College presents unique opportunities and stressors that challenge psychosocial adjustment. This 4-year longitudinal study examines multiple aspects of adjustment in 5,532 college students from immediately pre-college across each of 4 academic years. Student adjustment generally worsens across the first 2 years in the domains of psychological functioning (decreased self-esteem; increased depression, anxiety, and stress), cognitive-affective strategies (decreased active emotional coping, increased avoidant emotional coping), and social adjustment (decreased social support from friends). The latter 2 years generally witness improvement, though only recovering to pre-college levels in self-esteem and active emotional coping for women, and just the latter for men. Women experience worse initial psychological functioning (more distress and lower self-esteem), though their self-esteem recovers by the end of college. Men exhibit worse friend support and active emotional coping, and a pattern of worsening avoidant emotional coping throughout college. Current findings highlight the first 2 years as an extended transition period when prevention programs may be especially needed.

Although many college students face mental health challenges, the rate of mental health service utilization among students is low. Stigma complicates the experience of mental health problems, and interferes with students' likelihood of pursuing needed services. This randomized controlled trial examines the effectiveness of a peer-led group-based intervention for students living with mental illness. Honest, Open, Proud-College (HOP-C) aims to reduce the stigma of mental illness and help participants make informed decisions about whether and how to disclose their mental health status. In a sample of 118 students across 3 campuses, randomized to HOP-C or a waitlist, the intervention evidenced significant benefits for (a) self-stigma about mental illness (particularly, harm from self-applied stereotypes), (b) appraisals of perceived resources to cope with stigma-related distress (but not appraisals of stigma as a stressor), and (c) self-efficacy about disclosure of their mental health status (but not self-efficacy about keeping mental health status a secret). Exploratory analysis did not support HOP-C as improving participants' symptoms of depression or anxiety. HOP-C has promise for addressing the prevalent challenges of mental health stigma, which in turn may help students receive needed services to improve their mental health and associated life outcomes.

There is a need to develop treatments for cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). The significant role played by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in both the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and in neuronal plasticity suggests that facilitation of NMDAR function might ameliorate CIAS. One strategy to correct NMDAR hypofunction is to stimulate α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) as AMPAR and NMDAR functioning are coupled and interdependent. In rats and nonhuman primates (NHP), AMPAR potentiators reduce spatial working memory deficits caused by the nonselective NMDAR antagonist ketamine. The current study assessed whether the AMPAR potentiator PF-04958242 would attenuate ketamine-induced deficits in verbal learning and memory in humans. Healthy male subjects (n=29) participated in two randomized treatment periods of daily placebo or PF-04958242 for 5 days separated by a washout period. On day 5 of each treatment period, subjects underwent a ketamine infusion for 75 min during which the effects of PF-04958242/placebo were assessed on ketamine-induced: (1) impairments in verbal learning and recall measured by the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test; (2) impairments in working memory on a CogState battery; and (3) psychotomimetic effects measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Clinician-Administered Dissociative Symptoms Scale. PF-04958242 significantly reduced ketamine-induced impairments in immediate recall and the 2-Back and spatial working memory tasks (CogState Battery), without significantly attenuating ketamine-induced psychotomimetic effects. There were no pharmacokinetic interactions between PF-04958242 and ketamine. Furthermore, PF-04958242 was well tolerated. 'High-impact' AMPAR potentiators like PF-04958242 may have a role in the treatment of the cognitive symptoms, but not the positive or negative symptoms, associated with schizophrenia. The excellent concordance between the preclinical (rat, NHP) and human studies with PF-04958242, and in silico modeling of AMPAR-NMDAR interactions in the hippocampus, highlights the translational value of this study.

This longitudinal study explored the unique profiles of maltreatment among youth in the child welfare system and examined their relation to mental health outcomes over time. We additionally examined the moderating role of age. Participants included 316 youth in the foster care system (age range: 6–13 years). Data were collected through the Department of Children and Family Services upon youths’ entry into foster care, then quarterly for the duration of care. A latent profile analysis identified five profiles of maltreatment, categorized as primary neglect (PN), neglect and physical abuse (PA), complex trauma, complex trauma with severe sexual abuse (SA), and neglect with SA. A hierarchical general linear model applied to the data revealed that all four classes predicted higher internalizing symptom trajectories compared with the PN reference class, event rate ratios (eRRs) = 1.19–1.37, but none of these associations were significantly moderated by age. Membership in the two classes categorized by complex trauma predicted higher externalizing behavior trajectories as compared to the PN reference class, eRRs = 1.11–1.13. The relation between membership in the neglect with SA class and externalizing behaviors was moderated by age, eRR = 0.83. Finally, membership in all four classes predicted higher posttraumatic stress symptoms as compared with the reference group, eRRs = 1.84–2.45, and with all associations moderated by age, eRRs = 0.51–0.53. These findings provide insight into the maltreatment experiences of youth in the child welfare system and have important implications for treatment needs.

Youth in child welfare often experience emergency shelter care, a type of congregate setting, while a permanent placement is arranged. The present longitudinal study explored the impact of initial emergency shelter placement on long-term externalizing behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency) and internalizing symptom (i.e., anxiety, depression) trajectories, and whether kinship involvement moderated the effect of shelter placement on behavioral outcomes. The sample consisted of 282 youths (55.3% male) with an average age of 9.90 years ( SD = 2.37); 36.9% experienced an emergency shelter placement. Data were collected from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Caseworkers completed the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths, which measured youths' behavioral outcomes. Results suggested that shelter care was not associated with externalizing behavior trajectories. However, shelter care was associated with internalizing symptoms among children with less kinship involvement. Results from this study suggest that best practices for shelter care should leverage kinship involvement.

The transition into higher education is internationally recognized as a critical developmental period characterized by changes in contexts, identities, relationships, roles, and responsibilities. Further, it typically coincides with the developmental progression from late adolescence to emerging adulthood, which brings its own challenges and opportunities for success as well as struggle. This confluence of disruption and change can contribute to psychological upheaval or reveal resilience. The entry begins with a discussion of the current state of higher education enrollment, and describes the transition to higher education within various key domains, including considerations of identity and development in emerging adulthood, relational and financial changes during this transition, and the impact on mental health. The entry concludes with a discussion of institutional programs aimed at supporting the transition into higher education, and recommendations for future programming.

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