The aim of the present research was to assess the physical activity of secondary school students and to understand its effect on subjective general health, vitality and mental health. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents aged 15-19 (n = 448) years attending a full-time secondary school. The paper-based questionnaire included self-reported questions on physical activity in addition to socio-demographic variables, while the standardised instrument measured dimensions of subjective health (Health Thermometer - EuroQol scale, EQ VAS, Health Survey Short Form SF-36 Questionnaire) and Sense of Coherence (SOC 13). The amount of physical activity was adequate for 22.2%. Regular physical activity had a positive effect on self-reported health perception (p < 0.05). The mean scores for mental health, vitality and general health perception were significantly higher among students who were adequately or nearly adequately physically active (p < 0.05). A positive correlation was found between sense of coherence and frequency of physical activity (p < 0.05). The means of the self-reported health indicators and the sense of coherence were almost identical between the groups (p > 0.05). The sense of coherence plays a role in the changes in the regularity of physical activity, and a linear stochastic relationship between the variables was demonstrated.

Recent research suggests biological age, based on epigenetic or neuroimaging measures, may predict health traits in adulthood more accurately than chronological age. However, it is unclear if these findings apply earlier in life. We aimed to characterise the performance and interdependence between measures of biological age in young people, leveraging a longitudinal subsample from the population-based ALSPAC cohort (n = 386). We derived four epigenetic age measures from blood samples in young people (17-19 years) and a measure of brain age derived from structural neuroimaging data (18-24 years). We examined associations between measures of biological age, and relationships with five measures of physical, cognitive and mental health (8-18 years). We found little evidence for an association between brain age and epigenetic age measures, after accounting for age, sex, cell type, array and study (beta range: -0.59 to 0.59, all p > 0.05). Increased smoking_DNAm was associated with advanced epigenetic age (PACE and Zhang clock), and increased BMI_sds with advanced EpiAge_{Horvath(diff)} (all p < 0.05), but not brain age. Depressive symptoms and cognitive ability were unrelated to all measures of biological age. Our findings highlight the variability of epigenetic- and brain-based age measures in young people, emphasizing the importance of tracking ageing in younger populations.

Feelings of external influence are a hallmark of psychotic disorders, but mitigated forms can also be observed in healthy persons. A newly developed paradigm designed to induce feelings of external influence through verbal information (influence will be attempted/not-attempted) and physical setup (presence of tDCS-device or hand touch) was carried out in a pilot study in 21 patients with psychosis and in 22 healthy controls. A higher prevalence of induced feelings of external influence was observed in patients with psychosis. Furthermore, in healthy controls the impact of verbal information outweighed the impact of physical setup, whereas in patients the setup had a stronger influence. Moreover, the intensity of induced feelings of external influence correlated with measures of psychotic symptom severity (PANSS positive score, SAPS, AMDP ego-disorder) as well as response latencies during the estimation process. These findings indicate that feelings of external influence can be reliably induced in healthy controls and in patients with psychotic disorders. Stronger effects of physical setup in patients might be related to disorder-specific biases regarding the impact of initial perceptual impressions of features of the physical environment on belief formation, whereas the attenuated response to explicit verbal information about attempted influence might reflect reduced trust in other people's statements.

To investigate the relationship between sleep quality, social support, psychological resilience and mental health status of medical staff following bloodborne occupational exposure in a square pod hospital, and the mediating role of social support and psychological resilience.

A whole group sample of medical staff who had blood-borne occupational exposure in Lanzhou City Square Cabin Hospital from November to December 2022 were surveyed using self-administered general information questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI), self-reporting inventory(SCL-90) scale, social support rating scale(SSRS) and psychological resilience scale(CD-RISC), and SPSS 27.0 software and Process V 4.1 plug-in were used to analyze the quality of medical staff&apos;s sleep, psychological well-being, relationships between social support and psychological resilience were analyzed.

