SZ.

The Iowa Gambling test (IGT) was administered to thirty-nine patients with SZ of whom 69% reporting cigarette smoking. Both groups were evaluated using a socio-demographic questionnaire and clinical assessment using PANSS and self-report questionnaire the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). To evaluate decision making was evaluated with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).

The full SZ sample performed worse on the IGT then normal population. Smokers with SZ performed significantly worse than nonsmokers on the IGT primarily because they preferred “disadvantageous” decks to a greater degree. The PANSS and impulsivity tendencies (BIS-11) did not predict overall performance on the IGT. Smokers with SZ had impaired affective decision-making. Behavior suggested preferential attention to the frequency amount of gain and inattention to amount of loss suggesting impairments in risk/reward decision-making

This study is the first to compare IGT in smokers and nonsmokers with SZ with adjustment of SUD, criminal history, and existing tattoo to further examine IGT performance. These results support the hypothesis that comorbidities between nicotine dependence and SZ can be linked to other common factor that is associated with other externalizing behaviors in SZ.

No significant relationships.

Dysphasia is widespread among children. Awareness of speech difficulties and emotional attitude toward them may influence different aspects of mental activity. The issue is important for development assessment and discussion on potential risk factors causing other mental disorders.

The aim of the study was to analyze how children with dysphasia perceive their speech defect and how it influences their behaviour.

15 children with dysphasia aged 5 years (6 boys, 9 girls) participated in the study. The following methods were used: not included and included observation in a speech therapy group for 6 months, semi-structured interview with educators.

Observation and interviews enabled to discover two groups featuring different attitudes. 1) The first group (n=12) included children who ignored their speech difficulties. Behavioral and speech activity was confident and spontaneous. Children demonstrated difficulties in planning and regulation of activity, low level of self-criticism. In failure situations, children demonstrated egocentrism, emotional rigidity and experienced difficulties in emotional regulation during assessment. 2) The second group (n=3) experienced high anxiety in communicative situations and estrangement caused by hypersensitivity to speech difficulties. Children preferred to use nonverbal communication and reduce speech initiative due to difficulties in verbal self-expression. Emotional specifics were characterized by recurrent ambivalence in the independent activity. Structured situations, such as assessment, actualized active self-control, which sometimes led to communicative difficulties and stupor.

Results demonstrate various attitudes to speech difficulties in children with dysphasia. Behavioral, emotional and personal features are rich material for discussion on risks in mental development of children with speech disorders.

No significant relationships.

During a public health crisis, preventive measures are essential. However, to make them effective, all citizens must be engaged.

To analyse the differential role of individual and contextual variables in the adherence to public health recommendations.

1376 adults (70.5% female; mean age=35.55±14.27) completed a survey between September/2020 and May/2021 with: Adherence Scale to the Recommendations during COVID-19 (ASR-COVID19; evaluates three dimensions of adherence), Fear of Covid-19 Scale (FC19S) and Toronto and Coimbra Prosocial Behaviour Questionnaire (ProBeQ; assesses empathy and altruism).

Adherence did not differ between individuals with or without personal or family history of COVID-19 infection. ASR-COVID19 and all dimensions were positively correlated to ProBeQ’s altruism and empathy (from r=.32 to r=.54); FCV19S correlated positively to total adherence score and house sanitation (from r=.18 to r=.26; all p<.01). Linear regressions revealed that altruism and empathy (first model), as well as fear of Covid-19 (second model), were significant predictors of adherence; however, while the first model explained ≅28% of its variance, the second (FCV19S as independent variable) only explained ≅3%. Regression models performed in a subsample of participants with personal or family history of COVID-19 revealed that only empathy, but not altruism, was a significant predictor of adherence; in this subsample, fear was no longer a significant predictor of adherence, except for lockdown and use of teleservices.

Based on our results, we suggest health care providers and public health campaigns should take into consideration social solidarity and altruism, as well as previous experiences, when appealing to public’s engagement in health behaviour.

No significant relationships.