Protecting and promoting editorial independence.

We argue that editorial independence, through robust practice of publication ethics and research integrity, promotes good science and prevents bad science. We elucidate the concept of research integrity, and then discuss the dimensions of editorial independence. Best practice guidelines exist, but compliance with these guidelines varies. Therefore, we make recommendations for protecting and strengthening editorial independence.

Shorter night-time sleep duration and later sleep timing from infancy to adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Here, we (a) examined the trajectories of night-time sleep duration, bedtime and midpoint of night-time sleep (MPS) from infancy to adolescence, and (b) explored perinatal risk factors for persistent poor sleep health. METHODS: This study used data from 12,962 participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Parent or self-reported night-time sleep duration, bedtime and wake-up time were collected from questionnaires at 6, 18 and 30 months, and at 3.5, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 9, 11 and 15-16 years. Child's sex, birth weight, gestational age, health and temperament, together with mother's family adversity index (FAI), age at birth, prenatal socioeconomic status and postnatal anxiety and depression, were included as risk factors for persistent poor sleep health. Latent class growth analyses were applied first to detect trajectories of night-time sleep duration, bedtime and MPS, and we then applied logistic regressions for the longitudinal associations between risk factors and persistent poor sleep health domains. RESULTS: We obtained four trajectories for each of the three sleep domains. In particular, we identified a trajectory characterized by persistent shorter sleep, a trajectory of persistent later bedtime and a trajectory of persistent later MPS. Two risk factors were associated with the three poor sleep health domains: higher FAI with increased risk of persistent shorter sleep (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.11-1.30, p < .001), persistent later bedtime (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.19-1.39, p < .001) and persistent later MPS (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.22-1.38, p < .001); and higher maternal socioeconomic status with reduced risk of persistent shorter sleep (OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98-1.00, p = .048), persistent later bedtime (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.97-0.99, p < .001) and persistent later MPS (OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98-0.99, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: We detected trajectories of persistent poor sleep health (i.e. shorter sleep duration, later bedtime and later MPS) from infancy to adolescence, and specific perinatal risk factors linked to persistent poor sleep health domains.

Associations between primary care recorded cannabis use and mental ill health in the UK: a population-based retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis use is a global public health issue associated with increased risks of developing mental health disorders, especially in young people. We aimed to investigate the relationships between cannabis exposure and risks of receiving mental illness diagnoses or treatment as outcomes. METHODS: A population based, retrospective, open cohort study using patients recorded in 'IQVIA medical research data', a UK primary care database. Read codes were used to confirm patients with recorded exposure to cannabis use who were matched up to two unexposed patients. We examined the risk of developing three categories of mental ill health: depression, anxiety or serious mental illness (SMI). RESULTS: At study entry, the exposed cohort had an increased likelihood of having experienced mental ill health [odds ratio (OR) 4.13; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.99-4.27] and mental ill health-related prescription (OR 2.95; 95% CI 2.86-3.05) compared to the unexposed group. During the study period we found that exposure to cannabis was associated with an increased risk of developing any mental disorder [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 2.73; 95% CI 2.59-2.88], also noted when examining by subtype of disorder: anxiety (aHR 2.46; 95% CI 2.29-2.64), depression (aHR 2.34; 95% CI 2.20-2.49) and SMI (aHR 6.41; 95% CI 5.42-7.57). These results remained robust in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: These findings point to the potential need for a public health approach to the management of people misusing cannabis. However, there is a gross under-recording of cannabis use in GP records, as seen by the prevalence of recorded cannabis exposure substantially lower than self-reported survey records.

A review of economic evaluations of health care for people at risk of psychosis and for first-episode psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Preventing psychotic disorders and effective treatment in first-episode psychosis are key priorities for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. This review assessed the evidence base for the cost-effectiveness of health and social care interventions for people at risk of psychosis and for first-episode psychosis. METHODS: Electronic searches were conducted using the PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Embase databases to identify relevant published full economic evaluations published before August 2020. Full-text English-language studies reporting a full economic evaluation of a health or social care intervention aiming to reduce or prevent symptoms in people at risk of psychosis or experiencing first-episode psychosis were included. Screening, data extraction, and critical appraisal were performed using pre-specified criteria and forms based on the NHS Economic Evaluation Database (EED) handbook and Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist for economic evaluations. The protocol was registered on the PROSPERO database (CRD42018108226). Results were summarised qualitatively. RESULTS: Searching identified 1,628 citations (1,326 following the removal of duplications). After two stages of screening 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Interventions were varied and included multidisciplinary care, antipsychotic medication, psychological therapy, and assertive outreach. Evidence was limited in the at-risk group with only four identified studies, though all interventions were found to be cost-effective with a high probability (> 80%). A more substantial evidence base was identified for first-episode psychosis (11 studies), with a focus on early intervention (7/11 studies) which again had positive conclusions though with greater uncertainty. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings generally concluded interventions were cost-effective. The evidence for the population who are at-risk of psychosis was limited, and though there were more studies for the population with first-episode psychosis, limitations of the evidence base (including generalisability and heterogeneity across the methods used) affect the certainty of conclusions.

