Recommendations for a better understanding of sex and gender in neuroscience of mental health

There are prominent sex/gender differences in the prevalence, expression and lifespan course of mental health and neurodiverse conditions. Yet the underlying sex and gender related mechanisms and their interactions are still not fully understood. This lack of knowledge has harmful consequences for those suffering from mental health problems. Hence, we set up a co-creation session in a one week workshop with a multidisciplinary team of 25 researchers, clinicians and policy makers, to identify the main barriers in sex and gender research in neuroscience of mental health. Based on this work, we here provide recommendations for methodologies, translational research and stakeholder involvement. These include guidelines for recording, reporting, analysis beyond binary groups, and open science. Improved understanding of sex and gender related mechanisms in neuroscience may benefit public health as this is an important step towards precision medicine and may function as an archetype for studying diversity

Emotional experiences and psychological well-being in 51 countries during the covid-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges to psychological well-being, but how can we predict when people suffer or cope during sustained stress? Here, we test the prediction that specific types of momentary emotional experiences are differently linked to psychological well-being during the pandemic. Study 1 used survey data collected from 24,221 participants in 51 countries during the COVID-19 outbreak. We show that, across countries, well-being is linked to individuals’ recent emotional experiences, including calm, hope, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness. Consistent results are found in two age, sex, and ethnicity-representative samples in the United Kingdom (n = 971) and the United States (n = 961) with preregistered analyses (Study 2). A prospective 30-day daily diary study conducted in the United Kingdom (n = 110) confirms the key role of these five emotions and demonstrates that emotional experiences precede changes in well-being (Study 3). Our findings highlight differential relationships between specific types of momentary emotional experiences and well-being and point to the cultivation of calm and hope as candidate routes for well-being interventions during periods of sustained stress

01_WARN-D Protocol Paper

Protocol paper for WARN-D study (www.WARN-D.com)