Current Psychiatry Reports

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Compared to boys, girls value close relationships more. Thus, heightened affiliative proclivities may serve as a particularly salient psychosocial risk factor for depression in adolescent girls. The purpose of this review is to examine whether the preponderance of depression in girls is because of gender differences in interpersonal vulnerabilities and peer relationship stressors and/or in the associations between these factors and depression. RECENT FINDINGS: Girls (vs...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize the current literature regarding youth suicidality (suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, and completed suicide) in the context of disasters. RECENT FINDINGS: There are fewer studies that examine the effect of disasters on suicidality specifically in children and youth than studies that focus on adults or general population. Numerous studies have reported on the effect of disasters on youth mental health in general without zeroing in on suicide risk...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review recent research regarding cognitive problems during perimenopause, including which menopause-related symptoms, demographic variables, stress exposures, and neural biomarkers are associated with cognitive problems and which interventions demonstrate efficacy at improving cognitive performance. RECENT FINDINGS: Cognitive problems are common during perimenopause and have a significant impact on a substantial proportion of women. Evidence continues to indicate that verbal learning and verbal memory are the cognitive functions that are most negatively affected during perimenopause, and new research suggests that perimenopause may also be associated with deficits in processing speed, attention, and working memory...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Weight gain is a disconcerting issue experienced by patients treated with antipsychotics (APs). This review summarizes current knowledge on the prevalence, etiology, and risk factors for antipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG), and evidence for interventions, including special considerations. RECENT FINDINGS: Predisposing risk factors for AIWG include lack of prior AP exposure, sex, and age. AP dose and duration of exposure are additional treatment-related factors that may contribute to this issue...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review highlights recent advances in the prediction and treatment of psychotic conversion. Over the past 25 years, research into the prodromal phase of psychotic illness has expanded with the promise of early identification of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis who are likely to convert to psychosis. RECENT FINDINGS: Meta-analyses highlight conversion rates between 20 and 30% within 2-3 years using existing clinical criteria while research into more specific risk factors, biomarkers, and refinement of psychosis risk calculators has exploded, improving our ability to predict psychotic conversion with greater accuracy...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In this review, we embrace the emerging field of second-person neuroscience to address disorganization in schizophrenia. We argue that the focus of interest for disorganization is the interpersonal space where shared mental processes ('social mind') occur based on the bio-behavioural synchrony between two (or more) interacting people. We lay out several bio-behavioural measures that can capture the component parts of this process. In particular, we highlight the real-time imaging technology of hyperscanning that enables multi-person analysis of naturalistic social interaction...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The sleep-depression association has been recognized for decades. Efforts to clarify this association continue at an increasing pace. This review summarizes recent research on the sleep-depression association in older adults. RECENT FINDINGS: Research over the past 4 years has utilized cross-sectional, longitudinal, cohort, and intervention designs to examine these associations. Short (< 7 h) and long (> 8-9 h) sleep durations and insomnia symptoms are risk factors for depression in older adults...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We aimed to examine the factors that differentiate single and multiple suicide attempters in adult population. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to conduct this review and meta-analysis. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO. We carried out a systematic literature search in three databases to identify original studies that explored the differences between single and multiple suicide attempters among adult population...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The goal of this paper was to explore the different ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected violence against children (VAC). RECENT FINDINGS: Recent research of peer-reviewed articles using operational or survey data revealed the pandemic's impact in terms of institutional responses, risk and mediating factors, changes in VAC dynamics, and a likely increase in child marriage. Findings include a decrease in institutional responses, activities, and prevention case openings; an increased incidence of interparental intimate partner violence (IPV) witnessing cases, hospital admissions for suspected Abusive Head Trauma (AHT), other pediatric injuries, and sexual violence; a change in family conflict dynamics; and an estimated increase in child marriages...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize current literature available on sleep in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS; Velocardiofacial or DiGeorge Syndrome), a neurogenetic disorder caused by a hemizygous deletion in a genomic region critical for neurodevelopment. Due to the greatly increased risk of developmental psychiatric disorders (e.g., autism and schizophrenia) in 22q11.2DS, this review focuses on clinical correlates of sleep disturbances and potential neurobiological underpinnings of these relationships...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review discusses the current and projected landscape of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), with a focus on clinical, legal, and implementation considerations in Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare systems. RECENT FINDINGS: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- and psilocybin-assisted therapy have shown promising outcomes in efficacy, safety, tolerability, and durability for PTSD and depression, respectively...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: While there are reports of differences in emotion processing in autism, it is less understood whether the emotion of disgust, in particular, plays a significant role in these effects. Here, we review literature on potential disgust processing differences in autism and its possible associations with autistic traits. RECENT FINDINGS: In autism, there is evidence for differences in physical disgust processing, pica behaviors, attention away from other's disgust facial expressions, and differences in neural activity related to disgust processing...

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PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This systematic review aimed to distil recent literature investigating psychosocial factors which may account for the association between personality disorder (PD) and suicide attempt or suicide death. RECENT FINDINGS: Suicide risk is particularly elevated in people with PD compared to those with no, or many other, mental health diagnoses. Despite this, suicide prevention strategies for PD populations have not progressed markedly in recent years...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This examines significant trends and developments in the utilization of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) simulations in the field of mental health and education. The objective is to gain insights into the emerging applications of VR/AR in mental health interventions and their potential impact on patient outcomes. The review also includes personal observations on the effectiveness and challenges associated with VR/AR simulations and the rise of exciting, disruptive artificial intelligence large language models...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Pregnancy denial is the lack of awareness of being pregnant. The aim of the review is to understand why the affected women do not recognize the signs of pregnancy. RECENT FINDINGS: Twelve case reports of pregnancy denial were published in the last ten years. While in five cases the women had an underlying mental disorder, the rest of the cases involved women who either exhibited no physical symptoms or perceived themselves to be not pregnant despite the symptoms (i...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article seeks to provide a broad overview of the workplace mental health literature, highlight practical implications of current research, and formulate key recommendations for stakeholders. Various aspects of disability related to mental health disorders, their associated financial costs, and the impact of stigma are covered. This article also discusses key strategies for assessing mental health problems among employees and reviews different types of interventions in the workplace...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: All people-including Autistic people-deserve to live flourishing lives. But what does a flourishing life look like for Autistic people? We suggest that the hidden biases, methodological errors, and key assumptions of autism science have obscured answers to this question. Here, we seek to initiate a broader discussion about what the foundations for a good Autistic life might be and how this discussion might be framed. RECENT FINDINGS: We identify five ways in which autism science can help us all to secure those foundations, including by (1) giving Autistic well-being prominence in research, (2) amplifying Autistic autonomy, (3) attending better to everyday experiences, (4) acknowledging context, and (5) working in partnership with Autistic people and their families and allies to ensure that they are at the heart of research decision-making...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize factors contributing to the current state of pediatric mental health access in ED settings and synthesize the existing literature on the use of telepsychiatry to extend access to care, with particular focus on feasibility and sustainability. RECENT FINDINGS: Children are presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with mental health concerns at an increasing rate, while ED capacity to treat psychiatric needs in children remains insufficient...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: With the Internet allowing consumers easy access to fantasy and fictional sexual materials (FSM), it is becoming increasingly important to understand the context of their use among specific populations. Of particular, social, clinical, and legal interest is FSM use by people who are attracted to children and whether this may have a risk-enhancing or protective impact on their likelihood of committing a contact or non-contact sexual offence. RECENT FINDINGS: There is a lack of data currently available in relation to the use of FSM by those with sexual attractions to children...