BackgroundIn January 2023, following a 20-year ban, the New South Wales (NSW) Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Guidelines permitted NSPs to provide winged infusion sets (‘butterflies’) and larger-volume syringes (‘barrels’) commonly used for injecting methadone liquid intravenously.ApproachThe Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) integrated the distribution of ‘butterflies and barrels’ (referred to as ‘but…

IntroductionNarrative, or storytelling, is a primary form of social communication. Prior work has documented differences in narrative in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but predominantly focused on English-speaking Western countries. Given the internalization of cultural values and conventions shapes narrative, the extent to which environmental (i.e., cultural and linguistic) fac…

IntroductionWe investigated the effect of scalp and tongue acupuncture on the rehabilitation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the difference in the effect between mild-to-moderate and severe children of ASD.MethodsChildren in all groups received routine rehabilitation training, including educational and therapeutic measures, while the acupuncture treatment groups also received …

IntroductionMental health monitoring is crucial to long-term recovery in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment; however, little is known about how changes in physiological indicators align with changes in self-reported mental health over time.MethodsWe examined longitudinal associations of resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV) collected via a WHOOP® photoplethysmography devic…

A growing body of psychological and neuroscientific research suggests that moral injury (MI) involves maladaptive self-referential processing, including disruptions in moral identity, rigid negative self-appraisals, and impaired meaning-making following exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Building on Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (MMT), this paper proposes self-transcendence…

ObjectivesFrom both variable-centered and person-centered perspectives, the present study aimed to examine the developmental trajectories of phubbing among Chinese adolescents and to investigate whether mobile phone usage duration was associated with overall growth patterns and heterogeneous trajectory membership.MethodsParticipants were 1,488 middle school students from Jiangxi Province, China. …

PurposePoor sleep quality and its serious consequences have become an urgent public health issue, but there is a lack of evidence in medical students. This study aimed to examine the multiple associations between sleep quality, social support, psychological resilience, smartphone addiction, and negative emotions among medical students, in order to provide a basis for targeted intervention measure…

IntroductionMonitoring depression among older adults using socially assistive robots provides scalable and continuous health surveillance while reducing the clinical burden on therapists and minimizing delays in treatment. This study aimed to predict depression risk and identify individuals in need of specialized depression care at local healthcare centers, using response and usage log data from …

BackgroundPostpartum depressive episodes are common. Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) may also experience manic or mixed episodes postpartum, but cases of delirious mania (DM)—characterized by rapidly evolving delirium, mania, and may involve psychotic symptoms—are rarely reported. Given its severity, frequent underdiagnosis, and life-threatening risks, a thorough exploration of its clinical f…

ObjectiveThis cross-sectional study aimed to explore the associations among childhood trauma, inflammation and depressive severity, with a particular focus on the mediating role of a peripheral blood inflammatory marker (the Aggregate Index of Systemic Inflammation, AISI) in the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and depressive severity.MethodsA total of 236 patients with major depr…

ObjectiveGuided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, this study aimed to construct a structural equation model of posttraumatic growth in patients with autoimmune diseases. Through path analysis, the associative pathways among key factors, including fear of disease progression, social support, illness perception, and coping modes, were examined.MethodsA cross-sectional study was condu…

BackgroundRuminations are persistent, repetitive, and often distressing thoughts centered on negative events, mood states, and psychiatric symptoms. Recognized as a maladaptive cognitive process, ruminating contributes to the onset and persistence of psychiatric disorders and is strongly linked to negative emotional states, self-criticism, and suicidality. Despite its clinical significance, a com…

BackgroundDepression and anxiety are highly prevalent among older adults and significantly impair quality of life. Non-pharmacological interventions have increasingly gained attention as alternative or complementary therapeutic approaches. This study aimed to evaluate the comparative efficacy of these interventions for depression and anxiety in adults aged ≥55 years using a systematic review and …

IntroductionChinese expatriate oilfield employees working in Iraq are exposed to multiple occupational and psychosocial stressors, yet evidence on sleep disturbance and its correlates in this workforce remains limited.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 917 employees. 826 (90.1%) were included after excluding incomplete or invalid responses. Sleep quality and related concern was a…

BackgroundInsomnia affects approximately 16.2% of the global population, constituting a substantial public health burden associated with diverse adverse health outcomes. Although physical activity (PA) represents a modifiable health behavior with demonstrated potential for sleep improvement, a systematic mapping of research hotspots and evolutionary trajectories in this domain remains lacking.Met…

BackgroundAlcohol dependence is frequently accompanied by cognitive impairment. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling plays a critical role in synaptic plasticity, while the precursor form, proBDNF, has been increasingly implicated in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. However, the association between plasma proBDNF levels and cognitive impairment in alcohol dependence rema…

Community and counseling resources continue to support persons and families affected by addiction. Knowledge of the neuroscience underlying addiction continues to rapidly emerge and is beginning to influence care methods. The complexity of the neurobiology remains difficult to definitively associate with symptomatology of persons engaged in recovery. Assessment and appropriate evidenced based met…

BackgroundSchizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit substantial overlap in clinical symptoms, making differential diagnosis a persistent challenge and leading to a high risk of misdiagnosis. Recently, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the verbal fluency task (VFT) has provided more objective neurofunctional markers for distinguishing between the two disorders than t…

BackgroundCannabis use has increased across Europe over the last decade, accompanied by growing availability of high-potency THC products and rising psychiatric presentations. Despite these trends, European countries differ substantially in monitoring systems, clinical preparedness and public health responses. These disparities are especially visible between Western Europe, which has more develop…

The University of Notre Dame announced the launch of the Earth and planetary sciences (EPS) minor, a multidisciplinary program designed to prepare students for the rapidly expanding global space sector. A collaboration between the College of Engineering, the…