Gaming disorder has become a global concern and it could have a variety of health and social consequences. The trauma model has been applied to the understanding of different types of addictions as behavioral addictions can sometimes be conceptualized as self-soothing strategies to avoid trauma-related stressors or triggers. However, much less is known about the relationship between trauma exposure and gaming disorder.

To inform prevention and intervention strategies and to facilitate further research, we conducted the first scoping review to explore and summarize the literature on the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder.

A systematic search was conducted on the Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest. We looked for original studies published in English that included a measure of trauma exposure and a measure of gaming disorder symptoms, as well as quantitative data regarding the relationship between trauma exposure and gaming disorder.

The initial search generated 412 articles, of which 15 met the inclusion criteria. All of them were cross-sectional studies, recruiting participants from both clinical and non-clinical populations. Twelve of them (80%) reported significant correlations between trauma exposure and the severity of gaming disorder symptoms (r = 0.18 to 0.46, p < 0.010). Several potential mediators, including depressive symptoms and dissociative experiences, have been identified. One study found that parental monitoring moderated the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder symptoms. No studies reported the prevalence of trauma or trauma-related symptoms among people with gaming disorder.

There is some evidence supporting the association between trauma and gaming disorder, at small to medium effect sizes. Future studies should investigate the mediators and moderators underlying the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder. The longitudinal relationship between trauma exposure and the development of gaming disorder should be clarified. A trauma-informed approach may be a helpful strategy to alleviate gaming disorder symptoms.

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People with mental illness often experience a concealable stigmatized identity that may be invisible to others. As a result, they are often faced with the dilemmas of whether to disclosure or conceal their diagnosis and their experience. However, in order to overcome the social stigma and self-stigma that hinder their recovery, they must establish a network and social support through identity disclosure.

This study investigates the effect of clinical characteristics (symptom and social function level), self-stigma and social support on the disclosure of people with mental illness.

The research was conducted with 236 respondents who are currently using community mental health services. (Male: 51.9%, Female: 48.1%; Mean age = 47.97±13.24; SPR: 66.8%, other diagnosis: 33.2%).

Most respondents disclosed their mental illness to health service providers and family, but they are least open about their identity toward neighbors and co-workers. A regression analysis of predictors of disclosure revealed that only social functioning level and social support had significant predictive power. It was discovered that individuals with better level of social function and social support disclosure more about their mental illness.

A program that increases social functions and support network can be recommended to improve disclosure efficacy.

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Although there is an increasing interest in making mental health services (MHS) accessible to youths, there is limited ground-up involvement of youths while designing MHS in Asian settings.

This qualitative study sought to understand what youths considered as important elements of youth centric MHS and how these could be designed to improve access by youths in Singapore.

We conducted seven focus group discussions, and four semi-structured interviews with 50 multiracial youths aged 15-35 years in Singapore - a high-income Southeast Asian country. Purposive sampling allowed adequate representation of age, gender, and race (mainly Chinese, Malay, and Indian) groups. Participants reflected on the features of an ideal MHS for youths and how these could improve youths’ attitude and access to services. Participants also shared their preferences and additional opinions for culturally tailored and age appropriate MHS. Framework analysis using the ‘Conceptual Framework of Access to Healthcare’ (Levesque et al. Int J Equity Health 2013, 12:18) was used to code transcripts and identify the key themes (Ritchie & Spencer. In Analyzing qualitative data, 1994).

The average age of the participants was 24 years. About one third of the participants had accessed MHS in the past. Three key themes were identified – making facilities ‘approachable’, ‘available and appropriate’ and ‘affordable’. (i) Making facilities approachable related to having non-stigmatizing, non-threatening and welcoming aesthetics, organizational culture, and personnel. The participants also recommended a range of professional services, digital tools, and online features to enhance the approachability of MHS designed for youths. (ii) Flexible operating hours, easy appointment management, accessible location, and easy availability to youths with unique needs (e.g., employed youths) or socio-cultural backgrounds were necessary for making facilities available and accessible to youths. (iii) While sharing challenges of family involvement in the help-seeking process, most of the participants, particularly those in the lower ages, talked about tailoring MHS to the ability of youths to pay for the services. Preferences such as having cheaper services for teenagers and initial contacts, offering more non-medical but trained professionals, and considering shorter in-person counselling sessions, followed by free online options were brought up by the participants.

The study provided insights into multiple aspects of MHS and how these could be designed to cater to the needs of youths in Singapore from their perspective. MHS that incorporate non-stigmatizing, flexible, non-threatening and affordable design approaches could improve help-seeking and early interventions in youths.

