Growing evidence indicates an association between disordered eating and a range of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and emotional dysregulation.

This study aimed to explore whether reducing risk factors for eating disorders, such as body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem, through school-based programmes can enhance adolescent mental health.

We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Web of Science from the date of inception to 15 October 2023. Data were synthesised by using a systematic narrative synthesis framework, and formal assessments were conducted to assess the quality of the included studies.

After title/abstract screening and full-text assessment, 13 articles met the pre-specified inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 14 studies (n = 5853). Notably, three studies encompassed multiple programmes, leading to the identification of 17 eating disorder prevention programmes. Among these programmes, seven (41%) employed dissonance-based approaches. Topics covered in the programmes included psychoeducation, body acceptance, sociocultural issues, nutrition and physical activities, self-esteem and stress coping. Ten (59%) of the programmes were effective in improving adolescent mental health. Six of the 14 studies (43%) did not specify follow-up time, and quality assessments found the majority to be of either high (five studies, 36%) or fair (eight studies, 57%) quality.

The findings from the ten effective programmes consistently support the use of body acceptance strategies in improving the mental health of adolescent students. Brief interventions delivered by trained, non-licensed facilitators appear good for the sustainable implementation of in-school psychological services to support well-being among adolescents.

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in schizophrenia have been suggested to arise from failure of corollary discharge mechanisms to correctly predict and suppress self-initiated inner speech. However, it is unclear whether such dysfunction is related to motor preparation of inner speech during which sensorimotor predictions are formed. The contingent negative variation (CNV) is a slow-going negative event-related potential that occurs prior to executing an action. A recent meta-analysis has revealed a large effect for CNV blunting in schizophrenia. Given that inner speech, similar to overt speech, has been shown to be preceded by a CNV, the present study tested the notion that AVHs are associated with inner speech-specific motor preparation deficits.

The present study aimed to provide a useful framework for directly testing the long-held idea that AVHs may be related to inner speech-specific CNV blunting in patients with schizophrenia. This may hold promise for a reliable biomarker of AVHs.

Hallucinating (n=52) and non-hallucinating (n=45) patients with schizophrenia, along with matched healthy controls (n=42), participated in a novel electroencephalographic (EEG) paradigm. In the Active condition, they were asked to imagine a single phoneme at a cue moment while, precisely at the same time, being presented with an auditory probe. In the Passive condition, they were asked to passively listen to the auditory probes. The amplitude of the CNV preceding the production of inner speech was examined.

Healthy controls showed a larger CNV amplitude (p = .002, d = .50) in the Active compared to the Passive condition, replicating previous results of a CNV preceding inner speech. However, both patient groups did not show a difference between the two conditions (p > .05). Importantly, a repeated measure ANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect (p = .007, ηp2 = .05). Follow-up contrasts showed that healthy controls exhibited a larger CNV amplitude in the Active condition than both the hallucinating (p = .013, d = .52) and non-hallucinating patients (p < .001, d = .88). No difference was found between the two patient groups (p = .320, d = .20).

The results indicated that motor preparation of inner speech in schizophrenia was disrupted. While the production of inner speech resulted in a larger CNV than passive listening in healthy controls, which was indicative of the involvement of motor planning, patients exhibited markedly blunted motor preparatory activity to inner speech. This may reflect dysfunction in the formation of corollary discharges. Interestingly, the deficits did not differ between hallucinating and non-hallucinating patients. Future work is needed to elucidate the specificity of inner speech-specific motor preparation deficits with AVHs. Overall, this study provides evidence in support of atypical inner speech monitoring in schizophrenia.

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The negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mental health has been well documented. While most of the evidence comes from samples of adolescents and young adults, few studies have investigated whether ACEs contribute to poorer mental health among older adults. In particular, depressive symptoms are common in old age, and they display heterogeneous patterns of development across individuals. Therefore, it is important to examine if ACEs are predictive of distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms among older adults.

Using longitudinal data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we aimed to examine if ACEs could differentiate between distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms over eight years in community-dwelling older adults.

Participants from ELSA aged 60 or above who reported no psychiatric diagnoses and completed the items of ACEs at baseline (wave 3) were included in the current study. Nine items of ACEs were subject to a principal component analysis to identify the underlying subtypes. Data of depressive symptoms from waves 3 to 7 (2-year apart), assessed with the 8-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, were extracted for modelling the distinct trajectories using latent class growth analysis. The trajectories were predicted by subtypes of ACEs using multinomial logistic regression, adjusting for childhood socioeconomic status, sex, age and ethnicity.

