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The UK has the highest rate of cannabis use among young people worldwide. Dr. Alan Leshner, Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse reports, "Every year more than 100,000 people, most of them adolescents, seek treatment for their inability to control their marijuana use." According to the Scottish Drug Misuse Statistics in Scotland 2002, 51% of individuals under 20 years have used cannabis. Cannabis use is not limited to youth; it is also the single-most used illicit drug among adults. Because of their widespread negative impact, illicit drugs have become a focus of the agenda of the English Parliament and there is ongoing debate on how to combat this problem. As the research assistant of Michael Matheson (MSP), the author compiled this report to gather information on cannabis and to assess approaches that would form the most effective cannabis policy. This research explores whether or not the recent change toward decriminalization is adequate, or if it needs further revising.

During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, lockdowns and movement restrictions were thought to negatively impact population mental health, since depression and anxiety symptoms were frequently reported. This study investigates the effect of COVID-19 mitigation measures on mental health across the United States, at county and state levels using difference-in-differences analysis. It examines the effect on mental health facility usage and the prevalence of mental illnesses, drawing on large-scale medical claims data for mental health patients joined with publicly available state- and county-specific COVID-19 cases and lockdown information. For consistency, the main focus is on two types of social distancing policies, stay-at-home and school closure orders. Results show that lockdown has significantly and causally increased the usage of mental health facilities in regions with lockdowns in comparison to regions without such lockdowns. Particularly, resource usage increased by 18% in regions with a lockdown compared to 1% decline in regions without a lockdown. Also, female populations have been exposed to a larger lockdown effect on their mental health. Diagnosis of panic disorders and reaction to severe stress significantly increased by the lockdown. Mental health was more sensitive to lockdowns than to the presence of the pandemic itself. The effects of the lockdown increased over an extended time to the end of December 2020., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Dental hygiene students adapt to new environments while learning technical skills and providing clinical care during their education. Understanding how stress affects students in their professional healthcare program warrants exploration. This study assessed stress among dental hygiene students in two educational settings in the Southeastern United States., Methods: First and second-year dental hygiene students (N = 136) from a community college setting (n = 67) and a university setting (n = 69) were invited to complete an anonymous online survey on mental health in fall 2019. Validated surveys on depression, anxiety, social support, and burnout were included. Data analysis included chi-squared and Mantel-Haenszel statistics, depending on the scale of measurement, with the level of significance set at 0.05 for all analyses., Results: Participants included 54 dental hygiene students from a community college (Response rate = 80.6%) and 69 dental hygiene students from a university (RR = 100%). There was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of students reporting moderately severe or severe anxiety (p = 0.007), with 56% (n = 30) of the community college respondents and 36% (n = 24) of the university reporting these anxiety levels. Students attending a community college were also more likely to express feelings of worry (n = 34) compared to students in a university setting (p = 0.005). There was no statistically significant difference in depression (p = 0.07) or suicidal thoughts (p = 0.41)., Conclusion: Dental hygiene students enrolled in these two programs reported high levels of self-reported stress, mental and emotional concerns that may increase suicidal tendencies., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Rates of mental health problems and disorders in children and youth have been increasing for at least three decades, and these have escalated due to the pandemic and multiple other societal stressors. It is increasingly recognized that students and families frequently struggle to receive needed care through traditional locations such as specialty mental health centers. Upstream mental health promotion and prevention strategies are gaining support as a public health approach to supporting overall population well-being, better utilizing a limited specialty workforce, and reducing illness. Based on these recognitions, there has been a progressive and escalating movement toward the delivery of mental health support to children and youth "where they are," with a prominent and more ecologically valid environment being schools. This paper will provide a brief review of the escalating mental health needs of children and youth, advantages of school mental health (SMH) programs in better meeting these needs, example model SMH programs from the United States and Canada, and national and international SMH centers/networks. We conclude with strategies for further propelling the global advancement of the SMH field through interconnected practice, policy, and research., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

