BackgroundAdolescence represents a critical developmental period marked by significant vulnerability to depression, a condition with heterogeneous presentations that complicate clinical management. The co-occurrence of personality dysfunction with depression is known to indicate greater severity and poorer prognosis, yet specific features of this comorbidity in adolescent clinical samples require further delineation. This study aimed to compare clinical and psychosocial correlates in depressed adolescents with and without impaired personality functioning.MethodsThe clinical sample comprised 73 adolescents (aged 12–17; 83.6% female) diagnosed with depression or reporting clinically significant depressive symptoms. Participants completed self-report measures assessing personality functioning (LoPF-Q 12–18), childhood maltreatment (CEQ), psychopathology (YSR 11-18), mentalizing capacity (RFQY-8), borderline traits (BPFS-C), and self-harm behavior. Based on LoPF-Q 12-18 T-scores, participants were categorized into two subgroups: depression without personality dysfunction (T ≤ 64; n=20) and depression with personality dysfunction (T ≥ 65; n=53).ResultsResults indicated that adolescents with co-occurring depression and personality dysfunction exhibited significantly lower functioning across all personality domains compared to those with depression alone. This subgroup also reported an earlier onset and higher frequency of self-harm, more severe suicidal ideation, elevated borderline traits, and greater impairments in mentalizing. Furthermore, they demonstrated higher levels of internalizing, affective, conduct, and PTSD symptoms, alongside greater exposure to emotional neglect.ConclusionImpaired personality functioning in depressed adolescents is associated with elevated and multifaceted patterns of symptoms, including subjective distress and risky behaviors. These findings underscore the necessity of routinely assessing personality functioning in adolescents with clinically significant depressive symptoms to enable early identification and the development of tailored, integrated interventions for this high-risk subgroup.
Waiting between war and loss: a qualitative study on the experience of ambiguous loss among Syrian refugees
IntroductionAmbiguous loss refers to individuals’ lack of knowledge about the whereabouts or fate of loved ones due to traumatic events such as war or natural disasters. It is associated with significant economic, social, and psychological consequences, including grief, depression, and identity confusion.MethodsWe examined the psychological impact of ambiguous loss among 15 refugees displaced by the Syrian civil war. Participants (22 -53 years old; 9 women, 6 men) had experienced the disappearance or prolonged uncertainty regarding the fate of their spouse, child, sibling, or relative and had lived with uncertainty regarding the fate of their loved one for 4 to 13 years (in some cases, the uncertainty resolved after the interviews). We collected the data through semi-structured interviews and analyzed them using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsFindings revealed emotional oscillation between hope and hopelessness, social isolation, and difficulties adapting to changing roles. Although beliefs and collective rituals served as coping resources, inadequate support and stigma intensified distress.DiscussionThe results indicate that ambiguous loss is embedded in sociocultural contexts and underscore the need for culturally sensitive, family- and community-based psychosocial interventions and supportive national policies.
Family risk factors, dyadic coping, and family resilience in young stroke dyads: an actor-partner interdependence mediation model
ObjectiveStroke in young individuals constitutes a significant familial stressor, with ensuing family risk factors critically influencing recovery. While couples’ collaborative coping strategies play a vital role in enhancing family resilience, the mechanisms underlying this process remain largely unexplored. This study aims to elucidate the impact of familial risk factors and dyadic coping on the family resilience of young stroke.MethodsThis cross-sectional study integrates evidence-based research with clinical data. We developed a structured questionnaire grounded in identified familial risk factors. A cohort of 243 dyads, comprising young stroke patients and their spouses, was recruited from the neurology departments of four tertiary hospitals. The Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) framework was utilized, in which patients were treated as actors (influencing their own outcomes) and spouses as partners (influencing each other’s outcomes), to determine both direct and indirect effects among variables, with significance evaluated using bootstrap procedures (5,000 resamples, 95% confidence intervals). Model simplification was guided by chi-square difference testing.ResultsThe analysis indicated that family resilience could be strengthened in young stroke survivors and their spouses. APIMeM analyses showed that patients’ and spouses’ anxiety (β = –0.479, P = 0.002) and depression (β = –0.718, P < 0.001) had significant negative actor effects on their own family resilience, while patients’ activities of daily living (ADL) had significant positive actor (β = 0.175, P < 0.001) and partner effects (β = 0.198, P < 0.001) on family resilience. Crucially, dyadic coping partially mediated these relationships, with significant actor-actor indirect effects for anxiety (β =–0.139, 95% CI [–0.261, –0.029]), depression (β = –0.190, 95% CI [–0.321, –0.084]), and ADL (β = 0.062, 95% CI [0.009, 0.131]) on family resilience. Significant actor-partner mediation effects were also observed for depression (β = –0.072, 95% CI [–0.170, –0.017]) and ADL (β = 0.028, 95% CI [0.002, 0.079]).ConclusionsUsing a dyadic APIMeM approach, this study demonstrates that dyadic coping serves as a key mediator linking familial risk factors to family resilience in young stroke dyads. Resilience emerges as a shared, co-constructed process rather than an individual attribute, underscoring the need for interventions targeting the couple as a unit to mitigate intervention bias.
