Mental health – Page 6

October 30, 2026

Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make things worse.

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are one of the biggest biotech breakthroughs of the last decade. But to some clinical psychologists, they can represent something more sinister—a potential trigger for eating disorders.

A new report suggests that the global incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa shot up between 1990 and 2023—by a whopping 71%. By 2023, there were an estimated 18.1 million people living with one of these two disorders.

What’s worse is that the number is likely to be much higher than that once we factor in other eating disorders. And, disturbingly, those in the field are already starting to see GLP-1 weight-loss drugs exacerbating the issue.

Cheri Levinson is a clinical psychologist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky who has specialized in eating disorders for almost 20 years. She says she’s now seeing more patients with more severe symptoms than at any other time in her career, and that many of them are misusing GLP-1s. “This is the worst I’ve seen things,” she says.

Eating disorders are mental health conditions in which people’s eating behaviors impact their health. They include anorexia nervosa (defined by a fear of weight gain), bulimia nervosa (in which people binge and purge), binge eating disorder, and others.

It’s thought that some people have a genetic predisposition to certain eating disorders, but that some external factor is what triggers their onset. That might be stress, or social pressure to be skinny. Often, simply restricting food intake can trigger an eating disorder, says Levinson.

Eating disorders—along with the pressure to look thin—were already prevalent in the 1990s (the heroin chic era springs to mind). To find out how things might have changed since then, Ruhai Bai at the Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in China and his colleagues pulled together data from studies and surveys conducted on populations around the world. The team used statistical models to fill in any data gaps.

That research allowed the researchers to estimate the annual incidence of two eating disorders—anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa—for each of 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2023. They also estimated the impact those disorders had on global health by calculating their disability-adjusted life years (one DALY represents a year of healthy life lost).

The findings, published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, are unsettling. Between 1990 and 2023, there was a 71% increase in the incidence of those two eating disorders, the team found. Those conditions had a huge impact on global health, too. In 2023, they “cost the world the equivalent of about 3.83 million years of healthy life,” says Bai.

Bai and his colleagues expect these figures to continue to rise. In 2023, an estimated 18.1 million people had either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa; by 2050, the team predict, the two conditions could affect 21.8 million people.

It gets worse. Those two conditions represent less than half of all eating disorders, says Levinson, who was not involved in Bai’s study. The true impact of these disorders is “probably three times the rate that they’re reporting,” she says.

Bai and his colleagues didn’t explore the reasons for this rise (although Bai points out that it can’t be entirely explained by population growth). So how did we get here?

Social media may have played a role. “Social media comparisons, influencers, challenges, diet trends can all be precipitating … events for an eating disorder,” says Cynthia Bulik, a clinical psychologist at the University of North Carolina, who was not involved in the new study. Bulik has been studying and treating eating disorders since the early 1980s. “Between 1990 and 2023 there has clearly been an upsurge of those types of environmental exposures,” she says.

Many social media users are exposed to filtered and modified images of skinny influencers who may have undergone cosmetic surgery or extreme dieting and who are promoting “thinspiration” or “fitspiration” content. But users with eating disorders appear to be more likely to engage with this content—and to be fed more of it as a result.

When researchers at the University of Melbourne investigated this phenomenon a couple of years ago, they found that the algorithms of TikTok users with eating disorders delivered 4343% more “toxic eating disorder videos” than those of users who didn’t have the disorders. They also got more content focused on dieting or exercising. Many were fed over 1000 problematic videos per month. Bulik describes social media as “quicksand” for people with, or at risk of, eating disorders.

The covid-19 pandemic—and the social isolation that accompanied lockdowns—also appears to have contributed to the rise in eating disorders. Research conducted in 2021 found that the number of people hospitalized with eating disorders in the US doubled between 2018 and 2020.

Researchers don’t yet have good data on how trends in eating disorders might have progressed since 2023. But anecdotally, things seem to be getting even worse. “There are more eating disorders, more severe eating disorders… and we’re seeing earlier ages of onset,” says Levinson. “We’re seeing eight- and nine-year-olds with eating disorders.”

“From what I’m hearing and seeing, I am not going to be surprised if that number isn’t at least doubling again,” she adds.

Levinson particularly worries about the impact of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which have exploded in popularity in recent years. A Gallup survey conducted earlier this year suggested that 15% of Americans had used one of these drugs for weight loss. And they’re becoming more accessible—drug companies are working on new formulations that are both easier to take and more effective, and many people can buy versions of these drugs from compound pharmacies or dubious online sources.

In a small study published earlier this year, Levinson and her colleagues found that 30% of people with eating disorders had used GLP-1 drugs. The drugs might benefit some of those people. But 10% appeared to have misused the drugs. And Levinson thinks that figure is also an underestimate.

