This study assessed compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout in health care providers from public health care institutions in Ecuador during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2022, involving 111 different public health care institutions in 23 provinces in Ecuador, with 2873 participants recruited via convenience sampling. The survey instrument was the revised Stamm’s Professional Quality of Life Scale Version-5 tool, designed to measure self-reported compassion fatigue, work satisfaction, and burnout among providers. Kruskall-Wallis test assessed subscale score differences by gender, professional role, region, and health care facility level. Dunn’s test was then applied to determine whether groups differed from each other.

On average, health care providers from all facilities had a high rate of compassion satisfaction (84.9%). However, the majority presented moderate levels of burnout (57.1%), and moderate levels of secondary traumatic stress (59.6%). Higher burnout levels were observed in the Amazon regions compared to Coastal regions.

Despite high compassion satisfaction, most surveyed health care providers from Ecuador’s public health institutions experienced moderate burnout and secondary traumatic stress, with higher burnout levels in the Amazon region. Ecuador, similarly to other LMICs, requires mental health policy and legislation targeted to the mental health workforce and these needs. More research is needed on burnout factors among health care providers in resource-challenged low- and middle-income countries.

This study exploratively analyzed the associations of well-being with psychological characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), and the number of relocations after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Using a cross-sectional study design, an online questionnaire survey was administered to 416 residents of Fukushima and Tokyo each aged 20-59 years (832 in total) between August 25 and 26, 2018, which was 7 and a half years after the disaster. Categorical factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed to investigate associations of 5 well-being scales (positive emotion, negative-free emotion, life satisfaction and general happiness, positive characteristics, and positive functioning) with psychological characteristics, SES, and the number of relocations.

Four of the well-being scales, except for negative-free emotion, were strongly associated with each other and showed similarities in the strength of their associations with psychological characteristics and SES. Among the items surveyed, psychological distress, mindfulness, and marital status were strongly associated with well-being among Fukushima residents. Contrarily, radiation risk perception or the number of relocations were not significantly associated with well-being.

Focusing on psychological distress is expected to have a significant impact on improving well-being after the disaster. In addition, assistance in avoiding unintended family separation may be helpful.

Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are prevalent among people with mental illness (MI), affecting their physical and mental health. Most research has focused on the isolated effects of lifestyle behaviors, leaving the interconnectedness between these behaviors and health outcomes unexplored. This study aimed to examine these relationships and identify the most strongly connected lifestyle behavior or health outcome within a network.

We conducted a cross-sectional study with 423 inpatients with MI, receiving care as usual. Lifestyle behaviors, physical and mental health outcomes were assessed through questionnaires and routine data. A Gaussian Graphical Model was estimated, and strength centrality was calculated to identify the most influential nodes.

Mean age was 55.5 years, 42% were female, and 41% were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Psychological and physical quality of life (QoL), nighttime sleep problems, and overall sleep quality were the most strongly connected nodes. Sleep was strongly associated with physical QoL. Furthermore, there were negative associations between healthy food intake and cholesterol ratio, and positive associations between daily doses of antipsychotics and length of hospital stay. Node strength was stable (CS(cor = 0.7) = 0.75). No clear pattern emerged among other lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes.

This study offers insights into the interrelatedness of lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes. Addressing sleep problems could enhance QoL and potentially influence other health outcomes. Psychological and physical QoL were also strongly associated, emphasizing the importance of perceived well-being in health outcomes. Future research could explore causal pathways to identify treatment targets to improve care.

There are 117.3 million people forcibly displaced because of war, conflict and natural disasters: 40% are children. With growing numbers, many high-income countries have adopted or are considering increasingly restrictive policies of immigration detention. Research on the impact of detention on mental health has focused on adults, although recent studies report on children.

To synthesise data on the impact of immigration detention on children’s mental health.

Systematic searches were conducted in PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Embase databases and grey literature and studies assessed using PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO registration CRD42023369680). Included studies were quantitative, assessed children younger than 18 years who had been in immigration detention and reported mental health symptoms or diagnoses. Methodological quality was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analyses estimated prevalence for major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Twenty-one studies reported data on 9620 children. Most studies were cross-sectional, had small sample sizes and used convenience sampling. A profoundly detrimental impact on children’s mental health across a variety of countries and detention settings was demonstrated. Meta-analysis found pooled prevalence of 42.2% for depression [95% CI 22.9, 64.3] and 32.0% for PTSD [95% CI 19.4, 48.0]. Severity of mental health impact increased with exposure to indefinite or protracted held detention.

