The European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees was founded in 2022 as the official journal of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) to offer a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal with minimal article processing charges. The journal is edited by trainees and early career psychiatrists and published its first issue in July 2023. The journal aims to facilitate publishing experience and opportunities for trainees. To reflect the global identity and inclusivity of psychiatric research, the journal changed its name in 2023 to become the International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees.

To present the International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees, the successor of the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees, and other practical aspects related to the article submission.

We will reflect on the International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees, focusing on what this name change will imply for the journal’s scope, mission and readership.

Due to training programmes’ requirements or out of interest, psychiatric trainees are encouraged to conduct scientific research. However, several known barriers to scientific publishing exist, ranging from a lack of mentorship and supervision to limited scientific support. Like the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees, the International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees continues to be an open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal with minimal/no publication fees that publishes original and innovative research as well as clinical, theory, perspective, and policy articles and reviews in the field of psychiatric training, psychiatry, and mental health.

Since the difficulties and needs in creating research output are not exclusive to European trainees, the journal will become more attractive to readers and authors from other countries while increasing the diversity of articles.

The first International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees issue will be dedicated to the 31st EFPT Forum with the theme “Trainee Mental Health”, containing articles reporting on the projects from National Psychiatric Trainee Associations looking into trainee mental health. Submissions for the regular edition remain open, and articles should be submitted through the manuscript submission platform (https://ijpt.scholasticahq.com)

The International Journal of Psychiatric Trainees aims to be an educative scientific journal for psychiatric trainees and other psychiatry and mental health researchers. The name change and its increased openness will help the authors reach a wider readership while the journal can feature a more comprehensive record of psychiatric research through its global scope.

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To examine the association of co-morbidity with home-time after acute stroke and whether the association is influenced by age.

We conducted a province-wide study using linked administrative databases to identify all admissions for first acute ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage between 2007 and 2018 in Alberta, Canada. We used ischemic stroke-weighted Charlson Co-morbidity Index of 3 or more to identify those with severe co-morbidity. We used zero-inflated negative binomial models to determine the association of severe co-morbidity with 90-day and 1-year home-time, and logistic models for achieving ≥ 80 out of 90 days of home-time, assessing for effect modification by age and adjusting for sex, stroke type, comprehensive stroke center care, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, year of study, and separately adjusting for estimated stroke severity. We also evaluated individual co-morbidities.

Among 28,672 patients in our final cohort, severe co-morbidity was present in 27.7% and was associated with lower home-time, with a greater number of days lost at younger age (−13 days at age < 60 compared to −7 days at age 80+ years for 90-day home-time; −69 days at age < 60 compared to −51 days at age 80+ years for 1-year home-time). The reduction in probability of achieving ≥ 80 days of home-time was also greater at younger age (−22.7% at age < 60 years compared to −9.0% at age 80+ years). Results were attenuated but remained significant after adjusting for estimated stroke severity and excluding those who died. Myocardial infarction, diabetes, and cancer/metastases had a greater association with lower home-time at younger age, and those with dementia had the greatest reduction in home time.

Severe co-morbidity in acute stroke is associated with lower home-time, more strongly at younger age.

This study describes the illness burden in the first year of life for children with single-ventricle heart disease, using the metric of days alive and out of hospital to characterize morbidity and mortality.

This is a retrospective single-centre study of single-ventricle patients born between 2005 and 2021 who had their initial operation performed at our institution. Patient demographics, anatomical details, and hospitalizations were extracted from our institutional single-ventricle database. Days alive and out of hospital were calculated by subtracting the number of days hospitalized from number of days alive during the first year of life. A multivariable linear regression with stepwise variable selection was used to determine independent risk factors associated with fewer days alive and out of hospital.

In total, 437 patients were included. Overall median number of days alive and out of hospital in the first year of life for single-ventricle patients was 278 days (interquartile range 157–319 days). In a multivariable analysis, low birth weight (<2.5kg) (b = −37.55, p = 0.01), presence of a dominant right ventricle (b = −31.05, p = 0.01), moderate-severe dominant atrioventricular valve regurgitation at birth (b = −37.65, p < 0.05), index hybrid Norwood operation (b = −138.73, p < 0.01), or index heart transplant (b = −158.41, p < 0.01) were all independently associated with fewer days alive and out of hospital.

Children with single-ventricle heart defects have significant illness burden in the first year of life. Identifying risk factors associated with fewer days alive and out of hospital may aid in counselling families regarding expectations and patient prognosis.

