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A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looked at the impact of COVID-19 on psychopathology in children and young people worldwide. “Our study is about tracking what the changes were in children and adolescents’ mental health from before the pandemic to during the pandemic, by bringing together findings from lots of research published in the last two years,” study author Abigail Emma Russell told us. [More]

35% of children injured with a firearm receive a new mental health diagnosis in the year following their injury. Data published recently in the Anals of Surgery found that child survivors of firearm injury have high rates of new mental health diagnoses, even when compared with children who have injuries in motor vehicle accidents. [More]

A new study published in Health Services Research looked at the effect of mental health staffing on suicide-related events. “We wanted to answer a seemingly simple question: does increasing mental health staffing at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities reduce suicide-related events?” study author Yevgeniy Feyman told us. “While this seems straightforward on its face, the existing evidence is mixed. Some work has found that staffing reduces suicide related events, while others have found no effect.” [More]

“Our study is about estimating the population level mental health impacts of sexual violence experiences in mid-adolescence and understanding whether and to what extent sexual violence contributes to the gender gap in mental health problems in adolescence,” study author Francesca Bentivegna told us. “We did this by examining the link between sexual violence and psychological distress, self-harm, and attempted suicide, in both girls and boys aged 14-17 years. We also estimated the effect of eliminating sexual violence at this stage (in a hypothetical scenario) on mental health problems.” [More]

27% of Americans say they are so stressed they can’t function. A poll from the American Psychological Association (APA) found that more than a quarter of Americans are facing significant stressors due to external stressors that are beyond their personal control. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research looked at the performance of machine learning models in predicting suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths. “My study sought to quantify the ability of existing machine learning models to predict future suicide-related events,” study author Karen Kusuma told us. “While there are other research studies examining a similar question, my study is the first to use clinically relevant and statistically appropriate performance measures for the machine learning studies.” [More]

A new study published in Psychiatry Research looked at whether perceived stress can be linked to enhanced cognitive functioning and a reduced risk for psychopathology. “Our study tested whether low to moderate levels of perceived stress are associated with benefits in cognitive functions and mental health,” study author Assaf Oshri told us. “We relied on the Hormesis model, which is from the field of toxicology- assuming that not all stress is bad for the organism and that there is a threshold of stress from which stress is bad for you.” [More]

A new study published in the NeuroReport for Rapid Communication of Neuroscience Research looked at high-frequency ultrasound exposure and whether it could improve depressive-like behavior in an olfactory bulbectomized rat model of depression. “It is well known that whole-body exposure to high frequency ultrasound increases brain activity in humans,” study author Akiyoshi Saitoh. “However, little is known about its impact and associated mechanisms on emotional states like depression. In the present study, we demonstrated the anti-depressant effects of ultrasound exposure in a rodent model of depression.” [More]

A new study in the works published in the BMJ Open is looking at community-engaged mental health promotion intervention with Bhutanese people resettled in Western Massachusetts. The current research project will be among the first to adapt and pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of a family-based, community-led, culturally tailored, integrated preventative behavior intervention to reduce immigrant stress. The study will lay the basis for a clinical trial with a large, adequately powered sample. If effective, this community-engaged intervention may be applied more widely to other immigrants and the general population. [More]

A new study published in JAMA looked at the long-term risk of overdose or mental health crisis after opioid dose tapering. “We have published results showing that opioid tapering after long-term stable dosing was associated with overdose and mental health crisis events during a one-year follow-up period,” study author Joshua J. Fenton told us. “We wanted to assess the longer-term outcomes associated with tapering.” [More]