Psychiatry Research

China was the first country affected by the COVID-19 virus and it reacted strongly in the first months of 2020. This paper presents new evidence on the deterioration in mental health in China between 2018 and 2020. Using two waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) we can follow the same individuals pre and during the pandemic periods. We find clear evidence of a moderate level of mental health deterioration between 2018 and 2020. The prevalence of severe cases of depression, measured using an eight-item version of the common CES-D scale, increased from 6.33% in 2018 to 7.54% in 2020; quantifiable as around a 19% increase. This deterioration is higher for individuals who are subject to strict lockdowns, about 0.3 symptoms more on average, and it is stronger among those who already reported symptoms of depression in the 2018 wave of data. The effects we find are larger for individuals with more open personalities: one standard deviation of the Openness trait corresponds to 0.08 more symptoms, while more Neurotic individuals do not seem to be more affected. Younger cohorts and individuals with lower levels of education are more affected. Males seem slightly more affected than females, although this difference is statistically non-significant.

Problem StatementDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, health care services were limited by the restrictive measures implemented. As an adaptation mechanism, telemedicine was introduced for ambulatory care at the Honorio Delgado Hideyo Noguchi National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This study aimed to estimate the survival function (SF) for loss to follow-up (LTFU) over two years before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its association with clinical and sociodemographic variables. Study DesignA single-cohort study was conducted, following a random sample of adult ambulatory patients at NIHM from April 15, 2018, to April 15, 2022. Patients were followed until LTFU, referral to another institution, death, or the end of study. The main analysis involved estimating the SF for LTFU for the overall follow up period, as well as separately for the periods pre and post implementation of telemedicine. Also, risk factors hypotheses were tested using Coxs regression. ResultsData from 4887 visits of 356 patients were collected. A total of 118 (33.1%) presented LTFU, with SF of 53.9% during the overall four years of follow-up. After two years of follow-, those starting treatment at NIMH before the implementation of telemedicine had a higher SF (77.3 vs 63%). A higher hazard ratio (HR) for LTFU was found in the group that started care at NIMH after the implementation of telemedicine, compared to those who started previously (HR=2.53; 95% CI: 1.55-4.51). Additionally, receiving care in the anxiety disorders (HR=1.86; 95% CI: 1.03-3.33) and personality disorders programs (HR=1.81; 95% CI: 1.02-3.22) was associated with a higher risk of LTFU compared to the psychosis program. No significant difference was found in the risk of LTFU between telemedicine vs. face-to face attention. ConclusionsA significant association was found between LTFU and starting treatment at NIMH after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and implementation of telemedicine. However, no evidence supports that this might be due to the practice of telemedicine. A different clinical profile of patients that started treatment at NIMH following the government implementation of changes to the public health system might explain these findings and should be studied. Significant Outcomes- A moderate association was found between starting treatment at NIMH and loss to follow up in the period after the implementation of telemedicine due to the onset of COVID-19. - This, however, does not seem to be related to the practice of telemedicine, but to changes in the characteristics of patients across pre and post COVID 19. Limitations- The reason for loss to follow up (death, return to a lower-level health service, improvement of symptoms, etc.), our main outcome variable, could not be determined using the clinical and administrative data available.

COVID-19 infections in adults often result in medical, neuropsychiatric, and unspecific symptoms, called Long COVID, and the premorbid functional status cannot be achieved. Regarding the course in children and adolescents, however, reliable data are not yet available. Objective380 children and adolescents/young adults aged between 6 and 21 years, being treated for various psychiatric diseases in an outpatient clinical service, were examined for COVID-19 infections and Long COVID symptoms following a structured protocol. ResultsThree patients had COVID-19; one patient had symptoms of Long COVID in his medical history, but they could not be objectivized in an in-depth neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological assessment. ConclusionsLong COVID seems to occur rarely in children and adolescents. Objectivizing the symptoms is a difficult task that requires various diagnostic considerations.

