Browsing by Author "Varo, Cristina"
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Publication Emotional intelligence: a comparison between patients after first episode mania and those suffering from chronic bipolar disorder type I(2023) Varo, Cristina; Amoretti, Silvia; Sparacino, Giulio; Jiménez, Esther; Solé, Brisa; Bonnin, Caterina Del Mar; Montejo, Laura; Serra, Maria; Torrent, Carla; Salagre, Estela; Benabarre, Antoni; Salgado-Pineda, Pilar; Montoro Salvatierra, Irene; Sáiz, Pilar A.; García-Portilla, María Paz; Sánchez-Gistau, Vanessa; Pomarol-Clotet, Edith; Ramos-Quiroga, Josep Antoni; Pacchiarotti, Isabella; García-Rizo, Clemente; Undurraga, Juan; Reinares, María; Martinez-Aran, Anabel; Vieta, Eduard; Verdolini, NormaBackground Deficits in emotional intelligence (EI) were detected in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), but little is known about whether these deficits are already present in patients after presenting a first episode mania (FEM). We sought (i) to compare EI in patients after a FEM, chronic BD and healthy controls (HC); (ii) to examine the effect exerted on EI by socio-demographic, clinical and neurocognitive variables in FEM patients. Methods The Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EIQ) was calculated with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Performance on MSCEIT was compared among the three groups using generalized linear models. In patients after a FEM, the influence of socio-demographic, clinical and neurocognitive variables on the EIQ was examined using a linear regression model. Results In total, 184 subjects were included (FEM n = 48, euthymic chronic BD type I n = 75, HC n = 61). BD patients performed significantly worse than HC on the EIQ [mean difference (MD) = 10.09, standard error (S.E.) = 3.14, p = 0.004] and on the understanding emotions branch (MD = 7.46, S.E. = 2.53, p = 0.010). FEM patients did not differ from HC and BD on other measures of MSCEIT. In patients after a FEM, EIQ was positively associated with female sex (β = −0.293, p = 0.034) and verbal memory performance (β = 0.374, p = 0.008). FEM patients performed worse than HC but better than BD on few neurocognitive domains. Conclusions Patients after a FEM showed preserved EI, while patients in later stages of BD presented lower EIQ, suggesting that impairments in EI might result from the burden of disease and neurocognitive decline, associated with the chronicity of the illness.Item Psychoeducation in bipolar disorder with a SIMPLe smartphone application: feasibility, acceptability and satisfaction(Elsevier, 2016) Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego; Mateu, Ainoa; Reinares, María; Murru, Andrea; del Mar Bonnin, Caterina; Varo, Cristina; Valenti, Marc; Undurraga, Juan; Strejilevich, Sergio; Sanchez-Moreno, Jose; Vieta, Eduard; Colom, FrancescBACKGROUND: During the last fifteen years, the possibility of delivering psychoeducation programs through Internet-based platforms have been explored. Studies evaluating those programs have shown good to acceptable retention rates. In this context, we developed a smartphone application (SIMPLe) collecting information about mood symptoms and offering personalized psychoeducation messages. The main aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and satisfaction of the smartphone application. METHODS: The study was conducted from March to August 2015. Participation in the study was proposed to a consecutive sample of adult patients attending an outpatient mental health clinic. Sociodemographic data, clinical and functional assessments alongside smartphone ownership and uses were collected at baseline and at 3 months' follow-up. A 5 item Likert-scale satisfaction questionnaire was also employed. RESULTS: 51 participants were initially enrolled in the study, 36 (74%) remained actively using the application after 3 months. The whole sample interacted with the application a mean of 77 days (SD=26.2). During these days they completed 88% of the daily tests. Over 86% of the participants agreed that the experience using the application was satisfactory. LIMITATIONS: The diversity of smartphones operating systems led to a moderate, although representative, sample number. Additionally, the subjective data reporting, narrow time frame of use and stability of the patients could have affected the results. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that this particular intervention is feasible and represent a satisfactory and acceptable instrument for the self-management of bipolar disorder as an add-on to the usual treatment but future clinical trials must still probe its efficacy.Publication Shaped before birth: Obstetric complications identify a more severe clinical phenotype among patients presenting a first affective or non-affective episode of psychosis(2022) Sagué, Maria; Amoretti, Silvia; Garriga, Marina; Mezquida, Gisela; Williams, Evelyn; Serra, Maria; Forte, Maria; Varo, Cristina; Montejo, Laura; Palacios, Roberto; Madero, Santiago; Sparacino, Giulio; Anmella, Gerard; Fico, Giovanna; Giménez, Anna; Pons, Maria; Salgado, Pilar; Montoro, Irene; Sánchez, Vanessa; Pomarol, Edith; Ramos, Josep; Undurraga, Juan; Reinares, María; Martínez, Anabel; Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Valli, Isabel; Bernardo, Miguel; García, Clemente; Vieta, Eduard; Verdolini, NormaObstetric complications (OCs) may contribute to the heterogeneity that characterizes psychiatric illness, particularly the phenotypic presentation of first episode psychoses (FEP). Our aim was to examine the relationship between OCs and socio-demographic, clinical, functioning and neuropsychological characteristics in affective and non-affective FEP. We performed a cross-sectional,study where we recruited participants with FEP between 2011 and 2021, and retrospectively assessed OCs using the Lewis-Murray scale. OCs were used as a dichotomous variable and further stratified into three subtypes: complications of pregnancy, abnormal fetal growth and development, and difficulties in delivery. We performed a logistic stepwise forward regression analysis to examine variables associated with the presence of OCs. Of the 104 participants (67 affective FEP and 37 non-affective FEP), 31.7% (n = 33) had experienced OCs. Subjects with OCs showed a more gradual emergence of prodromal symptoms as well as higher negative and total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores. In the multivariate analysis, the presence of OCs was independently associated with a younger age at first episode of any type (OR = 0.904, p = 0.003) and slower emergence of prodromal symptoms (OR = 0.274, p = 0.011). When considering specific types of OCs, those related with fetal growth were associated with worse neuropsychological performance, while OCs at delivery were related to earlier onset of illness and more severe symptoms. In conclusion, OCs signaled a specific FEP phenotype characterized by earlier and more protracted onset of illness as well as more burdensome symptoms, independently of FEP type (i.e., affective vs non-affective). These results indicate a potential target of early intervention in FEP.