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Background: Worldwide, the prevalence of mental health problems in prison populations is higher than in the general population. While prisons may provide opportunities to address mental health problems, the prison setting can also include obstacles to the actual delivery of interventions, such as mental health care staff deficiencies. A brief scalable psychological intervention such as the World Health Organization's (WHO) Problem Management Plus (PM +) intervention, which is delivered by trained non-specialists, could be valuable in addressing common mental health problems in the prison setting. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of PM + , adapted for use in Dutch remand prisons. The secondary aim is to examine barriers and facilitators for scaling up the adapted version of PM + in the Dutch prison setting.
Method: This single-blind pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) will compare individual PM + with care-as-usual (PM + /CAU) to CAU only. Dutch-speaking remand prisoners (18 years or older; N = 60) who report an elevated level of psychological distress (K10 ≥ 16) will be included. The feasibility of the intervention will be reviewed using different measures such as recruitment success, intervention retention, protocol adherence, number of serious adverse events, and stakeholders' views. Participants will be assessed for self-reported anxiety, depression, self-identified problems, vulnerability for suicide and self-harm behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at baseline, one-week post-intervention and three-month follow-up. The pilot RCT will be followed by a process evaluation. For the process evaluation, stakeholders will be interviewed (N = 25), including 1) RCT participants, 2) PM + helpers, supervisors and trainers, 3) prison professionals, and 4) family members & friends of RCT participants. Data of the process evaluation will be analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Discussion: This pilot RCT will be the first to study the potential of WHO-developed scalable interventions aimed at reducing mental health problems within (Dutch) prisons. Results from this study could subsequently inform a potential full-powered RCT.
Trial Registration: This trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (number NCT05927987) on 13/06/2023.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40352-025-00341-9 | DOI Listing |
Hum Brain Mapp
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Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Investigating neuroimaging data to identify brain-based markers of mental illnesses has gained significant attention. Nevertheless, these endeavors encounter challenges arising from a reliance on symptoms and self-report assessments in making an initial diagnosis. The absence of biological data to delineate nosological categories hinders the provision of additional neurobiological insights into these disorders.
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Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Stroke
September 2025
Brain Language Laboratory, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (A.-T.P.J., M.R.O., A.S., F.P.).
Background: Intensive language-action therapy treats language deficits and depressive symptoms in chronic poststroke aphasia, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain underexplored. Long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs) in blood oxygenation level-dependent signals indicate persistence in brain activity patterns and may relate to learning and levels of depression. This observational study investigates blood oxygenation level-dependent LRTC changes alongside therapy-induced language and mood improvements in perisylvian and domain-general brain areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStroke
September 2025
Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. (V.Y., B.C.V.C., L.C., L.O., M.W.P.).
Background: To assess the efficacy and safety of tenecteplase in patients presenting within 24 hours of symptom onset with a large vessel occlusion and target mismatch on perfusion computed tomography.
Methods: ETERNAL-LVO was a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded end point, phase 3, superiority trial where adult participants with a large vessel occlusion, presenting within 24 hours of onset with salvageable tissue on computed tomography perfusion, were randomized to tenecteplase 0.25 mg/kg or standard care across 11 primary and comprehensive stroke centers in Australia.