Linking sensory processing patterns and somatosensory thresholds to behavioural and emotional symptoms in adolescents with ADHD.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fast progressive and incurable degenerative motor neuron disease. The mean age of onset is 66 years and in most cases the disease leads to death due to respiratory failure within 3–5 years []. Treatment is mainly symptomatic and should be carried out by a multidisciplinary team of specialists aiming to maintain health-related quality of life (hrQoL) []. People living with ALS often experience psychological distress. A longitudinal study investigating anxiety and depression in people with ALS showed that almost half of patients exhibit symptoms of anxiety soon after diagnosis, although the prevalence decreased within the first six months following the diagnosis []. A systematic review compiling results of studies investigating anxiety and depression in people living with ALS shows that patients often experience symptoms of both disorders []. These findings are further supported by a meta-analysis reporting a pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms of 34% in patients with ALS, reaching up to 50% depending on the assessment instrument used to evaluate the depressive symptoms []. Previous studies on the correlation between depressive symptoms and disease progression showed either no associations or significant associations with a small effect size [–]. Evidence concerning the association between depressive symptoms/depression and hrQoL has also been inconsistent, studies reporting both a negative association [, ] as well as an absence of significant associations []. Several studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between social support and quality of life in patients with ALS [, –]; however, few studies have investigated the relationship between perceived social support and depressive symptoms in patients with ALS [–]. A German longitudinal study on psychological adjustment in patients with ALS provided initial evidence that higher levels of perceived social support, assessed by the Berlin Social Support Scales, were predictive of lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher individual quality of life []. However, the study was performed on a small sample of 27 patients, which limits the conclusiveness of its findings. Further research on the different dimensions of perceived social support in relation to depressive symptoms and physical impairments in ALS is needed to better understand this psychosocially relevant issue from the patients’ perspective. According to a systematic review on patients with mental illness, there is clear evidence for an association between poorer perceived social support and depressive symptoms []. These findings are supported by a current systematic review on patients with chronic pain, in which 15 out of 16 studies reported a negative association between depression and perceived social support []. In conclusion, depressive symptoms are prevalent among patients with ALS and contribute an additional strain beyond the multifaceted somatic symptomatology. Further investigation is needed to evaluate how depressive symptoms in ALS are associated with disease progression, perceived social support and hrQoL. The consistent use of ALS-specifically validated patient-reported outcomes (PROs) may help develop a deeper understanding of patient experiences, facilitating intervention-oriented research and improving psychosocial care for patients with ALS.