Research about autistic people's subjective experiences with music and its impact on their well-being is limited, despite its common presence in public spaces and support services. To provide an empirical framework and tools for future research, we examined the relevance of the participatory music engagement for mental well-being model for autistic adults. The model outlines four pathways through which music supports well-being: managing and expressing emotion, providing respite, facilitating self-development, and facilitating connections. Based on the model, we developed a new questionnaire, the Participatory Music Engagement for Mental Well-being (PaMEW), and collected responses from 63 autistic adults. We found that most respondents believed the items were relevant to their experiences of the relationship between music and well-being, that the factorial structure of their responses aligned with the model, and that their comments reflected the four pathways; however, they also highlighted nuances not addressed by the model. The study underscores the need for nuanced tools that reflect the unique ways autistic individuals use music to support their well-being, suggesting future revisions of PaMEW in collaboration with the autistic community to enhance its relevance and clarity.

Despite decades of meditation research, there is a lack of preregistered and well-powered studies that investigate the effects of brief meditation practices on subjective wellbeing and use data-driven approaches to predict response to these interventions. Using representative samples of the US and UK adult populations with regards to age, sex, and ethnicity (N = 5049), we conducted a preregistered and well-powered randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of three brief (5-10 min) meditation practices (i.e., mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude) relative to a control condition. We also examined whether a data-driven approach can predict an individual's response to these interventions from their pre-intervention characteristics. Taken together, our findings suggest that brief meditation practices modestly improve an aspect of subjective wellbeing (negative affect) and such response can be predicted using pre-intervention characteristics. Future prospective randomized trials should examine algorithm-guided intervention assignment to directly test the potential of personalized meditation recommendations to improve subjective wellbeing.

Background: Previous research indicates that psychedelics may produce outcomes that are dependent on the immediate context. Recent scholarship hypothesizes that such outcomes may also depend on the broader sociocultural context, but empirical data are lacking. Methods: Using a longitudinal observational research design with a large sample of US adults ( N = 21,990) followed during a 2-month study period, we investigated associations between naturalistic psychedelic use on dates of politically salient events such as the Fourth of July (i.e., US Independence Day) and changes in support for partisan violence. Results: Of the 21,990 participants who completed the survey at baseline, 12,345 completed the survey at follow-up. Among the participants who completed the survey at follow-up, 505 reported psychedelic use during the two-month study period, with 19 having had the most intense psychedelic experience on the Fourth of July and 486 having had the most intense psychedelic experience on another date. The primary analyses showed an association between having had the most intense psychedelic experience on the Fourth of July and decreased support for partisan violence, with exploratory analyses yielding a similar association for the date of the Trump assassination attempt. By contrast, other exploratory analyses showed that having had the most intense psychedelic experience on any of the dates of the national party conventions or on a date closer to Election Day was associated with increases in support for partisan violence. Conclusions: Taken together, the results suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use on the Fourth of July and other dates of politically salient events may modulate support for partisan violence in directions that depend on the political nature of the events. While future replications are needed to validate these findings, it appears the broader sociocultural context could influence outcomes following naturalistic psychedelic use.

Background: While psychedelics have shown initial promise in the treatment of migraine, experimental studies have relied on small and homogenous samples, which limit the reliability and generalizability of findings. These limitations underscore the complementary value of other research designs that leverage larger and more representative samples. Methods: This cross-sectional study included three cohorts of twins from the Swedish Twin Registry and evaluated associations between psychedelic use and migraine history. Results: In this study, 50,726 twins answered questions related to the use of psychedelics. There were 1287 twins who reported psychedelic use, of whom 420 were monozygotic twins. While 271 twin pairs were discordant on psychedelic use, 40 twin pairs (16 male, 24 female) were discordant on both psychedelic use and migraine history. When restricting the analyses to monozygotic twins in the between-within logistic regression model, the between-pair association was significant, with pairs in which at least one twin reported psychedelic use showing lower odds of migraine history (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.50, p = 0.041). The within-pair association was also significant, with twins who reported psychedelic use showing lower odds of migraine history compared to their co-twin (aOR = 0.38, p = 0.008). Notably, subgroup analyses showed that these results were broadly the same when only males were included in the models, but no significant associations were observed in female-only models. Conclusions: The findings from this twin study suggest that psychedelics may be linked to a lower likelihood of migraine, with potential differences by sex. This warrants further investigation and highlights the importance of sex-specific analyses in future studies.

