The international initiatives of the collaboration between the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine, the Panhellenic Medical Association and the World Psychiatric Association, concerning mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, all European countries were hit, but mortality rates were heterogenous, with some countries being hit very hard, while others including Greece had a much lower death rate during the first wave of spring 2020. The ultra-fast application of measures was probably the reason of this outstanding success. This outbreak is expected to trigger feelings of fear, worry, and stress, as responses to an extreme threat for the community and the individual. In addition, changes in social behavior, as well as in working conditions, daily habits and routine, are expected to impose further stress, especially with the expectation of an upcoming economic crisis and possible unemployment. In Greece, where the lockdown was extremely successful in terms of containing the outbreak, worries concerning the possible adverse effects on mental health were also predominant. A collaboration concerning mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak was established, between the Aristotle University School of Medicine, the Panhellenic Medical Association and the World Psychiatric Association. Two large multinational studies were launched, one concerning the general population and one university students. Students' mental health is an area of special interest, both because of the vulnerability of this age group as well as because any disruption during the time of the studies has profound long-term consequences in the lives of the individuals, and this might trigger feelings of fear, worry, and stress. According the results from the Greek arm of the students' study, during the lockdown, two-thirds of university students reported at least 'much' increase in anxiety, one third in depressive feelings and in 2.59% concerning suicidal thoughts. There was also a worsening of quality of life and deterioration of lifestyle issues. Major depression was present in 12.43% with an additional 13.46% experiencing severe distress. Beliefs in conspiracy theories enjoyed wide acceptance ranging from 20-68%, with students of law, literature, pedagogics, political sciences and related studies manifesting higher acceptance rates. Female sex and depression/dysphoria both independently but also in interaction were related to higher rates of such beliefs. The results of the Greek arm of the general population study suggested that during the lockdown, clinical depression was present in 9.31%, with an additional 8.5% experiencing severe distress. Increased anxious and depressive emotions (including subclinical cases) were present in more than 40% of the population. In persons with a previous history of depression, 23.31% experienced depression vs. 8.96% of cases without previous history, who were experiencing their first depressive episode. Family dynamics suggested that fewer conflicts and better quality of relationships were surprisingly related to higher anxiety and depressive emotions, higher rates of depression and distress, and greater rates of suicidal thoughts. Eventually, spiritual and religious affiliation could protect the individual from the emerging suicidal thoughts. As correlation does not imply causation, the results suggest that conspiracy theories could be either the cause of depression or on the contrary a coping mechanism against depression. After taking into consideration that also in the family environment the expression of anger seemed to be a protective factor, the most likely explanation could be that the beliefs in conspiracy theories are a coping and 'protective' mechanism against the emergence of depression. These studies were among the first published, they went deeper in the data collection and even led to the creation of a model with distinct stages for the development of mental disorders during the lockdown. The analysis of the international data will probably provide further insight into the prevalence of mental disorders and the universal but also culturally specific models and factors pertaining to their development. At the time this editorial was in press, more than 40 countries representing more than two thirds of earth's population were participating with more than 45,000 responses already gathered.

Mentoring Programs by and for a New Generation of Latino Investigators in Behavioral-Social Science HIV Research.

Latinos represent a critical resource of talent that could be cultivated to expand the HIV research workforce. However, their rapid growth, as the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the US population, has yet to translate into a significant increase in Latino health academic researchers. Historically, strategies to build a diverse research workforce have grouped together individuals from underrepresented minority populations obscuring significance between and within group differences. This limits approaches that are responsive to the diversity of needs and experiences of emerging investigators from underrepresented groups. In this article, we discuss challenges associated with heterogeneity of Latinos and barriers that impede research independence/career success in the context of a review of Latino-investigator targeted mentorship approaches on the behavioral-social science of HIV infection. Mentorship workforce strategies could benefit from a personalized framework emphasizing individualized and tailored approaches to address the limitations and gaps in knowledge regarding Latino research development. This perspective encourages increased emphasis on organizational and structural processes to aid in overcoming institutional-level barriers that impede research and career development. Recommendations are proposed for features and components of effective mentorship programs that will lead to robust outcomes for strengthening the Latino research workforce in the HIV research field and elsewhere.

Looking back on 25 years of the PSAD study group.

The year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Psychosocial Aspects of Diabetes (PSAD) study group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. At the time, psychosocial diabetes research in Europe was steadily growing, but not well recognized. By establishing an official European Association for the Study of Diabetes study group, PSAD, for which purpose some hurdles had to be overcome, diabetes psychology became more visible and accessible to the scientific diabetes community. Over the years the PSAD study group has been successful in promoting the quality of research in the field through scientific meetings, mentoring, postgraduate education and publications. Looking back we can conclude that starting the PSAD study group signified an important moment in time, where researchers were joining forces to further the quality of the science, raise awareness of the importance of psychosocial aspects and promote the dissemination of psychological interventions in diabetes care.

