Latest research.
A closer look at everyday life.

Authors: Hongyu Xu, Zhiqiang Yan, Xinyi Kong, Shuang Wu, Fei Shi, Qiong Ye, Zijin Li, Jia Lu, Juan Fang, Kexin Chen, Jiajun Bao, Yiyao Huang

Globally, university students face substantial psychological pressures, and stress-related mental health disorders are recognized as major public health concerns. While biomarkers such as cortisol have been extensively studied, integrated analyses of neuroendocrine-immune-circadian interactions remain limited. In this cross-sectional study with two complementary components, psychometric assessments of 637 undergraduates revealed that 90.4% experienced moderate-to-high perceived stress. These stress levels correlated with fatigue (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) and poor sleep quality (r = 0.35, p < 0.01). A second component involved laboratory-based diurnal biomarker profiling of 33 high-stress and low-stress participants, revealing stress-dependent physiological patterns. Specifically, high stress was associated with sympathetic activation (α-amylase↑), HPA axis dysregulation (altered diurnal cortisol patterns), circadian disruption (melatonin↑), and mucosal immune activation (IgA ↑ , lysozyme↑). The coupling of α-amylase and lysozyme suggested neuro-immune coordination (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). These findings indicate that salivary biomarker profiles are associated with perceived stress. Sleep quality and fatigue warrant further investigation as potential intervention targets in future longitudinal studies.

Source: PLOS Mental Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000717. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Kamrun Nahar Koly, Jobaida Saba, Fahmida Sarker, Elma Rudhsarah, Md Arif Billah, Rasma Muzaffar, Nafisa Mosaddek, Abu Syed Md. Mosaddek, Daniel D. Reidpath

Online mental health services (MH) are playing a pivotal role by increasing MH literacy, enabling accessibility, and reducing logistical barriers, especially for women from developing nations like Bangladesh. However, the psychological burden and service needs of women using online MH platforms remain understudied despite their heightened vulnerability. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and determinants of anxiety and depression among women who received counseling from the online MH service platform,Women Support Initiative Forum (WSIF)through a cross-sectional study conducted between 5th September 2023 and 26th August, 2024. Data were collected by WSIF psychologists using a structured client information form covering socio-demographics, history of MH condition, health conditions, and presenting MH symptoms. Anxiety and depression levels were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors. Out of 375 women, 59.2% and 58.1% had experienced mild to severe anxiety and depression, respectively, with 25.6% having both conditions. Women with graduate-level education had 66% lower, and those with one or more siblings had 50–54% lower likelihoods of anxiety compared with women without graduate-level education and siblings. In contrast, women with graduate-level or postgraduate-level education and reporting hormonal conditions had 3.41 times, 2.63 times and over 10 times higher likelihoods of depression, respectively, compared with women who were not graduates and without a hormonal condition. Conversely, women with a history of MH and reported migraine, headache and allergic conditions had 52% and 65% lower odds compared with women without these conditions. Distress, negative thinking, and feelings of worry were highly prevalent among women with anxiety and among those with depression. Our findings highlight a significant MH burden among women who accessed online psychological counseling, indicating the importance of targeted actions in designing MH interventions by relevant stakeholders and policymakers.

Source: PLOS Mental Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000715. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Shauna Clayton, Safoura Zangiabadi, Hossam Ali-Hassan

This study examines the association between healthcare delivery modality and Canadian nurses’ intentions to leave their job within two years due to stress, burnout, or mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the cross-sectional Survey on Health Care Workers' Experiences During the Pandemic (SHCWEP), conducted by Statistics Canada between September and November 2021. The sample consisted of 3107 nurses, weighted to represent 353,980 Canadian nurses aged 18 and above. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between the mode of healthcare delivery (online, in-person, or blended) and the intention to exit the workforce due to mental health concerns, after adjusting for job, health-related, and sociodemographic factors. A desire to quit was reported by 33.5% of nurses, with 20.5% reporting mental health concerns as their reasoning. Online or blended modalities of care delivery yielded a decreased likelihood of reporting an intention to resign in comparison to in-person care delivery (OR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.45- 0.52; OR =0.81, 95% CI: 0.78- 0.84, respectively). Nurses are a critical asset to the medical field, and their retention impacts patient care directly and public health eventually. This study provides insight into nurses’ needs and can be informative for future implementation strategies that enhance existing training and education protocols and support nurses’ mental well-being.