The final sample consisted of 4057 participants (54.4% female, mean age= 71.34 (SD= 8.14)). We identified five trajectories of depressive symptoms (Figure 1): ‘low stable’ (73.4%), ‘increasing then decreasing’ (9.9%), ‘high decreasing’ (7.1%), ‘high stable’ (5.7%) and ‘moderate increasing’ (4.0%). Four subtypes of ACEs (i.e., sexual abuse, separation from natural parents, family dysfunction and physical assault) were evident. Compared to the ‘low stable’ group, higher levels of family dysfunction were reported in the ‘increasing then decreasing’ (aOR = 1.35, 95% CI [1.10 - 1.66], p = .012), ‘high stable’ (aOR = 1.59, 95% CI [1.30 - 1.96], p < .001) and ‘moderate increasing’ (aOR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.18 - 2.04], p = .011) groups. The ‘high stable’ group also reported a higher level of separation from natural parents than the ‘low stable’ group (aOR = 1.34, 95% CI [1.04 - 1.72], p = .047). Sexual abuse and physical assault did not predict any group differences.

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Distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms among older adults were predicted by family dysfunction in childhood. Our findings suggested that the negative impact of ACEs on mental health may extend beyond adolescence and young adulthood into the old age.

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Adolescents with depression have distinct affective reactions to daily events, but current research is controversial. The emotional context insensitivity theory suggests blunted reactivity in depression, whereas the hypotheses of negative potentiation and mood brightening effect suggest otherwise. While nonlinear associations between depression severity and affective reactivity have been observed, studies with a separate subclinical group remain rare. Subthreshold depression (SD), defined by two to four symptoms lasting for two weeks or more, provides a dimensional view to the underpinnings of affective reactivity. In this study, we compared positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) reactivity to positive and negative daily events (uplifts and stress) among adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), SD and healthy controls (HC) using experience sampling methods (ESM).

We hypothesized a stepped difference in affective reactivity along the depression spectrum: the MDD group will have the strongest reactivity of PA and NA to uplifts and stress, followed by SD and HC.

Three groups (MDD, SD, and HC) of adolescents were recruited from an epidemiologic sample entitled ‘Hong Kong Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Epidemiologic Survey: Age 6 to 17’. Group status was determined by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 5. They completed an experience sampling diary on smartphone for 14 consecutive days, with 5-10 entries per day. Momentary levels of PA (happy, relaxed, contented), NA (irritated, low, nervous), uplifts and stress experienced before the entry were measured on a 1-7 Likert scale.

The sample consisted of 19 adolescents with MDD, 30 with SD, and 59 HC. The M:F ratio was 17:19. The age range was 12-18 with a mean of 14.8. The overall ESM completion rate was 46%. The MDD group had the highest levels of stress and NA, and the lowest levels of uplifts and PA, followed by the SD and HC groups respectively (p<0.01). Across groups, levels of PA were positively associated with uplifts and negatively associated with stress, whereas levels of NA were positively associated with stress and negatively associated with uplifts. The Group x Uplift interaction effect on PA was significant, with greater PA reactivity in SD (p<0.01) and MDD (p=0.07) when compared with HC. The Group x Uplift interaction effect on NA was significant, with greater NA reactivity in SD than HC (p<0.01). The Group x Stress interaction effect on PA was significant, with greater PA reactivity in SD than HC (p<0.01) and MDD (p<0.01). The Group x Stress interaction effect with NA is non-significant.

Contrary to our hypothesis, adolescents with SD experienced strongest PA and NA reactivity in uplifts and PA reactivity in stress. It provides evidence towards a nonlinear relationship between severity of depression and affective reactivity.

None Declared

Persons newly diagnosed with dementia and their family member is imperative often experience uncertainty and inadequate support. This study aims to evaluate a post-diagnostic support programme guided by the 5 Pillars Model proposed by Alzheimer Scotland on the self-efficacy among persons with early dementia and their family members.

A prospective cohort study design was conducted between 2019 and 2022. Subject recruitment was conducted in four non-government organizations. A multi-domain empowerment programme, covering various aspects about dementia knowledge, management skills, peer support, future decision-making and community resources, was developed. The programme was provided to people newly diagnosed of early dementia in small group format over 2 months and to family members individually through an eLearning platform over 9 months. Self efficacy in dementia management of people with dementia and their family members were measured using Chronic Disease Self-efficacy Scale and Caregiver Self-efficacy Scale (CSES), respectively, whereas caregiving burden was measured using Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Study outcomes were measured at baseline, immediate and 6-month post-intervention. Paired t-tests were performed to detect within-subject changes over time.

