Background: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of physical activity levels on selected biochemical markers (glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, interleukin-6 [IL-6]), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cognitive functions, and additional macronutrient intake in postmenopausal women. Method: A total of 72 generally healthy women aged 55-73 from western Poland participated in the study. Physical activity levels were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), resulting in two distinct groups: 56 women in the lower activity level group and 16 in the higher activity level group. We calculated body mass index (BMI), measured body composition and blood pressure, and conducted cognitive assessments, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), motor and psychomotor skills tests, the Clock Drawing Test, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Nutritional intake was evaluated using a detailed 3-day food record to analyze macronutrient consumption and total caloric intake. Results: A statistically significant difference in total blood cholesterol levels (p = 0.0277) was observed between the two groups, with the higher physical activity group showing elevated cholesterol levels. Although no other biochemical markers showed statistically significant differences, variations in BDNF, glucose, triglycerides, IL-6, and insulin levels were noted between groups. Moreover, correlations between these markers and cognitive performance, like motor and psychomotor speeds, varied depending on physical activity level. The analyzed dietary pattern of the studied group shows slight deviations from current nutritional recommendations. Conclusions: The findings suggest that physical activity level may influence certain biochemical markers and cognitive functions in postmenopausal women. While these results highlight the potential benefits of physical activity, further research is needed to clarify underlying mechanisms and to validate physical activity as an effective strategy for improving postmenopausal health.

Background: Food addiction (FA) is an emerging construct that mirrors the behavioral and neurobiological characteristics of substance use disorders. Despite growing interest, its association with specific psychiatric disorders among bariatric patients remains understudied. Objective: Our aim was to examine the prevalence and strength of associations between FA and seven major psychiatric disorders in individuals who underwent bariatric surgery. Methods: In a sample of 100 post-bariatric patients referred for psychiatric evaluation, FA was assessed using the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0), and psychiatric disorders were diagnosed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for the association between FA and each psychiatric disorder, controlling for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), employment status, the number of children, clinical comorbidities, physical activity, family psychiatric history, and region of residence. Results: FA was present in 51% of the sample. Descriptive analyses revealed a significantly higher prevalence of major depressive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bulimia nervosa among individuals with FA. Multivariate models showed robust associations between FA and bulimia nervosa (aOR = 19.42, p < 0.05), generalized anxiety disorder (aOR = 2.88, p < 0.05), obsessive-compulsive disorder (aOR = 6.64, p < 0.05), agoraphobia (aOR = 3.14, p < 0.05), social anxiety disorder (aOR = 4.28, p < 0.05) and major depressive disorder (aOR = 2.79, p < 0.05). Conclusions: FA is strongly associated with a range of psychiatric comorbidities in post-bariatric patients, reinforcing the need for comprehensive mental health screening in this population. These findings underscore the potential role of FA as a clinical marker for stratified risk assessment, supporting more personalized approaches to mental health monitoring and intervention following bariatric surgery.

Background/Objectives: The beneficial effects of physical activity on mental health and well-being are well established. The integration of physical activity into psychotherapeutic treatment for mental health difficulty holds promise as an avenue to reduce symptoms and support well-being. Mental health clinicians have previously indicated an interest in the use of physical activity in treatment, but it is unclear to what extent physical activity interventions are implemented in clinical mental health care. The present study aimed to understand mental health clinicians' practices related to physical activity, as well as to investigate their related training and knowledge. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mental health clinicians, including registered psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers. Inductive content analysis was performed to identify key themes related to practices, training experiences, and training interests. Results: Clinicians reported making recommendations for physical activity and using a range of in-session strategies to include physical activity in mental health treatment. Clinicians reported that their knowledge and training about physical activity was obtained primarily from informal sources. Clinicians indicated an interest in further training, with an emphasis on practical strategies. Conclusions: Mental health clinicians demonstrated an interest in the use of physical activity as part of psychotherapeutic treatment. Some clinicians routinely integrate physical activity into treatment, while others express a need for further training in this area.

