Emotional Disorder

Adolescents with emotional disorders (such as depression or anxiety) often experience distress that also affects their parents, creating a cycle of stress within the family. This study tests a new compassion-based family intervention designed to help both adolescents and their parents. The program includes six weekly sessions (120 minutes each). The study will recruit 60 parent-adolescent dyads. Half will receive the intervention immediately; the other half will wait 6 weeks before receiving it. We will measure changes in depression, anxiety, parenting stress, family relationships, and - using brain imaging (fNIRS) and heart rate monitors - how the intervention affects parent-child emotional and physiological synchrony. Assessments will take place before the intervention, right after, and at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. The goal is to see whether this family-focused compassion program can improve mental health for both adolescents and their parents.

This randomised, parallel-group clinical trial evaluates the effects of the Unified Protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy, on dimensional symptom outcomes aligned with the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) and on related temperamental/personality traits in adults with emotional disorders. Participants are randomly assigned (1:1:1) to UP, treatment as usual (TAU), or a waitlist (WL). Outcomes are assessed at baseline and after approximately 14 weeks. A planned follow-up assessment approximately 3 months after treatment completion is collected in the UP arm only.

This study will develop and test whether personalized profiles of children with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD) and their parents based on important psychological, emotional, and neuropsychological indicators predict their response to child cognitive behavioral treatment and Behavioral Parent Training.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) carries a poor prognosis, with limited efficacy from current therapies including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Concurrently, emotional distress (ED) is highly prevalent in cancer patients and is implicated in tumor progression via neuroendocrine-immune axis dysregulation (e.g., HPA axis activation, immunosuppressive TME). Emerging evidence, particularly from lung cancer, suggests ED may adversely impact ICI efficacy. However, its specific role and clinical significance in HCC, especially regarding ICI response, remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we propose a large-scale, prospective, multicenter, multi-cohort study to systematically evaluate the impact of ED on treatment outcomes in HCC patients receiving immunotherapy.

Emotional disorders (EDs), which include anxiety disorders, unipolar mood disorders, and other related conditions, exhibit a high prevalence within prison populations, significantly exceeding that of the general population. Despite the high incidence of these disorders, the resources available for their treatment in correctional facilities are limited. The shortage of both human and material resources hinders inmates' access to quality mental health care. In this context, the Unified Protocol (UP) for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders, a transdiagnostic intervention grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, has demonstrated effectiveness in addressing a variety of psychological problems across different contexts. It has also proven to be cost-effective, particularly when delivered in a group format. Therefore, implementing the UP in group format within correctional settings could represent a viable strategy to optimize limited resources and provide accessible and effective treatment to a larger number of inmates. The primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and clinical utility of the UP for the treatment of emotional disorders in prison environments. To this end, the UP will be delivered to approximately 25 participants, organized into groups of six to eight individuals, each receiving 12 weekly sessions lasting one hour. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at one, three, and six months after the intervention. A mixed-methods approach will be employed to analyze the results, combining quantitative analyses to assess changes in emotional symptomatology and qualitative analyses to explore participant satisfaction and therapist acceptance. It is expected that participants will experience statistically significant improvements in emotional symptoms and that these improvements will be sustained over time, up to the six-month follow-up. It is also anticipated that participants will report a high level of satisfaction with the treatment. Furthermore, therapists are expected to evaluate the intervention positively and to identify potential barriers to its implementation. The results of this pilot study will contribute to improving the feasibility and clinical utility of the UP in correctional settings, while also laying the groundwork for a future randomized controlled trial involving a larger number of facilities, participants, and therapists.

Human beings experience emotions and have the ability to manage them, but when these abilities are undermined by mental illness, the result is emotional dysregulation. Borderline patients (1 to 4% of the population) suffer from this symptom and can benefit from a specific therapy: DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy; Linehan, 1993). Created specifically for this condition, DBT significantly reduces emotional dysregulation, a dimension at the root of behavioural disorders that is known to be poorly relieved by drug treatments. The DBT group training programme offers patients the opportunity to learn and practise emotional regulation skills. Four types of skills are taught skills: mindfulness, interpersonal skills, emotional regulation and and distress tolerance. This therapy is part of the psychiatric care, in which patients take responsibility in their own care. There are many studies showing the effectiveness of DBT and its programme with borderline patients. But there are other pathologies concerned by emotional dysregulation: thymic disorders in particular bipolar (1 to 2.5%), addictive disorders (8 to 10%), eating disorders (ADD, 10%), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, 2%).

This Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) aims to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of the Unified Protocol (UP) in an online group format for the treatment of emotional disorders in adults. Participants will be 90 adults (45 in the control group and 45 in the experimental group) with diagnosis of long COVID and comorbid emotional disorders. Participants will be recruited at Hospital Royo Villanova from Zaragoza, Spain. In this study it will be explored whether the changes obtained after the intervention in emotional disorders and cognitive complaints are maintained over 12 months. Additionally, levels of chronic stress will be longitudinally evaluated in the experimental group through accumulated cortisol levels in hair, before and after the application of the UP.

The aim of this project is to contribute to the improvement of psychological care received in primary care (PC), through the study of the cost-effectiveness and acceptability of the Unified Protocol for the treatment of emotional disorders in brief groups in primary care services in Spain (PU-AP) for the treatment of emotional disorders (EDs), the most prevalent in our society. To do so, a pilot study will be carried out, and, subsequently, a randomized clinical trial to study the efficacy, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of the Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of EDs, applied in 5 or 8 group sessions. Finally, the researchers will analyze whether there are specific patient profiles that will benefit more from one or the other condition. The results will contribute to the personalization of the psychological treatment of users with EDs attending PC in the Spanish public health system.