Abortion and Mental Health: What Can We Conclude?

Longitudinal Assessment of Changes in Mental and Sexual Health Outcomes Due to COVID-19 Among Latinx SMM and TGW.

Policy Recommendations to Promote Integrated Mental Health Care for Children and Youth.

Mitigating the Impact of Coronavirus Disease-2019 on Child and Family Behavioral Health: Suggested Policy Approaches

Deployment of personnel to military operations: impact on mental health and social functioning.

Race, Ethnicity and Experienced Racism Are Associated with Adverse Physical and Mental Health Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors

Global mental health and HIV care: gaps and research priorities.

Mounting evidence shows that the environment can play an important role in mental health, yet comparatively few studies have focused on the mental or behavioral health outcomes of environmental stressors. The Interplay Between Environmental Exposures and Mental Health Outcomes, a virtual workshop held on February 2-3, 2021, provided mental health and environmental health research experts from government, academia, and the private sector with the opportunity to explore emerging research on the relationships between environmental exposures and mental health. Workshop presentations covered a broad array of the diverse makeup of environmental exposures, including those that are chemical, biological, or physical, and either natural or human-made in origin. Furthermore, while the historical definition of an environmental exposure refers to a contact that causes a negative health effect, some presenters highlighted how a person's environment can lead to positive mental health outcomes. Workshop participants also discussed approaches to better integrate mental and behavioral health into multidisciplinary considerations of environmental health; considered how mental and behavioral health impacts could become part of environmental risk assessments and public health choices; and highlighted new tools and technologies to assess ways in which the environment can affect mental health. This Proceedings of a Workshop-in Brief provides the rapporteurs' high-level summary of the topics addressed in the workshop and suggestions provided by workshop participants for ways of integrating mental and behavioral health research and environmental research.

Meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals for mental health: why greater prioritization and adequately tracking progress are critical.

The aim of this study was to confirm and extend the authors' previous work indicating that symptoms of traumatic grief are predictors of future physical and mental health outcomes. The study group consisted of 150 future widows and widowers interviewed at the time of their spouse's hospital admission and at 6-week and 6-, 13-, and 25- month follow-ups. Traumatic grief was measured with a modified version of the Grief Measurement Scale. Mental and physical health outcomes were assessed by self-report and interviewer evaluation. Survival analysis and linear and logistic regressions were used to determine the risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes posed by traumatic grief. Survival and regression analyses indicated that the presence of traumatic grief symptoms approximately 6 months after the death of the spouse predicted such negative health outcomes as cancer, heart trouble, high blood pressure, suicidal ideation, and changes in eating habits at 13- or 25-month follow-up. The results suggest that it may not be the stress of bereavement, per se, that puts individuals at risk for long-term mental and physical health impairments and adverse health behaviors. Rather, it appears that psychiatric sequelae such as traumatic grief are of critical importance in determining which bereaved individuals will be at risk for long-term dysfunction.

Mental health outcomes during COVID-19: A scoping review & recommendations for geriatrics research

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) negatively impact people's physical and mental health and social functioning. Research literature focuses on the impact of ACEs on physical and mental health, yet to our knowledge, no study has examined the literature on ACEs, mental health, and social functioning outcomes. ObjectiveTo map how ACEs, mental health, and social functioning outcomes have been defined, assessed, and studied in the empirical literature and identify gaps in the current research which need further investigation. MethodsA scoping review methodology following a five-step framework was implemented. Four databases were searched CINAHL, Ovid (Medline, Embase) and PsycInfo. The analysis involved both numerical and a narrative synthesis in line with the framework. ResultsFifty-eight studies were included in the analysis, and three key issues were identified a) the limitations of research samples to date, b) the choice of outcome measures for ACEs, social and mental health outcomes, and c) the limitations of current study designs. ConclusionThe review demonstrates variability in the documentation of participant characteristics and inconsistencies in the definitions and applications of ACEs, social and mental health and related measurements. There is also a lack of longitudinal and experimental study designs, studies on severe mental illness, and studies including minority groups, adolescents, and older adults with mental health problems. Existing research is highly variable methodologically and limits our broader understanding of the relationships between ACEs, mental health, and social functioning outcomes. Future research should implement robust methodologies to provide evidence that could be used for developing evidence-based interventions.

Nurses suffering in silence: Addressing the stigma of mental health in nursing and healthcare.