Aim: The Patient Safety Screener-3 (PSS-3) is a brief suicide-risk screening tool. Item 1 of this scale assesses depressive mood but is not included in the total score. We examined the association of item 1 with depressive symptom severity and characterized the suicide-related risk captured by PSS-3 total positivity. Methods: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey among resident physicians in Japan. Associations between PSS-3 item 1 endorsement and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores were evaluated using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Diagnostic performance of item 1 was evaluated using PHQ-9 positivity ([&ge;]10) as reference standard. We also compared Short-form Scale for Suicide Ideation (SIS-6) scores according to PSS-3 total positivity and PHQ-9 item 9 positivity. Results: A total of 1,844 participants were included. PSS-3 item 1 was endorsed by 443 physicians (24.0%), and 47 (2.5%) met the criteria for PSS-3 total positivity. Item 1 showed 79.3% sensitivity and 79.5% specificity for PHQ-9 positivity. SIS-6 scores were higher in the PSS-3 total-positive group than in the total-negative group (median [IQR], 6 [5-9] vs 0 [0-1]; p<0.001). The SIS-6 showed a higher area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and Youden index using PSS-3 total positivity (AUC, 0.961; optimal cutoff, 3) than PHQ-9 item 9 positivity (AUC, 0.907; optimal cutoff, 2). Discussion: PSS-3 may support brief, simultaneous screening for depressive symptoms and suicide-related risk. Compared with PHQ-9 item 9, PSS-3 may capture a more severe spectrum of suicide-related risk. PSS-3 may facilitate identification of individuals requiring further mental health assessment.

IntroductionCommon diseases are influenced by a variety of factors that can enhance one persons susceptibility to developing a specific condition. Complex traits have been investigated in several biological levels. One that reflects the high interconnectivity and interaction of genes, proteins and transcription factors is the transcriptome. In this study, we disclose the protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aiming at summarizing the available evidence regarding transcriptomic gene expression levels of peripheral blood samples comparing subjects with psychiatric, neurological and other common disorders to healthy controls. Methods and analysisThe investigation of the transcriptomic levels in the peripheral blood enables the unique opportunity to unravel the etiology of common diseases in patients ex-vivo. However, the experimental results should be minimally consistent across studies for them to be considered as the best approximation of the true effect. In order to test this, we will systematically identify all transcriptome studies that compared subjects with common disorders to their respective control samples. We will apply meta-analyses to assess the overall differentially expressed genes throughout the studies of each condition. Ethics and disseminationThe data that will be used to conduct this study are available online and have already been published following their own ethical laws. Therefore this study requires no further ethical approval. The results of this study will be published in leading peer-reviewed journals of the area and also presented at relevant national and international conferences. Strengths and limitations of this study We present a new and systematically centered method to assess the overall effect of transcriptomic levels in the blood of subjects with common conditions. Meta-analyses are a robust statistical method to assess effect sizes across studies. The analysis is limited by the availability of studies, as well as their quality and comprehensiveness. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses will be also limited by the amount and quality of sample characterization variables made available by original studies.

The childhood experiences of being overprotected and overcontrolled by family members have been suggested to be potentially traumatic. However, the possible associated factors of these experiences among young people are still not well studied. This study aimed to investigate the possible associated factors of childhood overprotection/overcontrol (OP/OC) experiences in young populations in a relatively large, nationwide sample of Chinese university students. A total of 5,823 university students across nine different provinces in China were recruited and included in the data analyses. All participants completed the OP/OC subscale in a recently developed 33-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-33) to assess their OP/OC experiences. Data were also collected on socio-demographic information and multiple psychological characteristics of all participants. Binary logistic regression was conducted to investigate the associated factors of OP/OC. The prevalence of childhood OP/OC was estimated as 15.63% (910/5,823) based on a cutoff of OP/OC subscale score [&ge;] 13. Binary logistic regression suggested that being male, being a single child, having depression, having psychotic-like experiences, lower family functioning, and lower psychological resilience were independently associated with childhood OP/OC experiences (all corrected-p<0.05). The OP/OC was also positively associated with all the other trauma subtypes (abuses and neglects) in the CTQ-33. Post-hoc analyses suggested that OP/OC experiences were associated with depression in only females, and associated with anxiety in only males. Our results may provide initial evidence that childhood OP/OC experiences would have negative effects on young peoples mental health which merits further investigations, especially in clinical populations.