Levinson says she and her colleagues have seen children develop eating disorders after being prescribed GLP-1s for medical reasons. They’ve seen others—even children as young as 11—buy versions of these drugs over TikTok.

“We’re very concerned that GLPs will lead to even faster and more extreme weight loss in people with anorexia nervosa, and that patients will come to us in even more advanced stages of illness that become difficult to reverse,” says Bulik.

Both Bulik and Levinson are continuing to study the impacts of these drugs in eating disorders. In the meantime, both urge medical professionals to consider the risks GLP-1s might pose to people with those disorders. Bulik contributed to a set of research and clinical guidelines, published earlier this month, that recommends doctors screen for eating disorders before prescribing the drugs, for example. The guidelines also recommend more patient education and more robust monitoring of people who take GLP-1s.

If you think you or someone you know might have an eating disorder, you can find information and support at the National Eating Disorders Association.

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

October 29, 2026

Brain Quality Control Selectively Eliminates Neurons with Abnormal Variants in Development

By analyzing genomic data from neurons, scientists from Harvard Medical School (HMS), Boston Children’s Hospital, and their collaborators have gained insights into a critical quality-control mechanism that takes place in the developing fetal brain.

During development, the human brain generates an excess of neurons, most of which are eliminated around when the baby is born. According to a study published this week in Nature, scientists report that neurons with multiple copy number variants, including DNA duplications or deletions, are widespread in the developing brain. However they are selectively eliminated shortly before or after birth likely because the genomic alterations disrupt their ability to form synapses.

Full details are provided in a paper titled “Perinatal elimination of genetically aberrant human cortical neuron.” The findings reported there are significant because copy number variants can impact brain function and may contribute to neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. A better understanding of the pruning process in the developing brain could improve how autism and other disorders in which neural development goes awry are treated.

As Diane Shao, MD, PhD, HMS instructor of neurology at Boston Children’s and a co-first author on the study noted, “If that quality control system can be disrupted, that could be part of what goes wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. Understanding the mechanism could eventually point us toward what to look for, and maybe what to protect.”

One of the first steps in the study was exploring the prevalence of copy number variants in developing human brains. To do that, the scientists designed single-cell whole genome sequencing approaches that allowed them to lightly sequence the genomes of single neurons. They used this method to sequence over 1,500 neurons from 16 individuals. They then validated the results with deeper sequencing of over 800 neurons from 12 individuals. They then used various computational methods to identify copy number variants in each sequenced genome. With their approach, it was possible to see the genomic changes “one neuron at a time, map where in the genome they occur, and compare how common they are from before birth to old age,” explained Peter Park, PhD, co-senior author on the paper and professor of biomedical informatics at HMS.

The data showed that an average of nearly 26 percent of neurons in the prenatal cortex had widespread copy number variants, but this rapidly decreased to an average of 6.2 percent after birth. Specifically, “neurons with widespread CNVs were mainly eliminated perinatally, timed roughly parallel to periods of programmed cell death, whereas neurons with smaller CNV burdens declined slowly in frequency with postnatal age,” the scientists wrote.

“We were totally unprepared for how common these were in early development,” said Christopher Walsh, MD, PhD, a co-senior author on the paper and professor of pediatrics and neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital. “But it makes sense in the context of what we know about the formation of excess neurons and in the context of the IVF literature.”

Next, the team explored the pathways through which the abnormal neurons are eliminated. By sequencing and analyzing DNA and RNA from over 44,000 individual cells, they found that neurons with widespread copy number variants also had abnormal expression of the genes involved in the creation and maintenance of neural synapses. It suggests that unlike healthy brain cells, these abnormal neurons fail to make critical connections during fetal development which causes them to die off.

“This competition for synapses has been described for years, but without the benefit of a genomic understanding,” Walsh noted. We didn’t realize that this struggle for survival—this Darwinian competition—was nature’s quality control mechanism in the brain.”

As part of the study, the team also confirmed some earlier findings that flawed neurons continue to be eliminated throughout adulthood, albeit at a much slower rate. Currently, they are looking into whether this neural elimination process is different in developing brains of people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. They are also exploring whether this process plays a role in development of adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

The post Brain Quality Control Selectively Eliminates Neurons with Abnormal Variants in Development appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

October 29, 2026

Implementation Strategies for a Technology-Based Bullying Bystander Intervention (STAC-T): Mixed Methods Study

