Inclusiveness in mental health research: a survey of attitudes, awareness, and actions among journal editors

Background: Improving inclusiveness in mental health research merits attention as we seek to reduce inequalities in mental health. Academic journals can promote inclusiveness through editorial practices related to the selection of content and the composition of journal editorial boards. Objectives: To investigate the attitudes, awareness, and actions of journal editors con-cerning inclusiveness in mental health research and editorial practices. Methods: We surveyed 74 chief and senior editors, representing 55 prominent journals in neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology (2021 impact factor M = 8.04, SD = 10.76). Results: Most respondents (74–99%) acknowledged the importance of inclusiveness in mental health research, and a majority (62–78%) were familiar with existing guide-lines. Half or fewer of the journals (49–50%) had policies for selecting content that is diverse, and 20% had policies regarding inclusion of individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges. Well over half the journals (57–72%) had policies to widen diversity among their editorial boards and roughly half (43–53%) among peer reviewers, although only a few (18–23%) included among their editors or peer reviewers individuals with lived experience of dealing with mental health challenges. Conclusions: This study highlighted an intention-action gap, with positive attitudes and awareness but limited editorial practices promoting inclusiveness in mental health research. Inclusion of individuals with lived experience emerged as an area in particular need of improvement. We discuss potential strategies that journals might consider to foster inclusiveness, such as diversity training, publication checklists, and infrastructure that supports participatory approaches

Viewing Time Measures of Sexual Interest and Sexual Offending Propensity: An Online Survey of Fathers

Relative viewing times (VTs)-time required to view and evaluate sexually salient images-discriminate individuals with a sexual interest in children, as indirectly indexed by their history of sexual offending against children, from those without such history. In an online sample of 652 fathers, we measured VTs and sexual attraction ratings to child and adult images. We assessed participants' sexual offending history and propensity (self-reported likelihood to have a sexual contact with a child, a non-consensual sexual contact with an adult, and propensity toward father-daughter incest). In contrast with VT studies involving clinical or forensic samples, VTs and attraction ratings failed to discriminate participants with a sexual offending history. VTs successfully distinguished participants with a propensity to sexually offend against children but failed to identify those with a propensity toward incest. Conversely, attraction ratings distinguished participants with a propensity toward incest but failed to identify those with a propensity to sexually offend against children. Correlations between VTs and attraction ratings were small. Results illustrate, for the first time, the distribution of VT measures in community fathers, support the feasibility of online administration of VT tasks to detect propensity to sexually offend against children, and indicate that sexual interest in children and incest propensity are distinct

Brain responses in aggression-prone individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of anger- and aggression-eliciting tasks

Reactive aggression in response to perceived threat or provocation is part of humans' adaptive behavioral repertoire. However, high levels of aggression can lead to the violation of social and legal norms. Understanding brain function in individuals with high levels of aggression as they process anger- and aggression-eliciting stimuli is critical for refining explanatory models of aggression and thereby improving interventions. Three neurobiological models of reactive aggression - the limbic hyperactivity, prefrontal hypoactivity, and dysregulated limbic-prefrontal connectivity models - have been proposed. However, these models are based on neuroimaging studies involving mainly non-aggressive individuals, leaving it unclear which model best describes brain function in those with a history of aggression. We conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed and Psycinfo) and Multilevel Kernel Density meta-analysis (MKDA) of nine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies (eight included in the between-group analysis [i.e., aggression vs. control groups], five in the within-group analysis). Studies examined brain responses to tasks putatively eliciting anger and aggression in individuals with a history of aggression alone and relative to controls. Individuals with a history of aggression exhibited greater activity in the superior temporal gyrus and in regions comprising the cognitive control and default mode networks (right posterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, precuneus, right inferior frontal gyrus) during reactive aggression relative to baseline conditions. Compared to controls, individuals with a history of aggression exhibited increased activity in limbic regions (left hippocampus, left amygdala, left parahippocampal gyrus) and temporal regions (superior, middle, inferior temporal gyrus), and reduced activity in occipital regions (left occipital cortex, left calcarine cortex). These findings lend support to the limbic hyperactivity model in individuals with a history of aggression, and further indicate altered temporal and occipital activity in anger- and aggression-eliciting conditions involving face and speech processing

Genetic Vulnerability to Patterns of Interpersonal Victimization and Associated Psychiatric Comorbidity

