Future Directions: The Phenomenology of Irritable Mood and Outbursts: Hang Together or Hang Separately1.

Recognition of the importance of irritable mood and outbursts has been increasing over the past several decades. This "Future Directions" aims to develop a set of recommendations for future research emphasizing that irritable mood and outbursts "hang together," but have important distinctions and thus also need to "hang separately." Outbursts that are the outcome of irritable mood may be quite different from outbursts that are the trigger or driving force that make youth and his/her environment miserable. What, then, is the relation between irritable mood and outbursts? As the field currently stands, we not only cannot answer this question, but we may also lack the tools to effectively do so. Here, we will propose recommendations for understanding the phenomenology of irritable mood and outbursts so that more directed and clinically useful assessment tools can be designed. We discuss the transdiagnostic and treatment implications that relate to improvements in measurement. We describe the need to do more than repurpose our current assessment tools, specifically interviews and rating scales, which were designed for different purposes. The future directions of the study and treatment of irritable mood and outbursts will require, among others, using universally accepted nomenclature, supporting the development of tools to measure the characteristics of each irritable mood and outbursts, understanding the effects of question order, informant, development and longitudinal course, and studying the ways in which outbursts and irritable mood respond to treatment.

Editors' Best of 2023.

There is, in the content of the Journal, an embarrassment of riches, and picking a "best" seems to demand a certain qualification: is the "best" the most interesting, most surprising, most educational, most important, most provocative, most enjoyable? How to choose? We are hardly unbiased and can admit to a special affection for the ones that we and the authors worked hardest on, modifying version after version into shape. Acknowledging these biases, here are the 2023 articles that we think deserve your attention or at least a second read.

Editors' Note: Second Annual Report Regarding JAACAP's Antiracist Journey.

In 2020, we wrote to you of our dedication and vision for this Journal "to be antiracist at every level," outlining the following 6 initiatives "to reshape the Journal to pursue this vision:" (1) Issuing a Call for Papers on racism and its impacts on child development and children's mental health; (2) updating our Guide for Authors to emphasize that we will evaluate articles submitted to the Journal on whether their study designs are inclusive and their discussions consider and address human diversity and structural determinants of health in the context of their research questions and hypotheses; (3) assembling a special collection of Journal articles on bias, bigotry, discrimination, racism, and mental health inequities; (4) accelerating our efforts to make our Editorial Board inclusive and representative of our community of scientists and practitioners as well as the communities we serve; (5) engaging in continuing education and dialogue as an Editorial Board that will include antiracism training and praxis; and (6) critically examining "our editorial and peer review process to ensure it is antiracist."1 In this Editors' Note, we write to update you on our progress, including a new initiative we started in the past year: (7) a new option for authors to add a statement to their manuscripts regarding the inclusion and diversity initiatives and practices they employed in pursuing their work. With the launch this year of JAACAP Open, the Academy's new open access publication and the newest member of the JAACAP family of journals, we have expanded opportunities to pursue these efforts, and look forward to sharing more about JAACAP Open in future updates.

The Neuroscience-based Nomenclature Child & Adolescent (NbN C&A) for Psychotropic Medications: Innovation in Progress.

To address the issues with the current nomenclature of psychotropic agents, which may be misleading or confusing, the Neuroscience-based Nomenclature (NbN) started being developed in 2009. It was introduced as one approach to the classification of pharmacological treatments based on a medication's putative psychopharmacological mechanisms of action derived from preclinical and clinical studies. In 2018, the NbN-Child & Adolescent (NbN C&A) was released. Since then, the NbN C&A has been refined, and its website and app (https://nbnca.com/) have been implemented. JAACAP encourages its authors and readers to consider utilizing the NbN C&A and to keep abreast of its developments over time. This is in line with the core missions of the Journal: to contribute to the translation and implementation of the most up-to-date science into real-world clinical practice. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT: One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science.

Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Children and Adolescents in Rural China: A Large-Scale Epidemiological Study.

Although children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) account for 90% of the global population of children, depression, and anxiety among children in LMICs have been understudied. This study examines the prevalence of depression and anxiety and their associations with biological and psychosocial factors among children across China, with a focus on rural areas. We conducted a large-scale epidemiological study of depression and anxiety among 53,421 elementary and junior high school-aged children across China. The results show that 20% are at risk for depression, 6% are at risk for generalized anxiety, and 68% are at risk for at least one type of anxiety. Girls and junior high school students show a higher risk for both depression and anxiety symptoms, while socioeconomic status has varying associations to depression and anxiety symptoms. Our results also show consistent correlations between depression and anxiety symptoms and standard math test scores. These findings underscore the importance of identification, prevention, and treatment of youth depression and anxiety in underdeveloped areas. As China constitutes 15% of the global population of children under age 18, this study offers valuable information to the field of global mental health.

Perinatal Mental Health Problems in Rural China: The Role of Social Factors.

