Importance: Research suggests an increase in mental disorder incidence in recent years, but this trend remains unexplained, and there is a lack of large studies based on a representative sample that investigate mental disorders over the full spectrum.
Objective: To explore sex- and age-specific incidence of any mental disorder and 19 specific disorders according to birth cohort and calendar period.
Design, setting, and participants: This was a population-based cohort study among 5 936 202 individuals aged 1 to 80 years living in Denmark at some point between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2021. Data were derived from the Danish Civil Registration System and analyzed from February to August 2024.
Exposures: Birth cohort (8 categories from 1924 to 2011) and calendar period (six 3-year categories from 2004 to 2021).
Main outcomes and measures: Incidence rates of mental disorders from 2004 to 2021 by sex and age, according to birth cohort and calendar period, including the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, using Danish health register data.
Results: The population comprised 2 933 857 female individuals and 3 002 345 male individuals, who were followed up for 83.8 million person-years, with median ages at start and end of follow-up of 30.2 and 46.2 years, respectively. There was an overall mental disorder incidence rate of 55.27 every 10 000 person-years. For diagnoses of any mental disorder, higher incidence rates were observed for more recent birth cohorts and calendar periods in the younger ages. Over older ages, incidence rates did not vary so greatly. An increase was observed in rates of most types of mental disorders, especially among young people, and decreases for other types (eg, substance use disorders). Prominent sex differences were also observed. For example, for schizophrenia, a large increase was seen in incidence rates for female individuals in more recent birth cohorts at younger ages, but no change for male individuals, leading to a higher peak incidence for female individuals than for male individuals in the most recent periods. For personality disorders, a large increase was observed in incidence for female individuals over time and a slight decrease for male individuals.
Conclusions and relevance: This comprehensive investigation of mental disorders incidence in Denmark indicates sex- and age-specific patterns according to birth cohorts and calendar periods. While trends may partly be explained by increases in incidence, several other factors may contribute, such as diagnostic practices, health sector capacity, and risk factors for mental disorders.
Importance: Reliance on abstinence-based treatment success rules may fail to capture the full continuum of treatment response to buprenorphine plus medical counseling (BUP+MC) for opioid use disorder (OUD).
Objective: To describe patterns of reduction in illicit opioid use of patients both labeled as a success and nonsuccess based on an abstinent-based treatment outcome rule.
Design, setting, and participants: This study is a secondary data analysis of 4 harmonized randomized clinical trials on BUP+MC for OUD from multiple sites that included 869 patients with OUD. These data were analyzed on April 23, 2024. By week 12, 643 participants of the sample original remained (74%).
Intervention: All studies included patients randomized to BUP+MC or BUP plus enhanced MC (eg, delivered with adjunctive cognitive behavioral therapy).
Main outcomes and measures: Weekly self-reported days of illicit opioid use through 12 weeks of treatment. Abstinence was confirmed by urine drug screen.
Results: This study included 869 adults with OUD aged 18 to 69 (mean, 34.2 [SD, 10.45]) years; 287 patients were female (33%), 52 identified as Black (6%), 70 identified Hispanic (8%), 713 identified as White (82%), and 34 identified as other racial groups (4%). Only 377 patients (43%) would have been labeled a success using an abstinence-based success rule. However, the total sample reported a decrease from a mean baseline rate of illicit opioid use nearly every day (6.21 [SD, 1.50] days per week) to a mean of less than 1 day per week at week 12 (0.54 [SD, 1.28]). Importantly, even those who were labeled as nonsuccessful reported a substantial reduction in opioid use from a mean of 6.29 (SD, 1.42) days per week to 1.51 (SD, 1.76) days per week.
Conclusion and relevance: In this study, about half of patients receiving BUP+MC achieved near complete abstinence; however, many more experienced a partial treatment response characterized by a substantial reduction in illicit opioid use that falls short of abstinence. Future studies are needed to characterize how these reductions are associated with functional and long-term outcomes. Dissemination of BUP+MC as part of standard buprenorphine prescribing practices is an essential next step given the robust average response of this intervention.
Importance: Pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and debilitating mental disorder, yet a comprehensive network meta-analysis examining psychological interventions is lacking.
Objective: To synthesize all available evidence on psychological interventions for pediatric PTSD in a comprehensive systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Data sources: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PTSDpubs were searched from inception to January 2, 2024, and 74 related systematic reviews were screened.
Study selection: Two independent raters screened publications for eligibility. Inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trial (RCT) with at least 10 patients per arm examining a psychological intervention for pediatric PTSD compared to a control group in children and adolescents (19 years and younger) with full or subthreshold PTSD.
Data extraction and synthesis: PRISMA guidelines were followed to synthesize and present evidence. Two independent raters extracted data and assessed risk of bias with Cochrane criteria. Random-effects network meta-analyses were run.
Main outcome and measures: Standardized mean differences (Hedges g) in PTSD severity.
Results: In total, 70 RCTs (N = 5528 patients) were included. Most RCTs (n = 52 [74%]) examined trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapies (TF-CBTs). At treatment end point, TF-CBTs (g, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.86-1.26; P < .001), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR; g, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.54-1.18; P < .001), multidisciplinary treatments (MDTs) (g, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.53-1.23; P < .001), and non-trauma-focused interventions (g, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.62-1.28; P < .001) were all associated with significantly larger reductions in pediatric PTSD than passive control conditions. TF-CBTs were associated with the largest short-term reductions in pediatric PTSD relative to both passive and active control conditions and across all sensitivity analyses. In a sensitivity analysis including only trials with parent involvement, TF-CBTs were associated with significantly larger reductions in pediatric PTSD than non-trauma-focused interventions (g, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.04-0.66; P = .03). Results for midterm (up to 5 months posttreatment) and long-term data (6-24 months posttreatment) were similar.
Conclusions and relevance: Results from this systematic review and network meta-analysis indicate that TF-CBTs were associated with significant reductions in pediatric PTSD in the short, mid, and long term. More long-term data are needed for EMDR, MDTs, and non-trauma-focused interventions. Results of TF-CBTs are encouraging, and disseminating these results may help reduce common treatment barriers by counteracting common misconceptions, such as the notion that TF-CBTs are harmful rather than helpful.