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Background: Research has produced conflicting findings on whether ADHD is associated with financial debt. Moreover, as yet, there has been little research on this association in non-Western settings. To address this deficit, this cross-sectional study examined the association between ADHD symptoms and debt in the Japanese general population.

Methods: Data were used from an online sample of 3,717 adults aged >= 18 years old. A single-item question was used to assess debt. ADHD symptoms were measured with the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener. Information was also collected on demographic characteristics and mental health.

Results: In a fully adjusted logistic regression analysis, ADHD symptoms (as a continuous score) were significantly associated with debt in the total sample (OR: 1.04, 95%CI: 1.01-1.07). In sex-stratified analyses, ADHD symptoms were associated with debt in women (OR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.01-1.10), while the association was of borderline statistical significance in men (OR: 1.04, 95%CI: 1.00-1.07, p = .053). When the analysis was stratified by age, ADHD symptoms were significantly associated with debt in adults aged 18 to 34 (OR: 1.10, 95%CI: 1.04-1.16) and 60 and above (OR: 1.09, 95%CI: 1.02-1.16) but not in those aged 35 to 59 (OR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.97-1.05).

Conclusion: ADHD symptoms are associated with debt in Japanese adults. More research is needed to determine the causes and consequences of debt in adults with ADHD.

Introduction Relational aggression (RA), characterized by behaviors aimed at inflicting social harm, is prevalent during adolescence and linked to adverse mental health outcomes. Although RA has been associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, less is known about its relationship with functional impairments (i.e., a reduced ability to perform daily roles) and sex and age differences. This study aimed to examine the associations between RA and mental health outcomes and functional impairment, and to test the effects of sex and age on these associations.Methods Data were used from a representative sample of 2,838 adolescents aged 13-17 years from Arkhangelsk, Russia. Participants completed validated self-report measures assessing RA, depressive symptoms, anxiety, somatic complaints, posttraumatic stress, conduct problems, alcohol use, and functional impairment. Multivariate path analyses were used to estimate associations between RA and all outcomes simultaneously, adjusting for sex, age, and a proxy measure of socioeconomic status (SES).Results RA was significantly associated with depressive symptoms, somatic complaints, posttraumatic stress, conduct problems, alcohol use, and functional impairment, but not anxiety after accounting for the substantial intercorrelations among symptom domains. Sex moderated these associations, with boys showing greater increases in internalizing symptoms and girls exhibiting higher conduct problems and alcohol use at higher levels of RA. Age and the SES proxy measure were also significant predictors of mental health outcomes. No RA-by-age interactions were observed.Discussion By modeling multiple outcomes simultaneously, this study provides novel evidence that RA is associated with a broad and distinctive pattern of psychosocial difficulties beyond general internalizing or externalizing distress. Findings suggest that RA is a clinically relevant marker of adolescent vulnerability with sex-specific correlates that may inform targeted prevention efforts.

Comparatively little is known about the associations between loneliness and anger and aggression in adolescence. This study examined whether anger and aggression are elevated in lonely adolescents. Data were analyzed from 2838 Russian school students (mean age 14.89). Loneliness was assessed with a single-item measure. Information was collected on physical and verbal aggression, relational aggression, anger rumination and trait anger using scale measures. In a full path analysis, higher loneliness was positively associated with all forms of anger and aggression. After adjustment for depressive symptoms and peer victimization, the associations became either non-significant (trait anger, relational aggression) or negative (physical and verbal aggression). In contrast, although the strength of the association was reduced, anger rumination remained significantly associated with loneliness. These findings indicate that the relationships between loneliness, anger, and aggression are complex in Russian adolescents, with depressive symptoms and peer victimization influencing these associations.