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Translational Research Network: Building and Sustaining Capacity for Multi-Site Basic Biomedical, Clinical and Behavioral Research.

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program was established by the US Congress to support the development of biomedical research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions granting doctoral degrees in the health professions or in a health-related science. RCMI institutions also conduct research on diseases that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities (ie, African Americans/Blacks, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Hispanics, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders), those of low socioeconomic status, and rural persons. Quantitative metrics, including the numbers of doctoral science degrees granted to underrepresented students, NIH peer-reviewed research funding, peer-reviewed publications, and numbers of racial and ethnic minorities participating in sponsored research, demonstrate that RCMI grantee institutions have made substantial progress toward the intent of the Congressional legislation, as well as the NIH/NIMHD-linked goals of addressing workforce diversity and health disparities. Despite this progress, nationally, many challenges remain, including persistent disparities in research and career development awards to minority investigators. The continuing underrepresentation of minority investigators in NIH-sponsored research across multiple disease areas is of concern, in the face of unrelenting national health inequities. With the collaborative network support by the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN), the RCMI community is uniquely positioned to address these challenges through its community engagement and strategic partnerships with non-RCMI institutions. Funding agencies can play an important role by incentivizing such collaborations, and incorporating metrics for research funding that address underrepresented populations, workforce diversity and health equity.

Optimal Integration of Behavioral Medicine into Clinical Genetics and Genomics.

Clinical genetics and genomics will exert their greatest population impact by leveraging the rich knowledge of human behavior that is central to the discipline of behavioral medicine. We contend that more concerted efforts are needed to integrate these fields synergistically, and accordingly, we consider barriers and potential actions to hasten such integration.

Evaluating program effects: Conceptualizing and demonstrating a typology.

Outcome evaluation is very important for program evaluation and has been becoming increasingly so in the age of accountability. Typically, outcome evaluation is conducted for a single program from a single perspective. However, in a real-life situation, many programs exist in a system, and the effects could be viewed from various perspectives. The authors illustrate a typology of program effects in a system. It moves from the paradigm of a single program's single effect to that of a set of programs' multiple effects. Methodological implications are discussed.

Advancing the Science of Behavioral Self-Management of Chronic Disease: The Arc of a Research Trajectory.

This article describes advances in the behavioral self-management of chronic disease from the perspective of a 25-year trajectory of National Institute of Health-funded research in arthritis and cardiopulmonary diseases that has sought to develop a transdisciplinary understanding of how applied behavioral science can be used to improve health behaviors, functional status, and health outcomes. The article traces the arc of a novel research program-conducted in collaboration with physician-scientists at Columbia, Weill Cornell Medical College, and New York University School of Medicine-that runs through social cognitive theory, behavioral economics, and the emerging science of positive psychology in an effort to develop promising new approaches to fostering the adoption and maintenance of health-related behavioral change. The article concludes with what has been learned and what the implications of the work are for advancing behavioral self-management and patient education to improve patient outcomes and achieve the compression of morbidity.

Eficiencia de las terapias: ¿un paso más allá de la eficacia? Análisis crítico del modelo cognitivo-conductual / Efficiency of therapies: A step beyond effectiveness? Critical analysis of the cognitive-behavioral model

La proliferación de la investigación de resultados ha colocado al modelo cognitivo-conductual como la terapia de elección para la mayoría de problemas psicológicos. Este tipo de investigación deja a un lado el análisis de los procesos de cambio conductual que subyacen al éxito de las diferentes técnicas de tratamiento, ya no sería importante saber qué es lo que hace que una técnica funcione siempre que ésta sea eficaz. Como consecuencia, el modelo cognitivo-conductual ha perdido la reflexión teórica y la fundamentación experimental que caracterizaba a la modificación de conducta sobre la cual se sustentaba en sus orígenes. Desde nuestra perspectiva, la investigación de procesos sería un paso previo necesario a la investigación de resultados de forma que los primeros puedan explicar cómo y por qué funcionan los tratamientos psicológicos, evitando así que el clínico se limite a aplicar procedimientos descritos en manuales protocolizad

The proliferation of outcome research has placed the cognitive-behavioral model as the therapy of choice for most psychological problems. This type of research leaves aside the analysis of behavioral change processes that underlie the success of different treatments techniques. Therefore, it would no longer be important to know what is that makes a technique works as long as it gives the expected results. Consequently, the cognitive-behavioral model has lost the theoretical reflection and the experimental foundation that characterized the modification of behavior on which it was based on its origins. From our perspective, process research would be a necessary preliminary step to outcome research so that it could explain how and why psychological treatments work, avoiding that the clinician simply applies the procedures described in the standardized manuals

The Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network (MFT-PRN): Creating a More Perfect Union Between Practice and Research.

