While quite a number of theories and hypotheses about gender differences in public beliefs and attitudes about mental illness have been proposed, the empirical evidence, particularly evidence based on population studies, is rather scarce.

A systematic review of population-based studies providing information on gender differences in beliefs about mental disorders and attitudes towards the mentally ill was carried out.

While both genders are no different in their willingness to seek informal help for mental illness, women seem more ready to recommend professional help than men. They also evaluate treatment outcomes more favourably. Women are more likely to endorse psychosocial conceptualizations of mental illness than men, and, in consequence, are more in favour of psychotherapy. With a few exceptions, women do not seem to display more favourable attitudes than men towards people with mental disorder. Female patients seem to be rejected by the public less than male patients.

Our review suggests that gender matters in public beliefs and attitudes about mental illness. Some theoretical assumptions are supported by empirical findings, others not. However, as evidence is rather scarce, further studies testing theory-driven hypotheses are needed.

Prisoners with mental illness on release from prison often face complex challenges with little support, leading to poor clinical and social outcomes. This feasibility study aimed to see whether a Critical Time Intervention (CTI) in the first weeks post-release effectively connects mentally ill prisoners with social, clinical, housing, and welfare services on leaving prison. The study took place in 2007 and involved local prisons in London and Manchester.

A pilot randomised controlled trial in which CTI was compared to Treatment as Usual (TAU).

Sixty prisoners were randomised in the trial, with outcome measures completed on 23. A higher proportion of prisoners in CTI group were in contact with services at follow-up than those receiving TAU. CTI prisoners were significantly more likely to be receiving medication, and be registered with a General Practitioner (GP) than those in the TAU group.

Continuity of care for prisoners with severe mental illness can be improved by working with them to identify their needs prior to release, and by assisting them to engage effectively to the necessary agencies in the community.

This paper aims at providing an overview of the background, design and initial findings of Psychosis Incident Cohort Outcome Study (PICOS).

PICOS is a large multi-site population-based study on first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients attending public mental health services in the Veneto region (Italy) over a 3-year period. PICOS has a naturalistic longitudinal design and it includes three different modules addressing, respectively, clinical and social variables, genetics and brain imaging. Its primary aims are to characterize FEP patients in terms of clinical, psychological and social presentation, and to investigate the relative weight of clinical, environmental and biological factors (i.e. genetics and brain structure/functioning) in predicting the outcome of FEP.

An in-depth description of the research methodology is given first. Details on recruitment phase and baseline and follow-up evaluations are then provided. Initial findings relating to patients' baseline assessments are also presented. Future planned analyses are outlined.

Both strengths and limitations of PICOS are discussed in the light of issues not addressed in the current literature on FEP. This study aims at making a substantial contribution to research on FEP patients. It is hoped that the research strategies adopted in PICOS will enhance the convergence of methodologies in ongoing and future studies on FEP.

To study the systematic assessment of need for care and clinical parameters for use in treatment plans in patients diagnosed with severe mental illness.

The Cumulative Needs for Care Monitor (CNCM) includes various validated instruments, such as the Camberwell Assessment of Need. A Markov-type cost-effectiveness model (health care perspective, 5-year time horizon) was used to compare CNCM with care as usual (CAU). Two studies were used to determine model parameters: a before–after study (n = 2155) and a matched-control study (n = 937).

The CNCM may lead to a gain in psychiatric functioning according to the models. CNCM patients remain in (outpatient) care, while CAU patients drop out more frequently. There is only a small difference in inpatient care. As a result, average costs per patient in the CNCM group are between €2809 (before–after model) and €5251 (matched-control model) higher. The iCER was between €45 127 and €57 839 per life year without psychiatric dysfunction gained.

CNCM may be only cost-effective when willingness to pay for a life year without psychiatric dysfunction is higher than €45 000. However, this result is highly sensitive to the level of psychiatric dysfunctioning in patients who do not receive care.

Increasing therapeutic inpatient activities may improve the quality and outcomes of care. Evaluation of these interventions is necessary including assessment of cost-effectiveness. The aim of this paper is to describe the development and reliability of a tool to collect information on care contacts and therapeutic activities of patients on inpatient wards.

The development of the tool consisted of: 1) literature review, 2) interviews with staff, 3) expert consultation, 4) feasibility study, 5) focus groups with staff members, and 6) reliability tests. Service use data were collected with the tool and costs calculated.