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Majority of international guidelines for bipolar disorders are based on evidences from clinical trials. In contrast, the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Bipolar Disorder (KMAP-BP) was developed to adopt an expert-consensus paradigm which was more practical and specific to the atmosphere in Korea.

In this study, preferred medication strategies for acute mania over six consecutively published KMAP-BP (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022) were investigated.

A written survey using a nine-point scale was asked to Korean experts about the appropriateness of various treatment strategies and treatment agents. A written survey asked about the appropriateness of various treatment strategies and treatment agents commonly used by clinicians as the first-line.

The most preferred option for the initial treatment of mania was a combination of a mood stabilizer (MS) and an atypical antipsychotic (AAP) in every edition. Preference for combined treatment for euphoric mania increased, peaked in KMAP-BP 2010, and declined slightly. Either MS or AAP monotherapy was also considered a first-line strategy for mania, but not for all types of episodes, including mixed/psychotic mania. Among MSs, lithium and valproate are almost equally preferred except in the mixed subtype where valproate is the most recommended MS. The preference of valproate showed reverse U-shaped curve. This preference change of valproate may indicate the concern about teratotoxicity in women. Quetiapine, aripiprazole, and olanzapine were the preferred AAP for acute mania since 2014. This change might depend on the recent evidences and safety profile. In cases of unsatisfactory response to initial medications, switching or adding another first-line agent was recommended. The most notable changes over time included the increasing preference for AAPs.

The Korean experts have been increasingly convinced of the effectiveness of a combination therapy for acute mania. There have been evident preference changes: increased for AAP and decreased for carbamazepine.

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Population-wide restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic may create barriers to mental health diagnosis. This study aims to examine changes in the number of incident cases and the incidence rates of mental health diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By using electronic health records from France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the UK and claims data from the US, this study conducted interrupted time-series analyses to compare the monthly incident cases and the incidence of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol misuse or dependence, substance misuse or dependence, bipolar disorders, personality disorders and psychoses diagnoses before (January 2017 to February 2020) and after (April 2020 to the latest available date of each database [up to November 2021]) the introduction of COVID-related restrictions.

A total of 629,712,954 individuals were enrolled across nine databases. Following the introduction of restrictions, an immediate decline was observed in the number of incident cases of all mental health diagnoses in the US (rate ratios (RRs) ranged from 0.005 to 0.677) and in the incidence of all conditions in France, Germany, Italy and the US (RRs ranged from 0.002 to 0.422). In the UK, significant reductions were only observed in common mental illnesses. The number of incident cases and the incidence began to return to or exceed pre-pandemic levels in most countries from mid-2020 through 2021.

Healthcare providers should be prepared to deliver service adaptations to mitigate burdens directly or indirectly caused by delays in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions.

Nursing home residents may be particularly vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, a question is when and how often nursing homes should test staff for COVID-19 and how this may change as severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) evolves.

We developed an agent-based model representing a typical nursing home, COVID-19 spread, and its health and economic outcomes to determine the clinical and economic value of various screening and isolation strategies and how it may change under various circumstances.

Under winter 2023–2024 SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant conditions, symptom-based antigen testing averted 4.5 COVID-19 cases compared to no testing, saving $191 in direct medical costs. Testing implementation costs far outweighed these savings, resulting in net costs of $990 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services perspective, $1,545 from the third-party payer perspective, and $57,155 from the societal perspective. Testing did not return sufficient positive health effects to make it cost-effective [$50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) threshold], but it exceeded this threshold in ≥59% of simulation trials. Testing remained cost-ineffective when routinely testing staff and varying face mask compliance, vaccine efficacy, and booster coverage. However, all antigen testing strategies became cost-effective (≤$31,906 per QALY) or cost saving (saving ≤$18,372) when the severe outcome risk was ≥3 times higher than that of current omicron variants.

SARS-CoV-2 testing costs outweighed benefits under winter 2023–2024 conditions; however, testing became cost-effective with increasingly severe clinical outcomes. Cost-effectiveness can change as the epidemic evolves because it depends on clinical severity and other intervention use. Thus, nursing home administrators and policy makers should monitor and evaluate viral virulence and other interventions over time.

Poor cardiovascular health occurs with age and is associated with increased dementia risk, yet its impact on frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease has not been well established. Examining cardiovascular risk in a population with high genetic vulnerability provides an opportunity to assess the impact of lifestyle factors on brain health outcomes. In the current study, we examined whether systemic vascular burden associates with accelerated cognitive and brain aging outcomes in genetic FTLD.

