To determine the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression among health care professionals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the impact of gender and professional roles on mental health outcomes.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2023 using stratified random sampling among health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and emergency staff, across multiple hospitals. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to assess anxiety and depression. Data were analyzed using R/RStudio, employing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient.

Among 651 participants, 65% were male. Anxiety prevalence was significant, with 42% experiencing minimal anxiety, 35% mild, 16% moderate, and 7.7% severe. Depression prevalence included 10% with no depression with 7.8% moderately severe and 5.9% severe depression. Nurses (40%) and doctors (34%) had the highest depression rates. Females exhibited significantly higher anxiety and depression scores. Anxiety prevalence varied across hospitals (P = 0.024). A strong positive correlation was observed between GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores.

Mental health challenges among frontline health care workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are substantial, with anxiety and depression particularly prevalent among nurses and doctors. Female workers experience greater psychological distress. We recommend implementation of hospital-based mental health support systems, prioritizing interventions for female staff and high-burden departments. Policies ensuring regular psychological screening and peer support mechanisms are urgently needed.

Although mental disorders have long been considered complex dynamic systems, our understanding of the mutual interactions and temporal patterns of their symptoms remains limited.

In this longitudinal study, we examined the structure and dynamics of four key mental health indicators – depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and insomnia – in a representative sample of the Slovak population (effective N = 3,874) over 10 waves spanning 3.5 years. For each construct, a longitudinal panel network model was estimated.

The temporal relationships between symptoms were mostly weak, with the autoregressive effects typically being stronger. In depression, anxiety, and insomnia, some causal chains and feedback loops were identified. In all constructs, both contemporaneous and between-person networks showed dense connections.

The findings provide critical insights into the complexity of mental health development, offering potential targets for intervention and prevention strategies.

The co-occurrence of cannabis use and internalizing symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, during emerging adulthood (18–25 years) is well documented. However, while bidirectional relationships are often assumed, empirical evidence is mixed. This study investigates bidirectional longitudinal relationships between cannabis frequency and consequences and internalizing symptoms (depressive and anxiety) among high-risk emerging adults.

Data came from seven assessments collected over a 2-year period among 961 (54% female) high-risk emerging adults participating in two longitudinal cohorts (Ontario, Canada; Tennessee, USA). Assessments were at 4-month intervals spanning 2018–2020. Latent curve models with structured residuals were used to explore bidirectional between- and within-person relationships between cannabis-related variables and internalizing symptoms.

At baseline, higher levels of cannabis frequency and consequences were associated with higher internalizing symptoms. In between-person model components, cannabis-related and internalizing variables decreased across emerging adulthood. Significant within-person bidirectional relationships were observed, partially supporting both symptom-driven and substance-induced pathways, but the findings were specific to negative cannabis consequences, not frequency, and for depressive symptoms, not anxiety symptoms, for symptom-driven pathways. These bidirectional relationships were more pronounced among females and those surpassing clinical thresholds for internalizing symptoms at baseline.

This study found evidence of bidirectional relationships between cannabis consequences and internalizing symptoms across emerging adulthood, with the prevailing direction from cannabis-related negative consequences to increases in internalizing symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of cannabis intervention in emerging adults, both to reduce consequences and to prevent internalizing disorders, especially targeting females and those with clinically elevated internalizing symptoms.

Observational studies indicate that higher educational attainment (EA) is associated with a lower risk of many mental health conditions (MHC). We assessed to what extent this association is influenced by genetic nurture and demographic factors (i.e., assortative mating and population structure).

We conducted a within-sibship Mendelian randomization (MR) study. The sample consisted of 61 880 siblings (27 507 sibships) from the Trøndelag Health Study-HUNT (Norway) and UK Biobank (United Kingdom). MHC outcomes included symptom scores for anxiety, depression, and neuroticism, measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, along with self-reported psychotropic medication use.