Service users' reported more use of activities than that contained in case notes during a 7-day period. This resulted in a cost difference of £10 per person. Case notes had more one-to-one nursing contacts, with a cost difference of £4 per person. One-day data showed less nurse contact time reported by participants compared to observational data (p < 0.001) but similar use of activities. Costs were £46 for the tool and £67 for the observational data.

This tool is a good source of information on the number of activities attended by service users and contacts with psychiatrists. There is some disagreement with other sources of information on interactions between service users and nurses, possibly reflecting different definitions of a ‘meaningful contact’. This does not have a major impact on cost given that for much of the care received there is reasonable agreement.

The current study examines the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and antidepressant prescription among young adults and investigates mechanisms that could explain such a potential social gradient.

Longitudinal survey data from a population-based Norwegian sample (N = 2606) was collected in four waves over a 13-year period. The data were linked to register data on antidepressant prescription and several indicators of SES (education, income, social or unemployment benefits, disability or rehabilitation benefits and parents' education).

Apart from parents' education, all indicators of low SES were related to higher rates of antidepressant prescription. A part of the relationship between SES and antidepressant prescription was due to low SES being related to higher levels of anxiety and depression. Moreover, low SES was related to more frequent use of mental health services, which again was related to higher rates of antidepressant prescription. Both contact with physicians and other mental healthcare professionals accounted for some of the relationship between SES and antidepressant prescription.

The study provides information about mechanisms involved in the relationship between low SES and antidepressant prescription. More research is needed about whether a comparable social gradient in antidepressant prescription is also to be found outside the Nordic countries.

The problem of wide treatment gaps in mental disorders is endemic world wide. The study aims to establish the treatment gap of common mental disorders in Singapore.

A national sample of 6616 persons aged 18 years and above was surveyed with the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview in which for each diagnostic module, respondents were asked a series of questions regarding treatment contact.

Treatment gap varied considerably between disorders; alcohol abuse had the largest treatment gap (96.2%), followed by obsessive compulsive disorder (89.8%) and alcohol dependence (88.3%). The disorder for which people were most likely to seek help was major depressive disorder. Women with dysthmia were more likely than men to seek help but this help seeking behavior was reversed among those with alcohol abuse and dependence. Age of onset was significantly associated with treatment contact with those who had an earlier age of onset less likely to have treatment contact than those with late age of onset for all disorders except obsessive compulsive disorder.

Our findings suggest that treatment gaps are wide even in an economically developed country like Singapore and other than sociodemographic factors, cultural influences might play an important role in help seeking behavior.

Personalised support services assist patients with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) to live with functional deficits by providing living skills, emotional support, community access and advocacy. This paper aims to systematically review the evidence for personalised support.

Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO and Google Scholar (inception to March 2011) identified studies investigating patient outcomes for personalised support services. The quality of the selected studies was assessed. The strength of evidence for the three categories of patient outcomes (illness acuity, personal functioning and patient satisfaction) was graded.

Fifteen studies met inclusion criteria with most rated as having moderate or weak study designs. The selected studies evaluated programs for outpatients with SPMI. There was moderate strength of evidence for reducing illness acuity and improving patient satisfaction with services, and weak strength of evidence for improving personal functioning in studies published to date. Most programs delivered multiple service types, and no clear pattern of service types leading to specific patient outcomes could be discerned.

Although evidence published to date for personalised support is of variable quality, it suggests that services may be effective. More research on the effects of personalised support subtypes on patient outcomes is required.

Population-based studies have identified that delusional-like experiences (DLEs) are common in the general population. While there is a large literature exploring the relationship between poor social support and risk of mental illness, there is a lack of empirical data examining the association of poor social support and DLEs. The aim of the study was to explore the association between social support and DLEs using a large, nationally representative community sample.

Subjects were drawn from a national multistage probability survey of 8841 adults aged between 16 and 85 years. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to identify DLEs, common psychiatric disorders and physical disorders. Eight questions assessed various aspects of social support with spouse/partners and other family and friends. We examined the relationship between DLEs and social support using logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Of the sample, 8.4% (n = 776) positively endorsed one or more DLEs. Individuals who (a) had the least contact with friends, or (b) could not rely on or confide in spouse/partner, family or friends were significantly more likely to endorse DLEs. The associations remained significant after adjusting for a range of potential confounding factors.

DLEs are associated with impoverished social support in the general population. While we cannot exclude the possibility that the presence of isolated DLEs results in a reduction of social support, we speculate that poor social support may contribute in a causal fashion to the risk of DLEs.