The UK stand together trial: protocol for a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of KiVa to reduce bullying in primary schools.

BACKGROUND: Reducing bullying is a public health priority. KiVa, a school-based anti-bullying programme, is effective in reducing bullying in Finland and requires rigorous testing in other countries, including the UK. This trial aims to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of KiVa in reducing child reported bullying in UK schools compared to usual practice. The trial is currently on-going. Recruitment commenced in October 2019, however due to COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures was re-started in October 2020. METHODS: Design: Two-arm pragmatic multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with an embedded process and cost-effectiveness evaluation. PARTICIPANTS: 116 primary schools from four areas; North Wales, West Midlands, South East and South West England. Outcomes will be assessed at student level (ages 7-11 years; n = approximately 13,000 students). INTERVENTION: KiVa is a whole school programme with universal actions that places a strong emphasis on changing bystander behaviour alongside indicated actions that provide consistent strategies for dealing with incidents of bullying. KiVa will be implemented over one academic year. COMPARATOR: Usual practice. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Student-level bullying-victimisation assessed through self-report using the extensively used and validated Olweus Bully/Victim questionnaire at baseline and 12-month follow-up. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: student-level bullying-perpetration; student mental health and emotional well-being; student level of, and roles in, bullying; school related well-being; school attendance and academic attainment; and teachers' self-efficacy in dealing with bullying, mental well-being, and burnout. SAMPLE SIZE: 116 schools (58 per arm) with an assumed ICC of 0.02 will provide 90% power to identify a relative reduction of 22% with a 5% significance level. RANDOMISATION: recruited schools will be randomised on 1:1 basis stratified by Key-Stage 2 size and free school meal status. Process evaluation: assess implementation fidelity, identify influences on KiVa implementation, and examine intervention mechanisms. Economic evaluation: Self-reported victimisation, Child Health Utility 9D, Client Service Receipt Inventory, frequency of services used, and intervention costs. The health economic analysis will be conducted from a schools and societal perspective. DISCUSSION: This two-arm pragmatic multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial will evaluate the KiVa anti-bullying intervention to generate evidence of the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and scalability of the programme in the UK. Our integrated process evaluation will assess implementation fidelity, identify influences on KiVa implementation across England and Wales and examine intervention mechanisms. The integrated health economic analysis will be conducted from a schools and societal perspective. Our trial will also provide evidence regarding the programme impact on inequalities by testing whether KiVa is effective across the socio-economic gradient. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trials ISRCTN 12300853 Date assigned 11/02/2020.

Epistemic injustice amongst clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers: A qualitative thematic analysis study.

OBJECTIVES: Research has suggested people who hear voices may be at risk of epistemic injustice. This is a form of discrimination whereby someone is unfairly judged to be an unreliable knower (testimonial injustice) or is unable to contribute to, and therefore access, concepts that make sense of their experience within mainstream society (hermeneutical injustice). Voice-hearing occurs both in people who are mental health service users and in the general population (clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers, respectively). The degree of distress and impairment associated with voices has been shown to relate to how individuals make sense of their experiences and how others respond to their identity as a voice-hearer. The aim of this study was to explore people's experiences of epistemic injustice in relation to voice-hearing and to understand how these may differ between clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers. DESIGN: A qualitative design was used. METHOD: Eight clinical and nine non-clinical voice-hearers partook in semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three pairs of themes related to (i) identity, (ii) relationships and (iii) power and position were constructed across the clinical and non-clinical groups, and two shared themes within both groups were created relating to testimonial and hermeneutical injustice. CONCLUSION: Both clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers described experiencing epistemic injustice in wider society. The presence of a 'safe haven' (e.g. spiritualist churches) for non-clinical voice-hearers ameliorated the impact of this to some degree, by allowing people to make connections with others with similar experiences within a non-judgemental and accepting community.