Tiny HHS office tasked with protecting research participants’ safety is running on fumes
In 2021, the federal office charged with ensuring that the vast research enterprise bankrolled by the Department of Health and Human Services keeps study participants safe, received a report of a death by suicide involving a person enrolled in a study testing a treatment for depression and reduced mobility.
Once the Office of Human Research Protections started looking into the death at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, it found problems that spread far beyond that one study, including failures in how the institute’s ethics board reviews proposed research. “We saw, holy smokes, this whole institution has issues,” said Lisa Buchanan, then director of the OHRP’s compliance division. The investigation became all-consuming. “It was probably 60-70% of our time,” she said.
iPath for CP Pilot
Conditions: Depression – Major Depressive Disorder
Interventions: Other: depression app for care partners of persons with dementia
Sponsors: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Not yet recruiting
Interventions: Other: depression app for care partners of persons with dementia
Sponsors: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Not yet recruiting
Autonomic nervous system dysfunction in irritable bowel syndrome: pathophysiology and therapeutic implications
This review synthesizes current evidence on autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Patients with IBS often exhibit sympathovagal imbalance–reduced vagal tone with relative sympathetic hyperactivity–which correlates with symptom severity and shows subtype specificity. The ANS orchestrates bidirectional brain–gut communication via interactions with psychosocial factors, low-grade neuroinflammation, and the gut microbiota. Key mechanisms include vagal afferent signaling by microbial metabolites, sympathetic regulation of mucosal immunity, stress-induced disruption of autonomic homeostasis, and neuroplastic changes in intestinal and central pain pathways. Emerging evidence supports therapeutic targeting of autonomic circuits through vagus nerve stimulation, pharmacological modulation of serotonin and adrenergic receptors, and microbiome-based interventions. Current challenges include methodological limitations in assessing neural dynamics and insufficient integration of multi-system interactions. Future research should employ multi-omics approaches to elucidate pathway-specific mechanisms and develop precision medicine strategies for this heterogeneous disorder.
<![CDATA[Phase 2 trial shows elunetirom rapidly eases bipolar depression symptoms with strong response, good tolerability, and FDA Fast Track momentum.]]>
The Download: AI-generated lawsuits and virtual power plants for data centers
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
How courts are coping with a flood of AI-generated lawsuits
Most days in her chambers, Judge Maritza Braswell, a federal magistrate judge in Colorado, sifts through stacks of documents written by people without a lawyer. The number of these filings has more than doubled compared to before 2023. She puts that jump down to AI.
But while AI appears to be expanding access to justice, it doesn’t seem to be improving people’s chances of winning. Judges are starting to question what rights and duties chatbots should have as they stand in for lawyers. Lawmakers, meanwhile, are grappling with who should pay the price when chatbots produce bad legal advice.
Read the full story on how AI is reshaping access to the law.
—Michelle Kim
How virtual power plants could provide energy for data centers
Would you take a payment to ramp down your electricity use? Would it change anything if you were doing so to help power a local data center? A new project backed by Google will put those questions to the test.
The company has signed a deal to fund a virtual power plant in the largest power grid in the US. The system will group together devices like electric vehicles and smart thermostats, paying customers to adjust their usage when the grid is stretched.
The project could free up capacity for Google’s data centers—but there’s a catch: people might not play along. Find out what the future holds for these virtual power plants.