(1) A total of 332 medical personnel who had experienced blood-borne occupational exposure were investigated in this study. Most of them were male(n=254, 76.51%), mostly aged 26-45 years(n=262, 78.92%), and the majority of them were aged 11-19 years(n=138, 41.57%). The detection rate of needle stab injury was 73.49%(n=244), and the detection rate of sharp instrument injury was 82.53%(n=274). The detection rate of sleep disorder was 60.84%(n=202) and the positive rate of SCL-90 was 50.30%(n=167). (2) The total score of sleep quality was negatively correlated with the total score of social support(r=-0.257, P&lt;0.01), the total score of mental resilience was negatively correlated with r=-0.276, P&lt;0.01, and the total score of symptom checklist was positively correlated with r=0.580, P&lt;0.01. The total score of SSCS was negatively correlated with the total score of social support(r=-0.286, P&lt;0.01) and the total score of mental resilience(r=-0.403, P&lt;0.01). The total score of social support was positively correlated with the total score of mental resilience(r=0.406, P&lt;0.01). (3) Sleep quality had a direct negative effect on mental health, with an effect value of 11.83%(95%CI 0.462-1.386). Psychological resilience mediated the relationship between sleep quality and mental health, with an effect value of 5.43%(95%CI 0.093-0.837). Social support and psychological resilience mediated the relationship between sleep quality and mental health. mediating role, with an effect value of 2.66%(95%CI 0.080-0.353).

Overall poor sleep quality and mental health among medical staff following bloodborne occupational exposure in square pod hospitals, in which social support and psychological resilience play chain-mediated roles.

The management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves a varied and comprehensive range of support services at various stages of an autistic individual's life. In Thailand, parents/legal guardians of children with ASD often encounter challenges such as difficulty travelling from rural areas to access support services. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of a computer-based intervention programme for caregivers of children with ASD called the Thai Early Intervention for Autism-Assistive Technology for Caregivers (TEI4A-ATC), designed and implemented by a multidisciplinary team.

160 children and their caregivers are being recruited. They will be randomised 1:1 into two treatment arms: access to TEI4A-ATC for the intervention group and standard care for the control group. Before enrolment, ASD diagnosis will be conducted using the Thai Diagnostic Autism Scale: children's ASD scores will be determined using the Thai Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist for evaluating communication, sociability and sensory/cognitive awareness and the Thai Early Developmental Assessment for Intervention for evaluating motor skills, social interaction, language development and problem-solving. Both assessment tools will be used again after 3 months of treatment. Similarly, the caregivers' knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) for ASD care will be assessed using a questionnaire at enrolment and again after treatment. Comparison of the children's ASD scores and caregivers' KAP responses between the treatment groups and before and after treatment will be performed based on the intention-to-treat principle.

This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee for Mental Health and Psychiatry, Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Public Health (DMH.IRB.COA 037/2565). Written informed consent will be obtained from the participants prior to enrolment. The study's findings may be disseminated through scientific publications and conference presentations. The results of the study will be shared with key stakeholders, including caregivers, psychiatrists, policymakers and the general public, via appropriate dissemination channels to aid in creating appropriate practice and policy guidelines.

This study was registered with the Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR20240320010) on 20 March 2024.

Healthcare workers face specific vulnerabilities for drug overdose due to their unique access to medications, clinical knowledge and work-related stress. This study aimed to understand the characteristics of fatal overdoses in healthcare workers with a view to providing guidance for preventative strategies.

We retrospectively identified cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reported to the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality between 2000 and 2022 where decedents were working or studying within a healthcare setting at the time of their death or had previously worked in healthcare.

Quantitative analyses were conducted to report summary demographics of decedents, the circumstances of deaths and the drugs involved. A qualitative thematic framework analysis was performed to identify and explore factors that may contribute to fatal drug overdose in healthcare professionals.

In the identified cases, doctors were the most represented profession (48% of cases, n = 28/58) with opioids the drug class most often implicated in causing death (43% of cases, n = 25/58). Whilst there was scant evidence of recreational drug use in the identified cases (n = 3), hospital-only medications prominently featured [propofol in 29% (n = 17/58); midazolam in 10% (n = 6/58); neuromuscular blocking agents in 9% (n = 5/58)]. Qualitative analysis identified seven themes including accessing drugs from the workplace, use of skills and/or equipment for intravenous drug administration, obtainment of private prescriptions, diagnosed mental health conditions, recent events likely to have negatively impacted mental health, chronic pain and self-medicating and history of substance use disorder and/or overdose.

