Preterm birth is a stressful and potentially traumatic experience for mothers, often leading to psychological distress, including symptoms of anxiety and depression that may persist after hospital discharge. This scoping review aimed to map the available evidence on the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers of preterm newborns (PTNBs) after discharge and to identify associated risk factors. The review was conducted using the databases VHL, MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus, and Embase, covering studies published between January 2014 and March 2025. The methodology followed the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines and the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Eleven studies were included. Anxiety and depression symptoms were common among mothers of PTNBs post-discharge. Clinical maternal and neonatal conditions, along with socioeconomic factors, were associated with higher risk. Understanding the persistence and determinants of maternal psychological distress after preterm birth is crucial for developing interventions that support maternal mental health and promote healthy child development.

To explore user experience, including learner confidence and engagement of using virtual reality (VR) simulation for training pharmacy students in conducting suicide risk assessment (SRA).

Two VR SRA case scenarios were developed with a multi-disciplinary team based on national guidelines and best practices. They were pilot tested by 14 pharmacy students.

The VR training was well-received, with relatively positive user engagement and increases in self-reported confidence in SRA by the learners.

VR SRA training has the potential to address current mental health needs in primary health care.

Although cognitive training with varied activities is commonly assumed to maximize training benefits, this has not been systematically tested in children. This randomized controlled trial evaluated outcomes following working memory training with either two, four, or six varied activities compared to an active control in 197 Australian primary school children in Grades 2-5 (7-11 years). The interventions were embedded in Minecraft Education Edition and delivered in class daily over 2 weeks, with the maximum total training dose ranging from 175 to 225 min. The working memory training included backward span and following instructions activities that varied by stimulus type. The active control involved creative worldbuilding. Measures of working memory (near and intermediate transfer), reasoning and inattention (far transfer) were completed at baseline, immediately, and 3-months post-intervention. None of the working memory training conditions (two, four, and six varied activities) performed better than the active control on the outcome measures either immediately or 3 months after the intervention. Findings fail to provide any evidence that varied cognitive training activities maximize cognitive training benefits in children.

Evidence on short-term black carbon (BC) exposure on mental health and underlying mechanisms involving mitochondrial function remains limited. In the Guangxi Eco-Environmental Health and Aging Study with 2271 middle-aged and older adults, we addressed this knowledge gap and explored potential DNA methylation signatures involving mitochondrial regulatory genes. Short-term BC exposure was significantly associated with a 0.494-point and 0.348-point increase in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores, respectively, and higher odds of depression (odds ratio [OR] = 1.554, 95 %CI: 1.276-1.901) and anxiety (OR = 1.628, 95 %CI:1.330-1.999) symptoms. These adverse effects could be mitigated by good sleep quality, defined as the PSQI score < 7. In 573 participants with available DNA methylation data, we identified 113 CpG sites in mitochondrial regulatory genes significantly associated with 28-day BC exposure. Particularly, three and five sites were associated with PHQ-9 scores and depression symptoms, while 16 were associated with GAD-7 scores and five with anxiety symptoms, respectively. Mediation analysis revealed that three CpG sites mapped on SLC25A38, SLC25A37, and SLC25A35 mediated the impact of BC on depression, with mediation proportions ranging from approximately12.19 % to 24.84 %. Our findings suggest that short-term BC exposure may affect mental health outcomes through the epigenetic regulation of mitochondrial function, highlighting a potentially modifiable biological pathway linking environmental pollution to brain health.

The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of acute sleep deprivation on the ability to reappraise negative situations using a repeated-measures design. Seventy-six undergraduate students completed self-report measures of reappraisal use and the Script-Based Reappraisal Test (SBRT; Zeier et al., 2020) before and after randomization to a night of at-home sleep deprivation or 8 h of sleep opportunity. The Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) indexed changes in valence and arousal, with more negative valence and higher arousal indicating greater difficulty reappraising the anger-inducing scripts. Participant descriptions of reappraisals were coded to assess reappraisal fluency. Sleep-deprived participants struggled to reappraise as indicated by significantly more negative valence (F(1, 74) = 11.23, p = 0.001, η²G = 0.05) and lower arousal (F(1, 74) = 18.93, p < 0.001, η²G = 0.05) compared to baseline and controls. Pairwise contrasts indicated more negative valence post-manipulation for sleep-deprived participants compared to both baseline (t(148) = 4.19, p < 0.001) and controls (t(148) = 4.27, p < 0.001) and lower arousal post-manipulation compared to baseline (t(148) = 3.80, p = 0.001) and controls (t(148) = 3.43, p = 0.004). Sleep deprivation did not significantly impact self-reported use of reappraisal or fluency. Sleep deprivation negatively impacts reappraisal, reducing its effectiveness in regulating valence. However, contrary to predictions for arousal, sleep-deprived participants showed reduced rather than elevated arousal following reappraisal, suggesting a dissociation between valence and arousal regulation after sleep loss. Findings indicate that sleep deprivation disrupts cognitive emotion regulation, a key mechanism underlying mental health disorders, highlighting the importance of incorporating sleep into prevention and treatment efforts.

Physical activity enhances subjective well-being, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation and the moderating influence of gender roles among 896 university students (411 men). Physical activity was positively correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.33, p < 0.01) and interpersonal relationship quality (r = 0.19, p < 0.01), and negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.23, p < 0.01). Emotion regulation partially mediated these associations. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that the indirect effects were significant only for students adhering to masculine (β = 0.30, p < 0.01) and feminine (β = 0.13, p < 0.05) orientations, but not for androgynous or undifferentiated groups. These results highlight that the psychological benefits of physical activity are not uniform but shaped by individual differences in gender-role orientations, underscoring the need for tailored strategies that match students' gender-role identities when promoting mental health.