ObjectiveBrain Injury is the leading cause of death and disability for Canadians under 40 years old. To better understand chronic neuropsychiatric sequelae within our local brain injury population, a retrospective chart review was carried out for all Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) physiatry clinic attendees between November 2014 and December 2021 (n=220) at our public rehabilitation hospital in Southeastern Ontario. MethodsAll cases were classified into four subgroups: multiple mild, mild, moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and non-TBI. Comparison of depression, anxiety and concussion symptoms were made between subgroups using scores from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire, (RPQ), self-reported physical symptoms, sleep disturbance and medications were also investigated. Analysis was repeated with six subgroups, created by further separating cases into moderate and severe TBI where possible. ResultsAlmost all brain-injury subgroups had moderately severe depression, anxiety and post-concussion symptoms but multiple mild-TBI most frequently self-reported cognitive, neuropsychiatric and sleep disturbance issues. Moderately severe TBI most frequently self-reported physical complaints and sleep disturbance (60%, n=9), although none (0%, n=0) were prescribed sleep medication. Mild TBI (n=60) reported sleep disturbance less frequently (42%, n=25) than moderately severe TBI but 22% (n=13) were prescribed sleep medication. ConclusionAll brain injury subgroups had similar levels of moderately severe neuropsychiatric sequelae; including depression, anxiety and post-concussion symptoms. Multiple mild-TBI had the most self-reported symptoms; while moderately severe TBI were most likely to report physical complaints and sleep disturbance.

BackgroundSchizophrenia (SCZ) is a highly heritable and heterogeneous disorder with diverse clinical presentations and cognitive deficits. The specific genetic variants contributing to this variability remain largely unknown. This study aims to uncover the genetic bases of various clinical phenotypes such as age at onset (AAO), positive/negative symptoms, self-harm and aggression in SCZ using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Few large-scale GWAS have explored these phenotypes, especially in non-Europeans. Understanding the genetics may reveal new therapeutic targets in the future. Additionally, it is unclear whether the genetics of SCZ phenotypes overlap with the genetic risk for SCZ itself or other psychiatric disorders. Previous studies using polygenic risk scores have provided limited insights. Aims and ObjectivesThis study aims to: (i) identify genetic variants associated with SCZ clinical phenotypes using GWAS, (ii) decipher the genetic relationship between SCZ phenotypes and other psychiatric disorders via PRS, (iii) gain biological insights into SCZ phenotypes through gene and pathway analyses of GWAS data, and (iv) predict the severity of SCZ phenotypes using a machine learning model that combines clinical and genomic factors. MethodsThis observational study is primarily based on two cohorts of SCZ patients from Hong Kong, with genotyping data collected. A third cohort from dbGaP was used to study genetics of AAO. Clinical phenotypes such as self-harm, aggression, hospitalization, and AAO were collected. PRS were calculated for psychiatric and cognitive traits. GWAS were conducted for the phenotypes within each cohort and meta-analysed. Gene-based analyses identified associated genes, which were then subjected to pathway enrichment analysis. Machine learning models were built using PRS and clinical variables to predict relevant outcomes such as hospitalization risk. ResultsGWAS identified several significant genetic variants associated with SCZ phenotypes across the three cohorts. A variant rs60648049 was associated with hospitalization count in cohort 1. In cohort 2, a variant was linked to age at onset (AAO). The dbGaP cohort revealed two variants significantly associated with AAO. Meta-analysis across cohorts identified three variants ( rs144645158, rs142498233 and rs185213255)) significantly associated with AAO. Gene-based and transcriptome-wide analyses implicated genes in pathways related to synaptic function, neurodevelopment, and immune processes. Males, lower education, and genetic factors like lower IQ PRS were associated with increased aggressive behaviours. Self-harm was linked to lower education and ADHD PRS. Earlier AAO correlated with male sex, higher education, and PRS for bipolar disorder and major depression. Machine learning models predicted hospitalization status with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 63.4%, with AAO and aggressive behaviour as top predictors. Models were also built to predict the number of hospitalizations (RMSE=1.067) and total hospitalization duration (RMSE=3.063 months), with AAO, self-harm and aggressive behaviour being significant predictors of greater severity. Conclusions and ImplicationsThis GWAS examining clinical profiles in Chinese SCZ patients, combined with European samples, identified several genetic loci associated with age at onset. Nominal trends indicating genetic overlaps with psychiatric disorders, related traits, and cognitive functions suggest shared pathophysiology and potential therapeutic approaches. Machine learning models showed moderate accuracy in predicting SCZ severity. Collectively, these findings enhance our understanding of SCZs genetic architecture, and provide a foundation for future research and clinical strategies aimed at improving patient outcomes.

