Pathways into and out of homelessness among people with severe mental illness in rural Ethiopia: a qualitative study.

Background: Little is known about the pathways followed into and out of homelessness among people with experience of severe mental illness (SMI) living in rural, low-income country settings. Understanding these pathways is essential for the development of effective interventions to address homelessness and promote recovery. The aim of this study was to explore pathways into and out of homelessness in people with SMI in rural Ethiopia.

Reconsidering the reasons for heightened inflammation in major depressive disorder.

Background: Increased circulating pro-inflammatory markers have repeatedly been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether inflammation represents a causal mechanism for MDD, or whether the association is influenced by confounding factors such as body mass index (BMI).

Methods: To better understand this complex relationship, we generated polygenic risk scores (PRS) for MDD and BMI in a population cohort and attempted to isolate the impact these potential risk factors have on adulthood inflammation.

The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to mental health problems due to disease experience, physical distancing, stigma and discrimination, and job losses in many of the settings hardest hit by the pandemic. Health care workers, patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses, children, women, youth, and the elderly are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Virtual mental health services have been established in many settings and social media is being used to impart mental health education and communication resources.

Explanatory models of depression in sub-Saharan Africa: Synthesis of qualitative evidence.

Debate about the cross-cultural relevance of depression has been central to cross-cultural psychiatry and global mental health. Although there is now a wealth of evidence pertaining to symptoms across different cultural settings, the role of the health system in addressing these problems remains contentious. Depression is undetected among people attending health facilities.

Homelessness and severe mental illness in low- and middle-income countries: scoping review.

Background: Despite being a global problem, little is known about the relationship between severe mental illness (SMI) and homelessness in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Homeless people with SMI are an especially vulnerable population and face myriad health and social problems. In LMICs, low rates of treatment for mental illness, as well as differing family support systems and cultural responses to mental illness, may affect the causes and consequences of homelessness in people with SMI.

Recurrence of Depression in Relation to History of Childhood Trauma and Hair Cortisol Concentration in a Community-Based Sample.

Background: Childhood trauma represents a risk factor for developing depression with increased rates of recurrence. Mechanisms involved include a disturbed regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is a measure of long-term HPA axis activity with less interference from circadian and confounding factors.

Associations between childhood maltreatment and inflammatory markers.

Background: Childhood maltreatment is one of the strongest predictors of adulthood depression and alterations to circulating levels of inflammatory markers is one putative mechanism mediating risk or resilience.AimsTo determine the effects of childhood maltreatment on circulating levels of 41 inflammatory markers in healthy individuals and those with a major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis.

Method: We investigated the association of childhood maltreatment with levels of 41 inflammatory markers in two groups, 164 patients with MDD and 301 controls, using multiplex electrochemiluminescence methods applied to blood serum.

Genetic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders and Telomere Length.

Previous studies have revealed associations between psychiatric disorder diagnosis and shorter telomere length. Here, we attempt to discern whether genetic risk for psychiatric disorders, or use of pharmacological treatments (i.e.

Genetic predisposition to advanced biological ageing increases risk for childhood-onset recurrent major depressive disorder in a large UK sample.

Background: Previous studies have revealed increased biological ageing amongst major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, as assayed by shorter leukocyte telomere lengths (TL). Stressors such as childhood maltreatment are more common amongst MDD patients, and it has been suggested that this might contribute to shorter TL present amongst patients. However, to our knowledge, no study has yet tested for reverse causality, i.

Assessing the contributions of childhood maltreatment subtypes and depression case-control status on telomere length reveals a specific role of physical neglect.

Background: Studies have provided evidence that both childhood maltreatment and depressive disorders are associated with shortened telomere lengths. However, as childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for depression, it remains unclear whether this may be driving shortened telomere lengths observed amongst depressed patients. Furthermore, it's unclear if the effects of maltreatment on telomere length shortening are more pervasive amongst depressed patients relative to controls, and consequently whether biological ageing may contribute to depression's pathophysiology.

Sociodemographic, lifestyle, and psychosocial determinants of hair cortisol in a South London community sample.

