To better understand and prevent research errors, we conducted a first-of-its-kind scoping review of clinical and translational research articles that were retracted because of problems in data capture, management, and/or analysis.

The scoping review followed a preregistered protocol and used retraction notices from the Retraction Watch Database in relevant subject areas, excluding gross misconduct. Abstracts of original articles published between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2020 were reviewed to determine if articles were related to clinical and translational research. We reviewed retraction notices and associated full texts to obtain information on who retracted the article, types of errors, authors, data types, study design, software, and data availability.

After reviewing 1,266 abstracts, we reviewed 884 associated retraction notices and 786 full-text articles. Authors initiated the retraction over half the time (58%). Nearly half of retraction notices (42%) described problems generating or acquiring data, and 28% described problems with preparing or analyzing data. Among the full texts that we reviewed: 77% were human research; 29% were animal research; and 6% were systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Most articles collected data de novo (77%), but only 5% described the methods used for data capture and management, and only 11% described data availability. Over one-third of articles (38%) did not specify the statistical software used.

Authors may improve scientific research by reporting methods for data capture and statistical software. Journals, editors, and reviewers should advocate for this documentation. Journals may help the scientific record self-correct by requiring detailed, transparent retraction notices.

Non-pharmacological treatment like psychotherapy is associated with less side effects than pharmacological treatment and is often considered first-line treatment towards psychiatric disorders. The extent and variation of psychotherapy treatment offered in Danish psychiatric clinics over time has not previously been studied.

To examine the nationwide use of psychotherapy treatment during 2001-2020 in individuals assigned with a psychiatric disorder diagnosis at Danish psychiatric clinics.

All Danish individuals aged ≥ 3 years, who were registered with 1) a psychiatric disorder diagnosis (F10-F99) or 2) had a first psychotherapy treatment during the study period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2020, were identified in the Danish National Patient Registry.

A total of 120,916 (27 %) study participants received psychotherapy treatment during the study period, most commonly individual psychotherapy (65 %) followed by group therapy (25 %). Adults (≥18 years) were more likely to receive therapy (34 %) than children and adolescents aged 3-17 years (15 %). The proportion of treated patients was highest among women (67 %) compared with men (33 %). The median age at first psychotherapy was 25 years (ranging from 19 to 33). 59 % of patients receiving psychotherapy had filled a psychotropic prescription within one year prior to therapy onset, particularly antidepressants (44 %) and antipsychotics (22 %).

The use of psychotherapy for treatment of psychiatric disorders is limited among Danish patients, although national clinical guidelines recommend it as first-line treatment of common conditions such as depressive, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

No significant relationships.

Hypnotic drug use in children and adolescents is widely debated.

To describe use of hypnotic drugs (melatonin, z-drugs and sedating antihistamines) among 5-24-year-old Scandinavians during 2012 to 2018.

Aggregate-level data from public data sources in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. We calculated annual prevalence (users/1000 inhabitants) stratified by sex, age group and country. Quantity of use (Defined Daily Dose (DDD)/user/day) was estimated for Norway and Denmark.

Melatonin was most frequently used, with an increase from 2012 to 2018 in all countries. Sweden presented the highest rise (7 to 25/1,000) compared to Denmark (6 to 12/1,000) and Norway (10 to 20/1,000). The increase was strongest for females and 15-24-year-olds. Melatonin use was twice as common for males under age 15 years, and slightly more common for females thereafter. The annual prevalence of sedating antihistamine use doubled from 7 to 13/1,000 in Sweden, whereas it was more stable in Norway and Denmark, reaching 8/1,000 and 3/1,000, respectively. Z-drug use decreased in all countries, lowering to 4/1,000 in Sweden and Norway in 2018 and 2/1,000 in Denmark. The quantity of hypnotic use in Norway and Denmark was 1 DDD/user/day for melatonin, as compared to 0.1-0.3 for z-drugs and antihistamines.

There is an increasing use of melatonin and sedating antihistamines among Scandinavian children, adolescents and young adults. The increase is more pronounced in Sweden compared to Norway and Denmark. This Scandinavian discrepancy could reflect variation in frequency of sleep problems or national variation in clinical practice or health care access.

No significant relationships.

The Nordic countries have similar health care and welfare systems, and rather homogenous populations. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect similar use of psychotropic drugs. However, recent studies show marked differences in a range of psychotropic drug classes among children and adolescents in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

To review the literature regarding psychotropic drug use among children and adolescents in the Nordic countries.