The characteristics of fatal drug overdoses among healthcare workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland appear to differ from those observed in the overall population of people who use drugs in the UK. To prevent such deaths, it is important that healthcare workers can access bespoke care and support tailored to the specific challenges that they face.

Levels of self-perceived psychological resilience are low to moderate among youth with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). Furthermore, resilience has been associated with symptom severity in CMP. Resilience coaching programs may therefore be of benefit in the nonpharmacologic management of adolescent CMP and may serve as an adjunctive way to access mental health services in an approachable and affordable way.

The main goal of the study is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the resilience coaching program called Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) and to obtain the data needed to plan a larger trial.

The Resilience Coaching for Adolescents with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain pilot study is an investigator initiated, 2-arm, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of PRISM in the interdisciplinary management of CMP among adolescents. The study will compare usual care versus PRISM+usual care among adolescents newly diagnosed with CMP in the outpatient setting. One caregiver per patient will also be enrolled. The control group will receive usual care with no specific intervention. The treatment arm will receive PRISM, which is a remotely delivered, 1-on-1resilience coaching program, consisting of 4 required skill-based sessions and an optional final session. Sessions will be delivered every 1-2 weeks, lasting about 3 months in total. The primary outcome is the Functional Disability Inventory (FDI) score at 3 months postrandomization. The secondary objectives are to evaluate potential patient- and caregiver-level moderators of PRISM and identify facilitators of and barriers to engagement in PRISM. The estimated sample size is 65 patient-caregiver dyads per group, for a total of 130 dyads.

The trial is currently open. Initial Institutional Review Board approval was obtained on April 4, 2023, and protocol version 4 was amended on January 14, 2025. Recruitment began on May 8, 2023, and recruitment is anticipated to be completed on August 1, 2025.

Resilience coaching has demonstrated excellent feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy in teenagers with chronic illness; however, evidence to support its use in adolescent CMP is lacking. Resilience coaching has the potential to improve patient outcomes in this population. This pilot RCT will demonstrate acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy and reveal critical barriers to and facilitators of engagement. This will inform a larger multisite trial to evaluate the definitive efficacy of the intervention.

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05834725; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05834725.

DERR1-10.2196/73385.

Speech and language biomarkers have the potential to provide regular, objective assessments of symptom severity in several neurological and mental health conditions, both in the clinic and remotely. However, speech and language characteristics within an individual are influenced by multiple variables that can make findings highly dependent on the chosen methodology and study cohort. These characteristics are often not reported adequately in studies investigating speech-based health assessment, which (1) hinders the progress of methodological speech research, (2) prevents replication, and (3) makes the definitive identification of robust biomarkers problematic.

This study aims (1) to facilitate replicable speech research by presenting a transparent speech collection and feature extraction protocol and design checklist for other researchers to adapt and design for their own experiments and (2) to demonstrate in a pilot study the feasibility of implementing our example in-laboratory protocol that reduces multiple potential confounding factors in repeated recordings of healthy speech.

We developed a collection and feature extraction protocol based on a thematic literature review to enable a controlled investigation of within-individual speech variability in healthy individuals. Our protocol comprises the elicitation of read speech, held vowels, and a picture description and extraction of 14 example features relevant to health. We collected speech using a freestanding condenser microphone, 3 smartphones, and a headset to enable a sensitivity analysis across different recording devices.

We collected healthy speech data from 28 individuals 3 times in 1 day (the "day" cohort), with the same schedule repeated 8 to 11 weeks later, and from 25 individuals on 3 days within 1 week at fixed times (the "week" cohort). Participant characteristics collected included sex, age, native language, and voice use habits. Before each recording, we collected information on recent voice use, food and drink intake, and emotional state. Recording times were also documented. Analysis relating to exploring within-individual variability within the day and week cohorts, as well as the device-type sensitivity analysis, is ongoing, with findings expected later in 2025.

The wide variability in speech data collection, processing, analysis, and reporting in research on speech's use in clinical trials and practice is the motivation for this paper and the development of the speech curation protocol design checklist. Increased, more consistent reporting and justification of study protocols is urgently required to facilitate speech research replication and translation into clinical practice.

