In the UK, Black doctors experience higher levels of discrimination, bullying and harassment compared with other doctors. This study aims to explore the impact of this on perceived well-being and mental health. A UK survey of 109 Black psychiatrists asked about racism, othering, microaggressions, bullying and harassment, plus any links to career progression or mental well-being.

Sixty-three survey participants (57.8%) had faced workplace microaggressions, 44 (40.4%) had experienced workplace bullying and 41 (37.6%) had faced workplace harassment. Forty-seven (43.1%) participants reported a detrimental impact on their mental health, with 35 (32.1%) considering quitting and 24 (22%) reporting a poorer work performance.

These experiences are unacceptable and can be traumatic. The impact of racism and discrimination can also undermine effective service delivery. Barriers to reporting can prolong mistreatment and deter professional aspirations among Black psychiatrists. Collective action is needed to drastically improve the workplace environment, including the widespread institutional adoption of an anti-discriminatory stance.

Poorer family functioning during childhood is associated with severe mental disorders in adulthood in the general population. However, family functioning is understudied in families with parental schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. We aimed to investigate family functioning in families with 11-year-old children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder compared with controls. Second, we aimed to examine associations between family functioning and levels of child psychopathology, child global functioning, and parental social functioning.

In this prospective, population-based cohort study, we included 160 families with parental schizophrenia, 95 families with parental bipolar disorder, and 177 control families. Family functioning was measured with the 12-item version of the McMaster Family Assessment Device – General Functional Scale.

Families with parental schizophrenia (Cohen’s d = 0.29; p = .002) and parental bipolar disorder (Cohen’s d = 0.34; p = .004) had significantly poorer family functioning and a significantly higher prevalence of clinically significant family dysfunction (Cohen’s d range = 0.29–0.34; p values = .007) than control families. Across study groups, poorer family functioning was associated with higher levels of child psychopathology and poorer social functioning of the primary caregiver (p values < .001).

Children in families with parental schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are at increased risk of experiencing family dysfunction, and poorer family functioning confers risk for more symptoms of child psychopathology and poorer parental social functioning. Future studies should investigate the potentially predictive value of family dysfunction in relation to later illness onset and other adverse outcomes in these populations.

Refugee experiences of trauma and displacement can significantly disrupt established social networks. While social functioning has been routinely associated with mental health, to our knowledge, no study has tested the direction of influence between social and psychological functioning within displaced refugee communities. This study investigated the temporal association between psychological symptoms (PTSD, depression, anger) and multiple facets of social functioning (including community connectedness, perceived social responsibility, positive social support and negative social support).

A culturally diverse sample of refugees (N = 1,235) displaced in Indonesia completed an online survey at four time-points, six months apart. Longitudinal structural equation modelling was used to investigate the temporal ordering between psychological symptoms and social functioning.

Findings revealed that greater psychological symptoms were associated with a subsequent deterioration in social functioning (decreased positive social support and community connectedness and increased negative social support and perceived social responsibility). Greater perceived social responsibility was also associated with subsequent increases in psychological symptoms, while positive social support and community connectedness were bi-directionally associated over-time.

These findings highlight the potential utility of mental health interventions for displaced refugees as a means to improve social functioning and inclusion with host communities. Findings have important implications in guiding the development of interventions and allocation of resources to support refugee engagement and wellbeing in displacement contexts.

Reliable and specific biomarkers that can distinguish autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) from commonly co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are lacking, causing misses and delays in diagnosis, and reducing access to interventions and quality of life.

To examine whether an innovative, brief (1-min), videogame method called Computerised Assessment of Motor Imitation (CAMI), can identify ASD-specific imitation differences compared with neurotypical children and children with ADHD.

This cross-sectional study used CAMI alongside standardised parent-report (Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition) and observational measures of autism (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition; ADOS-2), ADHD (Conners) and motor ability (Physical and Neurological Examination for Soft Signs). The sample comprised 183 children aged 7–13 years, with ADHD (without ASD), with ASD (with and without ADHD) and who were neurotypical.

