Therapeutic relationships are a central component of community treatment for psychosis and thought to influence clinical and social outcomes, yet there is limited research regarding the potential influence of professional characteristics on positive therapeutic relationships in community care. It was hypothesised that professionals’ relating style and attitudes toward their work might be important, and thus this exploratory study modelled associations between these characteristics and therapeutic relationships developed in community psychosis treatment.

Dyads of professionals and young patients with psychosis rated their therapeutic relationships with each other. Professionals also completed measures of attachment style, therapeutic optimism, outcome expectancy, and job attitudes regarding working with psychosis.

Professionals’ anxious attachment predicted less positive professional therapeutic relationship ratings. In exploratory directed path analysis, data also supported indirect effects, whereby anxious professional attachment predicts less positive therapeutic relationships through reduced professional therapeutic optimism and less positive job attitudes.

Professional anxious attachment style is directly associated with the therapeutic relationship in psychosis, and indirectly associated through therapeutic optimism and job attitudes. Thus, intervening in professional characteristics could offer an opportunity to limit the impact of insecure attachment on therapeutic relationships in psychosis.

Deficits of mismatch negativity (MMN) in schizophrenia and individuals at risk for psychosis have been replicated many times. Several studies have also demonstrated the occurrence of subclinical psychotic symptoms within the general population. However, none has yet investigated MMN in individuals from the general population who report subclinical psychotic symptoms.

The MMN to duration-, frequency-, and intensity deviants was recorded in 217 nonclinical individuals classified into a control group (n = 72) and three subclinical groups: paranoid (n = 44), psychotic (n = 51), and mixed paranoid-psychotic (n = 50). Amplitudes of MMN at frontocentral electrodes were referenced to average. Based on a three-source model of MMN generation, we conducted an MMN source analysis and compared the amplitudes of surface electrodes and sources among groups.

We found no significant differences in MMN amplitudes of surface electrodes. However, significant differences in MMN generation among the four groups were revealed at the frontal source for duration-deviant stimuli (P = 0.01). We also detected a trend-level difference (P = 0.05) in MMN activity among those groups for frequency deviants at the frontal source.

Individuals from the general population who report psychotic symptoms are a heterogeneous group. However, alterations exist in their frontal MMN activity. This increased activity might be an indicator of more sensitive perception regarding changes in the environment for individuals with subclinical psychotic symptoms.

For people with mental illness that are violent, a range of interventions have been adopted with the aim of reducing violence outcomes. Many of these interventions have been borrowed from other (offender) populations and their evidence base in a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) population is uncertain.

To aggregate the evidence base for non-pharmacological interventions in reducing violence amongst adults with SMI and PD (Personality Disorder), and to assess the efficacy of these interventions. We chose to focus on distinct interventions rather than on holistic service models where any element responsible for therapeutic change would be difficult to isolate.

We performed a systematic review and narrative synthesis of non-pharmacological interventions intended to reduce violence in a SMI population and in patients with a primary diagnosis of PD. Five online databases were searched alongside a manual search of seven relevant journals, and expert opinion was sourced. Eligibility of all returned articles was independently assessed by two authors, and quality of studies was appraised via the Cochrane Collaboration Tool for Assessing Risk of Bias.

We included 23 studies of diverse psychological and practical interventions, with a range of experimental and quasi-experimental study designs that included 7 Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs). The majority were studies of Mentally Disordered Offenders. The stronger evidence existed for patients with a SMI diagnosis receiving Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or modified Reasoning & Rehabilitation (R&R). For patients with a primary diagnosis of PD, a modified version of R&R appeared tolerable and Enhanced Thinking Skills showed some promise in improving attitudes over the short-term, but studies of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in this population were compromised by high risk of experimental bias. Little evidence could be found for non-pharmacological, non-psychological interventions.

The evidence for non-pharmacological interventions for reducing violence in this population is not conclusive. Long-term outcomes are lacking and good quality RCTs are required to develop a stronger evidence base.

Associations between common psychiatric disorders, psychotic disorders and physical health comorbidities are frequently investigated. The complex relationship between personality disorders (PDs) and physical health is less understood, and findings to date are varied. This study aims to investigate associations between PDs with a number of prevalent physical health conditions.

This study examined data collected from women (n = 765; ≥ 25 years) participating in a population-based study located in south-eastern Australia. Lifetime history of psychiatric disorders was assessed using the semi-structured clinical interviews (SCID-I/NP and SCID-II). The presence of physical health conditions (lifetime) were identified via a combination of self-report, medical records, medication use and clinical data. Socioeconomic status, and information regarding medication use, lifestyle behaviors, and sociodemographic information was collected via questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to investigate associations.

After adjustment for sociodemographic variables (age, socioeconomic status) and health-related factors (body mass index, physical activity, smoking, psychotropic medication use), PDs were consistently associated with a range of physical health conditions. Novel associations were observed between Cluster A PDs and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD); Cluster B PDs with syncope and seizures, as well as arthritis; and Cluster C PDs with GORD and recurrent headaches.

PDs were associated with physical comorbidity. The current data contribute to a growing evidence base demonstrating associations between PDs and a number of physical health conditions independent of psychiatric comorbidity, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Longitudinal studies are now required to investigate causal pathways, as are studies determining pathological mechanisms.

The present study identified the neural mechanism of risky decision-making in Internet gaming disorder (IGD) under a probability discounting task.

Independent component analysis was used on the functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 19 IGD subjects (22.2 ± 3.08 years) and 21 healthy controls (HC, 22.8 ± 3.5 years).