In 2019, the National Basketball Association (NBA) expanded its mental health rules to include mandating that each team have at least one mental health professional on their full-time staff and to retain a licensed psychiatrist to assist when needed. In this work, we investigate the NBA players discussion of mental health using historical data from players public Twitter accounts. All current and former NBA players with Twitter accounts were identified, and each of their last 800 tweets were scraped, yielding 920,000 tweets. A list of search terms derived from the DSM5 diagnoses was then created and used to search all of the nearly one million tweets. In this work, we present the most common search terms used to identify tweets about mental health, present the change in month-by-month tweets about mental health, and identify the impact of players discussing their own mental health struggles on their box score statistics before and after their first tweet discussing their own mental health struggles.

The COVID-19 pandemic had substantial impact on healthcare systems across the globe, including psychiatric services. Use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a lifesaving intervention for severe mental illness, was reported to have declined during the pandemic in several countries, but nationwide data remain scarce. Using nationwide data from the Danish National Patient Register, we examined all ECT treatments administered in Denmark from September 2019 to May 2025. Weekly treatment numbers were visualized across the three national COVID-19 lockdowns to descriptively assess changes in ECT use. A notable reduction in ECT treatments was observed in the weeks preceding and during the first lockdown (March 11 to May 18, 2020). A post-hoc estimation indicated approximately 1,366 "missed" treatments during the initial pandemic phase in 2020. When these were added to the 27,033 treatments delivered in 2020, the adjusted total approximated annual treatment volumes in 2019 and 2022, suggesting a temporary disruption rather than sustained decline. In contrast, ECT activity during the second and third lockdowns appeared largely unaffected. These findings suggest that ECT provision in Denmark was temporarily reduced during the initial phase of the pandemic but remained resilient thereafter. In the case of a future pandemic, safeguarding timely access to ECT--particularly in early phases-- should be prioritized given its critical role in the treatment of severe mental illness.

BackgroundMental illnesses often cluster in families, and their impact on affected and unaffected members within families need to be understood from a social perspective. MethodsData was derived from 202 families with multiple affected individuals, identified under Accelerator program for Discovery in Brain disorders using Stem cells (ADBS) study. Affected individuals (N=259) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or substance use disorder. For comparison, we used the unaffected siblings from the same families (N=229), and a matched random subset of healthy control (HC) data (N=229) from the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS). We compared educational attainment, functional marital status and occupational status between the groups. ResultsThe groups were matched across age, gender and place of residence. The highest educational attainment was significantly different between the groups. The affected (9.9 years) and unaffected siblings (10.4 years) had poor educational attainment compared to HC (11.6 years), (F=8.97, p<0.001). Similarly, the affected (43%) and unaffected siblings (33%) remained more often single, in contrast to HC (23%), ({chi}2=40.98.17, p<0.001). However, employment rates were significantly higher in the unaffected siblings, especially female siblings. Females had overall lesser educational attainment, were largely married, and were majority homemakers across the three groups when compared to males. DiscussionOur study findings reveal the socio-demographic characteristics of affected and unaffected siblings from multiple affected families with major psychiatric illness in India. Affected and unaffected siblings had lower educational attainment and rates of marriage when compared to HC. The unaffected siblings were more likely to be in employment compared to HC. Whether the poor educational attainment and lower marriage rates in unaffected siblings is a biological marker of shared endophenotype or the effect of social burden of having an affected family member requires further systematic evaluation.