Depression and cognitive impairment frequently co-occur in older adults, but their temporal relationship remains unclear. While depression is often considered a risk factor for cognitive decline, evidence is mixed, particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia (MCI/ED). This study analyzed longitudinal data from 1086 participants (M = 74.49, SD = 7.24) in the SMART4MD clinical trial, conducted in Spain and Sweden over 18 months, with assessments every six months. Cognitive impairment was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, and depression was assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale-15. Findings revealed a concurrent association between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment. In regression mixed analysis, depression levels predicted increased cognitive decline over time, but no evidence was found for cognitive impairment predicting future depression. These associations were confirmed using a bivariate latent growth curve model with cross-lagged paths, which revealed early but attenuating bidirectional effects between depression and cognition. These results highlight depression as a medium-term risk factor for cognitive decline, emphasizing the importance of addressing depressive symptoms to mitigate cognitive deterioration in MCI/ED populations.

Currently, there are no validated instruments in Italian specifically designed to assess mental illness stigma or prejudice. Moreover, implicit measures, while insightful, are often resource-intensive and impractical for large-scale population studies of Italian speakers. The present study investigated the validity of the Italian version of the Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness scale (PPMI-IT) in measuring biases toward individuals with mental health issues. The original instrument by Kenny et al. was translated from English into Italian and vice versa. A sample of 455 Italian-speaking participants (65% female; M_age = 33.39; SD = 13.21) was utilized to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis, confirming a four-factor structure (fear/avoidance, malevolence, authoritarianism, unpredictability). Factor loadings indicated that each dimension was well represented, supporting the construct validity of the scale. Model fit indices, including chi-square (χ² = 782.54, df = 296.00, χ²/df = 2.64), RMSEA (0.06, 90% CI: 0.060-0.07), CFI (0.93), TLI (0.91), and SRMR (0.06), suggest an excellent model fit. Furthermore, the analysis of correlations and the heterotrait/monotrait (HTMT) ratio provides evidence supporting the discriminant validity of the PPMI scale compared with social desirability. These findings confirm that the PPMI scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing biases toward individuals with mental health issues, making it suitable for academic research, clinical interventions, and public policy contexts.

Social touch has known therapeutic effects on physical and mental health. However, research on the role of touch in psychotherapy is limited. The frequency of touch in psychotherapy, and the individual differences that influence clients' perceived quality and desirability of touch, remain unknown.

We utilized the largest-to-date UK survey on touch, identifying 6878 individuals who reported receiving psychological therapy in the last 10 years, to explore: (1) the perceived quantity and affective quality (positive/negative) of therapeutic touch experiences, (2) the desirability of touch, and (3) key traits such as attachment style that may influence the perceived meaning and desirability of touch.

Touch was reported by 30% of responders, with 70% of them stating it communicated support. Importantly, 4% reported it as inappropriate, and 5% rated their experiences as negative. Additionally, 40% of responders expressed some desire to be touched by their therapist. Higher scores on avoidant attachment were negatively associated with positive ratings of touch. The desire to be touched was associated with attachment style, with individuals scoring higher on anxious attachment reporting a greater desire for touch.

This exploratory survey highlights the need for further investigation into the potential benefits and risks of touch interventions.

To assess alexithymia and affective temperament in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and compare these patients to a group of patients undergoing endocrinological evaluation without a diagnosis of PCOS (non-PCOS). Additionally, the study explored the relationship between affective temperament, alexithymia, body mass index (BMI), and the severity of hirsutism in the PCOS group.

A total of 46 patients with PCOS and 28 non-PCOS patients were recruited for the study. All participants underwent endocrinological and gynecological diagnostics. Alexithymia was assessed using the TAS-20 questionnaire, while affective temperament was evaluated with the TEMPS-A questionnaire.

Both PCOS and non-PCOS patients were found to fall within the "intermediate alexithymic" range. Patients with PCOS exhibited more pronounced cyclothymic temperament (p=0,019), and the difference in irritable temperament was close to statistical significance (p=0,072). In a stepwise linear regression analysis, total alexithymia emerged as a statistically significant positive predictor of BMI in PCOS group (β=0.368, p=0.012).

Patients with PCOS exhibit higher cyclothymic temperament compared to the non-PCOS group. Both groups show "intermediate alexithymia", which could impact treatment adherence and mental health, highlighting the importance of psychological interventions for improving outcomes and quality of life.

Mentalization-based therapy for adolescents (MBT-A) is a treatment approach that aligns well with dimensional models of personality disorders. This article reviews recent literature on mentalizing and MBT, proposing ways in which findings may inform future research and clinical innovations.

There have been few new treatment studies and meta-analyses, and the evidence generally does not support the superiority of MBT-A over other well structured treatments for personality disorder in adolescents. Long-term follow-up studies suggest heterotypic continuity of personality disorder (PD) and indicate that discrepancies between adolescent and parent reporting may point to important mentalizing problems. A pilot study of MBT-A for conduct disorder has been published and shows promising results, despite a high dropout rate.

