The NORCOR bio-psychosocial project, led by Toril Dammen, was initiated in 2015. This project delves into various psychological factors, genetic mechanisms, and the development and testing of new treatment models tailored for coronary patients with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. We develop and evaluate innovative treatment models for individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. Drawing on data gathered from the NORCOR cohort study, as well as from psychiatric interviews with 50 participants in a cross-sectional study, the project sheds light on the complex relationship between mental health and heart disease.

The project also uses clinical and genetic data from more than 400,000 patients from the United Kingdom (UK) biobank and the 23andme database.

In 2019, an open intervention study was carried out to assess the efficacy of a novel psychological treatment designed specifically for cardiac patients with anxiety and depression.

The project currently includes 3 PhD fellows.

RESEARCH RESULTS

  1. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in patients with coronary heart disease: a protocol for a randomized controlled trial with six months follow-upEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2024
  2. Risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in coronary artery disease patients with Type D personality. Frontiers in Psychology, vol 14, 2023
  3. Psychiatric disorders, rumination, and metacognitions in patients with type D personality and coronary heart diseaseNordic Journal of Psychiatry 2023
  4. Predictors of health-related quality of life in outpatients with coronary heart diseaseFrontiers in Psychlogy 2023
  5. Health-related quality of life in outpatients with coronary heart disease: impact of type D personality, depression, anxiety and insomniaEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2023
  6. Attention training technique delivered in groups as treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with coronary heart disease: Study protocol for a waiting-list randomised controlled trialFrontiers in Psychology 2023.
  7. Insomnia as a predictor of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart diseaseSleep Research Society, 2022
  8. Shared genetic loci between depression and cardiometabolic traitsPLoS Genet,2022
  9. The Attention Training Technique Reduces Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: A Pilot Feasibility StudyFrontiers in Psychology 2022
  10. Relationships between depression, anxiety, type D personality, and worry and rummination in patients with coronary heart diseaseFrontiers in Psychology 2022
  11. Insomnia in patients with coronary heart disease: prevalence and correlates. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2021
  12. Shared genetic architecture between neuroticism, coronary artery disease and cardiovascular risk factors, Translational Psychiatry 2021
  13.  Worry and rumination predict insomnia in patients with coronary heart disease: a cross-sectional study with long-term follow-upJournal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2021