Background: Nearly 1 in 5 students aged 12-18 years report being bullied in the United States. Both targets and students who witness bullying experience negative mental health outcomes. School-based programs are effective in decreasing negative outcomes associated with bullying; however, significant implementation barriers associated with in-person programs limit program adoption, fidelity, and sustainability. STAC-T (Stealing the Show; Turning it Over; Accompanying Others; Coaching Compassion; Technology Version), an interactive bullying bystander app, was developed to reduce implementation barriers. However, little is known about what will be required to successfully translate STAC-T into routine practice in schools. As a first step, we examined school personnel perspectives on school-specific implementation strategies that would be both highly important and feasible (“go-zone” strategies) for delivering STAC-T. Identifying specific implementation strategies can further support implementation and program outcomes. Although researchers have developed a taxonomy of 33 school-specific “go-zone” implementation strategies, there is no research examining these strategies specifically for STAC-T. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify implementation strategies for STAC-T using “go-zone” methodology. “Go-zone” methodology categorizes implementation strategies into four zones: (1) zone 1: high importance, high feasibility; (2) zone 2: low importance, high feasibility; (3) zone 3: low importance, low feasibility; and (4) zone: 4 high importance, low feasibility. Objectives included (1) identifying “go-zone” strategies for STAC-T and (2) identifying zone 4 strategies for STAC-T and understanding how to increase the feasibility of these strategies. Methods: A self-selected convenience sample of school counselors and school social workers (N=195) recruited from national professional organizations completed an online survey. A subsample (n=14) completed qualitative interviews. “Go-zone” methodology was used to identify zone 1 (“go-zone”) and zone 4 strategies. Thematic analysis was used to extract themes related to increasing the feasibility of zone 4 strategies. Results: Fifteen implementation strategies were classified as “go-zone” strategies. The three most important strategies were (1) make implementation easier by removing burdensome documentation tasks, (2) develop a detailed implementation plan or blueprint, and (3) obtain and use student and family feedback. The most feasible strategy was distribute educational materials. Four strategies were classified in zone 4: (1) develop instruments to monitor and evaluate core components of the innovative or new practice, (2) conduct educational meetings, (3) build partnerships to support implementation, and (4) provide ongoing consultation. Qualitative data revealed that feasibility of zone 4 strategies can be increased by keeping evaluative assessments short and simple, using various modes of communication for educational meetings, building partnerships with support from school administration, and enhancing consultation through hybrid or virtual meetings and appointing a leader. Conclusions: Findings represent a first step in identifying implementation strategies that can be used to inform STAC-T implementation. Directions for future research include testing the efficacy of these strategies on improving both implementation and program outcomes.

October 29, 2026

Longitudinal trajectories of benefit finding and its associations with emotion regulation, social connectedness, depression, and anxiety among Chinese college students following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions. a multivariate latent growth curve analysis

BackgroundBenefit finding may be associated with better mental health after the pandemic, but its longitudinal trajectory and its associations with psychosocial resources and mental health symptoms during recovery remain unclear.ObjectiveThis study examined trajectories of benefit finding among Chinese college students from approximately 3 to 15 months after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. We also examined its associations with emotion regulation, social connectedness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, together with indirect association patterns involving benefit finding.MethodsA three-wave longitudinal study was conducted among 1,155 Chinese college students. Data were analyzed using parallel-process latent growth curve modeling.ResultsSocial connectedness and benefit finding increased linearly over time, whereas depressive and anxiety symptoms decreased. Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with the benefit finding intercept but negatively associated with its slope, whereas expressive suppression was not significantly associated with either growth factor. Social connectedness showed stronger associations with benefit finding trajectories than the emotion regulation variables. Benefit finding was negatively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms at both the intercept and slope levels. Indirect association patterns through benefit finding were supported for social connectedness and both depressive and anxiety symptoms at the intercept and slope levels when inference was based on bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals.ConclusionsBenefit finding increased during the post-pandemic recovery period and was associated with lower depressive and anxiety symptoms. Social connectedness showed relatively strong associations with benefit finding trajectories, while cognitive reappraisal was associated with higher initial benefit finding but a slower subsequent increase. The indirect association patterns linked social connectedness with both symptom domains through benefit finding at the intercept and slope levels. These findings highlight psychosocial resources that merit further study in campus mental health research, while the observational design does not establish causal direction or temporal precedence.

October 29, 2026

Connectedness as a candidate pathway linking psilocybin retreat experiences to sustained wellbeing: a prospective naturalistic study