Integrated metastate functional connectivity networks predict change in symptom severity in clinical high risk for psychosis.

The ability to identify biomarkers of psychosis risk is essential in defining effective preventive measures to potentially circumvent the transition to psychosis. Using samples of people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and Healthy controls (HC) who were administered a task fMRI paradigm, we used a framework for labelling time windows of fMRI scans as 'integrated' FC networks to provide a granular representation of functional connectivity (FC). Periods of integration were defined using the 'cartographic profile' of time windows and k-means clustering, and sub-network discovery was carried out using Network Based Statistics (NBS). There were no network differences between CHR and HC groups. Within the CHR group, using integrated FC networks, we identified a sub-network negatively associated with longitudinal changes in the severity of psychotic symptoms. This sub-network comprised brain areas implicated in bottom-up sensory processing and in integration with motor control, suggesting it may be related to the demands of the fMRI task. These data suggest that extracting integrated FC networks may be useful in the investigation of biomarkers of psychosis risk.

Gender equality in academic publishing: action from the BJPsych.

Women in academic publishing and academic psychiatry face many challenges of gender inequality, including significant pay differentials, poor visibility in senior positions and a male-dominated hierarchical system. We discuss this problem and outline how the BJPsych plans to tackle these issues it in its own publishing.

Impaired inhibitory processing: a new therapeutic target for autism and psychosis?

In the healthy brain, homeostatic balance between excitation and inhibition maintains neural stability. Reduced inhibition may explain shared symptoms observed in autism and psychosis. Here we review evidence suggesting that altered levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) may underlie both disorders, providing a potential cross-diagnostic therapeutic target.

Threats to epistemic agency in young people with unusual experiences and beliefs.

A good therapeutic relationship in mental health services is a predictor of positive clinical outcomes for people who seek help for distressing experiences, such as voice hearing and paranoia. One factor that may affect the quality of the therapeutic relationship and raises further ethical issues is the impact of the clinical encounter on users' sense of self, and in particular on their sense of agency. In the paper, we discuss some of the reasons why the sense of epistemic agency may be especially fragile in young people with unusual experiences and beliefs. We argue that it is important to identify and avoid behaviours that can undermine young people's contributions as epistemic agents in the clinical encounter.

A web-based clinical decision tool to support treatment decision-making in psychiatry: a pilot focus group study with clinicians, patients and carers.

BACKGROUND: Treatment decision tools have been developed in many fields of medicine, including psychiatry, however benefits for patients have not been sustained once the support is withdrawn. We have developed a web-based computerised clinical decision support tool (CDST), which can provide patients and clinicians with continuous, up-to-date, personalised information about the efficacy and tolerability of competing interventions. To test the feasibility and acceptability of the CDST we conducted a focus group study, aimed to explore the views of clinicians, patients and carers. METHODS: The CDST was developed in Oxford. To tailor treatments at an individual level, the CDST combines the best available evidence from the scientific literature with patient preferences and values, and with patient medical profile to generate personalised clinical recommendations. We conducted three focus groups comprising of three different participant types: consultant psychiatrists, participants with a mental health diagnosis and/or experience of caring for someone with a mental health diagnosis, and primary care practitioners and nurses. Each 1-h focus group started with a short visual demonstration of the CDST. To standardise the discussion during the focus groups, we used the same topic guide that covered themes relating to the acceptability and usability of the CDST. Focus groups were recorded and any identifying participant details were anonymised. Data were analysed thematically and managed using the Framework method and the constant comparative method. RESULTS: The focus groups took place in Oxford between October 2016 and January 2017. Overall 31 participants attended (12 consultants, 11 primary care practitioners and 8 patients or carers). The main themes that emerged related to CDST applications in clinical practice, communication, conflicting priorities, record keeping and data management. CDST was considered a useful clinical decision support, with recognised value in promoting clinician-patient collaboration and contributing to the development of personalised medicine. One major benefit of the CDST was perceived to be the open discussion about the possible side-effects of medications. Participants from all the three groups, however, universally commented that the terminology and language presented on the CDST were too medicalised, potentially leading to ethical issues around consent to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The CDST can improve communication pathways between patients, carers and clinicians, identifying care priorities and providing an up-to-date platform for implementing evidence-based practice, with regard to prescribing practices.