Multimorbidity during pregnancy, defined as the co-occurrence of two or more physical or psychological conditions, is an emerging global health concern associated with adverse birth outcomes. This systematic review addresses gaps in research by determining the global pooled prevalence of mental health-related multimorbidity amongst pregnant women and identifying key populations at higher risk of this type of multimorbidity. This study adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and was pre-registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD420251023056). A systematic search was conducted across MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles from January 1, 2015 to February 10, 2025, to capture the current landscape of mental health-related multimorbidity during pregnancy. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, full texts, extracted data, and assessed study quality using Covidence software. A proportional random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the global pooled prevalence of mental health-related multimorbidity during pregnancy. The original search across databases yielded 5,989 studies. The global pooled prevalence of mental-health related multimorbidity during pregnancy across the eligible 92 studies representing over 357 million pregnant women was 1.90

Importance: As the cultural, scientific, and legal landscape surrounding psychedelics continues to shift toward greater access and acceptability, it is likely that increasing numbers of women of reproductive age may be exposed to these substances. Despite this, the evidence on antenatal exposure has not been systematically reviewed. Objective To synthesize the human literature on child and maternal outcomes following antenatal exposure to classic psychedelics. Evidence review: A systematic literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase, Web of Science, PsycInfo and CENTRAL for original peer-reviewed studies published from inception to 15 July, 2025, that reported on antenatal exposure to psychedelics. Two independent reviewers conducted title and abstract screening, full text screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools were used for risk of bias assessment. As significant heterogeneity in outcome reporting and study design precluded meta-analysis, the findings were qualitatively synthesized. The protocol was pre-registered on PROSPERO (CRD420251082910). Findings: A total of 42 studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 251 women who were exposed to a psychedelic substance during pregnancy or prior to pregnancy from across 9 countries. Almost all studies were conducted in high-income countries (k = 38, 90.5%), of which most were conducted in the US (k = 29, 69.0%). LSD was the most commonly reported psychedelic substance (k = 38, 90.5%), more than half of the articles were case reports (k = 23, 54.8%), and most studies were published prior to the year 2000 (k = 31, 73.8%). In terms of child and maternal outcomes, two articles (4.8%) reported on the outcome of spontaneous abortions, no articles reported on maternal deaths, one (2.4%) on stillbirth, 16 (38.1%) on neonatal mortality, 17 (40.5%) on preterm birth, 15 (35.7%) on birthweight and 26 (61.9%) on congenital malformations. The certainty of evidence for all outcomes was deemed to be very low using the GRADE approach. Conclusions and relevance: The current literature on child and maternal outcomes following antenatal exposure to psychedelics is notably sparse, mainly consisting of case reports or small sample sizes drawn almost entirely from high-income countries. These findings highlight that contemporary, methodologically robust research on psychedelics during pregnancy is urgently needed.

Background Findings from contemporary clinical trials suggest that psychedelics are generally safe and may be effective in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. However, less is known about the risks associated with psychedelic use outside of medically supervised contexts, particularly in populations that are typically excluded from participation in clinical trials. Methods Using a preregistered longitudinal observational research design with a purposive sample of US residents between 18 and 50 years old ( N =21,990), we investigated associations between self-reported naturalistic psychedelic use and psychotic and manic symptoms, with emphasis on those with psychiatric histories of schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. Results The follow-up survey was completed by 12,345 participants (56% retention), with 505 participants reporting psychedelic use during the 2-month study period. In covariate-adjusted regression models, psychedelic use during the study period was associated with increases in the severity of psychotic and manic symptoms. However, such increases were only observed for those who reported psychedelic use in an illegal context. While increases in the severity of psychotic symptoms appeared to depend on the frequency of use and the intensity of challenging psychedelic experiences, increases in the severity of manic symptoms appeared to be moderated by a personal history of schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder and the subjective experience of insight during a psychedelic experience. Conclusions The findings suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use specifically in illegal contexts may lead to increases in the severity of psychotic and manic symptoms. Such increases may depend on the frequency of use, the acute subjective psychedelic experience, and psychiatric history.

