Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

Cognitive biases are a hallmark of depression but there is scarce research on whether these biases can be directly modified by using specific cognitive training techniques. The aim of this study will be targeting and modifying specifically relevant attention biases in participants with subclinical depression using eye-tracking methodologies. This innovative approach has been proposed as a promising future line of intervention in Attention Bias Modification procedures (Koster & Hoorelbeke, 2015). Recent findings suggest that depression is characterized by a double attentional bias (Duque & Vazquez, 2015), More specifically, depressed individuals have difficulties both to disengage from negative materials (e.g., sad faces) and to engage with positive materials (e.g., happy faces). Thus, training procedures to change attentional biases should target these two separate components.

Suicide, suicide attempts and depression are major social problems. The present research program focuses on the relationship between electrodermal hyporeactivity, as measured by the ElectroDermal Orienting Reactivity (EDOR) Test, and suicide and suicide attempts with death intent in patients with a primary diagnosis of depression. Electrodermal hyporeactivity has in several publications from different laboratories repeatedly been shown to have a high sensitivity (up to 97%) and high raw specificity (up to 98%) for suicide. Such levels are unique in psychiatry. The relationship between suicidal propensity and hyporeactivity can be considered as strongly significant. Almost all evidence in the topic up today has been established in research settings with specific exclusion criteria for some secondary psychiatric and some somatic illnesses. However, it is important to study the relationship between electrodermal hyporeactivity and suicide in relatively unselected patients regarding secondary psychiatric diagnoses and somatic diagnoses in a natural clinical ward situation and milieu. A previous naturalistic study proved that a test of electrodermal hyporeactivity fits very well into the daily clinical work.

The Clinically Useful Depression Outcome Scale (CUDOS) is a brief, self-administered instrument that not only evaluates depressive symptoms but also both functioning and quality of life. The assessment of patients´ perspective may provide valuable information that could be lost if relaying only on clinician evaluation. The purpose of this study is to achieve a psychometric validation into Spanish of the CUDOS scale in patients with major depression disorder in a primary care setting.

Through this study, the investigators are to demonstrate the superiority of Escitalopram over placebo for the prevention of poststroke depression in patients with acute stroke The primary hypothesis of this study is; This study will prove the superiority of Escitalopram on the prevention of poststroke depression in patients with acute stroke against placebo

Qualitative study based on interviews and questionnaires with patients participating to an educational intervention to improve the management of depression in primary care. Objective is to assess feasibility and acceptability of an educational intervention to improve the management of depression in primary care To elaborate an educational program for the management of depression in primary care.

The study will only detect hypomanic symptoms in treatment resistant MDD patients by mean of HCL-32 administration. Further re-evaluation of MDD diagnosis is not a direct aim of the study. No efficacy and tolerability of pharmacological treatments will be assessed. Patients matching inclusion and exclusion criteria will be enrolled consecutively; each investigator will include the first 10 to 40 patients that will be visited as treatment resistant MDD.

The purpose of this study is to get a better understanding of the side effect burden and identify predictors of psychotic, mood and aggressive disorders in children and adolescents. The study's primary aim is to identify genetic risk factors for weight gain and metabolic abnormalities.

"The prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) is approximately 13%. PPD is associated with a higher maternal morbidity and mortality, and also with pervasive effects on the emotional, cognitive and behavioral development of the infant. Stressful life events, socio-demographic and obstetrical risk factors have been associated with the risk of PPD. Genetics risk factors of PPD have also been identified. We are presently studying for the first time how maternal stressors may interact with genetic factors to increase the risk of PPD (Gene x Environment interaction)".

The overall aim of this study is to utilize an integrative research model in order to dynamically assess reward-related dopamine (DA) transmission in major depressive disorder (MDD) and test the role of dysfunctional DA release in depression and anhedonia. The first arm of this line of research (PET scan) aims to investigate phasic DA release in MDD during incentive motivation. The investigators will utilize an established molecular imaging technique to measure striatal DA release dynamically during performance of testing and control versions of a monetary incentive delay task, which involves anticipation and receipt of monetary rewards. In doing so, this experiment will link together independent lines of research that have associated depression with decreased hedonic responsiveness, impaired reinforcement learning and dysfunctional DA transmission. We hypothesize that, relative to matched controls, unmedicated MDD subjects will show reduced reward-related ligand (11C-raclopride) displacement. Reduced ligand displacement will be interpreted as indicating reduced task-induced release of endogenous striatal DA in response to reward-predicting cues and unpredictable reward in MDD subjects. In the second arm of this research (EEG recording), the investigators aim to probe the spatio-temporal dynamics of brain mechanisms underlying positive and negative reinforcement learning in MDD and their relations to phasic DA. Participants will perform the probabilistic stimulus selection task (PSST) while event-related potentials (ERPs) are collected. The investigators expect that, relative to matched controls, unmedicated MDD subjects will show reduced positive reinforcement learning, potentiated negative reinforcement learning, and larger (i.e., more negative) feedback-related negativity (FRN) in response to positive reinforcement (indicative of reduced DA transmission). Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that a more negative FRN in response to positive reinforcement will be associated with decreased striatal raclopride displacement (i.e., lower release of endogenous DA) as measured by PET in the first part of the study. This experiment will investigate the effects of blunted DA transmission on behavioral and ERP markers of both positive and negative reinforcement learning.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of systematic screening for depression in high-risk patient participants in everyday clinical practice. Systematic screening for depression in high-risk patients is recommended to be included as a usual practice but its effectiveness in this context remains controversial. In this study, 35 primary care physicians (PCPs) in Spain were assigned to intervention (receive one day training in depression screening guidelines and use guidelines for six months) and 34 PCPs were assigned to a control group (manage depression in the usual way for six months). There were a total of 525 patient participants with MDD.