BackgroundPsychedelic retreats are increasingly used to promote wellbeing outside clinical settings, yet the psychological processes associated with sustained improvements in wellbeing remain poorly understood. From a public mental health perspective, identifying mechanisms that support positive mental health beyond symptom reduction is of growing importance.MethodsThis naturalistic longitudinal study followed 173 participants attending guided psilocybin retreats conducted within a structured framework of preparation, dosing, and integration. Mental wellbeing was reported before the retreat and across a 12-month follow-up period. Longitudinal changes were examined using linear mixed-effects models. Mediation analyses investigated whether changes in connectedness, neuroticism (anxiety facet), spiritual transcendence, and absorption were associated with changes in wellbeing. Mystical-type experiences were examined as potential predictors of these psychological changes.ResultsParticipants reported substantial and sustained improvements in mental wellbeing over 12 months, moving from levels below Swedish population norms at baseline toward comparable levels at follow-up. Connectedness showed the strongest statistical association with improvements in wellbeing and accounted for the largest proportion of variance in wellbeing change, followed by reductions in the anxiety facet of neuroticism and absorption. Spiritual transcendence was associated with wellbeing improvements when examined separately but did not retain unique effects in the multiple mediation model. More intense mystical-type experiences predicted greater increases in connectedness, spirituality, and absorption, as well as greater reductions in neuroticism (trait anxiety). The association between mystical experiences and wellbeing was substantially attenuated when connectedness was included in the model, suggesting that connectedness may act as a candidate mediator linking mystical-type experiences to longer-term wellbeing, though the observational design precludes causal inference.ConclusionsThese findings extend prior work on psychedelic-assisted therapy to naturalistic retreat settings, suggesting that connectedness may represent a key psychological process linking psychedelic retreat experiences to sustained improvements in mental wellbeing. From a public mental health perspective, the results highlight the potential importance of social and relational factors in promoting wellbeing beyond the treatment of mental illness. Future controlled studies are needed to clarify the relative contributions of psychedelic, social, and contextual components.

October 28, 2026

Social Media Use Motives and Mental Health Among Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Social media use is ubiquitous among young people, yet its relationship with mental health may depend on why it is used. Understanding the motives underlying social media engagement may provide greater insights into its potential risks and benefits than considering overall use alone. Objective: This study aimed to identify latent dimensions of motives for social media use and examine their associations with anxiety, depression, well-being, and resilience in a sample of older adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional data were drawn from the BrainWaves study (N=6820; mean age 16.72, SD 0.74 years). Social media use motives were assessed using 10 items and exploratory factor analysis identified 2 latent dimensions: avoidant-escapist use (boredom, addiction, distraction, and procrastination) and social-recreational use (socializing, communication, entertainment, and observation). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate factor scores, which were examined using linear regression. Structural equation modeling estimated associations with anxiety, depression, well-being, and resilience, with secondary analyses accounting for gender and deprivation. Results: Linear regression analyses showed that avoidant-escapist motives were associated with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, whereas social-recreational motives were associated with lower symptoms. No interactions with gender or deprivation were observed. The structural equation model showed acceptable model fit (comparative fit index=0.945; root mean squared error of approximation=0.057; standardized root mean squared residual=0.054). Avoidant-escapist motives were associated with higher anxiety (β=0.543) and depressive symptoms (β=0.629) and lower well-being (β=−0.610) and resilience (β=−0.469). Conversely, social-recreational motives were associated with lower anxiety (β=−0.228) and depressive symptoms (β=−0.342) and higher well-being (β=0.362) and resilience (β=0.242; <.001 in all cases). These patterns remained consistent after accounting for gender and deprivation. Conclusions: Social media use shows different associations with older adolescent mental health depending on underlying motives. Focusing on why young people engage with social media rather than on overall use alone may provide a more informative framework for understanding potential risks and benefits. Given the cross-sectional design, causal inferences cannot be made.

October 28, 2026

Symptom severity at first digital self-assessment is not associated with greater subsequent booking of professional care on a Saudi mental health platform: a cohort study of 5,524 users

BackgroundDigital mental health platforms routinely deliver self-administered symptom scales on the assumption that users with more severe symptoms are more likely to enter professional care. That assumption is rarely tested with linked participant-level data, and almost never in the Arabic-speaking Gulf.ObjectiveTo examine whether symptom severity at a user’s first self-assessment predicts booking a professional session within 90 days, across four symptom domains, on a Saudi commercial digital mental health platform.MethodsRetrospective cohort analysis of 10,100 first assessments — depression, generalized anxiety, panic, and obsessive-compulsive scales — contributed by 5,524 unique users of the Talbinah platform and linked to demographic and session-booking records through a pseudonymous (SHA-256 hashed) user identifier. The primary outcome was any session booked within 90 days after the assessment. Severity was banded by the established cut-offs for the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, and by percentage of scale maximum for the panic and obsessive-compulsive measures, for which no severity thresholds are established. Per-scale multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for severity band (reference None/Minimal), adjusting for age, sex, and device type. Pre-specified sensitivity analyses used 30- and 180-day windows, an attended-session outcome, percentage-of-maximum banding applied to all four scales, and a subset with no prior booking (incident help-seeking). Reporting followed STROBE.ResultsUsers were young (mean age 26.7 years, SD 8.1) and predominantly female (78.1%); 16.6% of first assessments were followed by a booking within 90 days. No severity band on any of the four scales was associated with higher odds of booking (severe vs None/Minimal: depression aOR 0.71, 95% CI 0.51–1.01; generalized anxiety 0.76, 0.49–1.16; panic 0.83, 0.52–1.31; obsessive-compulsive 1.01, 0.59–1.74). One severity contrast was statistically significant, in the opposite direction: moderate depression was associated with lower odds of booking (0.66, 95% CI 0.45–0.97). Older age (aOR ~1.2 per decade) and iOS device use (1.4–2.0) were associated with booking across scales. This absence of a positive severity–booking association was consistent across 30-, 90-, and 180-day windows, the attended-session outcome, and percentage-of-maximum banding; a nominal association for moderate anxiety seen under percentage banding did not persist with validated GAD-7 cut-offs. Estimates for the panic and obsessive-compulsive scales, which lack established severity thresholds, are exploratory.ConclusionsOn a Saudi digital mental health platform, greater self-reported symptom severity at first assessment was not followed by higher subsequent booking of professional care, consistently across specifications, and for moderate depression was associated with lower odds of booking; demographic and access-related attributes showed stronger associations with booking than symptom load did. Self-screening on its own appears insufficient as a pathway into care.