This study examines the impact of Omnibus Immigration Laws on the mental health of the Hispanic populations in the U.S. We use a Difference-in-Differences framework and data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the 2000-2016 period that contains information on more than 400 thousand Hispanics residing in the U.S. We find that the most stringent provision, namely, "show me your papers" laws, adversely affects the mental health of Hispanics and contributes to an increase of 12%-16% in the number of unhealthy mental days and an increase of 13%-18% in the probability of having frequent mental distress in the states with "show me your papers" laws. OIL provisions that enforced the use of E-Verify or limited the use of public benefits to unauthorized immigrants did not have any effect on mental health. The study also examines (1) police stops, (2) physical health, insurance, and employment status, (3) co-ethnic density, and (4) immigration enforcement awareness as potential mechanisms that could lead to a deterioration in the mental health of Hispanics. The evidence indicates their vulnerability to strict immigration enforcement. The social and public health cost should be carefully evaluated when formulating and implementing immigration policies., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Despite disproportionate rates of mental ill-health compared with non-Indigenous populations, few programs have been tailored to the unique health, social, and cultural needs and preferences of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. This paper describes the process of culturally adapting the US-based Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project to suit the needs, preferences, culture, and circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged 16-25 years in the Northern Territory, Australia. YBMen is an evidence-based social media-based education and support program designed to promote mental health, expand understandings of gender and cultural identities, and enhance social support in college-aged Black men., Methods: Our adaptation followed an Extended Stages of Cultural Adaptation model. First, we established a rationale for adaptation that included assessing the appropriateness of YBMen's core components for the target population. We then investigated important and appropriate models to underpin the adapted program and conducted a non-linear, iterative process of gathering information from key sources, including young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, to inform program curriculum and delivery., Results: To maintain program fidelity, we retained the core curriculum components of mental health, healthy masculinities, and social connection and kept the small cohort, private social media group delivery but developed two models: 'online only' (the original online delivery format) and 'hybrid in-person/online' (combining online delivery with weekly in-person group sessions). Adaptations made included using an overarching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing framework and socio-cultural strengths-based approach; inclusion of modules on health and wellbeing, positive Indigenous masculinities, and respectful relationships; use of Indigenous designs and colours; and prominent placement of images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male sportspeople, musicians, activists, and local role models., Conclusions: This process resulted in a culturally responsive mental health, masculinities, and social support health promotion program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. Next steps will involve pilot testing to investigate the adapted program's acceptability and feasibility and inform further refinement., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the mental health symptoms endorsed by DACA recipients. This study included qualitative and quantitative original, peer-reviewed articles related to mental health or psychological state or wellbeing of DACA recipients. Articles were abstracted from PsychInfo, PubMed, and GoogleScholar. The results included a total of fifteen articles, which were divided into qualitative and quantitative findings. The qualitative articles had a common theme of endorsement of depressive symptoms and negative affect associated to changes in familial and financial responsibilities and living in a difficult sociopolitical climate in the United States. The quantitative articles identified lower odds or symptom severity of depression and other internalizing symptoms compared to undocumented individuals. This summary review was limited by the ample exclusion of access to health care studies among DACamented individuals, which could have provided a broader picture about the health and accessibility for DACA recipients. Despite the limitations, this review identifies DACA as a policy that allows this group to improve their social function and quality of life compared to undocumented individuals but still endorse high levels of negative affect related to perceived challenging sociopolitical atmospheres., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A growing body of evidence demonstrates potential adverse mental health outcomes associated with exposure to occupational trauma among first responders. In response, policymakers nationwide are eager to work on these issues as evidenced by the number of states covering or considering laws for mental health conditions for first responders. Yet, little information exists to facilitate understanding of the impact of mental health-related policies in the United States on this important population. This study aims to identify and synthesize relevant state-level policies and related research on first responder mental health in the United States. Using a scoping review framework, authors searched the empirical and policy literature. State level policies were identified and grouped into two categories: (1) Workers' Compensation-related policies and (2) non-Workers' Compensation (WC) related policies. While benefits levels and other specifics vary greatly by state, 28 states cover certain first responder mental health claims under WC statutes. In addition, at the time of this study, 28 states have policies governing first responder mental health outside of WC. Policies include requiring mental health assessments, provisions for counseling and critical incident management, requiring education and training, providing funding to localities for program development, bolstering peer support initiatives and confidentiality measures, and establishing statewide offices of responder wellness, among others. Authors found a dearth of outcomes research on the impact of state level policies on first responder mental health. Consequently, more research is needed to learn about the direct impact of legislation and establish best practice guidelines for implementing state policy on first responder mental health. By conducting systematic evaluations, researchers can lay the foundation for an evidence-based approach to develop more integrated systems that effectively deliver and finance mental health care for first responders who experience work-related trauma. Such evaluations are crucial for building an understanding of the impact of policies and facilitating improvements in the support provided to first responders in managing mental health challenges arising from their work., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Geography may influence mental health by inducing changes to social and physical environmental and health-related factors. This understanding is largely based on older studies from Western Europe. We sought to quantify contemporary relationships between urbanicity and self-reported poor mental health days in US counties. We performed regression on US counties (n = 3142) using data from the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. Controlling for state, age, income, education, and race/ethnicity, large central metro counties reported 0.24 fewer average poor mental health days than small metro counties (t = - 5.78, df = 423, p < .001). Noncore counties had 0.07 more average poor mental health days than small metro counties (t = 3.06, df = 1690, p = 0.002). Better mental health in large central metro counties was partly mediated by differences in the built environment, such as better food environments. Poorer mental health in noncore counties was not mediated by considered mediators., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbots are increasingly being used to help people manage their mental health. Chatbots for mental health and particularly 'wellness' applications currently exist in a regulatory 'gray area'. Indeed, most generative AI-powered wellness apps will not be reviewed by health regulators. However, recent findings suggest that users of these apps sometimes use them to share mental health problems and even to seek support during crises, and that the apps sometimes respond in a manner that increases the risk of harm to the user, a challenge that the current US regulatory structure is not well equipped to address. In this Perspective, we discuss the regulatory landscape and potential health risks of AI-enabled wellness apps. Although we focus on the United States, there are similar challenges for regulators across the globe. We discuss the problems that arise when AI-based wellness apps cross into medical territory and the implications for app developers and regulatory bodies, and we outline outstanding priorities for the field., (© 2024. Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Technology integration in higher education (HE) has brought immense innovation. While research is investigating the benefits of leveraging, through learning analytics, the data created by the greater presence of technology in HE, it is also analysing the privacy implications of vast universes of data now at the fingertips of HE administrators. This paper argues that student privacy challenges linked to technology integration occur not only "within" but also "beyond" learning environments, namely at the enterprise level. By analysing the UK and US legal frameworks surrounding how HE institutions respond to parents demanding disclosure of their adult children's personal data in the event of mental health crises, this paper offers an example of real and complex privacy issues, often overlooked by interdisciplinary inquiry, that exist in the 'interstitial space' between HE technology and privacy law. The purpose of conducting a comparative analysis was to demonstrate that countries with different privacy regimes are similarly ill-equipped to address certain student privacy issues at the HE enterprise level, leaving HEIs exposed to potential litigation/regulatory risks. The contribution of this work is to invite greater interdisciplinary awareness of, and inquiry into, student privacy beyond learning environments.