AimSurgical interventions such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) have demonstrated efficacy for severe treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (TR-OCD) internationally, but surgical treatment has yet to be implemented in Japan. One factor hindering progress is uncertainty regarding domestic clinical demand, so a nationwide survey of psychiatrists was conducted to clarify their perceptions of OCD surgery. We analysed the data with the aim of identifying factors associated with the acceptance of surgical interventions. MethodsA web-based survey was conducted targeting board-certified psychiatrists in Japan. A total of 212 psychiatrists participated, responding to 10 multiple-choice questions assessing their awareness, perceived need, and expectations regarding DBS. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression models were used to examine associations between key variables. ResultsPerceived inadequacy of standard treatments alone for severe TR-OCD was strongly associated with perceived need for new treatment options including surgical interventions and with justifiability of surgical treatment. Clinical experience with OCD (Q3) showed a modest positive association with surgical acceptability, whereas greater experience with TR-OCD (Q4) corresponded to more cautious attitudes. Awareness of overseas surgical treatment (Q5) was associated with stronger recognition of treatment limitations and greater acceptance of surgical options. ConclusionsPsychiatrists support for OCD surgery in Japan is primarily driven by perceived unmet clinical needs and awareness of international surgical practices. Enhancing education, addressing ethical concerns, and generating domestic clinical evidence may facilitate the responsible introduction of surgical treatment for TR-OCD.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of sleep studies in schizoaffective disorder were conducted using published articles researched in major databases within the period from inception to December 1, 2025. The sleep parameters: total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, wakefulness, REM time and percentage, REM latency, REM density, stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 sleep time and percentage, delta sleep time and percentage, of drug-free schizoaffective patients were analyzed and, where available, compared with case-control data of healthy controls, depressed unipolar patients and schizophrenic patients. Forty studies were identified in the systematic review. Nine case-control studies with 67 schizoaffective patients, 88 schizophrenic patients, 79 healthy controls and 131 depressed patients were included in the meta-analyses. The primary outcome was the standard mean difference. Data were fitted with a random-effects model. Publication bias assessment was checked by Egger's Regression and funnel plot asymmetry. Patients with schizoaffective disorder showed reduced total sleep time, increased sleep latency and wakefulness, along with reduced REM time and shortened REM latency, reduced stage 4 sleep time and percentage compared to healthy controls. Patients with schizoaffective disorder differed from depressed patients only for increased sleep latency, while they did not show any difference compared to patients with schizophrenia. SZA showed a non-significant trend (p=0.08) towards increased REM density compared to SCZ, suggesting the need to better clarify the role of REM density in mood and psychotic disorders.

Depression is a well-established risk factor for impaired cognitive function, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. In this study, we utilized data from the 2017-18 Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India to examine the potentially causal association between depressive symptoms and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults using alternative estimation methods to account for observed and unobserved confounding. We also investigated the mediating roles of activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and sleep problems in the pathway linking depressive symptoms to cognitive decline. Our findings indicated significant decline in cognitive function associated with depression, particularly in the domains of language, immediate memory, and orientation. Moreover, we identified substantial mediation effects, with IADL accounting for 26.3%, ADL for 15.5%, and sleep problems for 10.8% of the relationship between depression and cognitive performance. These results suggest that interventions aimed at improving mental health in aging populations could enhance both performance in daily functioning and cognitive outcomes.

