Recent Advances in the Treatment of Women with Schizophrenia

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychiatric, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 8779

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mental Health, Mutua Terrassa University Hospital, University of Barcelona (UB), CIBERSAM, Terrassa, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: psychopathology; clinical psychiatry; delusional disorder; schizophrenia; neuroscience
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Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
Interests: women; schizophrenia; psychosis; clinical psychiatry; neuroscience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are many reasons to implement gender-specific care for people suffering from schizophrenia. Sex and gender differences in psychopathological symptoms have been widely reported in this disorder. For instance, difficult-to-treat negative and cognitive symptoms are more prevalent among men, while affective and positive psychotic symptoms (easier to cure with available treatments) are more prevalent in women. Women, however, are at a disproportionately higher risk for treatment side effects, and the stages of progression of the disorder differ in women and men. The diagnosis is made earlier in men and the early course is more severe, e.g., failure to complete education, excessive use of substances, aggressive behavior, social alienation, high medication doses, and suicide. By contrast, women may be employed, maintain intimate relationships, and rear children. After menopause, however, many women show a worsening of symptoms and a reduction in antipsychotic response, with consequent dose increases and the development of adverse effects (hirsutism, obesity, osteoporosis, tardive dyskinesia, and, perhaps, breast cancer). The selection of an optimal antipsychotic often differs in men and women.

Requirements for healthcare prevention and intervention differ in the two sexes/genders. In many parts of the world women have insufficient access to good medical care; they are more exposed to exploitation and intimate partner abuse. Half of all women with schizophrenia are mothers, which means that the health of future generations depends on their well-being and mental stability. Their pregnancies and postpartum periods are times of special vulnerability and many unknowns in terms of ideal management.

This Special Issue aims to cover medical co-morbidities in women with schizophrenia, as well as their gender-specific needs (including antipsychotic selection, adherence, response, and adverse effects). Papers on perinatal mental health and social aspects (family support, housing, child custody, and safety) are very welcome to this Special Issue. Home-based services, peer support, metabolic issues, studies on immunity and inflammation, and evaluations of collaborative programs with other medical specialties are also being sought. Authors are invited to submit both original articles and review articles.

Dr. Alexandre González-Rodríguez
Prof. Dr. Mary V. Seeman
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • women
  • psychosis
  • schizophrenia
  • treatment
  • antipsychotics
  • prognosis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 730 KiB  
Article
Family Metacognitive Training (MCT-F): Adapting MCT to Mothers with Psychosis and Their Adolescent Children
by Victoria Espinosa, Paula Arin-González, Alba Jiménez-Lafuente, Nerea Pardo, Raquel López-Carrilero, Irene Birulés, Ana Barajas, Trinidad Pélaez, Luciana Díaz-Cutraro, Marina Verdaguer-Rodríguez, Alfonso Gutiérrez-Zotes, Carolina Palma-Sevillano, Paloma Varela-Casals, Miriam Salas-Sender, Ana Aznar, Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, Esther Pousa, Manuel Canal-Rivero, Nathalia Garrido-Torres, Clara Montserrat, Laura Muñoz-Lorenzo, Josep Maria Crosas and Susana Ochoaadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(2), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14020097 - 27 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2033
Abstract
Over half of women with psychosis are mothers. Research suggests that mothers with psychosis face unique challenges affecting both their mental health prognosis and their relationship with their children. Moreover, those children have a higher risk of developing a mental disorder. Notwithstanding, interventions [...] Read more.
Over half of women with psychosis are mothers. Research suggests that mothers with psychosis face unique challenges affecting both their mental health prognosis and their relationship with their children. Moreover, those children have a higher risk of developing a mental disorder. Notwithstanding, interventions specifically tailored to these families remain largely uncovered. Metacognitive Training (MCT) has demonstrated its efficacy in improving cognitive insight, symptom management, and social cognition in people with psychosis. However, there is no evidence of the efficacy of MCT in a family setting (MCT-F). This study describes the first adaptation of MCT for mothers with psychosis and their adolescent children in an online group setting. The phases (assessment, decision, adaptation, production, topical experts’ integration) of the ADAPT-ITT model were systematically applied through a participatory approach (n = 22), including a first-person perspective and involving qualitative (e.g., topical expert literature review and consensus groups, interviews, thematic analyses) and quantitative methods. While MCT’s core components were retained, participants guided adaptations both in content and delivery. The findings suggest the importance of community engagement and sharing decision-making processes to demonstrate the acceptability and feasibility of the adapted intervention. Employing a structured approach such as the ADAPT-ITT model ensures readiness of the new training for efficacy trials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Treatment of Women with Schizophrenia)
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Review

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11 pages, 292 KiB  
Review
Women with Schizophrenia Have Difficulty Maintaining Healthy Diets for Themselves and Their Children: A Narrative Review
by Mary V. Seeman
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(12), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13120967 - 24 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2013
Abstract
Severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are inevitably linked to unemployment, meagre per capita income, and residence in disadvantaged, poorly resourced neighbourhoods. This means difficult access to healthy food and is particularly problematic for pregnant women and mothers with children to feed. The [...] Read more.
Severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are inevitably linked to unemployment, meagre per capita income, and residence in disadvantaged, poorly resourced neighbourhoods. This means difficult access to healthy food and is particularly problematic for pregnant women and mothers with children to feed. The necessity of taking antipsychotic drugs is an additional barrier to healthy eating because these drugs are associated with serious cognitive, psychological, behavioural, and metabolic sequelae. Being ill with psychosis makes it extremely difficult to maintain a healthy diet; nutritional deficiencies result, as do medical complications. The results of present literature review confirm the gravity of the problem and suggest a number of potentially useful clinical interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Treatment of Women with Schizophrenia)
17 pages, 621 KiB  
Review
Schizophrenia: A Review of Social Risk Factors That Affect Women
by Alexandre González-Rodríguez, Mentxu Natividad, Mary V. Seeman, Jennipher Paola Paolini, Ariadna Balagué, Eloïsa Román, Eduard Izquierdo, Anabel Pérez, Anna Vallet, Mireia Salvador and José Antonio Monreal
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13070581 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4134
Abstract
Social risk factors are long-term or repeated environmental exposures in childhood and youth that change the brain and may, via epigenetic effects, change gene expression. They thus have the power to initiate or aggravate mental disorders. Because these effects can be mediated via [...] Read more.
Social risk factors are long-term or repeated environmental exposures in childhood and youth that change the brain and may, via epigenetic effects, change gene expression. They thus have the power to initiate or aggravate mental disorders. Because these effects can be mediated via hormonal or immune/inflammatory pathways that differ between men and women, their influence is often sex-specific. The goal of this narrative review is to explore the literature on social risk factors as they affect women with schizophrenia. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases from 2000 to May 2023 using terms referring to the various social determinants of health in conjunction with “women” and with “schizophrenia”. A total of 57 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the domains of childhood and adult abuse or trauma, victimization, stigma, housing, and socioeconomics, women with schizophrenia showed greater probability than their male peers of suffering negative consequences. Interventions targeting appropriate housing, income support, social and parenting support, protection from abuse, violence, and mothering-directed stigma have, to different degrees, yielded success in reducing stress levels and alleviating the many burdens of schizophrenia in women. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Treatment of Women with Schizophrenia)
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