Risk factors that contribute to brain pathology and cognitive decline among older adults include demographic factors (e.g., age, educational attainment), genetic factors, health factors, and depression (Plassman et al., 2010). Variability within an individual’s performance across cognitive tasks is referred to as dispersion (Hultsch et al., 2002), which appears sensitive to subtle cognitive impairments associated with neurodegenerative pathology in older adults (Bangen et al., 2019; Kälin et al., 2014). Thaler and colleagues (2015) found that dispersion across domains of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was a useful indicator of cognitive changes associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. Also, research by Manning and colleagues (2021) found that elevated ratings of depression and anxiety in older adults was associated with greater dispersion across neuropsychological testing. The present study aimed to replicate findings that greater dispersion in neuropsychological performance is associated with impaired neurocognitive performance and greater self-reported depression among older adults who present for neuropsychological evaluation with cognitive concerns.

Neuropsychological testing data was obtained from a university hospital. Chart reviews were conducted on 369 participants who met initial criteria (60 years or older with testing data from the RBANS Form A, Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, and Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]). Retrospective analyses were conducted on a final sample of 293 participants from 60 to 94 years old (Mage = 74.41, SDage = 7.43; 179 females, 114 males). Diagnoses were used for group comparisons between cognitively intact individuals with subjective cognitive complaints (SCC, n = 49), persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (mND, n =137), and persons with Major Neurocognitive Disorder (MND, n = 107).

As expected, results indicated that higher dispersion was related to lower Total RBANS Scores (r = -0.54, p < .001) and significant differences across diagnostic groupings (F(2, 289) = 29.19, p < 0.001; SCC, mND, MND) indicated that variability in performance was an indicator of greater neurocognitive impairment. Contrary to expectations, greater dispersion was very weakly associated with lower reported depressive symptomatology (r = -0.13, p = 0.03). A three-stage hierarchical linear regression was conducted with the RBANS Coefficient of Variation (CoV) as the dependent variable and three predictor variables (Age, Total RBANS, Total GDS). The regression analysis results indicated that age was not a significant predictor, but both Total RBANS and GDS Scores were. The most important predictor was Total RBANS Scores which uniquely explained 21% of the variation in dispersion.

This study adds to the current literature regarding the clinical utility of dispersion in neuropsychological performance as an indicator of early and subtle neurocognitive impairment. Depressive symptom reporting was expected to help predict the degree of variability, but this factor was only weakly associated with the RBANS CoV.

Limitations of this study include its retrospective use of archival data and the restricted range on some variables of interest. Further research is needed to examine the relative utility of different measures of dispersion and why increased cognitive performance variability is related to neurocognitive impairment and decline.

Sleep problems associated with poor mental health and academic outcomes may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To describe sleep in undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This longitudinal analysis included data from 9523 students over 4 years (2018–2022), associated with different pandemic phases. Students completed a biannual survey assessing risk factors, mental health symptoms and lifestyle, using validated measures. Sleep was assessed with the Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI-8). Propensity weights and multivariable log-binomial regressions were used to compare sleep in four successive first-year cohorts. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine changes in sleep over academic semesters and years.

There was an overall decrease in average SCI-8 scores, indicating worsening sleep across academic years (average change −0.42 per year; P-trend < 0.001), and an increase in probable insomnia at university entry (range 18.1–29.7%; P-trend < 0.001) before and up to the peak of the pandemic. Sleep improved somewhat in autumn 2021, when restrictions loosened. Students commonly reported daytime sleep problems, including mood, energy, relationships (36–48%) and concentration, productivity, and daytime sleepiness (54–66%). There was a consistent pattern of worsening sleep over the academic year. Probable insomnia was associated with increased cannabis use and passive screen time, and reduced recreation and exercise.

Sleep difficulties are common and persistent in students, were amplified by the pandemic and worsen over the academic year. Given the importance of sleep for well-being and academic success, a preventive focus on sleep hygiene, healthy lifestyle and low-intensity sleep interventions seems justified.

Psychiatry training programs vary in the degree to which they offer trainees with an opportunity to get involved in research. Exposure to research during the training period is critical, as this is usually when trainees start their own scientific research projects and gain their first experiences in academic publishing.

We present the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees (EJPT) (ejpt.scholasticahq.com), the official journal of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT), including its scope, mission and vision and practical considerations.

Reflecting on the foundation and operation of the European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees.

The European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees is an Open Access, double blind peer-reviewed journal which aims to publish original and innovative research as well as clinical, theory, perspective and policy articles, and reviews in the field of psychiatric training, psychiatry and mental health. Its mission is to encourage research on psychiatric training and inspire scientific engagement by psychiatric trainees. Work conducted by psychiatric trainees and studies of training in psychiatry are prioritized. The journal is open to submissions, and while articles from psychiatric trainees are prioritized, submissions within scope from others are also encouraged. The article processing fee is very low and waivable. It is planned to publish two issues yearly.

The first article was published in July 2022, titled “Fluoxetine misuse by snorting in a teenager: a case report” and it received 218 views as of 17 October 2022, which confirms the journal’s potential for visibility.

The European Journal of Psychiatric Trainees is a non-profit initiative designed to offer psychiatric trainees a platform to publish and gain experience in publishing. Thanks to its robust double blind peer reviewing system, it has the potential to contribute to scientific excellence.

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