Objective: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) measures are crucial for research into stress and stress-related disorders. Most HPA measures fluctuate depending on diurnal rhythms and state confounders. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) are less susceptible to such fluctuations, but less is known about trait-like confounders.

Challenges in the retrospective assessment of trauma: comparing a checklist approach to a single item trauma experience screening question.

Background: Research on trauma and its impact on mental health typically relies on self-reports which can be influenced by recall bias and an individual's subjective interpretation of events. This study aims to compare responses on a checklist of life events with a trauma experience screening question, both of which assessed trauma experience retrospectively.

Methods: A community sample of adults were asked about life events from a checklist before asking them whether they ever had a trauma experience, i.

Psychotic Experiences and Neuropsychological Functioning in a Population-based Sample.

Importance: Psychotic experiences in early life are associated with neuropsychological impairment and the risk for later psychiatric disorders. Psychotic experiences are also prevalent in adults, but neuropsychological investigations spanning adulthood are limited, and confounding factors have not been examined rigorously.

Objective: To characterize neuropsychological functioning in adults with psychotic experiences while adjusting for important sociodemographic characteristics and familial factors and investigating the effect of age.

Validation of the standardised assessment of personality--abbreviated scale in a general population sample.

Background: Personality disorder (PD) is associated with important health outcomes in the general population. However, the length of diagnostic interviews poses a significant barrier to obtaining large scale, population-based data on PD. A brief screen for the identification of people at high risk of PD in the general population could be extremely valuable for both clinicians and researchers.

Challenges in researching migration status, health and health service use: an intersectional analysis of a South London community.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the associations between migration status and health-related outcomes and to examine whether and how the effect of migration status changes when it is disaggregated by length of residence, first language, reason for migration and combined with ethnicity.

Design: A total of 1698 adults were interviewed from 1076 randomly selected households in two South London boroughs. We described the socio-demographic and socio-economic differences between migrants and non-migrants and compared the prevalence of health-related outcomes by migration status, length of residence, first language, reason for migration and migration status within ethnic groups.

Adversity, cannabis use and psychotic experiences: evidence of cumulative and synergistic effects.

Background: There is robust evidence that childhood adversity is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. There is, however, little research on intervening factors that might increase or decrease risk following childhood adversity.

Aims: To investigate main effects of, and synergy between, childhood abuse and life events and cannabis use on odds of psychotic experiences.

Comparisons of polydrug use at national and inner city levels in England: associations with demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Purpose: This study compares polydrug use in national and inner city samples to (1) examine patterns of use underlying different prevalence rates and (2) identify how inner city polydrug use needs targeting in ways not suggested by national research.

Methods: Latent class analyses on indicators of illicit drug use in the last year, hazardous alcohol use, and cigarette smoking were compared between the inner city 2008-2010 South East London Community Health study (n = 1698) and the nationally representative 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in England (n = 7403). Multinomial logistic regressions then examined latent class solutions with demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Trauma and current symptoms of PTSD in a South East London community.

Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its association with traumatic events in a representative sample of an inner city population in the UK.

Methods: A representative community sample of 1,698 adults, aged 16 years and over, from two south London boroughs were interviewed face to face with structured survey questionnaires.

Results: The prevalence of current symptoms of PTSD was 5.

Importance of thinking locally for mental health: data from cross-sectional surveys representing South East London and England.

Background: Reliance on national figures may be underestimating the extent of mental ill health in urban communities. This study demonstrates the necessity for local information on common mental disorder (CMD) and substance use by comparing data from the South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study with those from a national study, the 2007 English Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Study (APMS).

Methodology/principal Findings: Data were used from two cross-sectional surveys, 1698 men and women residing in south London and 7403 men and women in England.

Identifying socio-demographic and socioeconomic determinants of health inequalities in a diverse London community: the South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study.

Background: Responses to public health need require information on the distribution of mental and physical ill health by demographic and socioeconomic factors at the local community level.

Methods: The South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study is a community psychiatric and physical morbidity survey. Trained interviewers conducted face-to-face computer assisted interviews with 1698 adults aged 16 years and over, from 1076 randomly selected private households in two south London boroughs.