DERR1-10.2196/69431.

Developmental impairment is common in individuals with SCN2A-related disorders, although descriptions are limited. We aimed to determine trajectories and outcomes of development and adaptive function.

This was a mixed retrospective cross-sectional study of individuals from an international SCN2A Natural History Study, who had neurologic/neurodevelopmental disorders due to an SCN2A variant. Individuals with SCN2A intragenic variants were grouped into early-onset (EO) and late-onset (LO) phenotypic groups; those with SCN2A-containing 2q24.3 copy number variants (CNVs) were considered separately. We collected medical and developmental history from parents/caregivers and medical records. Adaptive function and behavior were characterized using functional classification system levels and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3 (VABS-3) Parent/Caregiver Form. We repeated analyses on individuals with variants known to result in gain-of-function (GOF, typically EO phenotypes) or loss-of-function (LOF, typically LO phenotypes).

A total of 100 individuals (age 0.1-21.9 years, 39% female) were studied. Phenotypic groups were EO (n = 44), LO (n = 48), and 2q24.3 CNV (n = 8). Developmental delay/intellectual disability was present in 91 of 100, and 23 of 80 individuals (29%) older than 2 years had autism spectrum disorder. Of people older than the typical age for skill attainment, 59 of 95 (62%) could sit and 48 of 88 (55%) could walk. In addition, 27 of 86 individuals (31%) spoke more than 1-5 single words, and 24 of 74 (32%) followed two-step commands. Median VABS-3 Adaptive Behavior Composite (ABC) scores were as follows: the EO phenotypic group had a score of 56 (range 21-110), the LO phenotypic group had a score of 45 (range 20-89), and 5 of 6 with a 2q24.3 CNV had an ABC score of <45. The EO phenotypic group had 3 distinct subgroups, consistent with "benign," "intermediate," and "severe" definitions previously published. The LO phenotypic group showed a continuum of severity, without distinct clusters. However, clinically relevant differences in motor function were evident when subgrouped by seizure-onset age; a lower proportion with earlier seizure onset (age <18 months) were independently ambulant than those with later onset or no seizures (5/15 [33%] vs 10/12 [83%] vs 14/15 [93%], p < 0.01). Analyses of individuals with confirmed GOF/LOF variants (n = 57) showed similar results to the EO/LO analyses.

The spectrum of developmental impairments and adaptive function in SCN2A-related disorders is extremely broad. Phenotypic subgroups provide prognostic information and critically inform clinical trial design.

Recent reports point to a global and Swedish national mental health crisis among young adults. It is widely recognised that this phase of 'emerging adulthood' involves many challenges, stressors and uncertainties that can negatively impact mental health and well-being. In addition, these strains may be exacerbated by rapid contemporary changes in technological, societal and sociocultural contexts. Developing and tailoring interventions bolstering the mental well-being of young adults requires deeper insights into their lived experiences, self-perceived strengths and challenges.

This paper has two interconnected purposes: Firstly, presenting relevant theories and theoretical perspectives at the individual, group and societal levels providing a rationale for theorised study propositions underpinning a situational analysis of Swedish young adults. Secondly, building on this theoretical foundation, the aim is to describe a protocol for a case study and situational analysis examining how Swedish young adults from Generation Z experience their transition to adulthood, its impacts on their mental health, describing their mental health literacy, occupational balance, and support needs.

This case study protocol outlines a holistic, single-case study design employing a flexible approach. Data will be collected in Sweden through focus groups and individual interviews with stakeholders, young adults, and their parents. Existing and available mental health and well-being promotion in Sweden will be mapped through online searches. The various data sources will initially be analysed separately using thematic analysis. Subsequently the subthemes and themes will be jointly analysed across participant groups using pattern matching in workshop formats.

The results of this case-study are expected to generate new knowledge of the reasons underpinning the increase in mental ill-health among young adults in Sweden. This knowledge will subsequently inform the future co-production and core design features of a digital mental e-health intervention aimed at promoting mental well-being among Swedish young adults aged 18-29.