Late-life depression (LLD) is prevalent in older adults and linked to increased disability, mortality, and suicide risk. Insomnia symptoms are considered common remaining symptoms of LLD following treatment. However, the multivariate relationship between insomnia and depressive symptoms and the impact of psychotherapy on their interrelationship is insufficiently assessed.

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from 185 patients with LLD, recruited from seven university hospitals in Germany as part of a larger original cohort study. Participants had undergone eight-week psychotherapy interventions (cognitive behavioral therapy or supportive unspecific intervention). Three regularized canonical correlation analyses (rCCA) assessed the multivariate association between insomnia and depressive symptoms at baseline, post-treatment, and six-month follow-up. rCCA was conducted within a machine learning framework with 100 repeated hold-out splits and permutation tests to ensure robust findings. Canonical loadings and cross-loading difference scores were calculated to examine symptom changes before/after psychotherapy (Holm-Bonferroni corrected p-value <0.05).

At baseline, a moderate association was observed between insomnia and depressive symptoms (r = 0.24). Interestingly, this association slightly increased after the eight-week treatment period (r = 0.42, pcorrected = 0.064) and remained significantly elevated at the follow-up session (r = 0.48, pcorrected = 0.018). At baseline, anxiety-related depressive symptoms were mainly associated with insomnia, while at post-treatment and follow-up sessions, somatic and negative affective symptoms showed the strongest correlation with insomnia symptoms. While the relative relationship of depressive symptoms with insomnia altered after psychotherapy, the pattern of insomnia symptoms remained stable.

The observed changes in the association between insomnia and depressive symptoms after psychotherapy highlight the necessity to consider targeting insomnia for effective LLD treatment.

We aimed to identify therapeutic approaches for managing schizophrenia in different phases and clinical situations – the prodromal phase, first-episode psychosis, cognitive and negative symptoms, pregnancy, treatment resistance, and antipsychotic-induced metabolic side effects – while assessing clinicians’ adherence to guidelines.

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in 2023 as part of the Ambassador project among psychiatrists and trainees from 35 European countries, based on a questionnaire that included six clinical vignettes (cases A–F). Additionally, a review of multiple guidelines/guidance papers was performed.

The final analysis included 454 participants. Our findings revealed a moderate to high level of agreement among European psychiatrists regarding pharmacological treatment preferences for first-episode psychosis and cognitive and negative symptoms, prodromal symptoms and pregnancy, with moderate adherence to clinical guidelines. There was substantial similarity in treatment preferences for antipsychotic-induced metabolic side effects and treatment resistance; however, adherence to guidelines in these areas was only partial. Despite guideline recommendations, non-pharmacological treatments, including psychotherapy and recovery-oriented care, were generally underutilized, except for psychoeducation and lifestyle recommendations, and cognitive behavioural therapy for treatment of the prodromal phase. Contrary to guidelines, cognitive remediation and physical exercise for cognitive symptoms were significantly neglected.

These discrepancies highlight the need for effective implementation strategies to bridge the gap between research evidence, clinical guidelines/guidance papers, and real-world clinical practice. Clinicians’ unique combination of knowledge and experience positions them to shape future guidelines, especially where real-world practice diverges from recommendations, reinforcing the need to integrate both research evidence and clinical consensus.

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) has shown promising safety and efficacy in phase 3 studies of post-traumatic stress disorder, but has not been investigated for a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD).

We aimed to explore the proof of principle and safety as a first study with MDMA-AT for MDD, and to provide preliminary efficacy data.

Twelve participants (7 women, 5 men) with moderate to severe MDD received MDMA in 2 open-label sessions 1 month apart, along with psychotherapy before, during and after the MDMA sessions, between January 2023 and May 2024. The primary outcome measure was mean change in Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the secondary outcome measure was mean change in functional impairment as measured with the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), both from baseline to 8 weeks following the second MDMA session. We used descriptive statistics and the two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare baseline and outcome scores. Repeated measures were analysed by a mixed-effects model.

Baseline MADRS was 29.6 (s.d. 4.9). Feasibility was demonstrated with sufficient recruitment and retention. MADRS scores were significantly reduced post treatment compared with baseline (mean difference –19.3, s.e. 2.4, CI –14.8 to –23.8, P < 0.001). SDS scores significantly decreased from baseline (mean difference –11.7, s.e. 2.2, CI –7.5 to –15.9, P = 0.001). There were no adverse events of special interest, and no unexpected or serious adverse events.

The study met the primary objectives of safety and feasibility, and provided indications of efficacy for MDMA-AT for MDD. Further studies with a randomised design are required to confirm these findings.

EudraCT no. 2021-000805-26.

Treatment guidelines recommend evidence-based psychological therapies for adults with intellectual disabilities with co-occurring anxiety or depression. No previous research has explored the effectiveness of these therapies in mainstream psychological therapy settings or outside specialist settings.

To evaluate the effectiveness of psychological therapies delivered in routine primary care settings for people with intellectual disability who are experiencing co-occurring depression or anxiety.

This study used linked electronic healthcare records of 2 048 542 adults who received a course of NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression in England between 2012 and 2019 to build a retrospective, observational cohort of individuals with intellectual disability, matched 1:2 with individuals without intellectual disability. Logistic regressions were used to compare metrics of symptom improvement and deterioration used in the national programme, on the basis of depression and anxiety measures collected before and at the last attended therapy session.

The study included 6870 adults with intellectual disability and 2 041 672 adults without intellectual disability. In unadjusted analyses, symptoms improved on average for people with intellectual disability after a course of therapy, but these individuals experienced poorer outcomes compared with those without intellectual disability (reliable improvement 60.2% for people with intellectual disability v. 69.2% for people without intellectual disability, odds ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.63–0.70; reliable deterioration 10.3% for people with intellectual disability v. 5.7% for those without intellectual disability, odds ratio 1.89, 95% CI 1.75–2.04). After propensity score matching, some differences were attenuated (reliable improvement, adjusted odds ratio 0.97, 95% CI 1.91–1.04), but some outcomes remained poorer for people with intellectual disability (reliable deterioration, adjusted odds ratio 1.28, 95% CI 1.16–1.42).

Evidence-based psychological therapies may be effective for adults with intellectual disability, but their outcomes may be similar to (for improvement and recovery) or poorer than (for deterioration) those for adults without intellectual disability. Future work should investigate the impact of adaptations of therapies for those with intellectual disability to make such interventions more effective and accessible for this population.