October 27, 2026

Understanding the Different Types of Psychological Evaluations

If your child is struggling with mental health, behavior, or learning challenges, the first step to getting them the support they need is to seek a professional assessment. Whether you’ve been motivated to do so by the child’s teacher, the school, or your own concerns, there are several types of evalutations to choose from. And it can be hard to tell which one would be the best choice for your child.

There are three main types of evaluations: diagnostic, psychoeducational, and neurospychological.

A diagnostic evaluation is typically all you need for your child to receive a diagnosis of a mental health disorder and start a treatment plan.

A psychoeducational assessment is an evalution typically performed through a school’s Committee on Special Education (CSE) to see if a child qualifies for accommodations. This usually includes cognitive and academic testing, as well as social-emotional rating scales.

A neuropsychological evaluation is the most complete assessment of a child’s overall social-emotional, cognitive, academic, and neuropsychological functioning (including language, visual-motor, attention, executive functioning, and learning and memory skills). It’s especially useful for children with complex symptoms or learning challenges.

If you are looking to determine whether your child has a learning disorder, they’ll typically need either a full neuropsychological evaluation or one targeted for a specific learning disorder.

Preparation

For any of the three types of evaluations, it’s suggested that you do the following in advance:

Gather documents: Before the first visit, you will need to collect any relevant health and behavior records for your child, which could include medical records, past evaluations, school reports, and developmental screenings conducted by the child’s pediatrician.

Record observations: Take note of your child’s behaviors, especially when they seem atypical or out of character. Keep track of when they occur, as well as how frequently. This will be helpful for the evaluator to know.

Bring snacks and water: Since these examinations take several hours, you and your child will most likely need to take breaks.

Diagnostic evaluation

What it is: A diagnostic evaluation is a focused assessment to determine whether your child meets the criteria for a specific mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder — including depression, anxiety, ADHD, or autism. For example, if your child struggles with intrusive thoughts that make them anxious and they develop rituals to keep their anxiety at bay, a mental health professional will most likely add specific testing for OCD to their evaluation.

Purpose: “Diagnostic evaluations are primarily the gateway for receiving treatment,” explains Adam Zamora, PhD, a senior neuropsychologist and director of the Gund Learning and Diagnostic Center at the Child Mind Institute. “We want to know what diagnostic criteria they meet to figure out which treatment would be best for that diagnosis.”

Qualified provider: Typically, the evaluation is conducted by a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, or another qualified mental health professional.

Time commitment: The evaluation process is about 4 hours total. This includes an interview with parents that will take 1–2 hours, a one-hour session with the child, and a one-hour feedback session with the family.

Evaluation process:

The clinician will collect information about your child’s developmental history as well as your family history. So they’ll usually speak to any previous treatment provider your child has had as well as their teacher, says Dr. Zamora. Then you’ll be interviewed, which can be done virtually.

You will fill out questionnaires about your child’s daily habits and behaviors. And you’ll fill out a rating scale that will help to quantify your child’s symptoms and compare them to the norm. This can be helpful for balancing out the information received during the interview, says Dr. Zamora. “I’ve had some parents tell me that their kid has all these significant challenges. And then they fill out the rating scales and everything is within age expectation. Or it can be the other way around.”

Then the child comes in for observation and evaluation. A parent could be present, depending on the situation, notes Lara Litvinov, PhD, a senior psychologist and director of the ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute. During this observation, the clinician will administer standardized assessments, which typically are tailored to their symptoms. For instance, if it’s thought that a child may have autism, they will be tested on their social communication skills and whether they show repetitive behaviors. The evaluator might observe if the child has difficulty maintaining eye contact as they talk, or see if they play with toys in the exact same way over and over again. If it’s thought that a child may have ADHD, the clinician will test their cognitive and executive functioning abilities. They might have the child solve puzzles or play memory games.

