The association between depression after myocardial infarction and increased risk of mortality and cardiac morbidity may be due to cardiac disease severity.

To combine original data from studies on the association between post-infarction depression and prognosis into one database, and to investigate to what extent such depression predicts prognosis independently of disease severity.

An individual patient data meta-analysis of studies was conducted using multilevel, multivariable Cox regression analyses.

Sixteen studies participated, creating a database of 10 175 post-infarction cases. Hazard ratios for post-infarction depression were 1.32 (95% CI 1.26–1.38, P<0.001) for all-cause mortality and 1.19 (95% CI 1.14–1.24, P<0.001) for cardiovascular events. Hazard ratios adjusted for disease severity were attenuated by 28% and 25% respectively.

The association between depression following myocardial infarction and prognosis is attenuated after adjustment for cardiac disease severity. Still, depression remains independently associated with prognosis, with a 22% increased risk of all-cause mortality and a 13% increased risk of cardiovascular events per standard deviation in depression z-score.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and it has been suggested that combined bipolar disorder and ADHD is aetiologically distinct from the pure disorders.

To clarify whether ADHD shares genetic and environmental factors with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

By linking longitudinal Swedish national registers, we identified 61 187 persons with ADHD (the proband group) and their first- and second-degree relatives, and matched them with a control group of people without ADHD and their corresponding relatives. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine the risks of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in the relatives of the two groups.

First-degree relatives of the ADHD proband group were at increased risk of both bipolar disorder (odds ratio (OR) = 1.84−2.54 for parents, offspring and full siblings) and schizophrenia (OR = 1.71−2.22 for parents, offspring and full siblings). The risks of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia among second-degree relatives were substantially lower than among full siblings.

These findings suggest that the co-occurrence of ADHD and bipolar disorder as well as ADHD and schizophrenia is due to shared genetic factors, rather than representing completely aetiologically distinct subsyndromes.

There is recent evidence of some degree of shared genetic susceptibility between adult schizophrenia and childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for rare chromosomal variants.

To determine whether there is overlap between common alleles conferring risk of schizophrenia in adults with those that do so for ADHD in children.

We used recently published Psychiatric Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) Consortium (PGC) adult schizophrenia data to define alleles over-represented in people with schizophrenia and tested whether those alleles were more common in 727 children with ADHD than in 2067 controls.

Schizophrenia risk alleles discriminated ADHD cases from controls (P = 1.04 × 104, R2 = 0.45%); stronger discrimination was given by alleles that were risk alleles for both adult schizophrenia and adult bipolar disorder (also derived from a PGC data-set) (P = 9.98 ×10−6, R2 × 0.59%).

This increasing evidence for a small, but significant, shared genetic susceptibility between adult schizophrenia and childhood ADHD highlights the importance of research work across traditional diagnostic boundaries.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to increased risk for substance use disorders and nicotine dependence.

To examine the effects of stimulant treatment on subsequent risk for substance use disorder and nicotine dependence in a prospective longitudinal ADHD case–control study.

At baseline we assessed ADHD, conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Substance use disorders, nicotine dependence and stimulant treatment were assessed retrospectively after a mean follow-up of 4.4 years, at a mean age of 16.4 years.

Stimulant treatment of ADHD was linked to a reduced risk for substance use disorders compared with no stimulant treatment, even after controlling for conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.91, 95% Cl 1.10−3.36), but not to nicotine dependence (HR = 1.12, 95% Cl 0.45−2.96). Within the stimulant-treated group, a protective effect of age at first stimulant use on substance use disorder development was found, which diminished with age, and seemed to reverse around the age of 18.

Stimulant treatment appears to lower the risk of developing substance use disorders and does not have an impact on the development of nicotine dependence in adolescents with ADHD.

Identifying modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline may inform prevention of dementia.

To examine the combined impact of cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption on cognitive decline from midlife.

Prospective cohort study (Whitehall II cohort) with three clinical examinations in 1997/99, 2002/04 and 2007/09. Participants were 6473 adults (72% men), mean age 55.76 years (s.d. = 6.02) in 1997/99. Four cognitive tests, assessed three times over 10 years, combined into a global z-score (mean 0, s.d. = 1).