We performed a critical systematic literature review according to PRISMA guidelines and registered the study protocol at PROSPERO. Three scientific databases were used: PsycINFO, EMBASE and PubMed. Inclusion criteria were: 1) Age: 3-19 years, 2) Country: Denmark, including Faroe Islands and Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, including Aland, and Iceland, 3) Drug of interest: Psychotropics, including Antidepressants, ADHD medication, antipsychotics, hypnotics, anxiolytics, 4) Population based study sample, 5) Observational study design, 6) Original data, 7) English language, 8) Publication date: 2010-2021. The review process was performed by four reviewers in three steps: 1) title/abstract screening, 2) full text screening, and 3) data extraction, including risk of bias assessment. Before study initiation, acceptable interrater reliability was ensured by pilot tests.

The literature search was conducted October 6th, 2021. The PsycINFO database gave 285 hits, EMBASE 1190 hits and PubMed 2185 hits. In total, the literature search gave 3660 hits, of which 294 were duplicates, leaving us with 3366 references. The first screening phase is in process and results will be presented at the EPA conference.

The results of the systematic review will be interpreted and discussed.

No significant relationships.

Refugees and asylum-seekers are typically exposed to multiple potentially traumatic events (PTEs) in the context of war, persecution and displacement, which confer elevated risk for psychopathology. There are significant limitations, however, in extant approaches to measuring these experiences in refugees. The current study aimed to identify profiles of PTE exposure, and the associations between these profiles and key demographics, contextual factors (including ongoing stressors, method of travel to Australia and separation from family), mental health and social outcomes, in a large sample of refugees resettled in Australia.

Participants were 1085 from Arabic, Farsi, Tamil and English-speaking refugee backgrounds who completed an online or pen-and-paper survey in their own language. Constructs measured included PTE exposure, demographics, pre-displacement factors, ongoing stressors, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, depression symptoms, anger reactions, plans of suicide and social engagement.

Latent class analysis identified four profiles of PTE exposure, including the torture and pervasive trauma class, the violence exposure class, the deprivation exposure class and the low exposure class. Compared to the low exposure class, participants in the trauma-exposed classes were more likely to be male, highly educated, from Farsi and Tamil-speaking backgrounds, have travelled to Australia by boat, experience more ongoing stressors and report both greater psychological symptoms and social engagement.

This study found evidence for four distinct profiles of PTE exposure in a large sample of resettled refugees, and that these were associated with different demographic, psychological and social characteristics. These findings suggest that person-centred approaches represent an important potential avenue for investigation of PTE exposure in refugees, particularly with respect to identifying subgroups of refugees who may benefit from different types or levels of intervention according to their pre-migration PTE experiences.

It has been hypothesized that the first five years after first episode of psychosis constitutes a critical period in with opportunities for ameliorating the course of illness. Based on this rationale, specialized assertive early intervention services were developed. We wanted to investigate the evidence basis for such interventions.

The evidence for the effectiveness of specialized assertive early intervention services is mainly based on one large randomized clinical trial, the OPUS trial, but it is supported by the findings in smaller trials such as the Lambeth Early Onset (LEO) trial, the Croydon Outreach and Assertive Support Team COAST trial and the Norwegian site of Optimal Treatment (OTP) trial. There are positive effects on psychotic and negative symptoms, on substance abuse and user satisfaction, but the clinical effects are not sustainable when patients are transferred back to standard treatment. However the positive effects on service use and ability to live independently seem to be durable.

Implementation of specialized assertive early intervention services is recommended, but the evidence basis needs to be strengthened through replication in large high quality trials. Recommendation regarding the duration of treatment must await results of ongoing trials comparing two years of intervention with extended treatment periods.

Despite concerns about rising treatment of psychiatric patients with psychotropic medications and declining treatment with psychotherapy, actual treatment profiles of psychiatric patients is largely unknown.

To describe patterns in the treatment of patients in a large psychiatric university hospital department.

A descriptive mapping of treatment of in- and outpatients in a psychiatric department at Aarhus University Hospital Risskov, Denmark. Information was collected by health care staff using a 25-item survey form. The P-value was calculated with a Chi2 test and P < 0.05 was considered significant. The study was preceded by a pilot study on 41 patients.

