Psychiatry

Incident cancer confers roughly 2.3-fold higher risk of new mental disorders versus matched controls

In a Danish register cohort of 289,391 cancer patients and 1,031,057 matched controls, 116,118 developed a new mental disorder. Overall hazard ratio for any incident mental disorder was 2.3 (95% CI reported as 2.3–2.3). Risks peaked in the first year after diagnosis and remained elevated beyond ten years, with highest rates for anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Findings were consistent across sensitivity analyses but varied by cancer type, sex, and time since diagnosis. 1

Multimedia antistigma plus primary-care digital intervention modestly improved adolescent attitudes and depressive symptoms

ARTEMIS randomized 60 slum clusters (3,739 adolescents; 1,761 high-risk) to an antistigma campaign plus primary-care digital care versus usual care. Mean behavior (attitude/intended behavior) scores increased modestly (difference ≈0.78) favoring the intervention. Among high-risk adolescents, PHQ-9 score change favored intervention (4.05 vs 4.92) and remission numerically improved but was not statistically significant. Implementation fidelity was high and primary-care physicians saw 87% of the high-risk intervention cohort. 2

VR-CBTp may benefit patients with high avolition or moderate-to-high delusion severity

Exploratory moderator analysis of the FaceYourFears trial (n=254) compared VR-based CBTp versus standard CBTp for paranoia. Higher baseline avolition and delusion severity predicted poorer outcomes overall, but patients with high avolition or moderate-to-high delusion severity improved more with VR-CBTp than with standard CBTp. No demographic factors significantly modified outcomes, and most moderators showed modest or nonsignificant effects. Authors conclude both treatments remain broadly suitable and that VR-CBTp is hypothesis-generating rather than definitive. 3