Interpersonal victimization is a pervasive hardship for children and adults. Previous research has attempted to identify individual characteristics and environmental conditions that might predispose individuals to these experiences. Nonetheless, no research project has been designed to clarify the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of, and to the associations between, multiple forms of victimization during childhood and adulthood. Moreover, victims of childhood abuse and neglect are more likely than non-victims to develop psychopathology. However, whether different types of childhood victimization confer risk for different mental health problems or, rather, for psychiatric comorbidity, has rarely been addressed in genetically controlled studies testing multiple associations simultaneously. Hence, we investigated the genetic and environmental etiology of interpersonal victimization and psychiatric comorbidity in a nationally representative sample of Finnish adults. In Study I, we estimated genetic and environmental influences on the risk of childhood victimization. We found that genes and environments shared by siblings increased the risk for multiple victimization, especially by related individuals, while unshared environmental exposures increased the risk of specific adversities, particularly sexual abuse. We also found sex differences in the prevalence and etiology of childhood victimization, in particular emotional and sexual abuse. In Study II, we examined genetic and environmental influences on the risk of adult sexual victimization as well as its phenotypic and genetic associations with childhood victimization. We observed that environmental exposures, especially outside the family, largely explained the risk of adult sexual victimization. Childhood emotional abuse was the strongest predictor of adult sexual victimization. Notably, the same etiological factors influenced multiple childhood victimization and adult sexual victimization. In Study III, we explored the patterns of psychiatric comorbidity of core internalizing, externalizing, and less investigated problems like sexual distress. Alongside the previously known dimensions of psychopathology, we identified a novel dimension accounting for the covariance of body-related problems. Body-related problems were strongly associated with core internalizing problems and affected women and middle-aged participants more than men and young adults, respectively. In Study IV, we investigated the impact of gene variants and early adversities on the comorbidity and distinctiveness of body-related and core internalizing mental health problems. We identified one etiological pathway for core internalizing and one for body-related and associated symptoms. Childhood victimization contributed to internalizing more than body-related problems, and emotional maltreatment was the strongest predictor of these outcomes. However, observed associations were small and explained by shared genetic effects for core internalizing, and by shared genetic and environmental effects for body-related problems. Our findings suggest that gene variants may influence the risk of interpersonal victimization, especially during childhood. This means that some individuals are at higher risk than others, due to a correlation between their genetic make-up and the environments that they inherit, evoke, and seek out. As a result, preventive practices should account for individual risk profiles to effectively protect particularly vulnerable individuals. Emotional abuse and neglect were especially harmful in terms of later risk of adult sexual victimization and mental health problems. This might be because these forms of maltreatment are usually perpetrated by parents, are difficult to detect and, therefore, more often continuous stressors than isolated experiences. Our findings also help to explain why women experience elevated risk of victimization compared to men: Girls might be at increased risk of emotional and sexual abuse due to sex-specific genetic influences on traits exploited by perpetrators, and women might be at increased risk of sexual victimization because many environments are unsafe for them. Lastly, our work supports the notion that the longitudinal associations observed between childhood victimization and adult sexual victimization and mental health problems might be accounted for by the same etiological factors

Child Maltreatment and Adult Sexual Assault Victimization: Genetic and Environmental Associations

Despite the pervasiveness of adult sexual assault (ASA), evidence-based knowledge on the risk factors for sexual victimization is insufficient. Here, we investigated the etiology of ASA in a population-based Finnish twin sample. Specifically, we estimated the extent of the genetic and environmental influences on the risk of ASA, and we examined its phenotypic and genetic associations with five types of child maltreatment (CM). We found large unique environmental, but also small genetic influences on the risk of ASA, motivating further research on situational and behavioral conditions potentially exploited by sexually motivated perpetrators. The prevalence of ASA was highest among victims of severe child sexual abuse. However, when accounting for the co-occurrence of multiple types of CM, emotional abuse was the strongest predictor of ASA. We further examined, and could not entirely rule out, the possibility of common genetic and environmental pathways underlying CM and ASA. Lastly, we focused on sex differences. Emotional and physical abuse were the strongest predictors of ASA in women and men, respectively, and genetic influences on the risk of ASA were larger in women than men. However, such higher heritability did not reflect sex-limited genetic effects, but, rather, women’s systematic exposure to environmental risk of ASA