Over a 1 month period we assessed a total of 343 consecutive patients and hereof included 200 in the age range 18–90 years (mean 53.76); 86 men and 114 women. One hundred and eighty-eight patients (94%) used psychotropic medication, 37 (19%) as monotherapy and 148 (74%) in combination with non-pharmacological therapy. Ninety-seven (49%) had psychotherapy and 104 (52%) social support. Among inpatients, 21 (64%) had physical therapy, and 10 (30%) electroconvulsive therapy. In total, 163 (82%) had non-pharmacological therapy. Fifty-two (26%) patients had monotherapy and 148 (74%) polytherapy. Mean number of treatment modalities used pr. patient was 2.07 for all patients and 3.23 for inpatients.

In our department, polytherapy including non-pharmacological modalities is applied widely across all settings and patient categories. However, psychotropic medication clearly dominates as the most frequently applied treatment.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Adherence to practice guidelines for diagnosing and treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by primary care providers (PCPs) is important for optimizing care for many children and youth. However, adherence is often low. To address this problem, we implemented an intensive intervention in 2009 aimed at improving diagnosis and management of ADHD among PCPs.

The study objective is to assess the sustainability of intervention-attributable outcomes.

The study aims are to assess the sustained effect of the intervention on PCP intentions to implement, attitudes toward, and obstacles to implement ADHD practice guidelines.

During November 2009, 48 PCPs from 31 clinical practices completed a 3-day training, 6 months of biweekly telephone peer group reinforcement, and baseline questionnaires; follow-up questionnaires were completed at 12 months. To assess sustainability, we tracked PCPs and administered the questionnaire in 2016.

Intentions to implement ADHD guidelines remained stable over seven years, with all mean values ranging from “probably will” to “definitely will” implement guidelines.

Generally, favorable self-reported intentions (see Exhibits 1 & 2), attitudes and obstacles to implementing ADHD guidelines were sustained seven years after the intensive training and follow-up intervention.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Cognitive dysfunction is an important aspect of depression that includes problems with thinking, concentration and memory. Research suggests that the cognitive aspect of depression is highly prevalent and has a significant impact on patient functioning. Currently, cognitive dysfunction in depression is largely unrecognised, unmonitored and untreated.

We aim to define cognitive dysfunction in clinical depression (major depressive disorder) and explore its detection and management in the UK, highlighting priority areas to be addressed.

A modified Delphi method was used as the process to gain consensus. A multi-stakeholder steering committee of depression experts (including psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care physicians, and representatives from occupational therapy and a depression charity) provided the key themes and, through round-table discussion, developed draft statements. The main areas of focus were burden, detection and management of cognitive dysfunction in depression. These statements formed a questionnaire to be reviewed by 150–200 health-care professionals with an involvement in the management of depression, with level of agreement noted as ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘don’t know/uncertain’, ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’. Responses to the questionnaire will be analysed (very high agreement [> 66%] or very low agreement [< 33%]) and the steering committee will revise and finalise the consensus statements, and identify priority areas for future consideration. The steering committee was initiated and supported by the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck Ltd, through an educational grant. Lundbeck Ltd did not influence content.

Results of the questionnaire and the evolution of the final consensus statements will be presented.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Postpartum depression is common in the perinatal period and poses a risk for the development of the infant and the mother–infant relationship. Infancy is a critical developmental period of life and supportive parenting is crucial for healthy development, however, the effects of interventions aimed at improving parenting among mothers with depression are uncertain.

To assess the effects of parenting interventions on parent–child relationship and child development among mothers with depressive symptoms with 0–12-month-old infants.

We conducted a systematic review with the inclusion criteria: (a) randomised controlled trials of structured psychosocial parenting interventions for women with depressive symptoms and a child aged 0–12 months in Western Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, (b) minimum three sessions with at least half of these delivered postnatally and (c) outcomes relating to the parent–child-relationship and/or child development. Publications were extracted from 10 databases in September 2018 and supplemented with grey search and hand search. We assessed risk of bias, calculated effect sizes and conducted meta-analysis.

Eight papers representing seven trials were included. We conducted meta-analysis on the post-intervention parent–child relationship. The analysis included six studies and showed no significant effect. For individual study outcomes, no significant effects on the majority of both the parent–child relationship and child development outcomes were reported.

No evidence of the effect of parenting interventions for mothers with depressive symptoms was found on the parent–child relationship and child development. Larger studies with follow-up assessments are needed, and future reviews should examine the effects in non-Western countries.