Once the clinician has been able to review the information collected from the evaluation, there will be a feedback interview. Along with a diagnosis, the clinician will provide their recommendations for treatment. They will also suggest further testing if necessary.

Report: Shortly after the feedback interview, you will receive a formal written report of the evaluation results. This will consist of brief background information, a diagnosis, and recommendations.

Cost: Depending on the location, clinician experience, the specificity of testing, and insurance coverage, these evaluations can range from $300 to $4,000. Community health centers may offer lower rates, while a private practice with licensed psychologists or psychiatrists will charge more.

Drawbacks: While a diagnostic evaluation is good for starting treatment, it doesn’t provide an in-depth look at all aspects of your child’s brain functioning. If a child’s symptoms are complex, they’re thought to have a learning disorder, or they’re struggling with multiple mental health disorders, it may be more helpful to have a neuropsychological evaluation (see below). Typically, the evaluator will let you know if they think your child needs further assessment.

Psychoeducational evaluation

What it is: A psychoeducational evaluation determines if a student is eligible for special education or accomodations at school. It’s an assessment of their cognitive, academic, social, and emotional functioning compared to other children the same age. It also lets the school know the type of services the child will need.

Purpose: Children with mental health and learning disorders often need accommodations and services at school to have the same opportunities as children who don’t have these challenges. They could get this through an Individual Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 plan. Since a school needs to determine that a student’s academic abilities are significantly impaired, an existing diagnosis may not be enough. Many schools require a psychoeducational assessment within a certain window of time after receiving a referral from a medical provider or a formal written request from you.

Qualified provider: This evaluation is conducted by a registered school psychologist.

Time commitment: The evaluation can take 4–6 hours in total. You and your child may be asked to come in for a whole school day or for separate sessions over the span of a few weeks. The testing can be stressful for the child, Dr. Litvinov explains, so it can be helpful to break it up into several sessions.

Evaluation process:

In addition to the health records you provide, the psychologist will have asked your child’s teachers to complete a questionnaire about their learning and behavior.
The psychologist will interview you about your child’s academic and developmental background, family history, and any concerns you have. You will likely be asked questions about how your child handles school assignments, what their academic strengths and weaknesses are, as well as notes you’ve received from their teachers. If your child is under 10, the examiner likely will ask you to fill out questionnaires about your child’s social-emotional and behavioral functioning.
The psychologist will then evaluate your child for several hours. You won’t be permitted in the room with them, but you can wait outside.

What’s tested:

Cognitive functioning: These assessments often include verbal or visual tests to examine verbal and nonverbal reasoning, certain types of memory, and the speed at which your child processes and responds to information. They will also be asked to engage in problem-solving tasks.

Report: Both you and the school will receive a written report that includes detailed results, and provide suggestions for accommodations and interventions needed. It will also say if your child is eligible for separate special education classes.

Cost: The evaluation is free if it is conducted by the school. You will only need to pay out of pocket if you seek a private assessment. This can cost between $1,000 and $6,000. Your insurance may cover some of it, depending on your provider.

Drawbacks:

Given its purpose, this evaluation focuses only on academic skills, learning, and how your child performs in school. In many states, including New York, a school psychologist can’t give a formal diagnosis, Dr. Zamora adds. A psychoed assessment may not be comprehensive enough to highlight all key challenges your child may be experiencing.

Additionally, there could be delays in getting an assessment due to a backlog in requests or a shortage in school psychologists. School officials could also refuse to provide one altogether if they determine your child is not qualified based on specified criteria.

Neuropsychological evaluation

What it is: A neuropsychological evaluation is the examination of a child’s overall social-emotional, cognitive, academic, and neuropsychological functioning — and how they affect each other. This is often recommended for children who have complex issues, where a diagnostic evaluation might be too narrow. It can be helpful for those with multiple mental health disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and ADHD, learning disorders, or traumatic brain injury.

A neuropsychological exam takes several sessions, so it can provide a more complete, comprehensive picture of what might be going on. “We’re not just seeing one snapshot of a kid, but multiple snapshots,” Dr. Zamora explains. “And we’re sometimes looking to see if there is a very significant difference in how they’re performing on a Wednesday morning versus a Thursday afternoon, for example. So if you have a kid with ADHD or executive functioning challenges, they may seem okay one day. Then you test them on another day and they’re more inattentive or dysregulated, so you’re going to get a different presentation.”

