Schizophrenia (SCZ) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are associated with physical decline and motor dysfunction, but objective wearable-based motor assessments remain underutilized in psychiatric research. This study compared handgrip strength (HGS) and gait features between healthy controls (HCs) and individuals with SCZ or AUD using wearable sensors. A total of 434 participants (HCs: n = 210; AUD: n = 80; SCZ: n = 144) completed instrumented Timed Up and Go, walking, and HGS tests. Fifteen motor features were extracted and analyzed using multivariable linear regression adjusted for age, sex, and BMI. Five features—HGS, relative HGS (rHGS), walk quality index, symmetry index, and mid-turning phase duration—significantly differentiated one or both diagnostic groups from HCs. In AUD, rHGS showed moderate associations with multiple gait parameters, consistent with more widespread motor dysfunction. In SCZ, these associations were weaker, suggesting reduced coupling between upper- and lower-limb motor function. Both groups showed reduced HGS and gait alterations, but with distinct coordination patterns. These findings support wearable-based grip and gait metrics as scalable and objective motor functional markers in SCZ and AUD.

Poorer language ability is a known risk factor for elevated depressive symptoms. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying this association remain underexplored. Utilizing data from a comprehensive pre-birth cohort in Singapore (N = 473; 49.9% boys; 57.3% Chinese, 27.9% Malay, 14.8% Indian), the present study examined whether (i) self-concept domains mediate the association between early language ability and depressive symptoms during preadolescence, and (ii) these indirect pathways differ by child sex. Children’s early language ability was assessed at ages 2 and 4 using standardized assessments of vocabulary and phonological processing. Self-concept and depressive symptoms were measured at ages 8.5 and 10, respectively. Results indicated that the domain of behavioral adjustment mediated the relationship between early language ability and subsequent depressive symptoms for girls (β = −0.07, 95% CI [−0.15, −0.01]), whereas happiness and satisfaction served as a key mediator for boys (β = −0.12, 95% CI [−0.24, −0.03]). After accounting for these mediators, there was no direct association between early language ability and depressive symptoms. These findings highlight potential sex-specific mechanisms through which early language ability is prospectively associated with depressive symptoms. Future research is necessary to determine whether enhancing self-concept can mitigate depressive symptoms in children with early language difficulties.

This study investigates how practice conditions—specifically spacing and contextual variation—affect incidental vocabulary learning during second language reading. While repeated encounters with unfamiliar words support lexical acquisition, it remains unclear how the distribution of exposures and consistency of surrounding contexts modulate this process. Ninety-two Catalan/Spanish bilingual learners of English read texts of approximately 900 words containing 20 pseudowords, which served as novel vocabulary items, under two conditions: three readings of the same text or one reading of three different texts. Each target pseudoword appeared six times across the three readings. Repeated reading was either massed (one session) or spaced over three weekly sessions. Eye movements were recorded to assess online processing of target pseudowords. Results showed that spaced and contextually varied conditions elicited more and longer fixations, indicating increased processing demands. These more difficult conditions were not desirable as they did not facilitate recall or recognition of new vocabulary. Instead, immediate vocabulary gains were greater in the massed condition, which was less cognitively demanding during reading, though these gains declined more sharply. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of practice conditions depends on how well they support processing of previously encountered novel words at an optimal level of difficulty.

