Academic and non-academic predictors of common mental health difficulties among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Public concern for the mental health of university students has been rising over recent years. Newly arising stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic could contribute to further mental health burden for students. This study aimed to understand the mental health status of university students at an early stage in the pandemic and to identify academic, non-academic, and COVID-19-related predictors of common mental health difficulties at this time.

The journey of service users with complex mental health needs: a qualitative study.

This study aimed to provide a robust picture of the journey of service users with complex mental health needs by evaluating the perspectives of service users and carers with lived experience of services and gaining clinician views about decision making in relation to this cohort. A qualitative design was used. Service users ( = 11), carers ( = 10) and clinicians ( = 18) took part in semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.

Ethnic density and first episode psychosis in the British Pakistani population: findings from the East Lancashire Early Intervention Service.

Background: Elevated risk of psychosis for ethnic minority groups has generally been shown to be mitigated by high ethnic density. However, past survey studies examining UK Pakistani populations have shown an absence of protective ethnic density effects, which is not observed in other South Asian groups.

Aims: To assess the ethnic density effect at a local neighbourhood level, in the UK Pakistani population in East Lancashire.

Socioeconomic Predictors of Crisis and Clinical Pathways Among People Contacting a Mental Health Crisis Line.

Objective: Crisis lines are the first mental health service contact point for many people, making them a vital community and public health intervention. Given the current and potential utility of crisis lines, better understanding the characteristics, socioeconomic factors and subsequent referral pathways of callers is critical to identifying targeted ways to improve such services.

Study Design: The dataset captured calls to the Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) crisis line between August 2020 and August 2021.

Predictors of self-harm and emergency department attendance for self-harm in deprived communities.

Emergency departments (EDs) are often the first point of contact for individuals following self-harm. The majority of previous research relies on hospital-based data, yet only a minority of individuals who self-harm in the community present to healthcare services. The study design is cross-sectional survey design.

Symptoms of Paranoia Experienced by Students of Pakistani Heritage in England: The Role of Explicit and Implicit Identities and Perceived Discrimination.

Individuals belonging to ethnic minority groups are less likely to experience symptoms of psychosis, such as paranoia, if they live in areas with high proportions of people from the same ethnic background. This effect may be due to processes associated with group belonging (social identification). We examined whether the relationship between perceived discrimination and paranoia was moderated by explicit and implicit Pakistani/English identification among students of Pakistani heritage (N = 119).

The psychophysiological mechanisms of real-world time experience.

Our sense of time is fallible, often resulting in the sensation of time flying by quickly or dragging slowly. It has been suggested that changes in sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity may influence the perceived passage of time, however this proposition has never been tested during real-world temporal experience. The current study directly tested the relationship between the passage of time and SNS-PNS activity in the real-world.

COMplex mental health PAThways (COMPAT) Study: A mixed methods study to inform an evidence-based service delivery model for people with complex needs: Study protocol.

Background: Mental health services for adults, as they are currently configured, have been designed to provide predominantly community-based interventions. It has long been recognised that some patients have such significant clinical and/or risk needs that those needs cannot be adequately met within standard service delivery models, resulting in a pressing need to consider the best models for this group of people. This paper shares a protocol for a mixed methods study that aims to understand: the profile and history of service users described as having complex needs; the decision-making processes by clinicians that lead to complex needs categorisation; service users and carers experience of service use; and, associated economic impact.

The empirical evidence base for the use of the HCR-20: A narrative review of study designs and transferability of results to clinical practice.

The HCR-20, a widely used method of assessing and managing risk, relies on the structured professional judgement approach. This paper reports a narrative literature review of the HCR-20 studies to explore the applicability of the study results to the use of the HCR-20 in clinical practice. From a literature search using terms "HCR-20" and "HCR 20", 206 papers were included.

Does neighbourhood identification buffer against the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on self-harm?

Background: Socioeconomic disadvantage and lack of group belonging (i.e., social identity) have been linked to poor mental health.

The longitudinal NIHR ARC North West Coast Household Health Survey: exploring health inequalities in disadvantaged communities.

Background: The Household Health Survey (HHS) was developed to understand the socioeconomic determinants of mental and physical health, and health inequalities in health and social care. This paper aims to provide a detailed rationale of the development and implementation of the survey and explore socio-economic variations in physical and mental health and health care.

Methods: This comprehensive longitudinal public health survey was designed and piloted in a disadvantaged area of England, comprising questions on housing, physical health, mental health, lifestyle, social issues, environment, work, and finances.

Predictors of emergency department and GP use among patients with mental health conditions: a public health survey.

Background: High demand for health services is an issue of current importance in England, in part because of the rapidly increasing use of emergency departments (EDs) and GP practices for mental health conditions and the high cost of these services.

Aim: To examine the social determinants of health service use in people with mental health issues.

Design And Setting: Twenty-eight neighbourhoods, each with a population of 5000-10 000 people, in the north west coast of England with differing levels of deprivation.

The relationship between ingroup identity and Paranoid ideation among people from African and African Caribbean backgrounds.

Objectives: People from ethnic minority groups experience higher rates of paranoid delusions compared with people from ethnic majority groups. Identifying with social groups has been shown to protect against mental health symptoms; however, no studies have investigated the relationship between social identification and paranoia in ethnic minority populations. Here, we investigated the association between British identification and paranoia in a sample of people from African and African Caribbean backgrounds living in the United Kingdom.

Public involvement in the dissemination of the North West Coast Household Health Survey: Experiences and lessons of co-producing research together.

Background: Engaging with the public is a key element of health research; however, little work has examined experiences of public involvement in research dissemination. The aim of this paper was to assess the extent of public involvement, experiences of public advisers and resulting changes in the dissemination of the North West Coast Household Health Survey (HHS).

Methods: Three writing groups allowed public advisers to contribute to the dissemination of the HHS.

What are the social predictors of accident and emergency attendance in disadvantaged neighbourhoods? Results from a cross-sectional household health survey in the north west of England.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the most important determinants of accident and emergency (A&E) attendance in disadvantaged areas.

Design, Setting And Participants: A total of 3510 residents from 20 disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the North West Coast area in England completed a comprehensive public health survey.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants were asked to complete general background information, as well as information about their physical health, mental health, lifestyle, social issues, housing and environment, work and finances, and healthcare service usage.

Childhood maltreatment and problematic social media use: The role of attachment and depression.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with many maladaptive outcomes. This study sought to examine the association between childhood maltreatment and problematic social media use using a cross-sectional sample of young adults aged 17-25 years (n = 1029). Specifically, we studied whether the relationship is mediated through (i) attachment anxiety, (ii) attachment avoidance, or (iii) both attachment dimensions operating in series with depressive symptoms.

Academic and non-academic predictors of student psychological distress: the role of social identity and loneliness.

Background: University students experience high rates of stress and mental illness; however, few studies have comprehensively examined the impact of academic and non-academic stressors on student mental health. Similarly, there has been little focus on the role of social groups in protecting against mental distress in this young adult group.

Aim: To identify the key social determinants of mental health symptoms in a student population.

Social Identity and Psychosis: Associations and Psychological Mechanisms.

Humans possess a basic need to belong and will join groups even when they provide no practical benefit. Paranoid symptoms imply a disruption of the processes involved in belonging and social trust. Past research suggests that joining social groups and incorporating those groups into one's identity (social identification) promotes positive self-views and better physical and mental health.

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations.

People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogen-neutralizing properties.