Using a novel method, and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), we estimate the cumulative, long-term, causal effect of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) eligibility on women's physical and mental health at age 50. We find that an increase in lifetime eligible EITC benefits is associated with long-term improvements in physical health, such as reduced occurrence of activity-limiting health problems and reduced reported diagnoses of mild and severe diseases. We explore intermediate health behaviors and outcomes, and find that an increase in lifetime eligible EITC benefits increases the number of hours worked and access to employer-sponsored health insurance, and decreases body mass index in the short-term. We find no significant effects of the EITC on mental health at age 50. Finally, we find that White women benefit disproportionately from the EITC in terms of mobility-related health issues, while Black and Hispanic women benefit in terms of lung-related illnesses like asthma, as well as cancer and stroke., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The genesis and spread of COVID-19 around the world since 2020 have caused severe impacts in every aspect of people's lives, from work life to recreation, social activities to physical health. Higher education has not been excluded. Universities have altered curriculum, changed delivery methods, provided more counseling, purchased new technology, and altered attendance policy for classroom, athletic, social and artistic events (Hamlin, 2021). To assess the impacts of these changes on college students, the authors created a questionnaire to ask students about their perceptions of these COVID-related impacts on their own personal lives. The survey had 56 questions about how the virus affected their academic, social, financial, physical and emotional lives. Over 800 students responded with objective input and subjective comments. Due to the volume of data, the authors have split the study into two parts. The survey results for the first part, academic and social aspects of the survey, were published in "Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on College Student Academic and Social Lives," Research in Higher Education Journal Volume 41 (see http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/213347.pdf). It will sometimes be referred to herein to provide clarity to the reader. The actual survey itself can also be found at that site. This paper focuses on the impact of the coronavirus on student financial and physical well-being, which have become major stressors to this age group and have contributed to higher levels of anxiety and depression. It also examines how the virus has affected their social and emotional well-being. Lastly, recommendations are made to help educators understand the severity of the problem, and to take action to provide assistance for those students who have been adversely affected.

Objective: To explore the prevalence of obesity among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescents aged 12-19 years in association with social determinants of health (SDOH), and mental health and substance use disorders., Methods: Guided by the World Health Organization's Social Determinants of Health Framework, we examined data from the Indian Health Service (IHS) Improving Health Care Delivery Data Project from Fiscal Year 2013, supplemented by county-level data from the U.S. Census and USDA. Our sample included 26,226 AIAN adolescents ages 12-19 years. We described obesity prevalence in relationship to SDOH and adolescents' mental health and substance use disorder status. We then fit a multivariable logit generalized linear mixed model to estimate the relationships after adjusting for other individual and county level characteristics., Results: We observed a prevalence of 32.5% for obesity, 13.8% for mental health disorders, and 5.5% for substance use disorders. Females had lower odds of obesity than males (OR = 0.76, p < 0.001), which decreased with age. Having Medicaid coverage (OR = 1.09, p < 0.01), residing in a county with lower education attainment (OR = 1.17, p < 0.05), and residing in a county with higher rates of poverty (OR = 1.51, p < 0.001) were each associated with higher odds of obesity. Residing in a county with high access to a grocery store (OR = 0.73, p < 0.001) and residing in a county with a higher proportion of AIANs (OR = 0.83, p < 0.01) were each associated with lower odds of obesity. Those with mental health disorders had higher odds of obesity (OR = 1.26, p < 0.001); substance use disorders were associated with decreased odds of obesity (OR = 0.73, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our findings inform future obesity prevention and treatment programs among AIAN youth; in particular, the need to consider mental health, substance use, and SDOH., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

The purpose of this review study was to conduct a thematic exploration of prior studies related to the transition between primary and secondary school. The aim of the paper was to discover (1) the extent of earlier research, (2) how earlier research thematises social and emotional issues, and (3) suggestions of those studies concerning how to improve schools. Searches were conducted across four international databases of peer-reviewed research to identify articles published in the last decade on the topic 'transition between primary and secondary school'. Articles related to social and emotional issues were further selected, and thematic analysis was conducted on the selected 29 articles to identify the topical focus. This review study draws attention to the importance of understanding challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school. Overall, the analysed studies indicate that this is an important focus for educational research. Key issues related to support and wellbeing/bullying have emerged, which clarify the importance of further research in this field. The present study may also contribute to increasing awareness among policy makers and school leaders of the challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school.