Previous research has investigated associations between psychedelic experiences and meditation practice, but knowledge gaps remain. Using a longitudinal research design with a sample of US residents between 18 and 50 years old (N = 13,012), we investigated associations between psychedelic-related and meditation-related variables. The follow-up survey was completed by 7484 respondents, of whom 336 reported psychedelic use during the two-month study. In covariate-adjusted regression models, psychedelic use was associated with greater increases in the number of days of mindfulness and loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice in the past week, especially among those with no prior experience of psychedelics or meditation. Among those who reported psychedelic use, trait mindfulness and trait self-compassion at baseline were associated with less severe challenging psychedelic experiences, as well as lower odds of psychedelic-occasioned thoughts or attempts of self- or other-harm. However, among those who practiced meditation at baseline, psychedelic use was associated with greater increases in past-week frequency of loving-kindness or compassion meditation-related difficulties and impairments. Future research is warranted.

BACKGROUND:Naturalistic psychedelic use can result in a range of difficulties that impair social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. Yet, the prevalence, phenomenology, and etiology of these outcomes remain poorly understood. Recent qualitative research has shown that individuals with long-term difficulties after psychedelic use sometimes attribute their challenges to childhood trauma. Further studies are needed to investigate these relationships. METHODS:In this cross-sectional mixed-methods study of U.S. adults with lifetime psychedelic use (n = 3168), we examined the prevalence, duration, and nature of psychedelic-related difficulties, as well as associations with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). RESULTS:Of all participants (n = 3168), most (n = 2785, 87.9 %) reported no difficulties; 6.4 % (n = 203) reported post-acute difficulties that lasted for more than one day, and 1.3 % (n = 40) for more than one year. Among those who reported difficulties (n = 383), 47 % (n = 180) reported that their difficulties resolved in one day or less. The most frequently reported post-acute difficulties were general anxiety (33.9 %), negative changes in self-concept (25.9 %), and social disconnection (23.0 %). In covariate-adjusted regression models, 2 ACEs (aOR: 2.24, p = 0.007), 3 ACEs (aOR: 2.27, p = 0.006), and ≥4 ACEs (aOR: 2.84, p < 0.001) were associated with higher odds of psychedelic-related difficulties compared to 0 ACEs. ≥4 ACEs were also associated with higher odds of difficulties that lasted more than one day (aOR: 2.37, p = 0.015) and more than one week (aOR: 2.89, p = 0.042). CONCLUSION:There are a range of difficulties that can follow psychedelic use and childhood adversity may represent a risk factor for persistent adverse effects.

Non-technical summary This study addresses the challenge of climate change by exploring how psychological qualities and meditation practices may influence pro-environmental behavior among decision-makers, by surveying 185 participants. The research found that meditation practices and compassion toward others are linked to more pro-environmental actions. Nature connectedness emerged as a key factor related to enhanced mindfulness, compassion toward others and self, and environmental efforts. Additionally, pro-environmental efforts at work were related to more engagement across the organization, including management. These findings highlight the potential of integrating personal growth practices into sustainability promoting strategies, suggesting that fostering compassion and mindfulness may support pro-environmental action.Technical summary Current policy approaches addressing climate change have been insufficient. Integrative approaches linking inner and outer factors of behavior change, both at the private and organizational level, have been called for. The aim of the present study was thus to conceptualize and test a model of interlinkages between trainable transformative psychological qualities, meditation practice, wellbeing, stress, and pro-environmental behaviors in the private and organizational context, among decision-makers (N = 185) who responded to a survey of self-completion measures covering the topics above. Results show that meditation practices and longer practice duration were associated with more pro-environmental behavior, mindfulness facets, and wellbeing. Mindfulness facets and self-compassion were associated with higher wellbeing and lower stress, but not pro-environmental behavior. Importantly, higher compassion toward others was associated with more pro-environmental behavior but was not associated with own wellbeing and stress. Greater nature connectedness was associated with more pro-environmental behavior in private- and work life, mindfulness facets, compassion toward others, self-compassion, and longer meditation duration. Furthermore, at work, personal pro-environmental efforts were associated with such efforts by others in the organization, including management, and such efforts were also associated with overall integration of sustainability work in the organization. The results can help guide future interventions.Social media summary Nature connectedness, compassion toward others, and meditation related to private and work life pro-environmental behaviors.

The study objective was to assess the effects of a five-week compassionate mind training for university students regarding symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and self-compassion compared with an active control group. Swedish university students were randomized to a compassionate mind training group or to an active control group. The outcome measures were. the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, the Perceived Stress Scale 14, and the Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form. All outcomes were measured pre- and post-intervention. Data were analyzed with linear mixedeffects models. The only statistically significant difference between the groups were depression symptoms (p = 0.02, d = -0.40) corresponding to a slight clinically relevant improvement. The study's results are consistent with prior research suggesting that compassionate mind training may be beneficial for alleviating depression symptoms. However, the low baseline depression levels in this sample and the short duration of the intervention may limit the generalizability and the magnitude of the findings. The small sample size and relatively homogenous group, also point to the need for larger and more diverse samples.