166 adults with autosomal dominant FTLD (C9orf72 n= 97; GRN n= 34; MAPT n= 35; 54% female; Mage = 47.9; Meducation = 15.6 years) enrolled in the Advancing Research and Treatment for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Longitudinal FTD study (ALLFTD) were included. Participants completed neuroimaging and were screened for cardiovascular risk and functional impairment during a comprehensive neurobehavioral and medical interview. A vascular burden score (VBS) was created by summing vascular risk factors (VRS) [diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and sleep apnea] and vascular diseases (VDS) [cerebrovascular disease (e.g., TIA, CVA), cardiac arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation, pacemaker, defibrillator), coronary artery disease (e.g., myocardial infarction, cardiac bypass, stent), and congestive heart failure] following a previously developed composite (range 0 to 8). We examined the interaction between each vascular health metric (VBS, VDS, VRS) and age (vascular health*age) on clinical severity (CDR plus NACC FTLD-SB), and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume outcomes, adjusting for age and sex. Vascular risk, disease, and overall burden scores were examined in separate models.

There was a statistically significant interaction between total VBS and age on both clinical severity (ß=0.20, p=0.044) and WMH burden (ß=0.20, p=0.032). Mutation carriers with higher vascular burden evidenced worse clinical and WMH outcomes for their age. When breaking down the vascular burden score into (separate) vascular risk (VRS) and vascular disease (VDS) scores, the interaction between age and VRS remained significant only for WMH (ß=0.26, p=0.009), but not clinical severity (ß=0.04, p=0.685). On the other hand, the interaction between VDS and age remained significant only for clinical severity (ß=0.20, p=0.041) but not WMH (ß=0.17, p=0.066).

Our results demonstrate that systemic vascular burden is associated with an “accelerated aging” pattern on clinical and white matter outcomes in autosomal dominant FTLD. Specifically, mutation carriers with greater vascular burden show poorer neurobehavioral outcomes for their chronological age. When separating vascular risk from disease, risk was associated with higher age-related WMH burden, whereas disease was associated with poorer age-related clinical severity of mutation carriers. This pattern suggests preferential brain-related effects of vascular risk factors, while the functional impact of such factors may be more closely aligned with fulminant vascular disease. Our results suggest cardiovascular health may be an important, potentially modifiable risk factor to help mitigate the cognitive and behavioral disturbances associated with having a pathogenic variant of autosomal dominant FTLD. Future studies should continue to examine the neuropathological processes underlying the impact of cardiovascular risk in FTLD to inform more precise recommendations, particularly as it relates to lifestyle interventions.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP2) is produced peripherally, crosses the blood-brain barrier, and improves synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent cognition in aged mice; however, the role of TIMP2 in human cognitive aging is unclear. We examined associations of circulating TIMP2 levels in blood with a known plasticity-inducing behavior, physical activity, and cognitive functioning among older adults along the Alzheimer’s disease continuum.

Participants included 84 community-dwelling older adults (meanage = 78.8; 57% female; 82% cognitively normal; 14% MCI; 4% mild dementia; 35% PET Aß+) enrolled in the UC San Francisco Memory and Aging Center. All participants completed 30 days of observational FitbitTM monitoring to quantify physical activity (average daily steps), as well as a comprehensive in-person visit including blood draw (proteins assayed on SOMAscan platform), [18F]AV-45 positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify brain beta-amyloid (centiloids), and neuropsychological assessment. Composite cognitive z-scores were calculated for memory (California Verbal Learning Test-II [CVLT-II] and Benson Figure Recall), semantic processing (animal fluency and Boston Naming Test), and executive functioning (digits backwards span, Stroop inhibition, modified trail making test, lexical fluency, and design fluency). Multiple linear regression examined TIMP2 as a function of physical activity, covarying for age and PET centiloids. Additional regression models separately examined cognitive z-scores as a function of TIMP2, covarying for age, sex, education, PET centiloids, and body mass index (BMI).

TIMP2 was not significantly correlated with age, sex, education, or PET centiloids (ps > 0.05); however, TIMP2 was negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.23, p = 0.036). Greater average daily steps related to higher levels of TIMP2 (b = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.04-0.55, p = 0.022). TIMP2 also related to better semantic processing (b = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.04-0.51, p = 0.021) and executive functioning (b = 0.26, 95%CI = 0.03-0.49, p = 0.028). TIMP2 did not significantly relate to memory (p > 0.05).

Greater physical activity was associated with higher concentrations of blood factor TIMP2, which in turn related to better cognitive functioning independent of Alzheimer’s disease pathology burden. These results support previous mouse models by broadly replicating relationships between TIMP2 and cognition in humans, while also uniquely demonstrating an association between TIMP2 and physical activity, a modifiable protective factor in both typical and diseased cognitive aging. Our domain-specific results, however, suggest that benefits of TIMP2 in humans may involve a broader neuroanatomical network than the hippocampal-specific effects previously shown in mice. Although exact mechanisms of TIMP2 need further examination, TIMP2 is known to be enriched in human umbilical cord plasma, has been shown to be involved in cell-growth promoting activities, and may relate to increased neural plasticity in older age. Further examination of TIMP2 and other novel blood-based proteins as potential therapeutic targets for improved cognitive aging, including in the presence of Alzheimer’s disease, is warranted.