While earned income tax credit (EITC) expansions are typically associated with improvements in maternal mental health, little is known about the mechanisms through which the program affects this outcome. The EITC could primarily affect mental health through changes in family financial resources, changes in labor supply or changes in health insurance coverage of participants. We attempt to disentangle these mechanisms by assessing the effects of state and federal EITC expansion on mental health, employment, and health insurance by maternal marital status. We find that federal EITC expansions are associated with improved self-reported mental health for all mothers and large positive effects on employment for unmarried mothers. State EITC expansions are associated with improvements in mental health for married mothers only and have no effect on employment for married or unmarried mothers. Overall and for most subgroups of mothers, we find little association between EITC expansions and changes in health insurance coverage. These findings suggest that while EITC expansions improved mental health for unmarried mothers through a combination of the credit and employment effects, for married mothers, improved mental health is driven through the direct credit alone., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The COVID-19 pandemic brings to the fore strengths and weaknesses in many public policies, including higher education. There are at least three separate but related areas where institutions of higher learning have been stressed by COVID-19: financing, issues related to the logistics of learning, and inequality. These problems are especially pronounced in countries that suffer from high levels of inequality, such as Chile. This editorial offers a review of some of these challenges and their implication for long-term education policy, touching on the cases of Chile, Canada, and the United States.

International students leave their countries to pursue their educational goals in a different country and must adapt to succeed. However, they may face challenges when adapting to and learning a new culture. This study investigates the challenges common to international students in their host countries and summarizes the publishing trends. A literature search of peer-reviewed articles published in Scopus, Taylor & Francis, EBSCO Host, Web of Science, Springer, PubMed, and Wiley Online over 21 years (2002-2022) was done for data collection. After the screening, a total of 175 articles were included in this review and analyzed with content analysis. The findings show that the top four destinations for international students (USA, UK, Australia, and Canada) produced the most articles about international students' challenges. Additionally, most papers investigated more than one challenge, and sociocultural (82.9%) and academic challenges (82.3%) were the most researched, with language issues as the primary cause. The results also show no changes or improvement in the challenges of international students in 21 years, and areas such as psychological and economic challenges need more research. These challenges and other trends found in the articles are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.

Background: Many previous studies of health care teamwork have taken place in clinical teams with high staffing ratios (i.e., high ratios of staff to patients)., Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify clinicians' viewpoints of foundational resources necessary to support good team functioning in the context of low staffing ratios., Methodology: We used administrative data, validated with local mental health chiefs, to identify mental health teams that had achieved high team functioning despite low staffing ratios in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Guided by a recently developed model of team effectiveness, the Team Effectiveness Pyramid, we conducted qualitative interviews with 21 team members across three teams within two medical centers. Interview questions focused on the resources needed to support good team functioning despite low staffing ratios. We used directed content analysis to analyze results., Results: We found there were several domains of relevant resources: material, staffing, temporal, organizational, and psychological. These represent an expansion of the domains originally included in the Team Effectiveness Pyramid., Conclusions: Within the five domains, we identified key tensions to be addressed when forming teams, including the balances between providing care for new versus established patients, emphasizing shared caseloads within the team versus matching patients to clinicians based on individual expertise, and establishing reporting structures by clinical discipline versus team membership., Practice Implications: Establishing high-functioning health care teams in the context of low staffing ratios requires attention to key resource domains and fundamental trade-offs in how teams are structured., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: There is a lack of consensus on how to evaluate health and social service programs for people with mental health (MH) conditions. Having service users be the primary decision makers in selecting outcome measures can inform a meaningful evaluation strategy. We sought to identify the quality of life (QoL) survey preferences of high-need adult service users with MH conditions., Methods: A systematic review identified generic, self-reported QoL surveys with evidence of validity in MH populations of interest. An advisory panel selected the most promising surveys to assess the success of programs like Medicaid for MH service users. Three groups of high-need, adult service users with MH conditions and one group of direct care staff ranked the surveys from the advisory panel, and generated and ranked characteristics that were desirable or undesirable in a QoL survey., Results: Twenty-two surveys met the inclusion criteria. Of the six surveys selected by the advisory panel, groups of service users and direct care staff most preferred the Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). The WEMWBS best embodied the features prioritized by the groups: to have a user-friendly format and positive focus, to be clearly worded and brief, and to avoid presumptive or unrealistic items. Service user groups appreciated survey topics most amenable to self-report, such as satisfaction with relationships., Conclusion: Using QoL surveys that service users prefer can reduce the chance that deteriorating QoL is going unchecked, and increase the chance that decisions based on survey findings are meaningful to service users.