One standard deviation (SD) increase in liability to EA was associated with lower anxiety (−0.20 SD [95% CI: −0.26, −0.14]), depression (−0.11 SD [−0.43, −0.22]), and neuroticism scores (−0.30 SD [−0.53, −0.06]), as well as lower odds of psychotropic medication use (OR: 0.60 [0.52, 0.69]). Within-sibship MR estimates remained consistent with population-based estimates: anxiety (−0.17 SD [−0.33, −0.00]); depression (−0.18 SD [−1.26, 0.89]); neuroticism (−0.29 SD [−0.43, −0.15]); psychotropic medication use (OR, 0.52 [0.34, 0.82]).

Higher EA or genetic liability to education reduces symptoms of anxiety, neuroticism, and psychotropic medication use. These mental health benefits do not seem to be explained by EA-linked genetic nurture or demographic factors. Regarding depression, results were less conclusive due to imprecise estimates, though beneficial effects of genetic liability to higher EA are possible and warrant further investigation.

Anxiety is a persistent trait that disrupts functioning and increases the risk of severe consequences, while reward processing has garnered attention in anxiety research. Here, we report a critical concern in reward processing among individuals with anxiety: although anxious individuals may show similar reward processing abilities as non-anxious individuals in typical environments, they are more vulnerable to disruptions in positive emotions caused by frustrative non-reward, leading to maladaptive reward processing patterns.

The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in this study. A total of 66 participants were recruited for the experiment, with 33 in the high anxiety (HA) group and 33 in the low anxiety (LA) group. The simulation of frustrative non-reward was conducted during fMRI scanning.

Under the low frustration condition, the HA group exhibited task accuracy comparable to the LA group and showed greater activation in visual processing regions (inferior occipital gyrus, superior occipital gyrus, angular gyrus) and cognitive control areas (precuneus, precentral gyrus) during attentional reorienting following frustration. However, in the high frustration condition, the HA group displayed significantly lower accuracy, with maladaptive information processing patterns observed in several brain regions associated with the cognitive-emotional control system (cuneus-precuneus, anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala).

This demonstration of two contrasting processing patterns deepens the current understanding of reward processing in anxiety. It also holds significance for a broader understanding of the risk factors in cognitive processing among individuals with anxiety.

Mental disorders affect nearly 970 million people worldwide, impacting individuals and healthcare systems. Large population databases offer insights often unattainable in smaller studies, but their findings may not always generalize across diverse regions. To address this, we introduce a European cohort from Catalonia, Spain, allowing for comparisons between individuals with mental disorders and the general population.

Data were obtained from the “Programa d’analítica de dades per a la recerca i la innovació en salut” (PADRIS). The cohort included all individuals who accessed public specialized mental health services between 2015 and 2019, with retrospective follow-up extending to 2010. These individuals, referred to as cases, were matched by age, sex, and health region with controls, individuals who had no interactions with mental health services during the same period. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, including psychiatric diagnoses, comorbidities, smoking status, healthcare utilization, and prescribed treatments, were analyzed.

The study included 1,421,510 individuals (mean age: 41.6±22.1; 53.6% female), with 473,812 cases and 947,698 controls. Cases were more likely to be exempt from income reporting, be ever-smokers, and have musculoskeletal comorbidities. A total of 1,547,374 psychiatric diagnoses were recorded, with anxiety (31.38%) and mood disorders (18.83%) being the most frequent. Over the follow-up, 76.2 million primary care visits and 67.1 million prescriptions were recorded.

This cohort enhances our understanding of mental health service use, diagnostic trends, and treatment patterns in Catalonia. The insights derived from this cohort have the potential to inform mental health policies, improving outcomes within and beyond the region.

The prevalence of prolonged symptoms following a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection represents a significant health challenge with potentially severe individual and societal costs. Our study investigates the long-term cognitive and mental health consequences associated with post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) condition (PCC) following a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection.

We conducted longitudinal assessments of cognitive performance and mental health in 50 post-COVID-19 patients and 48 matched healthy controls across 10 months, starting on average 2 years after infection. Cognitive function was evaluated using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery of standardized tests, while mental health was assessed via self-reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models.

Initial group differences in cognitive performance were observed for memory, executive functioning, and perceptual speed, with worse performance in patients. Improvement across the follow-up period occurred for most tasks, with PCC patients displaying greater improvement compared to healthy controls for some memory and executive function tasks, reaching performance levels of the control group. Fatigue and mental health measures remained elevated in the patient group, with worsening in general fatigue and a small improvement in fatigue after cognitive testing. Factors such as male sex, absence of burnout history, and lower depression scores at baseline predicted cognitive recovery in the patient group.