Fifteen years on - early intervention for a new generation.

Early intervention for psychosis (EIP) is a model of service delivery that aims to support young people with first-episode psychosis by providing the best available treatments, supporting recovery and preventing relapse. In this editorial, we review the evidence for EIP, how the model has developed since its inclusion in the NHS policy implementation guideline for mental health in 2001, challenges and areas of ongoing debate, and future development.

Should junior doctors strike?

An impasse in negotiations between the Department of Health (DoH) and the British Medical Association in November this year led to an overwhelming vote for industrial action (IA) by junior doctors. At the time of writing, a last minute concession by DoH led to a deferment of IA to allow further negotiations mediated by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. However, IA by junior doctors remains a possibility if these negotiations stall again. Would the proposed action be ethically justifiable? Furthermore, is IA by doctors ever ethically defendable? Building on previous work, we explore important ethical considerations for doctors considering IA. The primary moral objection to doctors striking is often claimed to be risk of harm to patients. Other common arguments against IA by doctors include breaching their vocational responsibilities and possible damage to their relationship with patients and the public in general. These positions are in turn countered by claims of a greater long-term good and the legal and moral rights of employees to strike. Absolute restrictions appear to be hard to justify in the modern context, as does an unrestricted right to IA. We review these arguments, find that some common moral objections to doctors striking may be less relevant to the current situation, that a stronger contemporary objection to IA might be from a position of social justice and suggest criteria for ethically permissible doctor IA.

Young people who self-harm: a prospective 1-year follow-up study.

PURPOSE: To explore repetition, service provision and service engagement following presentation of young people to emergency services with self-harm. METHODS: 969 patients who presented to accident and emergency services after self-harm were followed up prospectively for a period of 1 year. Data on rates, method, clinical history, initial service provision, engagement and repetition (defined as re-presenting to emergency services with further self-harm) were gathered from comprehensive electronic records. RESULTS: Young people were less likely to repeat self-harm compared to those aged 25 and above. A psychiatric history and a history of childhood trauma were significant predictors of repetition. Young people were more likely to receive self-help as their initial service provision, and less likely to receive acute psychiatric care or a hospital admission. There were no differences in engagement with services between young people and those aged 25 and above. CONCLUSION: Younger individuals may be less vulnerable to repetition, and are less likely to represent to services with repeated self-harm. All young people who present with self-harm should be screened for mental illness and asked about childhood trauma. Whilst young people are less likely to be referred to psychiatric services, they do attend when referred. This may indicate missed opportunity for intervention.

Duration of untreated psychosis and need for admission in patients who engage with mental health services in the prodromal phase.

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether prodromal services improve outcomes in those who go on to develop psychosis, and whether these patients are demographically different from the overall first-episode population. AIMS: To compare sociodemographic features, duration of untreated psychosis, hospital admission and frequency of compulsory treatment in the first year after the onset of psychosis in patients who present to prodromal services with patients who did not present to services until the first episode of psychosis. METHOD: We compared two groups of patients with first-episode psychosis: one who made transition after presenting in the prodromal phase and the other who had presented with a first episode. RESULTS: The patients who had presented before the first episode were more likely to be employed and less likely to belong to an ethnic minority group. They had a shorter duration of untreated psychosis, and were less likely to have been admitted to hospital and to have required compulsory treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who develop psychosis after being engaged in the prodromal phase have a better short-term clinical outcome than patients who do not present until the first episode. Patients who present during first episodes may be more likely to have sociodemographic features associated with relatively poor outcomes.

Psychopathology as the basic science of psychiatry.

We argue that psychopathology, as the discipline that assesses and makes sense of abnormal human subjectivity, should be at the heart of psychiatry. It should be a basic educational prerequisite in the curriculum for mental health professionals and a key element of the shared intellectual identity of clinicians and researchers in this field.

Psychiatry as a vocation: Moral injury, COVID-19, and the phenomenology of clinical practice.