Regardless of co-occurring ADHD, children with ASD showed poorer CAMI performance than neurotypical children (P < 0.0001; adjusted R2 = 0.28), whereas children with ADHD and neurotypical children showed similar CAMI performance. Receiver operating curve and support vector machine analyses showed that CAMI distinguishes ASD from both neurotypical children (80% true positive rate) and children with ADHD (70% true positive rate), with a high success rate significantly above chance. Among children with ASD, poor CAMI performance was associated with increased autism traits, particularly ADOS-2 measures of social affect and restricted and repetitive behaviours (adjusted R2 = 0.23), but not with ADHD traits or motor ability.

Four levels of analyses confirm that poor imitation measured by the low-cost and scalable CAMI method specifically distinguishes ASD not only from neurotypical development, but also from commonly co-occurring ADHD.

Racism is increasingly recognised as a key contributor to poor mental health. However, the existing literature primarily focuses on its effects on adults.

To identify literature on the association between experiences of racism and mental health in children and young people in the UK.

Inclusion criteria were: (a) peer-reviewed publications containing original data; (b) UK-based research; (c) included examination of associations between mental health and experiences of direct or indirect racism (quantitative or qualitative); (d) inclusion of an assessment of mental health outcomes; (e) participant ages up to and including 18 years of age or (if the range went beyond 18) with a mean age of 17 years or less. Six databases were searched between 2000 and 2022; an initial 11 522 studies were identified with only eight meeting the inclusion criteria.

Five of the identified studies provided quantitative data and three provided qualitative data. The majority of studies (7/8) focused on children and young people aged 10 years and over; only one focused on children under the age of 10 years. Measurements of racism varied among the studies providing quantitative data. Only four studies directly focused on the effects of racism on the mental health of children and young people.

Although the included studies highlighted potential negative impacts of experiences of racism on children and young people in the UK, this review shows the lack of available literature to inform policy and practice. No studies examined the impact of internalised racism, systemic and institutional racism, or intersectionality.

Differences in social behaviours are common in young people with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs). Recent research challenges the long-standing hypothesis that difficulties in social cognition explain social behaviour differences.

We examined how difficulties regulating one's behaviour, emotions and thoughts to adapt to environmental demands (i.e. dysregulation), alongside social cognition, explain social behaviours across neurodiverse young people.

We analysed cross-sectional behavioural and cognitive data of 646 6- to 18-year-old typically developing young people and those with NDCs from the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Network. Social behaviours and dysregulation were measured by the caregiver-reported Adaptive Behavior Assessment System Social domain and Child Behavior Checklist Dysregulation Profile, respectively. Social cognition was assessed by the Neuropsychological Assessment Affect-Recognition and Theory-of-Mind, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and Sandbox continuous false-belief task scores. We split the sample into training (n = 324) and test (n = 322) sets. We investigated how social cognition and dysregulation explained social behaviours through principal component regression and hierarchical regression in the training set. We tested social cognition-by-dysregulation interactions, and whether dysregulation mediated the social cognition–social behaviours association. We assessed model fits in the test set.

Two social cognition components adequately explained social behaviours (13.88%). Lower dysregulation further explained better social behaviours (β = −0.163, 95% CI −0.191 to −0.134). Social cognition-by-dysregulation interaction was non-significant (β = −0.001, 95% CI −0.023 to 0.021). Dysregulation partially mediated the social cognition–social behaviours association (total effect: 0.544, 95% CI 0.370–0.695). Findings were replicated in the test set.

Self-regulation, beyond social cognition, substantially explains social behaviours across neurodiverse young people.

There are ethnic differences, including differences related to indigeneity, in the incidence of first episode psychosis (FEP) and pathways into care, but research on ethnic disparities in outcomes following FEP is limited.