Our study underscores the importance of addressing cognitive and psychological effects following mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, as persistent fatigue, low mental health, and cognitive impairments significantly impact individuals’ ability to return to their pre-COVID professional and personal lives.

With more than 1 million children in the United States living with a heart defect or condition, it is important to identify interventions that may minimise the long-term impacts of repeated medical surveillance and care. Thus, the purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine relationships between facility dog intervention and young children’s anxiety during outpatient echocardiogram.

Participants were seventy children aged 18 months to 8 years undergoing echocardiogram in a paediatric cardiology clinic. Child anxiety was scored by a trained nurse observer pre- and post-procedure using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale. Facility dog intervention included individualised play, positioning, therapeutic conversation and touch, and emotional support throughout to promote coping and compliance. Parents and staff completed a post-procedural perceptions survey about their experiences.

Paired samples t-tests demonstrated child anxiety levels were significantly lower post-procedure compared to pre-procedure (Z = −3.974, p < .001). This direction held for nearly all participants; however, those with prior echocardiogram history demonstrated significantly higher anxiety levels at the pre-procedural timepoint (z = −2.442, p = .015). Caregivers (97.2%) and staff (87.9%) agreed or strongly agreed that facility dog intervention was helpful in this context.

Facility dog intervention was associated with a significant reduction in young children’s anxiety across procedural timepoints in outpatient echocardiography. The intervention was perceived as helpful by families and staff; no workflow changes or barriers were noted. Thus, facility dog intervention may be a well-received and promising care innovation for this vulnerable chronic population.

Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are prevalent among healthcare workers (HCWs), including those from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there are limited summary data on the burden and factors associated with these disorders in this region. We conducted this systematic review (registration no. CRD42022349136) to fill this gap.

The aim of this review was to systematically summarise the available evidence on the prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety and PTSD, or their symptoms, among HCWs from SSA.

We searched African Index Medicus, African Journals Online, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PubMed for articles published, from database inception to 15 February 2024. The keywords used in the search were ‘depression/anxiety/PTSD’, ‘healthcare workers’, ‘SSA’ and their variations.

Sixty-nine studies met our inclusion criteria, most of which (n = 55, 79.7%) focused on the burden of these disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across studies, wide-ranging prevalence estimates of depressive (2.1–75.7%), anxiety (4.8–96.5%) and PTSD symptoms (11.7–78.3%) were reported. These disorders appear to have been heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several sociodemographic, health-related, COVID-19-related and work-related factors were reported to either increase or lower the risk of these disorders among HCWs from SSA.

The burden of depression, anxiety and PTSD among HCWs from SSA is high and appears to have been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The correlates of these disorders among HCWs from this region are multifactorial. A multi-component intervention could contribute to addressing the burden of mental disorders among HCWs from this region.

Despite increasing awareness and understanding of children’s victimisation through experiences of domestic violence (EDV), little attention has been given to the associated health outcomes.

Examine associations between four different forms of childhood EDV (physical violence, threats of harm, property damage and intimidation or control) and four mental disorders and six health risk behaviours.

Data were drawn from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study. Associations were examined using survey-weighted logistic regression models. Estimates were calculated adjusting for each other form of EDV, as well as other types of child maltreatment and socio-economic factors. Each model was stratified for men and women.

All mental disorders and health risk behaviours were more common among those with any childhood EDV compared to those without. Intimidation or control and damage to property or pets independently predicted most mental disorders and health risk behaviours. The strongest association was found between intimidation or control and post-traumatic stress disorder (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.30, 95% CI 1.77–2.98) and generalised anxiety disorder (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.36–1.99), and damage to property or pets and severe alcohol use disorder (aOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.36–2.27).

Childhood EDV characterised by intimidation or control and property damage or harm to pets significantly increases the risk of mental disorders and health risk behaviours in adulthood. Urgent investment is needed in child-centred and trauma- and family-violence-informed interventions that support children’s recovery and stronger legal protections to prevent children from being weaponised in post-separation coercive control.