Background and hypothesisPrevious studies have shown an association between social cognition (emotion recognition, social perception, attributional style, and mentalization) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there have been no longitudinal studies on this topic. We hypothesize that childhood social cognitive differences are associated with subsequent trauma exposure and PTSD.Study designData from the Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were used. The Social Communications Disorder Checklist (SCDC) at age 7.5 years, the Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal Accuracy Scale (DANVA) Receptive Facial Expressions Subtest at 8 years, and the Emotional Triangles task at 13.5 years were used. Outcome measures were trauma ages 14–23 years using the LEC-5 and screening positive for PTSD at 23 years of age using the PCL-5. Logistic regression analyses were used and adjusted for sex, socioeconomic status, verbal IQ, and autism diagnosis for the trauma outcome and, additionally, childhood trauma ages 0–10 years for the PTSD outcome. A sensitivity analysis examined whether an association remained with adolescent/adult trauma after excluding those with childhood trauma.Study resultsGlobal social cognition differences measured via the SCDC were associated with trauma in the main and sensitivity analyses (ORadj 1.09, 95% CI 1.08, 1.11, p-value <0.001) as were errors on the Triangles task (ORadj 1.04, 95% CI 1.03, 1.06, p-value <0.001). The SCDC was also associated with PTSD (ORadj 1.15, 95% CI 1.12, 1.18, p-value <0.001) as were errors on the Triangles task (ORadj 1.16, 95% CI 1.13, 1.20, p-value <0.001). No association was found with the DANVA task and the outcomes measured.ConclusionsThese results support a temporal relationship between social cognitive variation and subsequent trauma and PTSD.
Improving family functioning and wellbeing among families of children with disabilities in Rwanda: an application of the SAFE child protection model
BackgroundFamilies of children with disabilities in low-resource settings face heightened challenges to family functioning and wellbeing. Improving a child and caregiver’s environment in these settings requires a broader understanding of the family ecosystem. This study aims to investigate factors that should be considered to enhance family functioning and inform family-centered interventions.MethodologyWe conducted 34 in-depth interviews with 30 caregivers of children with disabilities aged 6–8 years enrolled in a larger cluster randomized trial of the Sugira Muryango parenting intervention. Additionally, six focus group discussions were conducted with 36 community workers, and 6 Early Childhood Developmental (ECD) advocates participants. Guided by the SAFE Model for child protection, content analysis was used to understand threats to child protection and caregivers’ well-being among caregivers of children with disabilities enrolled in Sugira Muryango.ResultsConsistent with the domains outlined in the SAFE Model, our analysis revealed the following threats to child safety: 1) Safety/Freedom from harm, including father’s mental health and substance abuse, abandonment and stigma related to a child’s disability; 2) Access to basic physiological needs and healthcare, including lack of basic necessities (food, utilities and housing), additional needs related to caring for a child with disabilities, caregiver mental health needs, limited access to health insurance and mother illness; 3) Family and connection to others, including the single-parent dilemma, lack of support from family and community, and father abandonment; and 4) Education and economic security, including additional expenses due to the child’s disability and financial stress related to health care costs.ConclusionImproving family functioning and wellbeing among caregivers of children with disabilities in limited resources requires a deep understanding of socioecological forces operating on the family system. These findings provide further evidence of how the threats to child safety highlighted by the SAFE Model can inform how researchers, and policy makers design and implement family-centered interventions tailored to children with disabilities in low-resource settings.
Emotion regulation difficulties and experiential avoidance in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury: a latent profile and moderation analysis
BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) represents a significant clinical concern among adolescents. Although emotion regulation difficulties (ERD) and experiential avoidance are associated with NSSI, how these regulatory vulnerabilities co-occur within individuals and whether experiential avoidance influences the ERD–NSSI association remain unclear. This study aimed to characterize regulatory vulnerability profiles based on ERD and experiential avoidance and examine the moderating role of experiential avoidance in adolescent NSSI.MethodsThe study included 456 adolescent psychiatric inpatients with NSSI (Mage = 15.30, SD = 1.66). Participants completed self-report measures assessing ERD, NSSI, and experiential avoidance, including the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Adolescent Non-suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Questionnaire (ANSAQ), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using clinician-administered Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale-14 (HAMA-14) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAMD-17) ratings conducted by trained psychiatric clinicians. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify profiles based on ERD and experiential avoidance. The Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars (BCH) method was used to compare depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and NSSI severity across profiles. Moderation analysis was conducted to examine whether experiential avoidance modified the strength of the association between ERD and NSSI.ResultsLPA identified three profiles characterized predominantly by low (23.25%), moderate (42.54%), and high (34.21%) levels of regulatory vulnerability. BCH analysis identified significant profile differences in NSSI, depression, and anxiety. NSSI and anxiety showed graded differences across profiles, while depressive symptoms were elevated in both Moderate and High profiles. Experiential avoidance showed a modest moderating effect on the association between ERD and NSSI (B = 0.005, 95% CI = [0.001, 0.008]), indicating that the strength of this association differed across levels of experiential avoidance.ConclusionLatent profiles of ERD and experiential avoidance were identified among adolescents with NSSI, with differences in clinical burden across profiles. Experiential avoidance modestly moderated the association between ERD and NSSI, with the magnitude of this association varying across levels of experiential avoidance. These findings provide complementary person-centered and variable-centered perspectives on regulatory vulnerability among adolescents with NSSI.