While growing evidence suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapy may have antidepressant effects in certain populations, little is known about the effects of psychedelic use on depressive symptoms in non-clinical, naturalistic settings. This observational cohort study included a large sample of US residents (18-50 years old) and longitudinally evaluated the relationships between naturalistic psychedelic use and changes in depressive symptoms. 21,990 participants completed the T1 survey and 12,345 completed the T2 survey (56.1 % retention). In total, 505 participants (i.e., 4.1 % of T2 survey completers) reported psychedelic use during the study period. The covariate-adjusted models showed a modest association between psychedelic use during the study period and increases in depressive symptoms (β = 0.12, p = .019). When disaggregated by context of use, psychedelic use in a 'risk context' (e.g., negative mindset prior to psychedelic experience, no psychological support present during psychedelic experience) was associated with moderate increases in depressive symptoms relative to no psychedelic use (β = 0.30, p < .001) and psychedelic use not in a 'risk context' (β = 0.27, p = .004). Notably, psychedelic use in a 'risk context' was strongly associated with having a more challenging psychedelic experience (β = 0.59, p < .001), which in turn was associated with modest increases in depressive symptoms (β = 0.16, p = .007) and accounted for the association between psychedelic use in a 'risk context' and increases in depressive symptoms. In conclusion, the findings suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use may not be generally therapeutic and may result in worsening depressive symptoms under certain circumstances. Future epidemiological research should further investigate factors associated with worsening depressive symptoms following naturalistic psychedelic use.

Objectives Moderate mental health problems are highly prevalent and increasing in Swedish schoolchildren, elevating risk for future mental and somatic disability. The aim of this study was to determine whether an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention, Training for Mindfulness and Resilience (TMR), mitigates mental health symptoms and increases resilience during a 2-year follow-up. Methods Schoolchildren (aged 9–14 years) reporting moderate mental health problems were randomized into either TMR intervention group ( N = 22) or control group, receiving best current practice ( N = 12). We used validated questionnaires to measure anxiety, depression, anger, disruptive behavior, self-concept, resilience, stress, and mindfulness before treatment with either TMR or control, as well as at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years follow-up. Results We found a statistically significant effect of TMR intervention vs control, on resilience, anxiety, anger, and disruptive behavior. Compared to baseline, TMR increased the level of resilience at 6 months ( p < .001); anxiety at 1 (p < = .033) and 2 years ( p = .04); anger at 6 months ( p = .004) and 2 years ( p = .039); disruptive behavior at 6 months ( p = .006). In the control group, a decrease in resilience between 6 months and 2 years ( p = .05) was observed. No other significant effects were found in the control group. Conclusions This study suggested that TMR improved mental health in schoolchildren with effects on anxiety and anger lasting for 2 years, and on resilience and disruptive behavior lasting for 6 months. Trial Registration Number NCT04806542, date of registration 18 th of March 2021, retrospectively registered.

Assessments of trustworthiness have become a cornerstone of responsible AI development. Especially in high-stakes fields like healthcare, aligning technical, evidence-based, and ethical practices with forthcoming legal requirements is increasingly urgent. We argue that developers and deployers of AI systems for the medical domain should be proactive and take steps to progressively ensure that such systems, both those currently in use and those being developed or planned, respect the requirements of the AI Act, which has come into force in August 2024. This is necessary if full and effective compliance is to be ensured when the most relevant provisions of the Act become effective (August 2026). The engagement with the AI Act cannot be viewed as a formalistic exercise. Compliance with the AI Act needs to be carried out through the proactive commitment to the ethical principles of trustworthy AI. These principles provide the background for the Act, which mentions them several times and connects them to the protection of public interest. They can be used to interpret and apply the Act's provisions and to identify good practices, increasing the validity and sustainability of AI systems over time.