Purpose: There can be several reasons for seeking this type of testing:

Learning disability or school accomodations: Both neuropsychological and psychoeducational assessments can be used to get a child accomodations at school, Dr. Litvinov says. But a neuropsychological evaluation can reveal underlying or more nuanced weaknesses that a psychoed evaluation missed, determining the child’s need for accomodations. So if you are unsatisfied with the assessment your child received or if you are unable to get one from the school, a neuropsych evaluation can be useful.

Complex symptoms: Sometimes a child displays challenges and behaviors that can relate to more than one mental health disorder. For instance, ADHD and anxiety can look similar in some children, so testing that covers a wider range of functioning may be needed to get to the bottom of the issues your child is dealing with — and identify the type of support they need. Trauma-related symptoms can also be difficult to pinpoint. “A lot of kids that I see have trauma. And there’s a lot of overlap of trauma symptoms and anxiety symptoms,” Dr. Litvinov explains. “You don’t want to be quick to judgment.”

Ineffective treatment: In some cases, a child may have received a diagnosis and has been getting treatment for a while, but it isn’t working. “We want to see if there’s something that we’re missing,” Dr. Litvinov explains. “And with older kids, they might be reporting less, so parents might know less.”

Flexibility: Sometimes, given cost and scheduling contraints, a family can request a more focused neuropsychological evaluation. “This looks like what I would call a beefier psychoed evaluation,” Dr. Zamora explains. “So if somebody came to us and was considering just testing for a learning disorder, I’d take a deeper dive into those academic areas to get a sense of which disorder it is. Is this actually dyslexia? Is it dysgraphia?” This evaluation usually takes 3–4 hours.

Qualified provider: This evaluation is typically conducted by a team of clinical psychologists, including a trained neuropsychologist.

Time commitment: The evaluation takes about 6–9 hours of testing in total, with 2–3 additional hours dedicated to interviews and a feedback session between you and the neuropsychologist. You and your child could be asked to come in for the whole day or separate sessions over the course of several days a week.

Evaluation process:

The clinican will look at medical records, school reports, and any previous evaluations. They may also speak directly to your child’s teacher and ask them to fill out questionnaires regarding your child’s learning abilities and behavior.

You will be interviewed about your child’s background, your family history, and concerns you have.

Your child will then spend one-on-one time with the neuropsychologist, in which they will be interviewed and given a series of assessments that examine the following:
- Cognitive and intellectual abilities
- Short- and long-term memory and learning skills
- Executive functioning
- Speed and efficiency of processing
- Concentration and attention
- Language functioning
- Gross and fine motor skills
- Visual-spatial skills
- Emotional functioning
- Social skills and social language
- Academic functioning, including reading, writing, and math skills

Report: Afterward, you will receive a detailed written report that includes test results, interpretations, diagnoses, and recommendations. It can be used to support a request for a 504 plan or an IEP from your child’s school — and provide guidance to school staff on determining the right type of services for your child. The clinician may want to have a follow-up appointment to discuss the report and answer any questions you may have, but that is not always required.

Cost: Due to the time and depth of the evaluation, the cost of this testing can range from $1,500 to $10,000. While most evaluators may be out-of-network providers, there is a chance that a portion of this kind of evaluation may be covered by insurance.

Drawbacks: It can take a long time to schedule this test, as there is often a waiting list for child and adolescent neuropsychologists. This is also the most expensive examination out of the three.

Why knowing the difference is important

Dr. Litvinov emphasizes that it’s imperative that you’re aware of what each evaluation type entails. “I talk to parents whose child has received a diagnosic evaluation, and they’re frustrated or confused because they expected a detailed report that you typically get from a neuropsych evaluation,” she explains.

Some families wait months for a neuropsychological evaluation, not realizing that they can get treatment started for their child with a diagnostic evaluation or that a school can provide a free psychoeducational evaluation.

Understanding each type of evaluation will help you get your child the support they need.

The post Understanding the Different Types of Psychological Evaluations appeared first on Child Mind Institute.