MBT was originally developed for BPD in adults, but it is increasingly being recognized as a transdiagnostic common-factor model relevant to many conditions, such as those affecting adolescents who have experienced childhood adversity and juveniles with persistent aggressive behavior. For the field to progress further, there is a strong need for more research and clinical innovation, which should continue to move beyond categorical classification and approach disorder and alleviation of suffering from a developmental and social-ecological starting point.

While emotional distress, encompassing anxiety and depression, has been associated with negative clinical outcomes, its impact across various clinical departments and general hospitals has been less explored. Previous studies with limited sample sizes have examined the effectiveness of specific treatments (e.g., antidepressants) rather than a systemic management strategy for outcome improvement in non-psychiatric inpatients. To enhance the understanding of the importance of addressing mental health care needs among non-psychiatric patients in general hospitals, this study retrospectively investigated the impacts of emotional distress and the effects of early detection and management of depression and anxiety on hospital length of stay (LOS) and rate of long LOS (LLOS, i.e., LOS >30 days) in a large sample of non-psychiatric inpatients.

This retrospective cohort study included 487,871 inpatients from 20 non-psychiatric departments of a general hospital. They were divided, according to whether they underwent a novel strategy to manage emotional distress which deployed the Huaxi Emotional Distress Index (HEI) for brief screening with grading psychological services (BS-GPS), into BS-GPS (n = 178,883) and non-BS-GPS (n = 308,988) cohorts. The LOS and rate of LLOS between the BS-GPS and non-BS-GPS cohorts and between subcohorts with and without clinically significant anxiety and/or depression (CSAD, i.e., HEI score ≥11 on admission to the hospital) in the BS-GPS cohort were compared using univariable analyses, multilevel analyses, and/or propensity score-matched analyses, respectively.

The detection rate of CSAD in the BS-GPS cohort varied from 2.64% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.49%-2.81%) to 20.50% (95% CI: 19.43%-21.62%) across the 20 departments, with a average rate of 5.36%. Significant differences were observed in both the LOS and LLOS rates between the subcohorts with CSAD (12.7 days, 535/9590) and without CSAD (9.5 days, 3800/169,293) and between the BS-GPS (9.6 days, 4335/178,883) and non-BS-GPS (10.8 days, 11,483/308,988) cohorts. These differences remained significant after controlling for confounders using propensity score-matched comparisons. A multilevel analysis indicated that BS-GPS was negatively associated with both LOS and LLOS after controlling for sociodemographics and the departments of patient discharge and remained negatively associated with LLOS after controlling additionally for the year of patient discharge.

Emotional distress significantly prolonged the LOS and increased the LLOS of non-psychiatric inpatients across most departments and general hospitals. These impacts were moderated by the implementation of BS-GPS. Thus, BS-GPS has the potential as an effective, resource-saving strategy for enhancing mental health care and optimizing medical resources in general hospitals.

By synthesising findings from both clinical and preclinical research, this review aims to provide an understanding of the interplay between 5-HT_2A receptor psychedelics and the immune system and considers how their immunomodulatory effects associate with neuronal and behavioural changes.

A PubMed literature search covering the past 30 years was conducted using keywords such as "5-HT2A receptor," "psychedelics," "immune system," and "HPA axis." Studies were included if they addressed the effects of 5-HT2AR psychedelics on immune function, neuroimmune interactions, or HPA axis involvement. This narrative review synthesises evidence highlighting the bi-directional effects of 5-HT_2AR psychedelics between the immune and nervous systems, identified through this search process.

Preclinical and clinical studies report that 5-HT_2AR psychedelics have some direct immunomodulatory properties with downregulation of gene regulators like NF-κB, and reduced cytokine expression such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β at a central and peripheral level, accompanied by modulation of corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol. Direct immunomodulatory effects are mediated by pathways involving serotonin receptors, the Sigma-1 receptor, and the TrkB receptor. Immunomodulation is further mediated indirectly via the HPA axis.

Further studies will determine the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these immunomodulatory effects. There is growing interest in the potential of 5-HT_2AR psychedelics for treating a range of mental health and brain disorders. In keeping with their immunomodulatory actions, the likely modulation of brain glia and glial-neuronal interaction remains to be determined, representing a promising direction of further research on the therapeutic potential of 5-HT_2AR psychedelics.