Source: PLOS Mental Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000692. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Paula Skye Tallman, Shalean M. Collins

Resource insecurity is a major concern for Indigenous populations worldwide who are often reliant upon local ecosystems for food, water, and livelihoods. This study examined the association between water insecurity, food insecurity, and dietary diversity among the Awajún, an Indigenous population in the Peruvian Amazon. Cross-sectional data from 212 Awajún adults were analyzed using linear and logistic regression models with robust standard errors. Both food and water insecurity were prevalent among the Awajún. In adjusted linear regression models, higher composite water insecurity scores were significantly associated with higher food insecurity scores (β = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.36; p < 0.001), but not with dietary diversity. Importantly, indicators within the composite water insecurity score, were more strongly associated with food insecurity and dietary diversity outcomes, than the composite water insecurity score itself. This includes significant associations between food insecurity scores and being “unable to collect water due to distance” (β 0.61; 95% CI 0.19, 1.03 p = 0.005), being “unable to collect water due to illness or weakness” (β = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.20, 1.16; p = 0.006), and “not boiling water” (β = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.15, 1.05; p = 0.009). Going for “extended periods of time without drinking water” was associated with lower dietary diversity scores (β = -0.79; 95% CI: -1.43, -0.16; p = 0.01). The findings that constituent lived experiences of water insecurity—including barriers to water collection, water treatment practices, and extended periods of water deprivation—were more strongly associated with food insecurity and dietary diversity than composite water insecurity scores, suggests that attention to specific dimensions of water insecurity may improve efforts to identify, monitor, and address resource insecurity in vulnerable populations.These findings have implications for health surveillance efforts and interventions aiming to promote SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) among vulnerable populations.

Source: PLOS Water. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000556. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Varsha Singh, Harish Chaudhury, Mahim Sagar

Adolescence is a turbulent period of rapid biopsychosocial changes that help transition to adulthood. Adolescence maladjustment shows sex-specific vulnerability such that internalizing pathologies are linked with depression-anxiety in females, whereas externalizing problems linked are with substance abuse and conduct disorders in males. Developing countries with patriarchal societies produce early gender-inequity that might impact physical health, family, and social environments of adolescents impacting adulthood. The link between sex-differences in physical health, social support (school & family) and adolescent problems in non-western context is unclear. Hence, adolescents from 19 schools (N = 5121, male = 48%, female = 39%, missing = 13%) filled Indian Adolescent Health Questionnaire to measure physical health, family, and social environment, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used for adjustment problems (internalizing-externalizing). Males reported better physical health and nutrition whereas females had better attitude towards safety, substance use, and academics. Physical health, family, school and social environment were correlated (p = .00), t-test showed sex-differences in all subdomains except hygiene and family environment. For adjustment problems, 22.8% of school students experienced borderline problems and 16% were categorized highly problematic, male students had higher maladjustment problems. Contrary to the West, internalizing problems showed no sex-differences, but male students’ internalizing problems were due to peers. Partial correlation controlling sex and class showed that family support negatively correlated with emotion problems (r = - .05, p < .05), hygiene attitude positively correlated with hyperactivity problems (r = .033, p < .05). School intervention involving families might shield adolescents from mental health problems, targeting sex-specific risks such as nutrition and physical activity for females or drugs and safety for males might improve health. Using standard health measures might allow follow-ups for comparing health gender-gap across the developmental phases of individuals accounting for urban-rural divide accentuated in developing countries and diverse population.

Source: PLOS Mental Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000708. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Lydia Otoo Amponsah, David Nartey Obemah, Belinda Lee Quayson, Albert Banunle, Daniel Kwame Oware Asamoah, Mwema Felix Mwema

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a decentralized, on-farm wastewater treatment system using locally generated rice husk biochar for safe agricultural irrigation reuse in Diewuoso-Obuasi, Ghana. The system, a two-stage downflow filtration system, treated raw municipal wastewater over 10 days. Results showed significant removal of turbidity (66.92%), total dissolved solids (38.19%), and salinity (22.03%), meeting FAO irrigation limits. However, electrical conductivity increased (26.58%) due to ash-mineral leaching. Microbial analysis indicated substantial log-scale removal efficiencies for E. coli (90.42%), fecal coliforms (98.39%), and total coliforms (99.99%), but final effluent concentrations exceeded WHO and Ghana EPA thresholds for unrestricted irrigation. The study concludes that while the rice husk biochar filter is an efficient pre-treatment component, it requires secondary post-treatment disinfection to eliminate public health risks, offering a scalable model for circular resource recovery in rural farming communities.