Corker (2003) describes counselling as a potentially oppressive process. Given the recent launch of the largescale voluntary sector-led Moving People Programme (MPP) which aims to reduce stigmatisation experienced by people with mental health difficulties (Mind, 2007), as well as the fact that the cost of stigmatisation is estimated to be vast (Mason et al., 2001), it seems timely to consider how mental health professionals might be contributing to the process of discrimination. In an attempt to address the marginalisation of people with a diagnosis of personality disorder, the Department of Health issued two specific documents in 2003: 'Personality disorder: No longer a diagnosis of exclusion', and 'The personality disorder capabilities framework - Breaking the cycle of rejection'. The former has meant increased numbers of people with personality disorder being seen within mental health services while the latter acknowledges that better understanding of personality disorder is required in order to interrupt the cycle of rejection often experienced by people with personality disorders due to negative attitudes and practices within agencies. My experience of working in the NHS is that the single most vilified population of service users are those with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This paper aims to consider how and why discrimination towards people with a diagnosis of BPD is so endemic and argues for the importance of the central humanist orientation of counselling psychology in ameliorating stigmatisation in practice. The paper concludes with some research implications and suggestions for potential ways forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to address the major sources of stress experienced by international students, the role of individual differences, the chronology of their stress levels and wellbeing over time, and gaps in the existing literature. Two electronic databases (PubMed and Psych Info) were searched for English peer-reviewed articles using eight search terms. Thirty-eight studies were included in this paper and divided into themes and sub-themes including sources of stress, individual differences and mental health including stress, depression and wellbeing. The findings highlight major stressors and show mixed results in some areas due to the lack of homogenous samples based on country of origin or ethnicity and sometimes context differences concerning the country or university social dynamics. Limitations were identified in the methodology, and several recommendations for future research are included.

In addition to improving quality of life, higher subjective wellbeing leads to fewer health problems and higher productivity, making subjective wellbeing a focal issue among researchers and governments. However, it is difficult to estimate how happy people were during previous centuries. Here we show that a method based on the quantitative analysis of natural language published over the past 200 years captures reliable patterns in historical subjective wellbeing. Using sentiment analysis on the basis of psychological valence norms, we compute a national valence index for the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Italy, indicating relative happiness in response to national and international wars and in comparison to historical trends in longevity and gross domestic product. We validate our method using Eurobarometer survey data from the 1970s and demonstrate robustness using words with stable historical meanings, diverse corpora (newspapers, magazines and books) and additional word norms. By providing a window on quantitative historical psychology, this approach could inform policy and economic history.

Civil war in Syria has resulted in the largest refugee group and the newest wave of refugees resettling in countries worldwide. Although they have experienced war, migration, and great trauma, resettlement introduces a new set of obstacles including cultural adjustment, language learning, and the development of a new social network. This paper is a qualitative analysis of the acculturation, mental health, and academic experience of Syrian refugee adolescents in the United States. The study is unique in its use of an ecological framework to organize emerging themes, and integrates responses from parents and adolescents to provide a comprehensive understanding of this experience. Moreover, the researchers focus on an important setting for support and intervention: the school system. Implications and recommendations for assessment, intervention, and programming are provided.

Introduction: Implementation science (IS) offers methods to systematically achieve the Ending the HIV Epidemic goals in the United States, as well as the global UNAIDS targets. Federal funders such as the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) have invested in implementation research to achieve these goals, including supporting the AIDS Research Centres (ARCs), which focus on high‐impact science in HIV and mental health (MH). To facilitate capacity building for the HIV/MH research workforce in IS, "grey areas," or areas of IS that are confusing, particularly for new investigators, should be addressed in the context of HIV/MH research. Discussion: A group of IS experts affiliated with NIMH‐funded ARCs convened to identify common and challenging grey areas. The group generated a preliminary list of 19 grey areas in HIV/MH‐related IS. From the list, the authors developed a survey which was distributed to all ARCs to prioritize grey areas to address in this paper. ARC members across the United States (N = 60) identified priority grey areas requiring clarification. This commentary discusses topics with 40% or more endorsement. The top grey areas that ARC members identified were: (1) Differentiating implementation strategies from interventions; (2) Determining when an intervention has sufficient evidence for adaptation; (3) Integrating recipient perspectives into HIV/MH implementation research; (4) Evaluating whether an implementation strategy is evidence‐based; (5) Identifying rigorous approaches for evaluating the impact of implementation strategies in the absence of a control group or randomization; and (6) Addressing innovation in HIV/MH IS grants. The commentary addresses each grey area by drawing from the existing literature (when available), providing expert guidance on addressing each in the context of HIV/MH research, and providing domestic and global HIV and HIV/MH case examples that address these grey areas. Conclusions: HIV/MH IS is key to achieving domestic and international goals for ending HIV transmission and mitigating its impact. Guidance offered in this paper can help to overcome challenges to rigorous and high‐impact HIV/MH implementation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author argues for a more humanistic approach to children and young people who face difficulties in their personal and social lives. Increasingly, young people in the developed world who are troubled or troublesome in school or in their neighbourhoods are categorised and labelled in terms of psychiatric disorder. The number of children taking psychotropic drugs is increasing rapidly in the most affluent countries. The need for wider markets for drug manufacturers suggests that this phenomenon will soon become even more widespread. While it may sometimes be appropriate to prescribe medication for children with mental health problems, in countries like Britain, the USA and Australia this solution can often be too quickly reached. In this paper, the author argues for the development of a multi-dimensional model which recognises that individual young men and women have their own subjectivities and may have personal troubles; but she also acknowledges that the way such troubles are expressed and described reflects the enmeshing of the individual experience with a complex range of social factors.