In this study we examined social and health outcomes following FEP diagnosis for a cohort of Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) and non-Māori (non-Indigenous) young people. We have focused on understanding the opportunities for better outcomes for Māori by examining the relative advantage of non-Māori with FEP.

Statistics New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure was accessed to describe mental health and social service interactions and outcomes for a retrospective FEP cohort comprising 918 young Māori and 1275 non-Māori aged 13 to 25 at diagnosis. Logistic regression models were used to examine whether social outcomes including employment, benefit receipt, education and justice involvement in year 5 differed by indigeneity.

Non-Māori young people were more likely than Māori to have positive outcomes in the fifth year after FEP diagnosis, including higher levels of employment and income, and lower rates of benefit receipt and criminal justice system involvement. These patterns were seen across diagnostic groups, and for both those receiving ongoing mental healthcare and those who were not.

Non-Māori experience relative advantage in outcomes 5 years after FEP diagnosis. Indigenous-based social disparities following FEP urgently require a response from the health, education, employment, justice and political systems to avoid perpetuating these inequities, alongside efforts to address the disadvantages faced by all young people with FEP.

Despite the recognised importance of mental disorders and social disconnectedness for mortality, few studies have examined their co-occurrence.

To examine the interaction between mental disorders and three distinct aspects of social disconnectedness on mortality, while taking into account sex, age and characteristics of the mental disorder.

This cohort study included participants from the Danish National Health Survey in 2013 and 2017 who were followed until 2021. Survey data on social disconnectedness (loneliness, social isolation and low social support) were linked with register data on hospital-diagnosed mental disorders and mortality. Poisson regression was applied to estimate independent and joint associations with mortality, interaction contrasts and attributable proportions.

A total of 162 497 individuals were followed for 886 614 person-years, and 9047 individuals (5.6%) died during follow-up. Among men, interaction between mental disorders and loneliness, social isolation and low social support, respectively, accounted for 47% (95% CI: 21–74%), 24% (95% CI: −15 to 63%) and 61% (95% CI: 35–86%) of the excess mortality after adjustment for demographics, country of birth, somatic morbidity, educational level, income and wealth. In contrast, among women, no excess mortality could be attributed to interaction. No clear trends were identified according to age or characteristics of the mental disorder.

Mortality among men, but not women, with a co-occurring mental disorder and social disconnectedness was substantially elevated compared with what was expected. Awareness of elevated mortality rates among socially disconnected men with mental disorders could be of importance to qualify and guide prevention efforts in psychiatric services.

Recovery colleges provide personalised educational mental health support for people who self-refer. The research evidence supporting them is growing, with key components and the positive experiences of attendees reported. However, the quantitative outcome evidence and impact on economic outcomes is limited.

To evaluate the impact of attending a UK recovery college for students who receive a full educational intervention.

This is a pre- and post-intervention study, with predominantly quantitative methods. Participants recruited over an 18-month period (01.2020–07.2021) completed self-reported well-being (Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS)) and recovery (Process of Recovery (QPR)) surveys, and provided details and evidence of employment and educational status. Descriptive statistics for baseline data and Shapiro–Wilk, Wilcoxon signed-rank and paired t-tests were used to compare pre- and post-intervention scores, with Hedges’ g-statistic as a measure of effect size. Medical records were reviewed and a brief qualitative assessment of changes reported by students was conducted.

Of 101 student research participants, 84 completed the intervention. Well-being (mean SWEMWBS scores 17.3 and 21.9; n = 80) and recovery (mean QPR scores 27.2 and 38.8; n = 75) improved significantly (P < 0.001; Hedges’ g of 1.08 and 1.03). The number of economically inactive students reduced from 53 (69%) to 19 (24.4%). No research participants were referred for specialist mental health support while students. ‘Within-self’ and ‘practical’ changes were described by students following the intervention.

Findings detail the largest self-reported pre–post data-set for students attending a recovery college, and the first data detailing outcomes of remote delivery of a recovery college.