A total of 151 persons with early dementia and 294 family caregivers completed assessment at baseline and follow up. Self-efficacy in dementia management reported by persons with dementia at 6-month post-intervention was significantly higher than that reported at baseline (p = .021) and immediate post-intervention (i.e. 2-month follow up) (p = .006). Family members reported a significantly higher CSES score (p < .001) and subscale scores in thoughts (p = .001) and disruptive behaviour management (p = .001) at 9-month follow up, but significant reduction in caregiving burden (p < .001) was only noted among those who perceived higher burden than the local norms at baseline (ZBI score ≥ 25, n = 110).

This study provides empirical evidence that post-diagnostic support would empower persons with early dementia and their family members on adapting the impacts brought by dementia. Further study on examining the longer term effects on care outcomes and health service utilisation would be valuable.

People with dementia are more prone to premature nursing home placement after hospitalization due to physical and mental deconditioning which makes care-at- home more difficult. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a post hospital discharge transitional care program on reduction of nursing home placement in people with dementia.

A matched case-control study was conducted between 2018 and 2021. A transitional care program using case management approach was developed. Participants enrolled the program by self-enrolment or referral from hospitals or NGOs. Community-dwelling people with dementia discharged from hospitals received a four- week residential care at a dementia care centre with intensive nursing care, physiotherapy and group activities promoting social engagement, followed by eight- week day care rehabilitation activities to improve their mobility and cognitive functioning. They were matched on a 1:5 ratio by age and sex to people with dementia discharged from a convalescent hospital who did not participate in this program for comparison. The study outcome was nursing home admission, measured three months (i.e. post-intervention), six months, and nine months after hospital discharge. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to investigate factors associated with nursing home placement at each measurement time-point.

361 hospital admission episodes (n=67 interevntion, n=294 control) were examined. The regression results showed that participants in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be admitted to nursing home three months (OR = 0.023, 95% CI: 0.003-0.201, p = .001) and six months (OR = 0.094, 95% CI: 0.025-0.353, p = .001) than the controls after hospital discharge, but the intervention effect did not sustain nine months after hospital discharge. Longer hospital length of stay, and hospital admission due to dementia, mental disturbances such as delirium, or mental disorders IPA_Abstract_PDP_20230119_clean 2 such as schizophrenia significantly predicted nursing home admission three months and six months after hospital discharge.

The transitional care program could help reduce nursing home placement in people with dementia after hospital discharge. To sustain the intervention effect, more continual support after the intervention as well as family caregiver training would be required.

Despite the importance of timing of nerve surgery after peripheral nerve injury, optimal timing of intervention has not been clearly delineated. The goal of this study is to explore factors that may have a significant impact on clinical outcomes of severe peripheral nerve injury that requires reconstruction with nerve transfer or graft.

Adult patients who underwent peripheral nerve transfer or grafting in Alberta were reviewed. Clustered multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of time to surgery, type of nerve repair, and patient characteristics on strength outcomes. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis model was used to examine factors correlated with increased time to surgery.

Of the 163 patients identified, the median time to surgery was 212 days. For every week of delay, the adjusted odds of achieving Medical Research Council strength grade ≥ 3 decreases by 3%. An increase in preinjury comorbidities was associated with longer overall time to surgery (aHR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74–0.95). Referrals made by surgeons were associated with a shorter time to surgery compared to general practitioners (aHR 1.87, 95% CI 1.14–3.06). In patients treated with nerve transfer, the adjusted odds of achieving antigravity strength was 388% compared to nerve grafting; while the adjusted odds decreased by 65% if the injury sustained had a pre-ganglionic injury component.

Mitigating delays in surgical intervention is crucial to optimizing outcomes. The nature of initial nerve injury and surgical reconstructive techniques are additional important factors that impact postoperative outcomes.

Excessive and persistent fear of clusters of holes, also known as trypophobia, has been suggested to reflect cortical hyperexcitability and may be associated with mental health risks. No study, however, has yet examined these associations in representative epidemiological samples.

To examine the prevalence of trypophobia in a population-representative youth sample, its association with mental health and functioning, and its interaction with external stress.