—Casey Crownhart
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things climate. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The EU has proposed new legislation to end its Big Tech dependence
The laws aim to boost domestic cloud, AI and semiconductors. (CNBC)
+ US firms would be blocked from critical public tenders. (Reuters $)
+ It also wants to make sure non-EU actors cannot disrupt tech services with a “kill switch.” (The Guardian)
+ But the proposal needs to be negotiated with EU member states. (Politico $)
2 Intelligence agencies warn Chinese spies are recruiting on LinkedIn
The Five Eyes alliance said Beijing is using job platforms for espionage. (BBC)
+ The spies are allegedly recruiting government and military staff. (Politico $)
+ The Chinese embassy in the UK condemned the accusations. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meet the man hunting the spies in your smartphone. (MIT Technology Review)
3 AI CEOs have called for a law protecting against biological weapons
They warn that synthetic DNA could be used for bioweapons. (Wired $)
+ Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Demis Hassabis joined the call. (WSJ $)
+ No one’s sure if synthetic mirror life will kill us all. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Firms are using Reddit to manipulate ChatGPT and Google AI search
They’re spamming subreddits to get posts scraped by chatbots. (404 Media)
+ What we’ve been getting wrong about AI’s truth crisis. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Meta keeps delaying the launch of its new AI model
The new Muse Spark AI model API still has no release date. (WSJ $)
+ Which is hampering Meta’s plans to monetize its AI investments. (Reuters $)
6 For the first time, a US city has voted to permanently ban data centers
Monterey Park, California, voted in favor of the move. (LA Times)
+ Should we be moving data centers to space? (MIT Technology Review)
7 China is betting on household chore training to advance robotics
Data harvested in homes and factories provides a scaling edge. (Rest of World)
+ Gig workers are training humanoids at home. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Sam Altman will urge US lawmakers not to require AI model approvals
He’s advocating against proposals for new AI rules. (Reuters $)
+ His move comes after President Trump signed a new AI order. (Wired $)
9 Quantinuum raised $1.68 billion in an IPO as quantum computing rises
Investors flocked to one of the fast-growing sector’s leaders. (Reuters $)
10 Someone finally wants to hire philosophers: Silicon Valley
Big tech hopes they will help build better machines. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Historically, these companies have been very willing to play Russian roulette—and they’re playing another round.”
—Connor Leahy, an AI researcher, former hacker and US director of ControlAI, tells the Financial Times why he’s concerned about Anthropic’s relentless race to the top.
One More Thing
HENRY HORENSTEIN/GETTY
What an octopus’s mind can teach us about AI’s ultimate mystery
Emily Bender, a linguist at the University of Washington, has developed a thought experiment she calls the octopus test. It involves an octopus learning to copy patterns in human writing and produce squiggles in response. But does the animal actually understand the language or are we merely projecting meaning onto it?
Bender’s octopus is a stand-in for AI systems like ChatGPT. The intelligence we see in these machines is also projected on them by us. The same applies to consciousness: we may claim to see it, but it remains unclear whether it is really there.
Read the full story on the debate over machines with minds.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
+ Discover where iconic sound effects actually came from in this fabulous audio history.
+ Need a serotonin boost? Then tune into this live puppy cam from Denali National Park.
+ Linux lovers can try 570 extinct operating systems at a new virtual museum.
+ Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” becomes something entirely different in this lightning-fast bass guitar performance.
Mental Health INtervention With Digital APPlications (MIND-APP): Randomized Controlled Researcher Blinded Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Tankevirus and Grubl Mental Health Apps
Conditions: Anxiety; Depression
Interventions: Other: Tankevirus; Other: Grubl; Other: Placebo Application
Sponsors: University Hospital, Akershus
Not yet recruiting
Interventions: Other: Tankevirus; Other: Grubl; Other: Placebo Application
Sponsors: University Hospital, Akershus
Not yet recruiting
A Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Study to Evaluate Dopamine D2 and D3 Receptor Occupancy by SIPI6398
Conditions: Schizophrenia Disorder
Interventions: Drug: SIPI6398 Tablets
Sponsors: Shanghai Zhongze Therapeutics Co., Ltd.; Yale University
Not yet recruiting
Interventions: Drug: SIPI6398 Tablets
Sponsors: Shanghai Zhongze Therapeutics Co., Ltd.; Yale University
Not yet recruiting