The study evaluated a training programme adapted from the WHO mhGAP to enhance suicide prevention knowledge, attitudes, and confidence among 436 Community Health Workers (CHWs) in India. A pre–post intervention design assessed outcomes at four time points using a structured questionnaire, analysed via repeated-measures ANOVA. Mean knowledge scores increased from 6.32 ± 0.14 at baseline to 11.12 ± 0.12 post-training, then levelled off at 10.10 ± 0.14 and 10.10 ± 0.13 at 6 and 12 months, respectively; similarly, mean confidence scores increased from 4.96 ± 0.11 to 7.84 ± 0.11, remaining at 7.28 ± 0.10 and 7.44 ± 0.10 at the same time points. Mean attitude scores changed slightly from 41.00 ± 0.38 to 42.72 ± 0.43 over 12 months, indicating increased negative attitudes. Knowledge and confidence scores across time points were statistically significant (p < 0.05); however, this was not observed for attitude scores. Improvements were associated with CHW cadre and educational status. Post-training, CHWs demonstrated sustained improvements in knowledge and confidence for identifying, referring, and managing suicidal behaviour over 12 months, with those having lower baseline scores improving uniformly following the programme.

Problematic Internet use, defined as excessive, disproportionate, or inappropriate use of the Internet leading to distress, significant time consumption, and impaired normal functioning in various crucial life domains, is emerging as a major issue in many developed countries. The growing interest in exploring this phenomenon has led to the proliferation of assessment tools designed to evaluate it. The present study aims to adapt Basque the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 (GPIUS-2), a questionnaire specifically designed to assess the cognitive and behavioral aspects of problematic Internet use and its associated consequences, and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the new instrument. The study was carried out with two independent samples, one composed of adults (n = 283, 18–62 years of age, 56.5% female) and the other of adolescents (n = 943, 11–16 years of age, 52.0% female). Three models were tested by confirmatory factor analysis: a one-dimensional model, the original five-factor model, and a four-factor model. The results indicated that both the 4-factor and 5-factor models obtained adequate fit indices, and consequently, the most parsimonious model was chosen. Invariance testing revealed comparable measurement properties of the GPIUS-2 in both men and women, and adults and adolescents. Furthermore, the scores of the GPIUS-2 subscales revealed strong positive correlations with Internet addiction and moderate positive correlations with depression, anxiety, and stress. The results therefore indicate that the Basque version of GPIUS-2 is a reliable instrument with adequate evidence of validity that will enable professionals to assess problematic Internet use in this population.

Whether listening to different talkers improves or impedes word identification has important implications for theory and practice. Yet, past research on children with hearing devices shows discrepant findings. This study tested 22 children with typical hearing (mean 5;0) and 20 with hearing devices (mean 4;11) on a remote, online 4-alternative forced-choice task (with a 4-picture display) delivered on iPads, with blocks containing 1 vs. 6 different talkers. All words were familiar to young children and were minimal pairs contrasting in voicing and place of articulation in the word-initial and word-final positions. Word identification was worse for place contrasts occurring word finally when listening to different talkers, but no effect was found for voicing contrasts. A consistent position effect was also found, where word identification was poorer across all word-final contrasts. However, no group differences were detected. These results suggest that even when listening to familiar words in good listening environments, the word-final position remains vulnerable to word misidentification, which can be further impeded by listening to different talkers. These effects impact children with and without hearing devices to a similar degree.

The present study investigated the effects of (in)congruence between a referent’s lifetime (alive vs. dead) and verb tense during language processing, assessing to what extent these effects are modulated by the source of referent-lifetime knowledge. A referent’s lifetime status (dead vs. alive) was conveyed either via a known famous (Experiment 1) or unknown (Experiment 2) name, or was primed non-linguistically via a photograph of a known famous referent (Experiment 3). The findings suggest that referent-lifetime information influenced the processing of verb tense across the different context sources, but not at the earliest point possible (the verb). Instead, lifetime-tense congruence effects emerged two words later (Experiments 1 and 2), or in the sentence-final region (Experiment 3). The presence and size of nested effects were graded by lifetime context: larger congruence effects were elicited by Experiment 1 than by Experiment 2 in both tenses, with significant effects in the present perfect condition only in Experiment 3. In all, referent-lifetime status modulated tense processing in the expected direction, but with variations in whether effects emerge in post-verb regions or at sentence-end depending on how referent-lifetime knowledge was accessed. This temporal variability needs to be considered in accommodating context effects in processing accounts.