Immigration detention harms children. No period of detention can be deemed safe, as all immigration detention is associated with adverse impacts on mental health. Our review highlights the urgency of alternative immigration policies that end the practice of detaining children and families.

Autistic people have high levels of mental ill-health and an increased risk of suicide across the lifespan. Yet autistic people report difficulties communicating with healthcare professionals and accessing a range of healthcare services. At the same time, mental healthcare workers in other countries are reporting links between confidence when working with autistic patients and the degree of autism knowledge and training they can access.

We sought to examine what factors helped or hindered Irish mental healthcare colleagues when working with autistic healthcare service users. An online survey using quantitative and qualitative metrics was circulated among psychiatrists who are members of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland, both in training and at consultant level, from April 2021 to April 2022.

Knowledge of autism was high among psychiatrists (n = 140), but self-efficacy scores were variable, particularly in relation to care pathways. Self-efficacy was better among psychiatrists with caseloads of children and youth or individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Three key qualitative themes emerged relating to capacity and training of mental health professionals, ways to improve mental health services provision for autistic individuals and also the critical need for co-creation and neurodiversity affirmative care.

The study highlighted critical systemic and professional challenges in providing mental health care to autistic people in Ireland. We provide recommendations for reducing these challenges and for enabling the development of inclusive, evidenced-based care to autistic individuals.

Preexisting epidemiological studies suggest that early pubertal development in males is associated with externalizing (e.g. conduct problems, risky behavior, and aggression) and internalizing (e.g. depression and anxiety) traits and disorders. However, due to problems inherent to observational studies, especially of residual confounding, it remains unclear whether these associations are causal. Mendelian randomization (MR) studies take advantage of the random allocation of genes at conception and can establish causal relationships.

In this study, N = 76 independent genetic variants for male puberty timing (MPT) were derived from a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 205,354 participants and used as an instrumental variable in MR studies on 17 externalizing and internalizing traits and psychopathologies utilizing outcome GWAS with 16,400–1,045,957 participants.

In these MR studies, earlier MPT was significantly associated with higher scores for the overarching phenotype of ‘Externalizing Traits’ (b = −0.03, 95% CI [−0.06, −0.01]). However, this effect was likely driven by an earlier age at first sexual contact (b = −0.17, 95% CI [−0.21, −0.13]), without evidence for an effect on further externalizing phenotypes. Regarding internalizing phenotypes, earlier MPT was associated with higher levels of the ‘Depressed Affect’ subdomain of neuroticism (b = −0.04, 95% CI [−0.07, −0.01]). Late MPT was related to higher scores of internalizing traits in early life (b = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.08]).

This comprehensive MR study supports a causal effect of MPT on specific traits and behaviors. However, no evidence for an effect of MPT on long-term clinical outcomes (depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol dependency, cannabis abuse) was found.

Care planning for recovery and to work towards hospital discharge is integral to good practice in mental health in-patient settings. Authorised leave from hospital, especially for those who are detained, can be used to check readiness for discharge and to maintain social connections that support a patient’s recovery journey. Leave therefore often involves friends and family, or ‘carers’. However, carer involvement in planning leave is limited, and carers struggle with feeling unsupported during the leave.

This study aimed to explore carers’ and mental health practitioners’ subjective experiences of leave in the context of implementing a set of practice guidelines for involving carers in planning and undertaking leave from hospital.

Nine wards in six National Health Service trusts were recruited to implement the guidelines. Interviews were undertaken with carers (n = 6) and practitioners (n = 3) from these implementation wards and with carers (n = 7) from nine usual care wards. A further ten practitioners completed an anonymous online survey. Data were analysed thematically.

Carers’ experiences on both implementation and usual care wards indicated variable levels of involvement, with carers positioned as partners in care, observers of care or outsiders to care. Practitioner perspectives highlighted practical, structural and conceptual challenges in working with carers, which precluded effective implementation of the guidelines.

The guidelines reflected what both carers and practitioners described as good practice, but resource limitations, unclear responsibilities and perceptions of carer roles limited engagement. Implementing approaches to working with carers in in-patient settings requires resourcing and clear role definition within staff–carer relationships.