A total of 2065 young people were consecutively recruited from a household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. Trypophobia, symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, and exposure to personal stressors were assessed. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationships between trypophobia and mental health. Potential additive and interaction effects of trypophobia and high stress exposure on mental health were also tested.

The prevalence of trypophobia was 17.6%. Trypophobia was significantly associated with severe symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.32–2.53), depression (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.24–2.56) and stress (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.11–2.53), even when accounting for sociodemographic factors, personal and family psychiatric history, resilience and stress exposure. Dose–response relationships were observed, and trypophobia significantly potentiated the effects of stress exposure on symptom outcomes, particularly for depressive symptoms. Those with trypophobia also showed significantly poorer functioning across domains and poorer health-related quality of life.

Screening for trypophobia in young people may facilitate early risk detection and intervention, particularly among those with recent stress exposure. Nevertheless, the generally small effect sizes suggest that other factors have more prominent roles in determining recent mental health outcomes in population-based samples; these should be explored in future work.

Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential.

Participants (n = 2540, aged 15–25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use.

The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt.

Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.

Brief measurements of the subjective experience of stress with good predictive capability are important in a range of community mental health and research settings. The potential for large-scale implementation of such a measure for screening may facilitate early risk detection and intervention opportunities. Few such measures however have been developed and validated in epidemiological and longitudinal community samples. We designed a new single-item measure of the subjective level of stress (SLS-1) and tested its validity and ability to predict long-term mental health outcomes of up to 12 months through two separate studies.

We first examined the content and face validity of the SLS-1 with a panel consisting of mental health experts and laypersons. Two studies were conducted to examine its validity and predictive utility. In study 1, we tested the convergent and divergent validity as well as incremental validity of the SLS-1 in a large epidemiological sample of young people in Hong Kong (n = 1445). In study 2, in a consecutively recruited longitudinal community sample of young people (n = 258), we first performed the same procedures as in study 1 to ensure replicability of the findings. We then examined in this longitudinal sample the utility of the SLS-1 in predicting long-term depressive, anxiety and stress outcomes assessed at 3 months and 6 months (n = 182) and at 12 months (n = 84).

The SLS-1 demonstrated good content and face validity. Findings from the two studies showed that SLS-1 was moderately to strongly correlated with a range of mental health outcomes, including depressive, anxiety, stress and distress symptoms. We also demonstrated its ability to explain the variance explained in symptoms beyond other known personal and psychological factors. Using the longitudinal sample in study 2, we further showed the significant predictive capability of the SLS-1 for long-term symptom outcomes for up to 12 months even when accounting for demographic characteristics.

The findings altogether support the validity and predictive utility of the SLS-1 as a brief measure of stress with strong indications of both concurrent and long-term mental health outcomes. Given the value of brief measures of mental health risks at a population level, the SLS-1 may have potential for use as an early screening tool to inform early preventative intervention work.

To describe the infection control preparedness measures undertaken for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) due to SARS-CoV-2 (previously known as 2019 novel coronavirus) in the first 42 days after announcement of a cluster of pneumonia in China, on December 31, 2019 (day 1) in Hong Kong.

A bundled approach of active and enhanced laboratory surveillance, early airborne infection isolation, rapid molecular diagnostic testing, and contact tracing for healthcare workers (HCWs) with unprotected exposure in the hospitals was implemented. Epidemiological characteristics of confirmed cases, environmental samples, and air samples were collected and analyzed.

From day 1 to day 42, 42 of 1,275 patients (3.3%) fulfilling active (n = 29) and enhanced laboratory surveillance (n = 13) were confirmed to have the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The number of locally acquired case significantly increased from 1 of 13 confirmed cases (7.7%, day 22 to day 32) to 27 of 29 confirmed cases (93.1%, day 33 to day 42; P < .001). Among them, 28 patients (66.6%) came from 8 family clusters. Of 413 HCWs caring for these confirmed cases, 11 (2.7%) had unprotected exposure requiring quarantine for 14 days. None of these was infected, and nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was not observed. Environmental surveillance was performed in the room of a patient with viral load of 3.3 × 106 copies/mL (pooled nasopharyngeal and throat swabs) and 5.9 × 106 copies/mL (saliva), respectively. SARS-CoV-2 was identified in 1 of 13 environmental samples (7.7%) but not in 8 air samples collected at a distance of 10 cm from the patient’s chin with or without wearing a surgical mask.

Appropriate hospital infection control measures was able to prevent nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2.