Background: Perinatal mental health is important for the well-being of the mother and child, so the relatively high prevalence of perinatal mental health problems in developing settings poses a pressing concern. However, most studies in these settings focus on the demographic factors associated with mental health problems, with very few examing social factors. Hence, this study examines the prevalence of the depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms among pregnant women and new mothers in rural China, and the associations between these mental health problems and social factors, including decision-making power, family conflicts, and social support. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,027 women in their second trimester of pregnancy to 6 months postpartum in four low-income rural counties in Sichuan Province, China. Women were surveyed on symptoms of mental health problems using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and social risk factors. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine social risk factors associated with maternal mental health problems, with results reported as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Among all respondents, 13% showed symptoms of depression, 18% showed symptoms of anxiety, 9% showed symptoms of stress, and 23% showed symptoms of any mental health problem. Decision-making power was negatively associated with showing symptoms of depression (OR = 0.71, CI: 0.60-0.83, p < 0.001) and stress (OR = 0.76, CI: 0.63-0.90, p = 0.002). Family conflict was positively associated with depression (OR = 1.53, CI: 1.30-1.81, p < 0.001), anxiety (OR = 1.34, CI: 1.15-1.56, p < 0.001), and stress (OR = 1.68, CI: 1.41-2.00, p < 0.001). In addition, social support was negatively associated with depression (OR = 0.56, CI: 0.46-0.69, p < 0.001), anxiety (OR = 0.76, CI: 0.63-0.91, p = 0.002), and stress (OR = 0.66, CI: 0.53-0.84, p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed that more social risk factors were associated with symptoms of anxiety and stress among new mothers compared to pregnant women. Conclusion: Perinatal mental health problems are relatively prevalent among rural women in China and are strongly associated with social risk factors. Policies and programs should therefore promote individual coping methods, as well as target family and community members to improve the social conditions contributing to mental health problems among rural women.

Ruptured cerebral aneurysms in COVID-19 patients: A review of literature with case examples.

BACKGROUND: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is responsible for over 83 million cases of infection and over 1.8 million deaths since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because COVID-19 infection is associated with a devastating mortality rate and myriad complications, it is critical that clinicians better understand its pathophysiology to develop effective treatment. Cumulative evidence is suggestive of cerebral aneurysms being intertwined with the hyperinflammatory state and hypercytokinemia observed in severe COVID-19 infections. CASE DESCRIPTION: In case example 1, the patient presents with chills, a mild cough, and sore throat. The patient develops high-grade fever of 39.8° C, decreased oxygen saturation of 93% on room air, and an extensive spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in the basal cisterns from a ruptured left posterior communicating artery aneurysm. In case example 2, the patient presents with a positive PCR test for COVID-19 2 weeks prior with spontaneous SAH and found to have a large multilobulated bulbous ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery. Both patients' symptoms and high-grade fever are consistent with hypercytokinemia and a hyperinflammatory state, with elevated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, inducible protein-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, M1P1A, and tumor necrosis factor-α inflammatory mediators found to be elevated in COVID-19 intensive care unit admissions. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 effect on cerebral aneurysms requires future studies to clearly delineate correlation, however, hypercytokinemia and a hyperinflammatory state are strongly implicated to cause degenerative vascular changes that may predispose patients to cerebral aneurysm formation, change in size or morphology, and resultant aneurysm rupture.

Liposomal Glutathione Supplementation Restores TH1 Cytokine Response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection in HIV-Infected Individuals.

Cytokines are signaling biomolecules that serve as key regulators of our immune system. CD4(+) T-cells can be grouped into 2 major categories based on their cytokine profile: T-helper 1 (TH1) subset and T-helper 2 (TH2) subset. Protective immunity against HIV infection requires TH1-directed CD4 T-cell responses, mediated by cytokines, such as interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Cytokines released by the TH1 subset of CD4 T-cells are considered important for mediating effective immune responses against intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb). Oxidative stress and redox imbalance that occur during HIV infection often lead to inappropriate immune responses. Glutathione (GSH) is an antioxidant present in nearly all cells and is recognized for its function in maintaining redox homeostasis. Our laboratory previously reported that individuals with HIV infection have lower levels of GSH. In this study, we report a link between lower levels of GSH and dysregulation of TH1- and TH2-associated cytokines in the plasma samples of HIV-positive subjects. Furthermore, we demonstrate that supplementing individuals with HIV infection for 13 weeks with liposomal GSH (lGSH) resulted in a significant increase in the levels of TH1 cytokines, IL-1ß, IL-12, IFN-γ, and TNF-α. lGSH supplementation in individuals with HIV infection also resulted in a substantial decrease in the levels of free radicals and immunosuppressive cytokines, IL-10 and TGF-ß, relative to those in a placebo-controlled cohort. Finally, we determined the effects of lGSH supplementation in improving the functions of immune cells to control M. tb infection by conducting in vitro assays using peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from HIV-positive individuals at post-GSH supplementation. Our studies establish a correlation between low levels of GSH and increased susceptibility to M. tb infection through TH2-directed response, which may be relieved with lGSH supplementation enhancing the TH1 response.