Education is a public health issue. Poor educational outcomes are correlated with many health and social ills. To improve the quality of education, it will be necessary to take advantage of the leverage points of policy, evidence, and implementation science. The idea of evidence informing policy may be non-controversial, but a closer examination of the concept suggests greater complexity than is readily apparent. Even if policy is informed by evidence, it is necessary to utilize what is known from implementation science to assure that policies are actually implemented well enough to achieve the desired benefits. In this paper, we discuss how policy, evidence, and implementation science can be integrated to leverage the impact of evidence-based practices and bring about meaningful, systematic change to the educational system. The change in mental health services in Norway is used as an exemplar for occasioning change. We also review policy initiatives that failed to achieve outcomes because evidence or implementation science was not part of the initiative. Finally, suggestions are made about these three elements that can be applied to bring about change in teacher preparation programs.

Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a great number of papers have been published in the pediatric field. Objective: We aimed to assess research around the globe on COVID-19 in the pediatric field by bibliometric analysis, identifying publication trends and topic dissemination and showing the relevance of publishing authors, institutions, and countries. Methods: The Scopus database was comprehensively searched for all indexed documents published between January 1, 2020, and June 11, 2020, dealing with COVID-19 in the pediatric population (0-18 years). A machine learning bibliometric methodology was applied to evaluate the total number of papers and citations, journal and publication types, the top productive institutions and countries and their scientific collaboration, and core keywords. Results: A total of 2301 papers were retrieved, with an average of 4.8 citations per article. Of this, 1078 (46.9%) were research articles, 436 (18.9%) were reviews, 363 (15.8%) were letters, 186 (8.1%) were editorials, 7 (0.3%) were conference papers, and 231 (10%) were categorized as others. The studies were published in 969 differentjournals, headed by The Lancet. The retrieved papers were published by a total of 12,657 authors from 114 countries. The most productive countries were the United States, China, and Italy. The four main clusters of keywords were pathogenesis and clinical characteristics (keyword occurrences: n=2240), public health issues (n=352), mental health (n=82), and therapeutic aspects (n=70). Conclusions: In the pediatric field, a large number of articles were published within a limited period on COVID-19, testifying to the rush to spread new findings on the topic in a timely manner. The leading authors, countries, and institutions evidently belonged to the most impacted geographical areas. A focus on the pediatric population was often included in general articles, and pediatric research about COVID-19 mainly focused on the clinical features, public health issues, and psychological impact of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 18.5% of military personnel returning from war zones to civilian life suffer mental health issues, which can lead to family breakdown, homelessness and other problems. Almost 4000 Australian soldiers have returned home from active service in the last decade suffering from combat stress and mental health conditions. A 2009 Australian independent government review warned that a new generation of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe mental health disorders will emerge in the next five years, with as many as one in four likely to need mental health treatment. "The Difficult Return: arts-based approaches to mental health literacy and building resilience with recently returned military personnel and their families" is a three-year Australian Research Council funded arts project aimed at supporting the mental health and well-being of recently returned veterans in Australia, USA and Canada. The project combines a range of arts-based strategies to help returning veterans, including online digital films to improve awareness and help seeking motivation, a performance project with ex-soldiers and actors, and a process-based group work programme. The paper will focus specifically on the development of the Veterans Transition Programme (VTP) a partnership between Griffith University and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. The VTP leverages the resilience and resources of veterans, providing help to participants attempting to better understand the impact of military experience on their lives. It draws on a range of psycho-educational and action-based approaches, including life review and drama enactments to engage participants in ways of dealing with disturbing events from their lives. The paper will describe and reflect on a number of the strategies used in the VTP, for example, how the drama enactments help to integrate emotion, cognition and embodied awareness, the significance of contact when working with trauma, and the importance of a therapeutic milieu in constructing "units" of support for the veterans.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes and potential solutions to, student attrition. With student attrition rates reaching between 30 and 50 per cent in the United States, and over 20 per cent in Australia, the inability of higher education institutions to retain their students is a significant issue. This paper cites key risk factors which place students at risk of non-completion, which include mental health issues, disability, socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Furthermore, first year students and higher degree by research students are susceptible to attrition. The capacity of a student to develop a sense of belonging within the higher education institution is recognised by this paper as a being a critical factor determining student retention. The creation of a caring, supportive and welcoming environment within the university is critical in creating a sense of belonging. This can be achieved by the development of positive student/faculty relationships, the presence of a well resourced counselling centre and the encouragement of diversity and difference.