The ways of expressing aggression may differ by gender and change with advancing age becoming more indirect or covert. In contrast to other types of aggression, boys and girls may be similar in their use of relational aggression (RA), which may replace other types of aggression by adolescence. Despite this, the relationships between RA and other types of aggression by gender and age are underexplored. This study aimed to compare RA in adolescents from Northwestern Russia and to explore its associations with other types of aggression, related emotions and cognitions, and peer victimization, taking into account the interaction effects between RA, gender, and age. The analytic sample consisted of 2,838 participants, aged 13 to 17 years (57.9% female; 95.8% ethnic Russian). RA, physical, verbal, and proactive aggression, anger rumination, trait anger, and peer victimization were assessed by self-reports. A full path analysis was conducted to explore the associations between the variables. The prevalence of RA was largely similar by gender. Boys reported higher levels of overt aggressive behavior and peer victimization, but lower anger and anger rumination, as compared to girls. Girls and boys with greater RA similarly engaged in a wide range of other types of aggression and experienced more peer victimization, but some gender-specific patterns associated with RA were also found. Increasing age was associated with greater anger rumination and lower peer victimization. This is the first study among Russian adolescents to explore RA in relation to other types of aggression and its emotional correlates by gender. The greater variety of aggressive behavior in more relationally aggressive youth is worrying, given that chronic engagement in multiple forms of aggression carries a greater risk for subsequent problems in social adjustment. The results were in line with those from North American populations, indicating that the findings may be generalizable to other cultures.

Smoking represents a significant public health problem and exploring the factors that may influence its development in youth is of major importance. The research on adolescent populations that addresses the impact of posttraumatic stress on smoking over time, especially using ethnicity and gender perspectives, remains limited. The study was conducted on a representative sample of predominantly ethnic minority youth (N = 2596; 53.5% female; age 11-16 years old (M(SD) = 12.75(1.27)); 58.8% African-American, 25.5% Hispanic American, 13.6% White). Self-reported information was obtained on smoking, symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression in year 1 and on smoking in year 2. Generalised Linear Models were used to explore the association between posttraumatic stress in year 1 and smoking in year two in youth from the different ethnic groups, while controlling for their baseline levels of smoking, depressive symptoms, age and socio-economic status. Posttraumatic stress was related to smoking one year later, and the association remained significant while also adjusting for the baseline variables. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the association was primarily driven by smoking frequency rather than smoking quantity. The association between posttraumatic stress and smoking did not differ by gender or ethnicity, although more females than males reported smoking both at baseline and one year later, and fewer African American adolescents reported smoking, as compared to White and Hispanic American adolescents. The findings emphasize the importance of the timely recognition of traumatic exposure and may inform targeted prevention and early interventions.

Touch, massage, and thermal practices are widely used to promote relaxation, pain relief, and bodily restoration. Yet the mechanisms that make these practices feel pleasurable or restorative are usually explained in separate literatures, including somatosensory neuroscience, pain modulation, autonomic physiology, psychoneuroendocrinology, placebo research, and social psychology. This article proposes the Multilevel Integrative Model of Hedonic Regulation (MIHR) as a conceptual framework for linking these domains. The model synthesizes established findings on tactile and thermal signaling, descending modulation, reward and stress systems, and contextual meaning, while adding a testable account of how pleasure and relief arise when sensory input, bodily state, regulation, and context become aligned for the recipient. The same pressure, stroking velocity, warmth, or cold may feel soothing, neutral, intrusive, or aversive depending on expectation, perceived control, interpersonal trust, cultural familiarity, prior experience, and current bodily state. Relief is central to this account. In massage, sauna, bathing, and contrast exposure, positive affect often comes not only from pleasant stimulation itself, but from the easing of tension, pain, cold, heat, or bodily unease. The MIHR is presented as a testable framework rather than a validated mechanism. Future studies should manipulate sensory and contextual variables together, distinguish anticipation, stimulation, offset, and recovery phases, and combine subjective reports with autonomic, endocrine, and neurobiological measures. The model also separates immediate hedonic pleasure from broader eudaimonic wellbeing, which may emerge when repeated practices support recovery, agency, social connection, and a more secure relation to the body.

Objective: Aggression is a multifaceted behavior that involves cognitive, behavioral, and affective components. Although aggressive behaviors are commonly observed among individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), potential sex-specific aspects of the association between ADHD symptoms and different components of aggression need to be evaluated, while also controlling for comorbid problems.