IntroductionThere were concerns that suicide deaths might increase due to Covid-19 pandemic-related stressors. Previous research demonstrated that suicide deaths actually decreased in 2020 in the US. An update covering 2021-2022 with regional data is warranted. MethodsObservational cohort, US and regional data. Expected monthly deaths were modeled using pre-pandemic US and regional data (2015-2020). Mortality data was accessed from CDC public reporting. ResultsWe find that suicide deaths in the United States were below expected levels throughout the pandemic period (March 1, 2020-June 30,2022) with >4,100 fewer suicide deaths than would have been expected to occur during the study period. Stratifying suicide mortality by US Census Bureau region yielded statistically significant decreases from expected suicide deaths in all regions except the Midwest, (which recorded no significant change in suicide deaths during the overall pandemic period). ConclusionSuicide mortality is down in the US since the pandemic began, through June 30, 2022. Possible explanations include an early "coming together" effect; Later, increased access to mental health resources and a greater focus on mental health in the media may have reduced stigma and barriers in seeking necessary psychiatric care.

Introduction: In 2020, Oregon became the first US state to legalize state-regulated psilocybin services. This study aims to examine: 1) the clinical and demographic characteristics, 2) psilocybin use motivations, and 3) differences in preparedness among patients seeking care in a Oregon- based pilot consult service specializing in psilocybin risk reduction. Methods: This retrospective chart review abstracted sociodemographics, trauma history, and medical and psychiatric risks of patients (November 2023 - September 2025). The Psychedelic Preparedness Scale (PPS), a validated self-report questionnaire, measured preparedness. Two sample t-tests examined associations of PPS scores by insurance, consult motivations, and prior psychedelic use. Results: Patients (N=29) had a mean age of 47.14 years (SD=15.9), were majority female (55.2%); White (82.8%); and privately insured (62.1%). Patients mostly sought psilocybin to address only a psychiatric concern (75.9%); 27.6% anticipated naturalistic (non-state regulated) use. Most patients were deemed low risk for adverse events. Prevalence of prior challenging psychedelic experiences (CPE) was 17.2%; 58.6% reported lifetime psilocybin use. 86.2% endorsed >1 form of lifetime trauma. Of PPS completers (N=23, 79%), mean score was 91.3 (SD = 23.99). Scores did not significantly differ by insurance; consultation motivation; CPE; prior psilocybin or psychedelic use. Conclusion: Patients utilizing a novel consultation service demonstrate a high prevalence of trauma, prior psilocybin use, and baseline preparedness. While preliminary, this is among the first descriptions of patients seeking medical and psychiatric consultation when considering psilocybin and highlight the potential role of healthcare systems in providing evidence-based patient education and risk reduction as interest in psychedelics grows.

BackgroundRacial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence of mental health diagnoses have been reported but have not accounted for the prevalence of the traits that underlies these disorders. Examining rates of diagnoses in relation to traits may yield a clearer understanding of how racial/ethnic youth differ in their access to assessment and care. We sought to examine differences in self/parent-reported rates of diagnoses for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and anxiety disorders after adjusting for differences in trait levels between youth from three racial/ethnic groups: White, South Asian, and East Asian. MethodsWe collected parent or self-reported ratings of OCD, ADHD and anxiety traits and diagnoses for youth (6-17 years) from a general population sample (Spit for Science). We examined racial/ethnic differences in trait levels and the odds of reporting a diagnosis using mixed-effects linear models and logistic regression models. ResultsEast Asian (N = 1301) and South Asian (N = 730) youth reported significantly higher levels of OCD and anxiety traits than White youth (N = 6896). Given the same trait level, East Asian and South Asian youth had significantly lower odds of reporting a diagnosis for OCD (Odds Ratio (OR) East Asian = 0.08 [0.02, 0.41] ; OR South Asian = 0.05 [0.00, 0.81]), ADHD (OR East Asian = 0.27 [0.16, 0.45]; OR South Asian = 0.09 [0.03, 0.30]), and Anxiety (OR East Asian = 0.21 [0.11, 0.39]; OR South Asian = 0.12 [0.05, 0.32]) than White youth. ConclusionsThese results suggest a discrepancy between traits-levels of OCD and anxiety and rates of diagnoses for East Asian and South Asian youth. This discrepancy may be due to increased barriers for ethnically diverse youth to access mental health care. Efforts to understand racial/ethnic barriers to care are needed. Key PointsO_LIDespite having lower prevalence of diagnoses, East and South Asian youth reported significantly higher anxiety and OCD trait levels than White youth C_LIO_LIGiven the same trait level, East Asian youth were at 92% lower odds of having received an OCD diagnosis, 73% lower odds of having received an ADHD diagnosis, and 79% lower odds of having received an Anxiety diagnosis than White youth C_LIO_LIGiven the same trait level, South Asian youth were at 95% lower odds of having received an OCD diagnosis, 91% lower odds of having received an ADHD diagnosis, and 88% lower odds of having received an anxiety diagnosis C_LIO_LIFuture research is needed to understand barriers to mental health care and assessment that may underly the discrepancy between mental health traits and diagnoses for ethnic/racially diverse youth. C_LI