Internet addiction (IA) negatively impacts individuals' emotional regulation. However, previous studies have mostly focused on negative emotion regulation, neglecting the importance of regulating positive emotions. Internet addicts are more prone to emotional fluctuations following positive emotions, and elevated positive affect is a risk factor for mania and risky behaviors. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the core deficits in positive emotion regulation among internet addicts, especially providing neural evidence to serve as targets for interventions. This study adopted a 2 (group: IA group; health control group) × 2 (emotion regulation condition: no emotional regulation; emotional regulation) × 2 (emotion regulation strategy: cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression) mixed experimental design. A total of 49 participants were included in the experiment (IA group: 22 participants; health control group: 27 participants). fNIRS was used to detect brain activity during emotional regulation. The results revealed that compared to the control group, internet addicts performed worse in regulating positive emotions, with lower activation in the dlPFC and a significantly reduced emotional regulation effect in the cognitive reappraisal condition, characterized by decreased effective connectivity from dlPFC to vmPFC. The effective connectivity between dlPFC and vmPFC plays a mediating role in the impact of internet addiction on emotion regulation. This study provides a reference for future interventions aimed at emotional issues in internet addicts, emphasizing the need to help maintain stable and balanced emotional states, focusing on enhancing cognitive reappraisal abilities and targeting the dlPFC and vmPFC for neural interventions.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is undergoing an epidemiological transition which is driving increases in the risk and prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In Ghana, while the prevalence of diabetes is generally increasing, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is increasing at a higher rate (9.5 %) among young people compared to type 2 diabetes (4.9 %) mellitus (T2DM). T1DM differs from T2DM in that it is not readily preventable, children are often diagnosed late, or diagnoses are missed entirely, and living with T1DM requires a different approach to care. Young people living with diabetes (PLWDs) and their caregivers often have new responsibilities placed on them. Given the increasing burden of diabetes among young people, and the lack of targeted prevention strategies coupled with inadequate care for young PLWDs in Ghana, there is an urgent need to identify context-relevant challenges to guide the development of interventions aimed at improving diabetes management outcomes. As part of a larger research program exploring diabetes risks and management in underserved communities, this paper explores the barriers and facilitators of managing diabetes among young people. We conducted photovoice interviews with young PLWDs (n = 21) in Kumasi and Wa, Ghana. The key themes that emerged include sociocultural barriers and norms, the food environment, and embodied experiences including pains and scars from insulin injections. Overall, notwithstanding the insights generated from this study, further quantitative research may be useful to support the design of targeted preventive and management strategies for young people living with T1DM in Ghana and in other LMICs.

This study aimed to identify factors influencing learning attitudes and study engagement among vocational medical students and to further analyze the impact of learning attitude on study engagement.

A total of 243 first-year students enrolled in the Medical Statistics course at our institution participated in the study. They were assessed using the Chinese versions of the Statistical Attitudes Towards Teaching Survey (SATS-36) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-S). Linear regression analysis was employed to examine the effect of learning attitude on study engagement.

Significant differences were observed in both the total learning attitude scores and overall study engagement scores based on students' perceptions of course interest, practicality, and teaching quality (all P<0.05). A significant difference was also found in the vigor dimension of study engagement between only children and non-only children (P=0.036). Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that mean scores for the cognitive component, interest, and effort in learning attitude had a significant positive effect on total study engagement scores, whereas the mean score for perceived difficulty had a significant negative effect.

The overall levels of learning attitude and study engagement among the vocational students were moderate. Cultivating positive learning attitudes may help enhance students' study engagement.

This paper presents the findings of the Siemens Healthineers SHIFT Innovation Pan-Africa Capacity Building Program, which aims to improve access and affordability of healthcare across Africa through knowledge sharing and the transfer of best practices. The study focuses on comparing the cost of treating liver cancer, lung cancer, coronary artery disease (CAD), and stroke in different African countries. These conditions represent a major and growing share of the non-communicable disease (NCD) burden across the African continent. They are also strategic focus areas for Siemens Healthineers due to their high clinical impact, complex diagnostic requirements, and the significant health system resources needed for effective management. These diseases serve as suitable proxies for assessing broader access challenges because they require timely detection, advanced imaging, laboratory diagnostics, specialized treatment pathways, and long-term follow-up care. Any gaps in diagnostic capacity, equipment availability, clinical workflow efficiency, workforce skills, or financing structures become immediately visible along these patient pathways. Comparing the differences with the best practices and challenges of each country, the programme aims to facilitate cross-cultural learning to bridge the gap between high- and low-value treatments. The study draws on detailed data on medical expenditure in several African countries, including public and private health services. Cost differences are analyzed taking into account medical procedures, drugs, diagnostic tests and hospital costs. In addition, the factors contributing to these cost variations, including healthcare delivery, resource availability, regulatory framework, and socio-economic factors, examined to develop standardized strategies to reduce medical costs and improve overall health outcomes. The results of this study will be a valuable resource for policy makers, healthcare providers and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and take targeted actions. Ultimately, the aim is to improve access, affordability and quality of healthcare across Africa and ensure that life-saving treatments are readily available and affordable for all people on the continent.