Method: In the present cross-sectional study, self-reported data were collected from 2,838 adolescents (mean age = 14.89 years) from Russia on ADHD symptoms and cognitive (anger rumination, aggressive beliefs), behavioral (physical, verbal, social, proactive), and affective (trait anger) aspects of aggression as well as comorbid emotional and conduct problems. Generalized linear model analyses were used to examine the associations between ADHD symptoms and aggression and to explore sex differences, while also adjusting for comorbid problems.

Results Clinically significant levels of ADHD symptoms were associated with all components of aggression, and the associations remained significant after adjusting for emotional and conduct problems. Overall, females had higher levels of trait anger and anger rumination, whereas males had higher levels of aggressive beliefs, proactive aggression, and physical and verbal aggression. There was also a sex-specific association, where males with ADHD symptoms reported higher levels of social aggression. Conduct problems moderated the association between ADHD and aggression, increasing the likelihood of trait anger and social aggression in adolescents without ADHD symptoms.

Conclusion: Clinically significant levels of ADHD symptoms seem to impact all components of aggression independent of comorbidity. It is therefore important to consider aggression when evaluating and treating ADHD.

In many countries little is known about the attitudes and ethical beliefs of practicing psychiatrists towards the use of coercive practices. This is true as regards Russia where coercion was used for political purposes during the Soviet period. However, substantial changes have occurred in the psychiatric system in recent decades with a focus on patients' rights and the idea of consent. This study aimed to investigate the beliefs and attitudes of Russian psychiatrists towards coercive treatment practices in situations of clinical decision making. Data were obtained from 93 (81 % of all practicing) psychiatrists in the Arkhangelsk region in northwestern Russia. The psychiatrists completed three case vignettes to obtain information regarding the use of coercive treatment practices in different clinical situations, and responded to an ethical attitudes inventory. The psychiatrists' decisions regarding coercive treatment, and the extent of information provided to the patients and their relatives were impacted by the severity and risks (violence, suicidality) associated with the patient's disorder. In most instances psychiatrists were not responsive to pressure from the patient's family or other hospital personnel. Very few gender differences in attitudes and practices were found. Psychiatrists generally reported that they encountered different situations with abusive practices primarily in the past. This study suggests that the factors associated with the use of coercive treatment practices by Russian psychiatrists may mirror those in other countries. Further research should elucidate the actual extent to which coercive practices are used in Russian psychiatry and delineate the factors associated with their actual use.

Community violence exposure (CVE) is one of the most common adverse childhood experiences worldwide. Despite this, its potential effect on disordered eating in adolescents from different cultures is underexplored. In the present cross-sectional study, self-reported data were collected from 9751 students (Mean age = 14.27) from Belgium, Russia and the US on CVE (witnessing violence and violence victimization), eating disorder (ED) symptoms (ED thoughts with associated compensatory behaviors), and comorbid symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Increased CVE (from no exposure to witnessing to victimization) was associated with more ED symptoms, and the associations remained significant after adjusting for comorbid conditions. The associations were similar for adolescents across the three countries. No gender differences were observed in the association between CVE and ED symptoms, even though girls in general reported more ED symptoms than boys. We conclude that CVE appears to be associated with ED symptoms in three culturally different samples of adolescents.

Objectives: To examine the association between food insecurity (FI) and loneliness in countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Methods: Data were analysed from 15,568 adults in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine, collected in the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) survey in 2010-2011. Information was obtained on both FI and loneliness with single-item measures. Logistic regression was used to examine associations.

Results: In a fully adjusted analysis, moderate (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.16-1.57) and severe FI (OR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.58-2.38) were associated with significantly higher odds of loneliness in the pooled sample. In sex- and age-stratified analyses, severe FI was associated with loneliness in all population subgroups, with odds ratios ranging from 1.69 to 1.99. However, moderate FI was linked to loneliness in only three of the five subgroups. In further analyses, FI was associated with loneliness in six of the nine countries.

Conclusion: FI is associated with loneliness in FSU countries. Efforts to increase food security in these countries may be important for improving physical and psychological well-being among adults in the general population.