We aimed to psychometrically evaluate and validate a Japanese version of the Social Functioning in Dementia scale (SF-DEM-J) and investigate changes in social function in people with dementia during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic.

We interviewed people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia and their caregivers during June 2020–March 2021 to validate patient- and caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J and compared their scores at baseline (April 2020 to May 2020) and at 6–8 months (January 2021 to March 2021) during a time of tighter COVID-19 restrictions.

The neuropsychology clinic in the Department of Psychiatry at Osaka University Hospital and outpatient clinic in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Daini Osaka Police Hospital, Japan.

103 dyads of patients and caregivers.

SF-DEM-J, Mini-Mental State Examination, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Apathy Evaluation Scale.

The scale’s interrater reliability was excellent and test–retest reliability was substantial. Content validity was confirmed for the caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J, and convergent validity was moderate. Caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J was associated with apathy, irritability, loneliness, and cognitive impairment. The total score of caregiver-rated SF-DEM-J and the score of Section 2, “communication with others,” significantly improved at 6–8 months of follow-up.

The SF-DEM-J is acceptable as a measure of social function in MCI and mild dementia. Our results show that the social functioning of people with dementia, especially communicating with others, improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, probably as a result of adaptation to the restrictive life.

In patients with a psychotic disorder, rates of substance use (tobacco, cannabis, and alcohol) are higher compared to the general population. However, little is known about associations between substance use and self-reported aspects of social functioning in patients with a psychotic disorder.

In this cross-sectional study of 281 community-dwelling patients with a psychotic disorder, linear regression models were used to assess associations between substance use (tobacco, cannabis, or alcohol) and self-reported aspects of social functioning (perceived social support, stigmatization, social participation, or loneliness) adjusting for confounders (age, gender, and severity of psychopathology).

Compared to nonsmokers, both intermediate and heavy smokers reported lower scores on loneliness (E = −0.580, SE = 0.258, p = 0.025 and E = −0.547, SE = 0,272, p = 0.046, respectively). Daily cannabis users reported less social participation deficits than non-cannabis users (E = −0.348, SE = 0.145, p = 0.017). Problematic alcohol use was associated with more perceived social support compared to non-alcohol use (E = 3.152, SE = 1.102, p = 0.005). Polysubstance users reported less loneliness compared to no users (E = −0.569, SE = 0.287, p = 0.049).

Substance use in patients with psychosis is associated with more favorable scores on various self-reported aspects of social functioning.

Classical galactosemia (CG) is an inborn error of galactose metabolism. Many CG patients suffer from long-term complications including poor cognitive functioning. There are indications of social dysfunction but limited evidence in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to improve our understanding of social competence in CG by investigating social cognition, neurocognition and emotion regulation.

A comprehensive (neuro)psychological test battery, including self and proxy questionnaires, was administered to CG patients without intellectual disability. Social cognition was assessed by facial emotion recognition, Theory of Mind and self-reported empathy. Standardised results were compared to normative data of the general population.

Data from 23 patients (aged 8–52) were included in the study. On a group level, CG patients reported satisfaction with social roles and no social dysfunction despite the self-report of lower social skills. They showed deficits in all aspects of social cognition on both performance tests (emotion recognition and Theory of Mind) and self-report questionnaires (empathy). Adults had a lower social participation than the general population. Parents reported lower social functioning, less adaptive emotion regulation and communication difficulties in their children. Individual differences in scores were present.

This study shows that CG patients without intellectual disability are satisfied with their social competence, especially social functioning. Nevertheless, deficits in social cognition are present in a large proportion of CG patients. Due to the large variability in scores and discrepancies between self- and proxy-report, an individually tailored, comprehensive neuropsychological assessment including social cognition is advised in all CG patients. Treatment plans need to be customised to the individual patient.

The long-term cumulative impact of exposure to childhood adversity is well documented. There is an increasing body of literature examining protective factors following childhood adversity. However, no known reviews have summarised studies examining protective factors for broad psychosocial outcomes following childhood adversity.