In this article, we focus on a particular kind of emotional impact of the pandemic, namely the phenomenology of the experience of moral injury in healthcare professionals. Drawing on Weber's reflections in his lecture Politics as a Vocation and data from the Experiences of Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic Survey, we analyse responses from healthcare professionals which show the experiences of burnout, sense of frustration and impotence, and how these affect clinicians' emotional state. We argue that this may relate to the ethical conflicts they experience when they are forced to make clinical decisions where there are no optimal outcomes, and how in turn that impacts on their own emotional state. We then further examine the notion of 'burnout' and the phenomenology of 'moral injury'. Our argument is that these experiences of moral injury across a range of clinicians during the pandemic may be more prevalent and long-standing in psychiatry and mental health than in other areas of healthcare, where ethically difficult decisions and resource constraints are common outside times of crisis. Hence, in these clinical arenas, moral injury and the phenomenology of emotional changes may be independent of the pandemic. The insights gained during the pandemic may provide wider insights into the challenges of developing services and training the workforce to provide appropriate mental health care.

Friendships and peer relationships and self-harm ideation and behaviour among young people: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Friendships and peer relationships have an important role in the experience of self-harm ideation and behaviour in young people, yet they typically remain overlooked. This systematic review and narrative synthesis explores the extant literature on this topic to identify important relationships between these constructs. We did a keyword search of peer-reviewed empirical articles relating to friendships and peer relationships and self-harm ideation and behaviour in young people (aged 11-25 years). We identified 90 articles with evidence primarily from adolescents aged 11-18 years, including mixed genders and a majority of White individuals. Findings highlight substantive relationships between the key constructs, showing that: characteristics of friends and peers, including their self-harm ideation and behaviour, relate to and predict ego self-harm ideation and behaviour; friends and peers are important sources of support; and evidence on causal mechanisms is scarce but highlights potential peer selection and influence processes. Studies of the friends and peers of young people with self-harm ideation and behaviour highlight that: friends' attitudes to self-harm and suicide influence their responses to peers with self-harm ideation and behaviour; and friends who are bereaved and friend supporters experience negative outcomes such as symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and grief, alongside difficult emotions. Despite substantial heterogeneity across samples, study designs, and definition or measurement of the primary constructs, this work presents an initial step in organising a complex literature on a crucially important topic, which can help to inform future research and evidence-based interventions.

Development of the PSYCHS: Positive SYmptoms and Diagnostic Criteria for the CAARMS Harmonized with the SIPS.

AIM: To harmonize two ascertainment and severity rating instruments commonly used for the clinical high risk syndrome for psychosis (CHR-P): the Structured Interview for Psychosis-risk Syndromes (SIPS) and the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS). METHODS: The initial workshop is described in the companion report from Addington et al. After the workshop, lead experts for each instrument continued harmonizing attenuated positive symptoms and criteria for psychosis and CHR-P through an intensive series of joint videoconferences. RESULTS: Full harmonization was achieved for attenuated positive symptom ratings and psychosis criteria, and modest harmonization for CHR-P criteria. The semi-structured interview, named Positive SYmptoms and Diagnostic Criteria for the CAARMS Harmonized with the SIPS (PSYCHS), generates CHR-P criteria and severity scores for both CAARMS and SIPS. CONCLUSIONS: Using the PSYCHS for CHR-P ascertainment, conversion determination, and attenuated positive symptom severity rating will help in comparing findings across studies and in meta-analyses.

Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ): Rationale and Study Design of the Largest Global Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

This article describes the rationale, aims, and methodology of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ). This is the largest international collaboration to date that will develop algorithms to predict trajectories and outcomes of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and to advance the development and use of novel pharmacological interventions for CHR individuals. We present a description of the participating research networks and the data processing analysis and coordination center, their processes for data harmonization across 43 sites from 13 participating countries (recruitment across North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and South America), data flow and quality assessment processes, data analyses, and the transfer of data to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data Archive (NDA) for use by the research community. In an expected sample of approximately 2000 CHR individuals and 640 matched healthy controls, AMP SCZ will collect clinical, environmental, and cognitive data along with multimodal biomarkers, including neuroimaging, electrophysiology, fluid biospecimens, speech and facial expression samples, novel measures derived from digital health technologies including smartphone-based daily surveys, and passive sensing as well as actigraphy. The study will investigate a range of clinical outcomes over a 2-year period, including transition to psychosis, remission or persistence of CHR status, attenuated positive symptoms, persistent negative symptoms, mood and anxiety symptoms, and psychosocial functioning. The global reach of AMP SCZ and its harmonized innovative methods promise to catalyze the development of new treatments to address critical unmet clinical and public health needs in CHR individuals.