(August 28, 2018) Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about serious mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the Month
- 701,169 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States
According to a new report released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2016 there were only a little more than 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States, or 2.2 officers per 100,000 population. More than two-thirds of these officers are local police officers, 25% are sheriff officers and less than 10% are state police officers. There was a 4% decrease in the number of sworn officers from 2013 to 2016, according to the report, despite an increase in the US population over that period.
Failures in the mental health treatment laws have made law enforcement officers the de facto front line of the country's mental health crisis -- a medical task that they are not necessarily well suited for. This statistic suggests that this front is also not particularly deep.
RESEARCH of the Month
- Importance of context when examining cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.
Common cognitive impairments and negative symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia, such as difficulty in expressing emotions, pacing up and down and disinterest in interacting with others, are associated with worse outcomes and often are not treatable with medications. A new article in Psychiatric Services reports that this symptomology is context dependent. In other words, both external and internal factors, such as a positive social enriched environment, and stress, respectively, may impact the expression of these negative symptoms and impairments. The authors write that this situational variability is important for physicians to consider when improving clinical outcomes of their patients with schizophrenia.
Mote, J. et al. (2018). Treatment implications of situational variability in cognitive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Psychiatric Services. - Familial high risk for serious mental illness and neurocognitive impairments in childhood.
Children at high-risk of serious mental illness due to having a substantive family history have impairments in cognition, suggesting the importance of examining these deficits for early detection of psychosis. Researchers utilized the Danish High Risk and Resilience study to examine different cognitive profiles for seven-year-old children with familial high-risk for serious mental illness. The authors found that children with familial-high-risk for schizophrenia had different cognitive profiles than children with familial high risk for bipolar disorder, highlighting the importance of monitoring the trajectory of the youth for early detection of psychosis.
Hemager, N., et al. (2018). Assessment of neurocognitive functions in 7-year-old children at familial high risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. - Individuals with serious mental illness participating in research.
Individuals with serious mental illness participate in research studies for similar reasons than the general population, according to new research published in Psychiatry Research. Ninety-two adults with serious mental illness living in supportive housing were interviewed about their reasons for participating in research on social well-being and housing. The authors found that primary reasons for participating including wanting to contribute to science and research and having someone to talk to. Secondary reasons for participating include financial reimbursements and improving their housing situation.
Leickly, E., et al. (2018). Reasons for engaging in research among people with serious mental illnesses. Psychiatry Research.
Elizabeth Sinclair
Director of Research
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Research Weekly is a summary published as a public service of the Treatment Advocacy Center and does not necessarily reflect the findings or positions of the organization or its staff. Full access to research summarized may require a fee or paid subscription to the publications.