October 27, 2026

Purrble Use Among LGBTQ+ Young People With Self-Harm Experiences: Findings From a Qualitative Process Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) have widely been associated with the development and persistence of poor mental health, such as depression, anxiety, self-harmful thoughts, behaviors, and suicide attempts. Despite the importance of ER as a transdiagnostic risk factor, few interventions directly target ER. The impact of one such intervention, Purrble (a socially assistive robot; developed by Sproutel and Committee for Children), was recently evaluated when compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU) within a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with sexual orientation and gender identity minorities, that is, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, who had self-harm experiences. However, while RCTs are well suited to evaluating effectiveness, they offer limited insight into how participants engage with, integrate, and perceive the value of interventions, like Purrble, in their everyday lives. Consequently, complementary qualitative process evaluation is needed to fully understand participants’ experiences and contextualize trial outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to explore and understand the engagement with and integration of the Purrble intervention using process evaluation interviews, considering its perceived influence on ER, mental health, and self-harm experiences. Methods: Following their participation in the Purrble RCT, 40 LGBTQ+ young people (16‐25 years) with current self-harm ideation took part in this qualitative process evaluation using semistructured online interviews. Interviews explored participant expectations of the RCT and Purrble; engagement and appropriation of Purrble; and perceived impact on mental health and self-harm. Thematic analysis was used to develop a thematic framework. Results: Four overarching themes were developed from the data. The first theme describes how participants used Purrble to ground themselves and manage distress, with participants suggesting de-escalation of their self-harm thoughts or behaviors. The second theme captures how Purrble was perceived as a companion or source of comfort, supporting self-soothing and self-care. The third theme highlights the role of accessibility and proximity, how the availability and location of Purrble during moments of distress influenced its perceived usefulness. The final theme examines circumstances in which participants chose not to engage with Purrble, offering insights into barriers to use and individual differences in engagement. Conclusions: This process evaluation helps to contextualize how Purrble could be a helpful intervention for those LGBTQ+ young people with experience of self-harm thoughts and behaviors. This evaluation also clarifies when Purrble may not be helpful. These qualitative findings offer important contextual insights alongside the quantitative results of the related RCT.
<img src="https://jmir-production.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thumbs/89e60d149e6765a35dd97d6fa10d8371" />

October 27, 2026

Early Research Shows How Postnatal Depression May Affect Offspring

Research from Nanjing University in China shows that breast milk from mothers with postnatal depression contains three specific micro (mi)RNAs that investigators believe could be linked to changes in brain development in their offspring.

As reported in Cell Metabolism, the researchers also found the same miRNAs, which function to regulate genes, in the breastmilk of female mice showing depressive symptoms and investigated their impact on exposed offspring.

In the mouse model, the three miRNAs reduced production of mGluR8, a protein on nerve cells that acts like a brake on the signals they send by reducing the release of glutamate. Glutamate is a chemical messenger that activates other nerve cells and helps prevent excessive stimulation. With this brake weakened, developing neurons in the hippocampus part of the brain of the young mice received more frequent stimulating signals, matured abnormally and integrated less successfully into brain circuits.

“Postnatal depression, or postpartum depression, affects approximately 10%–20% of women worldwide and poses significant health risks to both mothers and offspring,” write the authors.

“Affected mothers may exhibit depressed mood, apathy, disrupted appetite and sleep, cognitive impairments, and suicidal ideation, while their children face increased risks of delayed cognitive and language development, behavioral challenges, poorer academic achievement, and depression extending into adolescence.”

Although research on postnatal depression has revealed more information about the condition, the way that maternal postnatal symptoms impact their offspring is not well understood. “Postnatal depression and breastfeeding exhibit a bidirectional relationship: postnatal depression reduces exclusive breastfeeding and promotes early cessation, whereas breastfeeding lowers postnatal depression incidence,” explain the team.

Although breastfeeding can be beneficial to the mental health of the mother, it is not clear what the impact of postnatal depression is on breast milk composition. “Postnatal depression can dysregulate physiological and metabolic pathways, potentially altering breastmilk composition. Such modifications may adversely affect infant cognitive, behavioral, and psychological development, potentially offsetting the established benefits of breastfeeding.”

In this study, the authors compared breastmilk microRNAs, from 40 mothers with postnatal depression and 51 without. They found three, miR-15a-5p, miR-15b-5p and miR-205-5p, were elevated in women with postnatal depression and also in model mice with the condition.

The team swapped newborn pups between stressed and unstressed mothers to distinguish effects after birth from those during pregnancy. To isolate milk’s contribution from maternal care, they also gave pups raised by healthy mothers purified human-milk extracellular vesicles, tiny membrane-wrapped particles carrying microRNAs.

The researchers looked at the impact of exposure to the specific miRNAs on pup neuronal development. They found the three milk-borne microRNAs reached the brain and suppressed mGluR8. This disrupted the maturation and integration of newly formed hippocampal neurons. Exposed mice developed learning and memory problems that persisted into adulthood and offspring raised by stressed mothers also showed greater depression-like responses after stress.

Notably, reducing milk-vesicle release, neutralizing the three microRNAs linked to postnatal depression, or restoring mGluR8 prevented or substantially reduced several neuronal abnormalities.

The study results do not show that breastfeeding by mothers with depression harms infants or justifies stopping breastfeeding. However, the study suggests that breast milk’s molecular signals could contribute to developmental effects associated with maternal depression and should be investigated further.

“Our findings define a mechanism underlying postnatal depression-related offspring neurodevelopmental impairments and suggest a therapeutic target for interrupting the intergenerational transmission of maternal mental disorders,” conclude the authors.

The post Early Research Shows How Postnatal Depression May Affect Offspring appeared first on Inside Precision Medicine.