Mental imagery plays a key role in the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders, and has become the target of psychological interventions for the treatment of several anxiety-related conditions. However, there are currently no transdiagnostic measures designed to assess the varied dimensions of mental imagery relevant to psychopathology.

To develop and validate a new measure assessing the experiences and appraisals of negative mental imagery.

The initial item pool was generated through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with subject-matter experts. An online community sample provided data for the exploratory (n=345) and confirmatory (n=325) factor analyses.

The new 16-item Negative Mental Imagery Questionnaire demonstrated four subscales (Intrusiveness, Controllability, Beliefs about Mental Imagery, and Realness). Reliability and validity were good to excellent for both the full- and sub-scales.

Appraisals of mental imagery captured by the new measure are consistent with previous research on mental imagery and psychopathology.

Difficulties with emotion regulation have been associated with multiple psychiatric conditions. In this study, we aimed to investigate emotional regulation difficulties in young adults who gamble at least occasionally (ie, an enriched sample), and diagnosed with a range of psychiatric disorders using the validated Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).

A total of 543 non-treatment-seeking individuals who had engaged in gambling activities on at least 5 occasions within the previous year, aged 18–29 were recruited from general community settings. Diagnostic assessments included the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder World Health Organization Screening Tool Part A, and the Structured Clinical Interview for Gambling Disorder. Emotional dysregulation was evaluated using DERS. The profile of emotional dysregulation across disorders was characterized using Z-scores (those with the index disorder vs. those without the index disorder).

Individuals with probable ADHD displayed the highest level of difficulties in emotional regulation, followed by intermittent explosive disorder, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. In contrast, participants diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder showed relatively lower levels of difficulties with emotional regulation.

This study highlights the importance of recognizing emotional dysregulation as a trans-diagnostic phenomenon across psychiatric disorders. The results also reveal differing levels of emotional dysregulation across diagnoses, with potential implications for tailored treatment approaches. Despite limitations such as small sample sizes for certain disorders and limited age range, this study contributes to a broader understanding of emotional regulation’s role in psychiatric conditions.

Person-based cognitive therapy (PBCT) was developed as a treatment for psychosis. The effectiveness of group PBCT was examined in the Mindfulness for Voices (M4V) randomized controlled trial and generated promising results. Group PBCT was implemented as a trans-diagnostic treatment for distressing voices within the Sussex Voices Clinic (SVC), a specialist secondary care mental health service.

To conduct a service evaluation of engagement, outcomes and cost of group PBCT within SVC, and to compare engagement and outcomes from routine practice with the M4V trial. Secondary aims were to explore predictors of levels of engagement and change in group PBCT.

Service level data from 95 SVC patients were evaluated. Descriptive statistics, hypothesis tests and linear regression models were used. The primary clinical outcome was voice-related distress. Engagement levels and pre–post effect sizes were estimated; associated predictors were explored.

Fifty-nine per cent of patients completed group PBCT within SVC, compared with 72% within M4V. Completers within SVC had lower baseline depression scores compared with non-completers. There were significant improvements in voice-related distress (Cohen’s d = –0.47; p = 0.001), subjective recovery (Cohen’s d = 0.35; p = 0.001) and depression (Cohen’s d = –0.20; p = 0.044); these outcomes were comparable to M4V. Higher baseline subjective recovery and lower depression both predicted improvement in voice-related distress. Therapy within SVC cost an average of £214 per patient.

PBCT groups can be delivered trans-diagnostically in routine clinical practice. Engagement was lower when compared with an RCT, but outcomes were comparable. The low level of resources involved suggests that group PBCT can offer value for money.

A novel CBT-based intervention, tailored for young people, was developed in response to concerns about traditional diagnostically based approaches. Psychology of Emotions workshops use a normative approach to emotional difficulty instead of a diagnostic framework.

To evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of Psychology of Emotions workshops within an IAPT service for young people aged 16–25 years.

This was a mixed-methods study, evaluating routinely collected self-report measures of depression and anxiety, and qualitative feedback forms. The main outcomes were rates of attendance, change in symptom severity, and participant views of the intervention.

From January to September 2016, 595 young people were invited to attend the Psychology of Emotions workshops, of whom 350 (58.8%) attended at least one session. Young people who attended all six sessions (8.1%) experienced significant reductions in self-reported anxiety (d = .72) and depression (d = .58) and 35.5% were classified as recovered at completion. Those who attended at least two sessions (41.3%) reported smaller but significant improvements in anxiety (d = .42) and depression (d = .45); 22.0% were classified as recovered at the last session attended. Participants provided largely positive feedback about the intervention.

Psychology of Emotions is a promising treatment option, delivered outside of a diagnostic framework, for young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties seen within IAPT services. Better understanding reasons for non-attendance might enable the intervention to be made accessible to more young people.

Attenuated inhibitory control is one of the most robust findings in the neuropsychology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, it is unclear whether this represents a deficit in outright stopping (reactive inhibition), whether it relates to a deficit in anticipatory response slowing (proactive inhibition), or both. In addition, children with other development disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often have symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity similar to children with ADHD. These may relate to similar underlying changes in inhibitory processing.

In this study, we used a modified stop-signal task to dissociate reactive and proactive inhibition. We included not only children with ADHD, but also children primarily diagnosed with an ASD and high parent-rated levels of ADHD symptoms.

We replicated the well-documented finding of attenuated reactive inhibition in children with ADHD. In addition, we found a similar deficit in children with ASD and a similar level of ADHD symptoms. In contrast, we found no evidence for deficits in proactive inhibition in either clinical group.

These findings re-emphasize the role of reactive inhibition in children with ADHD and ADHD symptoms. Moreover, our findings stress the importance of a trans-diagnostic approach to the relationship between behavior and neuropsychology.

Schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are developmental disorders with shared clinical characteristics such as cognitive impairments and impulsivity. Impulsivity is a core feature of ADHD and an important factor in aggression, violence, and substance use in schizophrenia. Based on the hypothesis that schizophrenia and ADHD represent a continuum of neurodevelopmental impairments, the aim was to identify overlapping and disease specific forms of impulsivity.

Adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age were assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-aged Children – Present and Lifetime Version. Subjects with early-onset, first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (EOS) (N = 29) or ADHD (N = 29) and healthy controls (N = 45) were compared on two performance measures (Information Sampling Task, Stop Signal Task) and a subjective personality trait measure of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Version 11 (BIS-11)).

Significantly increased reflection impulsivity was observed in ADHD but not in the EOS group. No significant response inhibition deficits (stop signal reaction time) were found in the two clinical groups. The ADHD and the EOS group showed significantly increased motor, attentional, and non-planning subtraits of impulsivity.

Impaired pre-decisional information gathering appeared to be specific for ADHD while the information gathering was not significantly reduced in subjects with EOS. Neither the ADHD nor EOS group showed impaired response inhibition but shared increased personality subtraits of attentional, non-planning, and motor impulsivity although the latter was significantly more pronounced in ADHD. These increased subtraits of impulsivity may reflect diagnostic non-specific neurodevelopmental impairments in ADHD and EOS in adolescence.