Excessive and persistent fear of clusters of holes, also known as trypophobia, has been suggested to reflect cortical hyperexcitability and may be associated with mental health risks. No study, however, has yet examined these associations in representative epidemiological samples.

To examine the prevalence of trypophobia in a population-representative youth sample, its association with mental health and functioning, and its interaction with external stress.

A total of 2065 young people were consecutively recruited from a household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. Trypophobia, symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, and exposure to personal stressors were assessed. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationships between trypophobia and mental health. Potential additive and interaction effects of trypophobia and high stress exposure on mental health were also tested.

The prevalence of trypophobia was 17.6%. Trypophobia was significantly associated with severe symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.32–2.53), depression (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.24–2.56) and stress (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.11–2.53), even when accounting for sociodemographic factors, personal and family psychiatric history, resilience and stress exposure. Dose–response relationships were observed, and trypophobia significantly potentiated the effects of stress exposure on symptom outcomes, particularly for depressive symptoms. Those with trypophobia also showed significantly poorer functioning across domains and poorer health-related quality of life.

Screening for trypophobia in young people may facilitate early risk detection and intervention, particularly among those with recent stress exposure. Nevertheless, the generally small effect sizes suggest that other factors have more prominent roles in determining recent mental health outcomes in population-based samples; these should be explored in future work.

Self-compassion (SC) describes an emotionally positive attitude extended toward ourselves when we suffer, consisting of three main components; self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness (Germer & Neff, 2013). SC entails being warm and understanding towards ourselves when encountering pain or personal shortcomings, rather than ignoring them or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism. SC also involves recognizing that suffering and failure are part of the shared human experience rather than isolating. In addition, SC requires taking a mindful approach to one’s feelings and thoughts, without judgment of them.

Self-compassion (SC) involves taking an emotionally positive attitude towards oneself when suffering. Although SC has positive effects on mental well-being as well as a protective role in preventing depression and anxiety in healthy individuals, few studies on white matter (WM) microstructures in neuroimaging studies of SC has been studied.

Magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 71 healthy participants with measured levels of SC and its six subscales. Mirroring network as WM regions of interest were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). After the WM regions associated with SC were extracted, exploratory correlation analysis with the self-forgiveness scale, the coping scale, and the world health organization quality of life scale abbreviated version was performed.

We found that self-compassion scale (SCS) total scores were negatively correlated with the fractional anisotropy (FA) values of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in healthy individuals. The self-kindness and mindfulness subscale scores of SCS were also negatively correlated with FA values of the same regions. The FA values of SLF related to SC were found to be negatively correlated with the total scores of self-forgiveness scale, and self-control coping strategy and confrontation coping strategy.

Our findings suggest that levels of SC and its self-kindness and mindfulness components may be negatively associated with DMN-related WM microstructures in healthy individuals. These less WM microstructures may be associated with positive personal attitudes, such as self-forgiveness, self-control and active confrontational strategies.

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Panic disorders (PD) are associated with suicidality. The link between PD and suicide has been suggested to be depression; however, this remains controversial. Comprehensive research on the history of suicide attempts (SAs) in patients with PD is scarce.

This study investigated the characteristics and pharmacological short- and long-term treatment responses of patients with PD, with or without SAs. Moreover, a network analysis was conducted to investigate the central symptoms and their connection to suicidality among SA-related variables with and without SAs.

We investigated the characteristics of SAs in patients with PD using PD-related scales, magnetic resonance imaging, and network approaches. A total of 1151 subjects were enrolled, including 755 patients with PD (97 with SA and 658 without SA) and 396 healthy controls. Suicide and PD-related scales were also administered.

Our results revealed that the scores of all symptom severities were significantly higher in the PD+SA group than in the PD-SA group. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that short- and long-term pharmacological treatment responses were significantly poor in the PD+SA group. Network analysis showed that fear of cognitive dyscontrol (FCD) was the strongest central symptom among strength, expected influence (1 and 2 step), randomized shortest path betweenness, and eigenvector centrality measures in PD+SA, whereas depression was the central symptom in PD-SA.Table 1.Results of multiple regression analysis to predict treatment response for patients with panic disorder.

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Our results suggest that SA history could be associated with high symptom severity and poor pharmacological treatment response in patients with PD and that FCD is the central symptom in the PD+SA network.

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