Background: Smartphones play a critical role in increasing human–machine interactions, with many advantages. However, the growing popularity of smartphone use has led to smartphone overuse and addiction. This review aims to systematically investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on health outcomes. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review. Five electronic databases including Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched to identify eligible studies. Eligible studies were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria and data were extracted according to the review questions. This review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020181404). The quality of the articles was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Results: A total of 27 of 2550 articles met the inclusion criteria. All of the studies were cross-sectional and focused on physical, mental, and neurological health outcomes. The majority of the studies focused on mental health outcomes and consistent associations were observed between smartphone addiction and several mental health outcomes. Anxiety and depression were commonly found to mediate mental health problems. A wide range of physical health sequelae was also associated with smartphone addiction. Furthermore, there was an association between smartphone addiction and neurological disorders. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there are consistent associations between smartphone addiction and physical and mental health, especially mental health. Social awareness campaigns about smartphone addiction and its impact on physical and mental health are needed. Further studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are warranted to validate the impacts of smartphone addiction.

The mental health crisis among college students intensified amid the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting an urgent need for innovative solutions to support them. Previous efforts to address mental health concerns have been constrained, often due to the underuse or shortage of services. Mobile health (mHealth) technology holds significant potential for providing resilience-building support and enhancing access to mental health care. This study aimed to examine the trends in mental health and well-being outcomes over 3 years among college students, with an exploratory aim to assess the potential impact of the Roadmap mHealth app on these outcomes. A fully automated longitudinal observational study was conducted remotely from a large public academic institution in the Midwestern United States, evaluating mental health and well-being outcomes among college students using the Roadmap mHealth app over 3 fall semesters from 2020 to 2022. The study enrolled 2164 college students in Year I, with 1128 and 1033 students returning in Years II and III, respectively. Participants completed various self-reported measures, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 for anxiety, and additional metrics for coping, flourishing, and loneliness. The findings indicated an evolving trajectory in students' mental health. In Year I, depression and anxiety levels were higher compared with levels reported between 2014 and 2019, remaining stable into Year II. However, significant decreases were noted by Year III for both depression (Year I mean 7.78, SD 5.65 vs Year III mean 6.21, SD 4.68; t108=-2.90; P=.01) and anxiety (Year I mean 6.61, SD 4.91 vs Year III mean 5.62, SD 4.58; t116=-2.02; P=.046). Problem-focused coping decreased initially from Year I (mean 2.46, SD 0.58) to Year II (mean 2.36, SD 0.60; t1073=-5.87; P<.001), then increased by Year III (mean 2.40, SD 0.63; t706=2.26; P=.02). Emotion-focused (Year I mean 2.33, SD 0.41 vs Year III mean 2.22, SD 0.47; t994=-7.47; P<.001) and avoidant coping (Year I mean 1.76, SD 0.37 vs Year III mean 1.65, SD 0.38; t997=-8.53; P=.02) consistently decreased. Loneliness significantly decreased from Year I (mean 5.79, SD 1.74) to Year III (mean 5.17, SD 1.78; t1013=-10.74; P<.001), accompanied by an increase in flourishing from Year I (mean 63.78, SD 14.76) to Year III (mean 66.98, SD 15.06; t994=7.22; P<.001). Analysis of app usage indicated that the positive piggy bank and gratitude journal were the favored activities. Greater engagement with the app was positively correlated with enhanced flourishing, even after adjusting for demographic and sociobehavioral factors (β=.04, SE .016; t3974=2.17; P=.03). In this study, students' mental health and well-being improved, with notable reductions in depression, anxiety, and loneliness, associated with an increase in flourishing. The app did not appear to worsen students' mental health. Based on the usage pattern, it is possible the app enhanced positive psychology-based practices. Future research should explore the efficacy of mHealth interventions through randomized controlled trials to further understand their impact on college students' mental health outcomes. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04766788; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04766788. RR2-10.2196/29561.

This review summarizes all studies that compare the effect of a MBSR program to a control group intervention, in which the participants had been randomly allocated to be in either the MBSR group or a control group. The review summarizes the results in two categories. First, where the effect of the MBSR program was compared to an inactive group (either a wait list group or one receiving ordinary care also received by the MBSR group). Second, where MBSR was compared with an alternative active group intervention. Based on this review it is reasonable to consider MBSR a moderately well-documented method for helping adults improve their health and cope better with the challenges and stress that life brings. New research should improve the way the trials are conducted addressing the pitfalls in research on mind-body interventions.