The Temporal Reciprocity of Values and Beliefs

Values and beliefs (or social axioms) are important personality constructs, but little previous work has examined the relationship between the two, and none has examined their real-life longitudinal effects on one another. Major life transitions – such as moving to a new culture – can challenge existing values and beliefs, and therefore provide a particularly useful context for the analysis of value and belief change. The main aim of this research was to examine whether values may predict theoretically meaningful belief change and vice versa. Polish migrants participated in the study shortly after their arrival in the UK, and at two, subsequent, nine-month intervals (N = 172). Cross-lagged effects suggested reciprocal effects of values and beliefs, depending on the value involved. Findings are discussed in the light of current debates over personality change, as well as the broader impact of significant life transitions on personality

Personality dimensions emerging during adolescence and young adulthood are underpinned by a single latent trait indexing impairment in social functioning.

BACKGROUND: Personality with stable behavioural traits emerges in the adolescent and young adult years. Models of putatively distinct, but correlated, personality traits have been developed to describe behavioural styles including schizotypal, narcissistic, callous-unemotional, negative emotionality, antisocial and impulsivity traits. These traits have influenced the classification of their related personality disorders. We tested if a bifactor model fits the data better than correlated-factor and orthogonal-factor models and subsequently validated the obtained factors with mental health measures and treatment history. METHOD: A set of self-report questionnaires measuring the above traits together with measures of mental health and service use were collected from a volunteer community sample of adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 25 years (N = 2443). RESULTS: The bifactor model with one general and four specific factors emerged in exploratory analysis, which fit data better than models with correlated or orthogonal factors. The general factor showed high reliability and validity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that a selected range of putatively distinct personality traits is underpinned by a general latent personality trait that may be interpreted as a severity factor, with higher scores indexing more impairment in social functioning. The results are in line with ICD-11, which suggest an explicit link between personality disorders and compromised interpersonal or social function. The obtained general factor was akin to the overarching dimension of personality functioning (describing one's relation to the self and others) proposed by DSM-5 Section III

How do the prevalence and relative risk of non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal thoughts vary across the population distribution of common mental distress (the p factor)? Observational analyses replicated in two independent UK cohorts of young people

Funder: National Institute for Health Research; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000272Objectives: To inform suicide prevention policies and responses to youths at risk by investigating whether suicide risk is predicted by a summary measure of common mental distress (CMD (the p factor)) as well as by conventional psychopathological domains; to define the distribution of suicide risks over the population range of CMD; to test whether such distress mediates the medium-term persistence of suicide risks. Design: Two independent population-based cohorts. Setting: Population based in two UK centres. Participants: Volunteers aged 14–24 years recruited from primary healthcare registers, schools and colleges, with advertisements to complete quotas in age-sex-strata. Cohort 1 is the Neuroscience in Psychiatry Network (n=2403); cohort 2 is the ROOTS sample (n=1074). Primary outcome measures: Suicidal thoughts (ST) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Results: We calculated a CMD score using confirmatory bifactor analysis and then used logistic regressions to determine adjusted associations between risks and CMD; curve fitting was used to examine the relative prevalence of STs and NSSI over the population distribution of CMD. We found a dose–response relationship between levels of CMD and risk of suicide. The majority of all subjects experiencing ST and NSSI (78% and 76% in cohort 1, and 66% and 71% in cohort 2) had CMD scores no more than 2 SDs above the population mean; higher scores indicated the highest risk but were, by definition, infrequent. Pathway mediation models showed that CMD mediated the longitudinal course of both ST and NSSI. Conclusions: NSSI and ST in youths reflect CMD that also mediates their persistence. Universal prevention strategies reducing levels of CMD in the whole population without recourse to screening or measurement may prevent more suicides than approaches targeting youths with the most severe distress or with psychiatric disorders

The impact of the initial COVID-19 outbreak on young adults’ mental health: a longitudinal study of risk and resilience factors