Background: Whereas findings from case reports and cross-sectional studies suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use may be associated with unusual visual experiences that occur after the acute pharmacological effects have subsided, such findings need to be replicated in longitudinal studies to better understand potential cause-and-effect relationships. Aims: To investigate longitudinal associations between naturalistic psychedelic use and unusual visual experiences. Methods: Using a longitudinal observational research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult populations with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (N = 9732), we investigated the relationship between psychedelic use during the 2-month study period and changes in past-week unusual visual experiences. Results: The follow-up survey was completed by 79% of respondents (n = 7667), with 100 respondents reporting psychedelic use during the 2-month study period (1.3% of those who responded at follow-up). In covariate-adjusted regression models, the results showed that, as hypothesized, psychedelic use during the 2-month study period was associated with greater increases in unusual visual experiences. Notably, there was an interaction between lifetime psychedelic use and psychedelic use during the study period on unusual visual experiences such that those who used psychedelics for the first time reported greater increases in unusual visual experiences. Conclusions: Psychedelic use may elicit unusual visual experiences that occur after the acute pharmacological effects have subsided, especially among those who have not used psychedelics previously. Future longitudinal studies are warranted to further elucidate these relationships.

This paper endeavours to unveil individual characteristics associated with an interest in One Health. Through the distribution of an online survey randomly distributed among the United Kingdom population, we discovered significant correlations between pre-existing attitudes towards and relationships with nature and animals and interest in One Health, which is quantified by the number of additional pages of One Health information participants agreed to view at the survey's conclusion. Additionally, individuals with poorer mental health demonstrated a higher level of interest in One Health. The findings suggest that interest in One Health and people's connections with nature and animals are driven by the same personal preferences. These insights point towards the potential for more targeted communication strategies to specific groups, facilitating more effective promotion of the One Health concept.

The COVID–19 pandemic initially required sustainable behavioural changes to mitigate the spread of the infection. Thus, people were requested to comply with the recommendations given by the authorities. However, adherence to the recommendations varied considerably. Therefore, it is important to understand the driving forces behind such behavioural change. This study aims to investigate how people’s willingness to comply with preventive behaviour, including vaccination, during a pandemic is related to the prosocial emotion of benevolence, the inclination to do well. An online cross-sectional study was performed (N = 1014). The result showed a significant correlation for the whole study population between how well they followed the recommendations (M = 4.16, S = 0.92) and the levels of benevolence (M = 3.58, S = 0.74) r = 0.22, p = < 0.001. Further, there was a significant correlation between altruistic motives and compliance with recommendations, including the view on taking the vaccine. Our findings add to the concept that prosocial orientation during the COVID-19 pandemic increases compliance with preventive behaviour.

The objective of the current study was to investigate, for the first time, the association between individual-level residential greenspace and redemption of antidepressant drugs in a longitudinal nationwide population-based sample in Sweden. A nationwide population-based sample of adults residing in Sweden was studied during 2013-2016 (Nindividuals = 108716; Nobservations = 324378). Residential greenspace land cover was assessed via high resolution geographic information systems, at 50, 100, 300, and 500 m buffers around individual residences. Antidepressant redemptions were assessed through the Swedish National Prescribed Drug Register. Greenspace-antidepressant associations were analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEE), adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and urban factors. Higher greenspace within 50-500 m residential buffer zones was associated with lower levels of prevalent antidepressant redemptions (50 m, odds ratio [OR] 0.878; 100 m, OR 0.891; 300 m, OR 0.873; 500 m, OR 0.899), while only greenspace in the 50 m buffer was associated with incident antidepressant redemptions (OR 0.853), in covariate-adjusted models. In conclusion, residential greenspace is associated with statistically significantly lower prevalent and incident antidepressant medication redemptions. The association is particularly salient for greenspace in the closest buffer zone around the residence. The results underscore the importance of green infrastructure and greenspace in the immediate residential-surrounding environment for mental health, and further point towards the need for an environmental psychiatry framework, and the importance of integrating health and environmental policies, urban planning and greening.

It has long been speculated that psychedelic use could provoke the onset of psychosis, but there is little evidence to support this conjecture. Using a longitudinal research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult populations with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (n = 9732), we investigated associations between psychedelic use and change in the number of psychotic symptoms during the two-month study period. In covariate-adjusted regression models, psychedelic use during the study period was not associated with a change in the number of psychotic symptoms unless it interacted with a personal or family history of bipolar disorder, in which case the number of symptoms increased, or with a personal (but not family) history of psychotic disorders, in which case the number of symptoms decreased. Taken together, these findings indicate that psychedelic use may affect psychotic symptoms in individuals with a personal or family history of certain disorders characterized by psychotic symptomatology.