One in three children in the United States is exposed to insecure housing conditions, including unaffordable, inconsistent, and unsafe housing. These exposures have detrimental impacts on youth mental health. Delineating the neurobehavioral pathways linking exposure to housing insecurity with children's mental health has the potential to inform interventions and policy. However, in approaching this work, carefully considering the lived experiences of youth and families is essential to translating scientific discovery to improve health outcomes in an equitable and representative way. In the current paper, we provide an introduction to the range of stressful experiences that children may face when exposed to insecure housing conditions. Next, we highlight findings from the early-life stress literature regarding the potential neurobehavioral consequences of insecure housing, focusing on how unpredictability is associated with the neural circuitry supporting cognitive and emotional development. We then delineate how community-engaged research (CEnR) approaches have been leveraged to understand the effects of housing insecurity on mental health, and we propose future research directions that integrate developmental neuroscience research and CEnR approaches to maximize the impact of this work. We conclude by outlining practice and policy recommendations that aim to improve the mental health of children exposed to insecure housing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: The economic cost of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) is high and includes the cost of reduced maternal economic productivity, more preterm births, and increases in other maternal mental health expenditures. PMADs also substantially contribute the cost of maternal morbidity. This paper offers a discussion of the quality-of-care cascade model of PMADs, which outlines care pathways that people typically face as well as gaps and unmet needs that frequently happen along the way. The model uses the US health system as an example. A discussion of international implications follows., Discussion: The quality-of-care cascade model outlines downward dips in quality of care along the perinatal mental health treatment continuum, including access (many Americans do not have access to affordable health insurance), enrollment (even when individuals are offered health insurance, some do not enroll), coverage (even if individuals have health insurance, some needed services or providers may not be covered), choice (even if services and providers are covered, patients may not be able to choose among plans, institutions, or clinicians), consistency (even if patients have a choice of plan or provider, a consistent source of care may not be accessible), referral (even if care is available and accessible, referral services may not be), quality (even if patients have access to both care and referral services, there may be gaps in the quality of care provided), adherence (even if patients receive high-quality care, they may not be adherent to treatment), barriers (societal forces that may influence people's choices and behaviors), and shocks (unanticipated events that could disrupt care pathways). In describing the quality-of-care cascade model, this paper uses the US healthcare system as the primary example. However, the model can extend to examine quality-of-care dips along the perinatal mental health treatment continuum within the international context. Although the US healthcare system may differ from other healthcare systems in many respects, shared commonalities lead to quality-of-care dips in countries with healthcare systems structured differently than in the US., Implications for Health Policies: The global cost of PMADs remains substantial, and addressing the costs of these conditions could have a significant impact on overall cost and quality of care internationally. The quality-of-care cascade model presented in this paper could help identify, understand, and address the complex contributing factors that lead to dips in quality-of-care for perinatal mental health conditions across the world.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to examine how state-level characteristics relate to social support and mental health outcomes among Latino sexual minority men in the U.S., Methods: Multilevel linear regression analyses were used to estimate the effect of social support and contextual-level characteristics on mental health and alcohol use among Latino sexual minority men (n = 612). Individual-level data were collected via a national, online survey between November 2018 and May 2019. State-level data were drawn from the 2019 American Community Survey and the Human Rights Campaign's 2018 State Equality Index score cards., Results: The interaction between friend support and supportive LGBTQ+ policies was associated with anxiety (B = 1.77; 95% CI 0.69, 2.85; p = 0.001) and depression (B = 2.25; 95% CI 0.99, 3.50; p<0.001). The interaction between friend support and Latino population size was associated with greater problematic alcohol use (B = 0.06; 95% CI 0.03, 0.10; p<0.001). The interaction between partner support and supportive LGBTQ+ policies were also associated problematic drinking (B = -1.72; 95% CI -3.05, -0.38; p<0.012)., Conclusions: Contextual factors can affect the everyday experiences of Latino sexual minority men. The effect of social support on mental health outcomes may depend on state-level factors. Public health efforts that seek to address the mental health and problematic drinking behaviors of Latino sexual minority men must consider the impact of macro-level policies on program and intervention development., (© 2023. W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute.)

The number of students on university and college campuses that are struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and psychosis across North America is rising (Gallagher, 2008). This intensification of students' psychological needs has become a mental health crisis. The age at which many mental disorders manifest themselves is between 18 and 24, which coincides directly with the average age of student enrollment in higher education (Kessler et al., 2005). Adolescent suicide rates have tripled over the past 60 years, making suicide the second leading cause of death for that age group (Vastag, 2001). Studies conducted by the American College Health Association (2005) suggest that 12 to 18 percent of college students are being treated for a mental disorder. Canadian statistics mirror the tragic rate of mental disorders in American university students. Studies have also shown that there are more students seeking psychological care than in previous decades (Watkins, Hunt, & Eisenberg, 2011). The mental health crisis faced by North American institutions of higher education is relevant to institutional funding challenges, as the crisis is creating a growing need for financial and human resources to address this serious problem. Counselling centres in post-secondary educational institutions have difficulty meeting the growing needs of students as they are underfunded and understaffed. Resources are required to increase staffing, improve training, and increase physical space on campus for counselling centres (Kadison & DiGeronimo, 2004). There is evidence to support the reality of the mental health crisis, and the serious challenge it poses for post-secondary educational institutions. What are the factors behind this crisis? This paper identifies six factors that recent research has implicated as contributing to the mental health crisis: academic pressure, financial burden, increased accessibility of higher education, increased female to male student ratio, increased use of technology, and dramatic change in the lifestyle of university and college students. All of these factors play an important role in the mental health crisis.

