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Biomedical subjects

B Lerer

Publications and source records attributed to B Lerer.

221 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychological variables as predictors of rubella antibody titers and fatigue--a prospective, double blind study.

When exposed to infectious pathogens, human beings manifest variability in the incidence and severity of infection. This variability may partly depend on psychological variables, which have long been thought to contribute to the predisposition, onset, and course of various physical illnesses, including infectious diseases. The objective of the study was to investigate the predictive value of several personality and other psychological variables on antibody titers and fatigue following a specific viral infection. Subjects were divided into a seronegative group (not immune prior to vaccination) (N = 60) and a seropositive group (immune prior to vaccination) (N = 180), based on antibody titers to rubella before and 10.5 weeks after vaccination with live-attenuated rubella virus. Questionnaires assessing externalizing, internalizing, self-esteem, neuroticism, and fatigue-related symptoms were administered to the subjects before vaccination. Fatigue-related symptoms were re-evaluated 10 weeks post vaccination. In the seronegative group, low titers of rubella antibodies, 10.5 post-vaccination, were predicted by high internalizing or neuroticism scores, and by low self-esteem, measured at baseline. Higher externalizing scores indirectly predicted lower titers of antibodies, via fatigue-related symptoms, measured 10 weeks post vaccination. In contrast, in the seropositive group no association was found between any of the psychological variables and antibody titers. Personality and other psychological variables can predict antibody titers to rubella vaccination, in infected individuals. The associations between the psychological variables and antibody titers are complex, and involve both direct and indirect associations. Specific psychological variables can also be used to predict levels of post-vaccination fatigue.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of parental death versus separation from parents on the mental health of Israeli adolescents.

Early research suggested that the loss of a parent during childhood can lead to depression and other psychopathology in children and adults. More recent research has differentiated between loss due to death and separation from parents and has questioned the link between early parental death and psychopathology. We examined the hypothesis that separation from parents has a more detrimental effect than the death of a parent on the mental health of adolescents in the community. Israeli adolescents (N = 844) with a mean age of 16.7 +/- 1.0 years (mean +/- SD) participated in this study. Seventy reported that a parent did not live at home during one of three 5-year periods until they reached the age of 15; 37 reported the death of a parent and 777 were from intact families. All participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), General Well Being Schedule (GWB), Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), and Perceived Social Support Family/ Friends Scales (PSS-Fam and PSS-Fr). Adolescents who had experienced separation from parents had more psychiatric symptoms (BSI), expressed a lower sense of well-being (GWB), experienced less support from their family (PSS-Fam), and felt less cared for and more controlled by their parents (PBI) compared with those belonging to intact families. The death of a parent was not associated with significantly different scores on these variables. When we controlled for parental bonding (PBI) and perceived social support from family (PSS-Fam), the differences between the separation group and the intact family group were no longer significant. The psychological impact of separation from parents involves a greater risk for psychopathology than the death of a parent. The quality of the relationship with the parents moderates the negative impact of separation from them.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increased prevalence of negative life events in subtypes of major depressive disorder.

The prevalence of negative life events is known to be increased among patients with depression. Little data exist on the specific subtypes of depression that are related to negative life events. Our study aimed to address this issue. We compare 115 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) to 60 normal controls. MDD patients reported experiencing one (P = .0001) or two (P = .01) negative life events more frequently than controls. Patients reported marital, other personal problems, and medical events significantly more often than controls (P < .01). Patients did not report more positive life events, and did not attribute greater severity to their adversities than controls. Younger MDD patients experienced four (P = .01) negative life events significantly more often than older patients. Similarly, patients with mild-moderate depression, nonmelancholic depression, or first episode of depression (FDE), respectively, experienced three or four life events significantly more often than patients with severe, melancholic, or recurrent depression (RDE). Other patient and illness characteristics such as gender, early parental loss, family history of depression or other mental disorders, psychotic features, suicide attempts, and chronicity were not related to increased prevalence of negative life events. Our results support the hypothesis that a subset of patients with MDD is especially prone to suffer from a cluster of negative life events. This subgroup is at increased risk for relapse and poor prognosis. The implications of these results for further research and for treatment are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evidence for an association between the dopamine D3 receptor gene DRD3 and schizophrenia.

Association of the dopamine D3 receptor gene (DRD3) and schizophrenia was examined in unrelated Israeli and Italian schizophrenic patients and ethnically matched normal control subjects. In the combined sample, there was a significant excess of DRD3 allele 2 among the schizophrenic patients (chi2 = 4.70, d.f. 1, p = 0.03). Comparison of genotype frequencies revealed an excess of the 2-2 genotype in the combined schizophrenic sample (chi2 = 8.30, d.f. 1, p = 0.01) and in the non-Ashkenazi Israeli schizophrenics alone (chi2 = 5.70, d.f. 2, p = 0.05). DRD3 2-2 genotype conferred a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia (chi2 = 8.21, d.f. 1, p = 0.004; OR = 2.87, CI 95% = 1.36-5.76) in the combined sample and in the non-Ashkenazi Israeli schizophrenics (chi2 = 7.22, d.f. 1, p = 0.04; OR = 7.22, CI 95% = 1.04-24.83). In the combined and Italian samples, allele 2 was associated with early age of onset as was the 2-2 genotype in the combined sample and non-Ashkenazi group. The 2-2 genotype was associated with poor response to neuroleptics, particularly in the non-Ashkenazi, Israeli schizophrenics. The possibility that DRD3 or a locus in linkage disequilibrium with it may play a role in the transmission of schizophrenia, is considered in relation to previous positive and negative reports.

Adult↗