Age-related decline in the global cognitive score was faster in individuals who were smoking heavy drinkers than in non-smoking moderate alcohol drinkers (reference group). The interaction term (P = 0.04) suggested that the combined effects of smoking and alcohol consumption were greater than their individual effects. Adjusting for age, gender, education and chronic diseases, 10-year decline in global cognition was −0.42 z-scores (95% Cl −0.45 to −0.39) for the reference group. In individuals who were heavy alcohol drinkers who also smoked the decline was −0.57 z-scores (95% Cl −0.67 to −0.48); 36% faster than the reference group.

Individuals who were smokers who drank alcohol heavily had a 36% faster cognitive decline, equivalent to an age-effect of 2 extra years over 10-year follow-up, compared with individuals who were non-smoking moderate drinkers.

Mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness among young people.

To assess the acceptability and efficacy of a schools-based universal mindfulness intervention to enhance mental health and well-being.

A total of 522 young people aged 12–16 in 12 secondary schools either participated in the Mindfulness in Schools Programme (intervention) or took part in the usual school curriculum (control).

Rates of acceptability were high. Relative to the controls, and after adjusting for baseline imbalances, children who participated in the intervention reported fewer depressive symptoms post-treatment (P = 0.004) and at follow-up (P = 0.005) and lower stress (P = 0.05) and greater well-being (P = 0.05) at follow-up. The degree to which students in the intervention group practised the mindfulness skills was associated with better well-being (P<0.001) and less stress (P = 0.03) at 3-month follow-up.

The findings provide promising evidence of the programme's acceptability and efficacy.

Thus far collaborative stepped care (CSC) studies have not incorporated self-help as a first step.

To evaluate the effectiveness of CSC in the treatment of common mental disorders.

An 8-month cluster randomised controlled trial comparing CSC to care as usual (CAU) (Dutch Trial Register identifier NTR1224). The CSC consisted of a stepped care approach guided by a psychiatric nurse in primary care with the addition of antidepressants dependent on the severity of the disorder, followed by cognitive–behavioural therapy in mental healthcare.

Twenty general practitioners (GPs) and 8 psychiatric nurses were randomised to provide CSC or CAU. The GPs recruited 163 patients of whom 85% completed the post-test measurements. At 4-month mid-test CSC was superior to CAU: 74.7% (n = 68) v. 50.8% (n = 31) responders (P = 0.003). At 8-month post-test and 12-month follow-up no significant differences were found as the patients in the CAU group improved as well.

Treatment within a CSC model resulted in an earlier treatment response compared with CAU.

Internalised stigma in young people meeting criteria for at-risk mental states (ARMS) has been highlighted as an important issue, and it has been suggested that provision of cognitive therapy may increase such stigma.

To investigate the effects of cognitive therapy on internalised stigma using a secondary analysis of data from the EDIE-2 trial.

Participants meeting criteria for ARMS were recruited as part of a multisite randomised controlled trial of cognitive therapy for prevention and amelioration of psychosis. Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months using measures of psychotic experiences, symptoms and internalised stigma.

Negative appraisals of experiences were significantly reduced in the group assigned to cognitive therapy (estimated difference at 12 months was −1.36 (95% Cl −2.69 to −0.02), P = 0.047). There was no difference in social acceptability of experiences (estimated difference at 12 months was 0.46, 95% Cl −0.05 to 0.98, P = 0.079).

These findings suggest that, rather than increasing internalised stigma, cognitive therapy decreases negative appraisals of unusual experiences in young people at risk of psychosis; as such, it is a non-stigmatising intervention for this population.

Over the past decades, psychiatry, as a science and a clinical discipline, has witnessed profound changes.

To examine whether these changes are reflected in changes in the public's conceptualisation of mental disorders, the acceptance of mental health treatment and attitudes towards people with mental illness.

In 1990 and 2011, population surveys were conducted in Germany on public attitudes about schizophrenia, depression and alcohol dependence.

Although the public has become more inclined to endorse a biological causation of schizophrenia, the opposite trend was observed with the other two disorders. The public's readiness to recommend help-seeking from mental health professionals and using psychotherapy and psychotropic medication has increased considerably. Attitudes towards people with schizophrenia worsened, whereas for depression and alcohol dependence no or inconsistent changes were found.

The growing divide between attitudes towards schizophrenia and other mental disorders should be of particular concern to future anti-stigma campaigns.