To summarise the current evidence from longitudinal studies of protective factors for adult psychosocial outcomes following cumulative exposure to childhood adversity.

We conducted a formal systematic review of studies that were longitudinal; were published in a peer-reviewed journal; examined social, environmental or psychological factors that were measured following a cumulative measure of childhood adversity; and resulted in more positive adult psychosocial outcomes.

A total of 28 studies from 23 cohorts were included. Because of significant heterogeneity and conceptual differences in the final sample of articles, a meta-analysis was not conducted. The narrative review identified that social support is a protective factor specifically for mental health outcomes following childhood adversity. Findings also suggest that aspects of education are protective factors to adult socioeconomic, mental health and social outcomes following childhood adversity. Personality factors were protective for a variety of outcomes, particularly mental health. The personality factors were too various to summarise into meaningful combined effects. Overall GRADE quality assessments were low and very low, although these scores mostly reflect that all observational studies are low quality by default.

These findings support strategies that improve connection and access to education following childhood adversity exposure. Further research is needed for the roles of personality and dispositional factors, romantic relationship factors and the combined influences of multiple protective factors.

Childhood trauma has been linked to increased risk of schizophrenia and social dysfunction, and oxytocin and its receptor gene have been implicated in regulating social behavior. This study investigated the potential role of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in mediating the effects of childhood trauma on social functioning in schizophrenia.

The study consisted of 382 patients with schizophrenia and 178 healthy controls who were assessed using the Taiwanese version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), and plasma oxytocin levels. DNA was extracted to genotype the OXTR and ten single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs2254298, rs237885, rs237887, rs237899, rs53576, rs9840864, rs13316193, rs7632287, rs1042778, and rs237895) were selected.

Patients with schizophrenia showed higher CTQ-SF scores (t = 12.549, p < 0.001), lower SFS scores (t = −46.951, p < 0.001), and lower plasma oxytocin levels (t = −5.448, p < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. The study also found significant differences in OXTR SNPs between both groups, with risk alleles being more prevalent in patients with schizophrenia (t = 2.734, p = 0.006). Results indicated a significant moderated mediation effect, with oxytocin and the OXTR SNPs partially mediating the relationship between childhood trauma exposure and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia (index of mediation = 0.038, 95% CI [0.033–0.044]).

The findings suggest that oxytocin and its receptor gene may be promising targets for interventions aimed at improving social functioning in patients with a history of childhood trauma and schizophrenia. However, further research is needed to fully understand these effects and the potential of oxytocin-based interventions in this population.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may represent an intermediate, prodromal phase of dementia. Although persons with MCI (PwMCI) are able to function independently, they often experience reduced ability to carry out their usual activities. This can result in social, emotional and functional challenges.

To explore the understanding and psychosocial impact of receiving a diagnosis of MCI on patients and carers.

A cross-sectional cohort study was conducted at St James's Hospital Memory Clinic involving patients who attended the clinic for assessment from 1 January 2020 to 30 April 2021 and received a diagnosis of MCI. We completed questionnaires with patients and a nominated family member or friend of each patient (FwMCI).

Forty-seven PwMCI participated in the study, and 36 nominated family members and/or friends completed the FwMCI questionnaire. In our cohort of PwMCI, most of the participants were not aware of their diagnosis; only 21% used the term MCI, and only 25% attributed their problems to a pathological cause. The majority of participants had no recollection of any discussion around the likelihood of progression. One-third of participants expressed relief that they did not have dementia. Most PwMCI reported positive psychological well-being and did not endorse symptoms of depression or anxiety. There was slight discordance of illness perception among the PwMCI–FwMCI dyads. Forty-seven per cent of FwMCI reported at least a mild degree of carer burden on the Zarit Burden Scale.

Patients’ awareness of being diagnosed with MCI is relatively limited. Public education campaigns raising awareness about MCI can help influence the ‘illness representation’ for MCI and enable people to seek timely advice and support.