PurposeProlonged Grief Disorder (PGD), recently included in the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11, involves a strong yearning for the deceased, fixation on death, denial, avoidance, negative emotions, and disengagement from daily life, lasting at least six months. However, most studies focus on Western settings, leading to underdiagnosis, inadequate care, and a growing mental health burden in Viet Nam. DesignExperience sampling method (ESM) can provide detailed, real-time data on daily symptoms due to the wave-like nature of grief and its psychological sequelae. 100 Vietnamese bereaved individuals who lost a loved one in the last 6 months will complete a 2-week ESM assessment app (mPath) every 3 months for 6 months. The app sends daily reminders to complete a questionnaire about PGD symptoms and daily life context. Participants will complete a baseline mental health assessment before each ESM period. FindingsData collection for ESM assessments began in June 2025 and will end in December 2025. As of September 2025, 91 participants have been enrolled. A mix of longitudinal and fine-grained data will reveal daily fluctuations and chronicity of PGD symptoms, identify prodromal symptoms predicting onset and severity, unique core symptoms to the Vietnamese bereaved, and factors predicting onset. OriginalityThis study will be the first to not only digitally screen for mental health distress in Viet Nam, but also the first to study the newly defined condition PGD in Viet Nam.

BackgroundStructured clinical diagnostic interviews are widely used in clinical practice and psychiatry research. Nevertheless, the extent to which such interviews have been used in forensic psychiatry is unclear, perhaps because of concerns about feasibility and utility. AimWe undertook a scoping review to investigate publications on structured clinical interviews in the forensic psychiatry context, paying particular attention to issues of feasibility and utility. MethodsA PubMed and PsychInfo database search was undertaken using the terms "structured diagnostic interviews" AND "forensic psychiatry" AND "clinical attitudes" OR "utility" OR "feasibility" OR "acceptability". PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was used as a guideline in reviewing and including studies. ResultsWe found three articles on the use of structured diagnostic interviews in the forensic psychiatry context. In most publications, these interviews were used to assess the accuracy of symptom measures using existing validation tools. There were no publications that reported on issues of feasibility and utility. ConclusionsLiterature on the use of structured diagnostic interviews in forensic psychiatry is sparse. While this may reflect concerns about feasibility and utility, no publications provide data on the feasibility and utility of such interviews in the forensic setting. This highlights an important area of research to explore.

This research aimed to estimate whether first-time anxiety diagnoses and medication usage during and after the COVID-19 pandemic differed from diagnosis and medication usage rates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, within groups stratified by age. We observed a significant increase in first-time anxiety diagnoses and prescriptions for 12-17-year-olds during April 2020-March 2021 compared to January 2018-February 2020. These trends were not sustained in subsequent periods. We also observed an increase in first-time prescriptions for 18-29-year-olds during the same time. The study emphasizes the importance of addressing mental health concerns, particularly among adolescents, both during and beyond the pandemic.