Source: PLOS Water. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000612. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Moritz Egger, Michael Curran, Alice Aubert, Norman Kearney, Diana Ventura, Guillermo Andrés Zambrano Mohauad, Adriana Patricia Santos Ordóñez, Johanna Jacobi

Sustainability transitions in smallholder agriculture depend on how local communities understand and prioritise different futures, yet most assessment tools rely on externally defined criteria and expert-led evaluations. This study examines how deliberation shapes cocoa farmers’ evaluations of sustainability pathways. In two-day workshops with eight farmer groups (n = 36) in two regions of Ecuador (Amazon and Coast), farmers evaluated four scenarios using intuitive ranking, urgency ratings, and swing-weighting, based on sustainability criteria they had generated in a prior Photovoice process. We compared intuitive and criteria-based rankings of scenarios and calculated indices of individual deliberative reasoning and intersubjective consensus before and after deliberation. In the Amazon, where intuitive scenario preferences diverged, deliberation led all groups to converge on the same scenario rankings and to reweight criteria towards long-term environmental and social concerns. Importance-consensus and individual reasoning indices increased modestly, indicating tighter alignment between what farmers valued and the futures they preferred. In the Coastal region, groups already shared a strong preference for an environmentally restorative scenario. Deliberation primarily reinforced this consensus, substantially increasing agreement on the prioritisation of sustainability criteria while leaving overall scenario rankings unchanged. Across regions, some groups showed closer alignment between intuitive and criteria-based rankings after deliberation, while others diverged, suggesting that deliberation can both stabilise and reconfigure preferences as trade-offs are recognised. The results show that deliberative multicriteria evaluation, when grounded in community-generated criteria and narratives, can articulate and consolidate shared sustainability visions even where prior engagement has already fostered high agreement. The deliberation indices proposed here provide a transferable framework for tracking learning, reasoning, and consensus in participatory planning, supporting the design of more context-sensitive sustainability interventions.

Source: PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000279. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Michael Christopher, Xander Kahle, Kaylia Pham

Individuals with physical disabilities experience higher rates of depression relative to the general population. Shame is a central mechanism linking disability status to poor mental health outcomes, including depression. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion have been shown to change one’s relationship to negative self-evaluations such as shame. The goal of this study was to determine if psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predict depression and buffer the impact of shame on depression in adults with physical disabilities. Adults with physical disabilities (n = 207) completed self-report measures of psychological flexibility, self-compassion, shame, and depression. Consistent with prediction, a series of multiple regressions indicated that psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predicted depression over and beyond shame, and they both mitigated the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities (all p’s < .05). These results suggest that psychological flexibility and self-compassion enhancing treatments, such as mindfulness-based interventions and acceptance and commitment therapy may be helpful in improving the mental health and wellbeing of adults with physical disabilities.

Source: PLOS Mental Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000707. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Mark Ferguson, Joanne K. Garrett, Barbara Tschirren, Benedict W. Wheeler, Alexander G. C. Vaux, Cornelia Guell, Jolyon M. Medlock, Camille Bonneaud, Timothy J. Taylor, Gesche M. Huebner

Source: PLOS Climate. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0001016. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.

Authors: Abdullah Alhassan, Ziemah Boyeh, Abdul-Kadri Yahaya

In low-resource settings, drinking-water safety decisions are frequently shaped by subjective perceptions rather than objective contamination data, yet this correspondence is poorly characterized. This cross-sectional study (n = 425) in Nadowli-Kaleo District, Upper West Region, Ghana examined concordance between perceived drinking-water quality and field-observed sanitary contamination risk, together with socioeconomic determinants of risk appraisal calibration. Perceived quality was rated on a 1–5 Likert scale; field-observed sanitary contamination risk was aggregated into a 0–4 ordinal risk index from a structured observation checklist (a proxy for, not a direct microbiological measure of, water quality), reverse-scaled, with perceptions classified as calibrated when |gap| ≤ 0.5. Perceived quality was strongly and inversely associated with observed contamination risk (Spearman’s ρ = −0.780; p < 0.001), indicating that household perceptions tracked broad contamination-risk gradients well. However, agreement at the individual household level was weaker: only 49.4% of households met the calibration criterion (mean gap = −0.86) under our primary threshold, and this proportion was sensitive to the threshold chosen (ranging from 26.1% at ±0.3 to 63.1% at ±1.0). Educational attainment showed no reliable association with calibration accuracy (no formal education 55.5%; secondary 44.1%; postgraduate 12.5%, n = 8; Pearson χ²(4) = 7.24, p = 0.124), and a quadratic logistic model provided no evidence of a non-linear (inverted-U) relationship (quadratic OR = 0.94; p = 0.462); income and residence duration were likewise not significant predictors. These findings suggest that perception-based metrics alone may be insufficient for individual-level risk assessment, and that common socioeconomic proxies do not reliably identify well-calibrated households, calling for objective monitoring and tailored risk communication to advance SDG 6.

Source: PLOS Water. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000590. Abstract from the publisher’s feed; HTML formatting and repeated author line removed.