Few studies assessing the effects of COVID-19 on mental health include prospective markers of risk and resilience necessary to understand and mitigate the combined impacts of the pandemic, lockdowns, and other societal responses. This population-based study of young adults includes individuals from the Neuroscience in Psychiatry Network (n = 2403) recruited from English primary care services and schools in 2012–2013 when aged 14–24. Participants were followed up three times thereafter, most recently during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 outbreak when they were aged between 19 and 34. Repeated measures of psychological distress (K6) and mental wellbeing (SWEMWBS) were supplemented at the latest assessment by clinical measures of depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). A total of 1000 participants, 42% of the original cohort, returned to take part in the COVID-19 follow-up; 737 completed all four assessments [mean age (SD), 25.6 (3.2) years; 65.4% female; 79.1% White]. Our findings show that the pandemic led to pronounced deviations from existing mental health-related trajectories compared to expected levels over approximately seven years. About three-in-ten young adults reported clinically significant depression (28.8%) or anxiety (27.6%) under current NHS guidelines; two-in-ten met clinical cut-offs for both. About 9% reported levels of psychological distress likely to be associated with serious functional impairments that substantially interfere with major life activities; an increase by 3% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Deviations from personal trajectories were not necessarily restricted to conventional risk factors; however, individuals with pre-existing health conditions suffered disproportionately during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience factors known to support mental health, particularly in response to adverse events, were at best mildly protective of individual psychological responses to the pandemic. Our findings underline the importance of monitoring the long-term effects of the ongoing pandemic on young adults’ mental health, an age group at particular risk for the emergence of psychopathologies. Our findings further suggest that maintaining access to mental health care services during future waves, or potential new pandemics, is particularly crucial for those with pre-existing health conditions. Even though resilience factors known to support mental health were only mildly protective during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains to be seen whether these factors facilitate mental health in the long term

An expanding manifold in transmodal regions characterizes adolescent reconfiguration of structural connectome organization

Funder: Canada Research Chairs; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001804Funder: Fonds de la Recherche du Quebec – SantéFunder: Autism Research TrustFunder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000024Funder: BrainCanadaFunder: MNI-Cambridge collaborative awardAdolescence is a critical time for the continued maturation of brain networks. Here, we assessed structural connectome development in a large longitudinal sample ranging from childhood to young adulthood. By projecting high-dimensional connectomes into compact manifold spaces, we identified a marked expansion of structural connectomes, with strongest effects in transmodal regions during adolescence. Findings reflected increased within-module connectivity together with increased segregation, indicating increasing differentiation of higher-order association networks from the rest of the brain. Projection of subcortico-cortical connectivity patterns into these manifolds showed parallel alterations in pathways centered on the caudate and thalamus. Connectome findings were contextualized via spatial transcriptome association analysis, highlighting genes enriched in cortex, thalamus, and striatum. Statistical learning of cortical and subcortical manifold features at baseline and their maturational change predicted measures of intelligence at follow-up. Our findings demonstrate that connectome manifold learning can bridge the conceptual and empirical gaps between macroscale network reconfigurations, microscale processes, and cognitive outcomes in adolescent development

Appendix: The Tavistock Relationships Observational Scale (TROS): Instructions for users

This scale was design to rate relationship quality in couples in which one partner has dementia. A rater should carry out an observation lasting for at least 20-25 minutes when a couple performs an everyday task or activity together (e.g., preparing a meal or cleaning the house), or discusses things together (preferably without the involvement of the rater), prior to the rating of their relationship quality.2019-12-19 JG: This is the appendix to a forthcoming paper (https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrjnm). Author requested a handle for the appendix to be able to add it to the published version without assigning copyright to the publisher.2019-12-19 JG: add DOI, date, vol/issue to the journal article at checkdat

Breastfeeding as predictive of mental wellbeing and obesity at 9-years

Background Preventing child mental health problems and child obesity have been recognised as public health priorities. The aim of the present study was to examine whether being breastfed (at all or exclusively) in infancy was a predictor of mental wellbeing and protective against risk of obesity at age 9. Methods Cross-sectional data from a large, nationally representative cohort study in the Republic of Ireland was used (N=8357). Data on breastfeeding was retrospectively recalled. Child mental wellbeing was assessed using a parent-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Child's height and weight were measured using scientifically calibrated instruments. Results Logistic regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for a wide range of potential confounding variables, being breastfed in infancy was associated with a 26% (p < 0.05) reduction in the risk of an abnormal SDQ score at 9-years. Being breastfed remained a significant predictor of child mental wellbeing when child obesity was controlled for, indicating that being breastfed, independent of child obesity, is a predictor of child mental wellbeing. The results of a second logistic regression indicated that, after controlling for a wide range of potential confounding variables, being breastfed for between 11 and 25 weeks was associated with a 36% (p < 0.05) reduction in the risk of obesity at 9-years, while being breastfed for 26 weeks or longer was associated with a 48% (p < 01) reduction in the risk of obesity at 9-years. Conclusions Breastfeeding in infancy may protect against both poor mental wellbeing and obesity in childhood