As the availability of new communication technologies increases, mental health professionals have incorporated these innovations into their practice and research. Up to now several studies have presented promising results in using the power and convenience of the Internet for clinical care. While multiple contributions focus on the potential and the advantages of therapies delivered through the Internet, mental health practitioners may take into account new technological opportunities to improve their practice. Mobile phone diffusion is expanding worldwide at breath-taking speed. In fewer than 20 years, mobile phones have gone from being rare and expensive pieces of equipment used primarily by the business elite, to a pervasive low-cost personal item. In many countries, mobile phones now outnumber land-line telephones, with most adults and many children now owning mobile phones. With high levels of mobile telephone penetration, a mobile culture has evolved, where the phone becomes a key social and cultural tool. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potentialities that mobile phones may offer in clinical care. The paper will investigate in which areas of clinical interventions mobile phones have already been successfully applied. Moreover, the paper will discuss these opportunities by presenting the results of two different studies based on the use of the mobile phone for anxiety management. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

Traditionally, rehabilitation has been closely associated with vocational potential and return to work post-injury, or the maintenance of work attendance following the onset of chronic disease. Indeed, so close was the association that the terms "rehabilitation" and "vocational rehabilitation" were virtually synonymous. Over the recent past there is evidence of a shift away from vocational goals in rehabilitation. The present paper briefly reviews the scientific literature on the mental and physical health benefits of employment. Having established that employment is health-promoting for most people, the paper analyses the content of recent issues of two major rehabilitation medicine journals to present a summary of the nature and extent of a vocational focus within contemporary rehabilitation research and, by implication, within evidence-based rehabilitation service delivery. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper reviews a body of research on the author's Silver Drawing Test (SDT) and Draw A Story (DAS) art-based assessments, which span 40 years of development. The original impetus for the assessment is described and studies are reviewed that examined relationships between depression, abuse, and aggression; cognitive skills; interrater and retest reliability; normative data; and treatment outcomes in the United States, Thailand, and Russia. Findings from these studies suggest that drawing responses that are strongly negative (receiving of a score of 1 out of a total possible 5 points) on both the Emotional Content and the Self-Image scales can provide early identification of children and adolescents who may be at risk for depression. (Contains 1 figure.)

Purpose: China and the USA are among the countries where depression is most prevalent. However, the treatment rate of depression is relatively low in these two countries. Negative attitudes toward depression is one of the major contributor to the low-treatment rate. The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of narratives to promote positive attitudes toward depression in China and the USA. In addition, it examines that the psychological mechanisms underlying narrative persuasion in these two different cultural contexts. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted in both China (n = 84) and the USA (n = 174). Participants were first asked to complete a short questionnaire about their demographic information and depressive symptoms. They were then asked to read a story featuring a college student with depression. After reading the message, participants completed another questionnaire measuring their attitudes toward depression, transportation (i.e. readers' involvement with the story), and counterarguing (i.e. the generation of thoughts that dispute the persuasive argument). Findings: Results from a multi-group analysis suggested that although narrative messages had similar persuasive effects for readers from different cultures, the relation between narrative transportation and counterarguing was different. For the US participants, the more they were transported to the story world, the less counter arguments they generated. However, transportation was not negatively associated with counterarguing for Chinese readers. Practical implications: Findings provide implications for strategically using narrative persuasion to promote positive attitudes toward depression in different cultural contexts. Originality/value: This study is the first to test the use of narratives to promote positive attitudes toward depression in different cultural contexts.

In the article, "Are the kids alright? Examining the intersection between education and mental health," Humphrey examines the zeitgeist of mental health service delivery within education. He posits that education and children's mental health services have undergone significant transformations, yet gaps in treatment remain. Moreover, there are critical questions to consider including the definition of "mental health," the varying prevalence of these problems, the delivery of evidence-based treatments, and how schools may meet the mental health needs of the children they serve. Humphrey concludes with an apparent contradiction faced by schools -- the competing responsibilities as: (1) the 'last bastion of hope for the resolution of the youth mental health crisis'; and (2) necessary conduits of government accountability testing. In this response article, the author examines the critical questions put forth by Humphrey with an American lens by reviewing evidence of school-based mental health services (SBMH) within the United States, and offer a differing conclusion about the potential and promise of serving the mental health needs of children in schools. [For "Are the Kids Alright? Examining the Intersection between Education and Mental Health," by Neil Humphrey, see EJ1247696.]