This article describes the Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network (MFT-PRN). The MFT-PRN is designed to build a professional community based on practice-informed research and research-informed practice, increase the diversity of participants in MFT research, and unify researchers and clinicians. Clinics choose measures from a list that best represent their clinic needs. Clients' outcomes are assessed regularly, and therapists receive immediate graphical feedback on how clients are progressing or digressing. Data are pooled to create a large and diverse database, while improving client outcomes. We will discuss advantages of the MFT-PRN for researchers, therapists, clients, and agencies, and provide one model that we hope will inform other collaborative clinical-research models in the field of marriage and family therapy. Video Abstract is found in the online version of the article.

Applying and advancing behavior change theories and techniques in the context of a digital health revolution: proposals for more effectively realizing untapped potential.

As more behavioral health interventions move from traditional to digital platforms, the application of evidence-based theories and techniques may be doubly advantageous. First, it can expedite digital health intervention development, improving efficacy, and increasing reach. Second, moving behavioral health interventions to digital platforms presents researchers with novel (potentially paradigm shifting) opportunities for advancing theories and techniques. In particular, the potential for technology to revolutionize theory refinement is made possible by leveraging the proliferation of "real-time" objective measurement and "big data" commonly generated and stored by digital platforms. Much more could be done to realize this potential. This paper offers proposals for better leveraging the potential advantages of digital health platforms, and reviews three of the cutting edge methods for doing so: optimization designs, dynamic systems modeling, and social network analysis.

China Brain Project: Basic Neuroscience, Brain Diseases, and Brain-Inspired Computing.

The China Brain Project covers both basic research on neural mechanisms underlying cognition and translational research for the diagnosis and intervention of brain diseases as well as for brain-inspired intelligence technology. We discuss some emerging themes, with emphasis on unique aspects.

[Study and methodology for research of the life quality in students].

In this article there is reported a comparative analysis of methodological approaches to the assessment of the quality of life. There are present results of studies of quality of life of young students, performed with the use of compared methodological approaches (questionnaires) and allowing to construct the evaluation approach to the study of the quality of life in students.

Enhancing research quality through cultural competence: a case study in Queensland prisons.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the processes undertaken to maximise cultural competence in a complex research project and illustrate how this enhanced the quality of the research and impact of the research outcomes. METHODS: An epidemiological survey of the mental health of Indigenous people in custody in Queensland was conducted using culturally informed research processes. RESULTS: The research process that enhanced cultural competence is described. The research outcomes were positive in terms of participant and community experiences, participation rates, publications and other research outputs, capacity building and translation of research findings. CONCLUSIONS: This paper describes in practical terms how to conduct culturally informed research and how this approach enhanced the scientific rigour of a complex Indigenous health research project. Indigenous health research should be conducted using a culturally competent method.

Understandings of Participation in Behavioural Research: A Qualitative Study of Gay and Bisexual Men in Scotland.

An array of empirical research has emerged related to public participation in health research. To date, few studies have explored the particular perspectives of gay and bisexual men taking part in behavioural surveillance research, which includes the donation of saliva swabs to investigate HIV prevalence and rates of undiagnosed HIV. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-nine gay and bisexual men in Scotland who had participated in a bar-based survey. Thematic analysis of men's accounts of their motives for participation and their perceptions of not receiving individual feedback on HIV status suggested a shared understanding of participation in research as a means of contributing to 'community' efforts to prevent the spread of HIV. Most men expressed sophisticated understandings of the purpose of behavioural research and distinguished between this and individual diagnostic testing. Despite calls for feedback on HIV results broadly, for these men feedback on HIV status was not deemed crucial.

Behavioral research in cancer prevention and control: a look to the future.

Human behavior is central to the etiology and management of cancer outcomes and presents several avenues for targeted and sustained intervention. Psychosocial experiences such as stress and health behaviors including tobacco use, sun exposure, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of some cancers yet are often quite resistant to change. Cancer screening and other health services are misunderstood and over-utilized, and vaccination underutilized, in part because of the avalanche of information about cancer prevention. Coordination of cancer care is suboptimal, and only a small fraction of cancer patients enroll in clinical trials essential to the development of new cancer treatments. A growing population of cancer survivors has necessitated a fresh view of cancer as a chronic rather than acute disease. Fortunately, behavioral research can address a wide variety of key processes and outcomes across the cancer control continuum from prevention to end-of-life care. Here we consider effects at the biobehavioral and psychological, social and organizational, and environmental levels. We challenge the research community to address key behavioral targets across all levels of influence, while taking into account the many new methodological tools that can facilitate this important work.