STAT+: Definium’s LSD therapy eased anxiety in second large trial
Definium Therapeutics said Monday that its LSD therapy helped patients with anxiety in a second late-stage trial, setting up the company to seek the first approval of a psychedelic drug for anxiety.
In the 12-week trial, patients taking a 100-microgram dose of the drug, called DT120, experienced a 9.8-point drop on a test called the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, while those on placebo experienced a 4.7-point drop. The difference of 5.1 points is similar to what was seen in Definium’s first late-stage anxiety study and larger than what’s been observed with many other anxiety therapies, though it’s difficult to compare results across studies.
Definium is among the first wave of biotechs nearing regulatory approval for psychedelic therapies, a class of treatments that may be especially attractive to patients since they appear to exert rapid benefits. (In the latest trial, Definium said patients experienced changes as early as the second day after dosing.) In contrast, the effects of traditional options like antidepressants take weeks to kick in.
Screening and Monitoring of Mental Health in Educational Settings: Programme for Detection, Psychoeducation and Self-help
Conditions: Anxiety; Depression Disorder; Bullying; Addiction; Suicide; Self Harm; Psychosis; Eating Disorders
Interventions: Other: program for the detection, referral, and psychoeducation in adolescents
Sponsors: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz; Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos; Hospital Universitario Infanta Elena; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental
Completed
Interventions: Other: program for the detection, referral, and psychoeducation in adolescents
Sponsors: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz; Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos; Hospital Universitario Infanta Elena; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental
Completed
Comparisons of the structure and function of higher cortical circuits in marmosets and macaques: Models for mental health disorders
Non-human primates are extremely valuable for neuroscience research due to their strong homology to humans. Marmosets are small, highly social primates, amenable to genetic and circuit manipulations. Macaques, a larger and more aggressive primate, have been the non-human primate model of choice for decades, particularly for studying cognition. Comparative structural and functional studies have begun to reveal important similarities and differences between these models, shedding new light on their respective strengths and limitations for modeling psychiatric disorders.
Neurophysiological Signatures of Negative Symptom Improvement After High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Electroencephalography Study
Schizophrenia remains a major health challenge, partly because conventional antipsychotics show limited efficacy for negative symptoms. High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) may improve these symptoms, but its neurophysiological mechanisms remain unclear.
Dexamphetamine-induced striatal hyperdopaminergia attenuates reward-related neural activation: A11C-PHNO PET-fMRI study
Ventral striatum (VS) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) encode the value of stimulus and outcome phases in a context-dependent manner to support motivated behaviour. In psychosis, disrupted motivational coding has been hypothesised to contribute to negative symptoms via reduced sensitivity to goal-relevant information, potentially linked to elevated striatal dopamine. Direct causal evidence for this mechanism in humans remains limited.
[Corrections] Correction to Lancet Public Health 2026; 11: e506–17
Gustafsson T T, Pauly V, Hamina A, et al. Cause-specific mortality due to physical illness in severe mental disorders in Europe: a population-based multi-country cohort study. Lancet Public Health 2026; 11: e506–17—In this Article, the spelling of Coralie Gandré’s name has been corrected in the list of EU-MIND Consortium Collaborators. The collaborator group list and the appendix have been updated as of Aug 18, 2026.
[Comment] Relapse or rebound: the case for personalisation in antipsychotic discontinuation
For people with schizophrenia and their psychiatrists, deciding whether to discontinue antipsychotic treatment is a crucial decision. On average, stopping medication roughly doubles relapse risk and increases rates of rehospitalisation and mortality.1,2 However, continued treatment carries its own burden of metabolic harm and sedation, leading many patients to consider stopping.3 The clinical challenge, then, is not a simple choice between continue and discontinue, but identifying who can safely discontinue, and when.