For the behavioral results, IGD subjects prefer the risky to the fixed options and showed shorter reaction time compared to HC. For the imaging results, the IGD subjects showed higher task-related activity in default mode network (DMN) and less engagement in the executive control network (ECN) than HC when making the risky decisions. Also, we found the activities of DMN correlate negatively with the reaction time and the ECN correlate positively with the probability discounting rates.

The results suggest that people with IGD show altered modulation in DMN and deficit in executive control function, which might be the reason for why the IGD subjects continue to play online games despite the potential negative consequences.

Although there is a recommendation that toddlers be screened for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during their 18- and 24-month well-care child visits, diagnosis often occurs well after the child turns 4 years old. Such delayed diagnosis hinders the implementation of early intervention thus worsens the long-term prognosis of ASD.

The current community-based study in its stage I aimed at early screening of Egyptian toddlers for ASD using an Arabic validated version of Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT).

A cross-sectional community-based descriptive study was carried out enrolling 5546 Egyptian toddlers. They were randomly recruited from those attending Primary Health Care Units in six Egyptian governorates with a fair representation of the urban, semi-urban, and rural Egyptian populations. An Arabic validated version of M-CHAT was used as a screening tool for ASD.

The current study revealed failure of M-CHAT (suspected to have ASD and needs further evaluation) in 1320 out of the enrolled 5546 Egyptian toddlers (23.8%).

M-CHAT as a screening tool for ASD has flagged a considerable percent of the enrolled toddlers that necessitates referral for further evaluation (stage II) to settle the diagnosis of ASD in the true positive cases. Perfecting the delicate balance between sensitivity and specificity for ASD screening tools is crucial in order not to miss early detection of ASD cases and at the same time, to avoid over-diagnosis with subsequent abuse of the limited healthcare resources in developing countries.

Spouses resemble each other for psychopathology, but data regarding spousal resemblance in externalizing psychopathology, and data regarding spousal resemblance across different syndromes (e.g. anxiety in wives and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] in husbands) are limited. Moreover, knowledge is lacking regarding spousal resemblance in parents of children with psychiatric disorders. We investigated and compared spousal resemblance within and across internalizing and externalizing symptom domains in parents of children with and without psychopathology.

Symptoms of depression, anxiety, avoidant personality, ADHD, and antisocial personality were assessed with the Adult Self Report in 728 mothers and 544 fathers of 778 children seen in child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics and in 2075 mothers and 1623 fathers of 2784 children from a population-based sample. Differences in symptom scores and spousal correlations between the samples were tested.

Parents in the clinical sample had higher symptom scores than in the population-based sample. In both samples, correlations within and across internalizing and externalizing domains of psychopathology were significant. Importantly, correlations were significantly higher in the clinical sample (P = 0.03). Correlations, within and across symptoms, ranged from 0.14 to 0.30 in the clinical sample and from 0.05 to 0.23 in the population-based sample.

This large study shows that spousal resemblance is not only present within but also across symptom domains. Especially in the clinical sample, ADHD symptoms in fathers and antisocial personality symptoms in mothers were correlated with a range of psychiatric symptoms in their spouses. Clinicians need to be alert of these multiple affected families.

Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in bipolar disorder (BD) have evidenced changes in functional connectivity (FC) in brain areas associated with emotion processing, but how these changes vary with mood state and specific clinical symptoms is not fully understood.

We investigated resting-state FC between a priori regions of interest (ROIs) from the default-mode network and key structures for emotion processing and regulation in 27 BD patients and 27 matched healthy controls. We further compared connectivity patterns in subgroups of 15 euthymic and 12 non-euthymic patients and tested for correlations of the connectivity strength with measures of mood, anxiety, and rumination tendency. No correction for multiple comparisons was applied given the small population sample and pre-defined target ROIs.

Overall, regardless of mood state, BD patients exhibited increased FC of the left amygdala with left sgACC and PCC, relative to controls. In addition, non-euthymic BD patients showed distinctive decrease in FC between right amygdala and sgACC, whereas euthymic patients showed lower FC between PCC and sgACC. Euthymic patients also displayed increased FC between sgACC and right VLPFC. The sgACC–PCC and sgACC–left amygdala connections were modulated by rumination tendency in non-euthymic patients, whereas the sgACC-VLPFC connection was modulated by both the current mood and tendency to ruminate.

Our results suggest that sgACC-amygdala coupling is critically affected during mood episodes, and that FC of sgACC play a pivotal role in mood normalization through its interactions with the VLPFC and PCC. However, these preliminary findings require replication with larger samples of patients.

Population-based cohort study with childhood anthropometric measures obtained annually from the age of 7 to 13 years in 253,353 Danes born 1930–1976 and followed to 31 December 2010. During this period, 4936 were registered with schizophrenia. The associations of childhood BMI with risk of schizophrenia were estimated with Cox regression models.

Childhood BMI was significantly inversely associated with risk of schizophrenia, however with different patterns among boys and girls. In boys, childhood BMI had an inverse non-linear association with schizophrenia risk dependent on age at diagnosis; in particular, a surprisingly strong association was found between leanness and later onset of schizophrenia. In girls, the risk of schizophrenia decreased linearly with increasing BMI z-score (HR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88–0.98). In both boys and girls, birth weight was inversely associated with later risk. In girls, but not in boys, birth weight appeared to significantly modify the associations; there was a somewhat stronger inverse association in the lowest birth weight category.

Birth weight as well as childhood BMI at ages 7 through 13 years is associated with risk of schizophrenia in both genders, but with a particular high risk of late-onset in lean boys irrespective of birth weight, and in lean girls with low birth weight. If replicated, these observations may inform preventive efforts build on schizophrenia trajectories rooted in early life.