Low levels of serum 25(OH)D are associated with depressive symptoms, but no effect was found with vitamin D supplementation.

The Internet has the potential to increase the capacity and accessibility of mental health services. This study aimed to investigate whether an unguided Internet-based self-help intervention delivered without human support or guidance can reduce symptoms of depression in young people at risk of depression. The study also aimed to explore the usage of such sites in a real-life setting, to estimate the effects of the intervention for those who received a meaningful intervention dose and to evaluate user satisfaction. Young adults were recruited by means of a screening survey sent to all students at the University of Tromsø. Of those responding to the survey, 163 students (mean age 28.2 years) with elevated psychological distress were recruited to the trial and randomized to an Internet intervention condition or the waiting list control group. The Internet condition comprised a depression information website and a self-help Web application delivering automated cognitive behavioural therapy. The participants in the waiting list condition were free to access formal or informal help as usual. Two-thirds of the users who completed the trial initially reported an unmet need for help. The findings demonstrated that an unguided intervention was effective in reducing symptoms of depression and negative thoughts and in increasing depression literacy in young adults. Significant improvements were found at 2-month follow up. Internet-based interventions can be effective without tracking and thus constitute a minimal cost intervention for reaching a large number of people. User satisfaction among participants was high.

Background“Mental health for everyone” is a school program for mental health literacy and prevention aimed at secondary schools (13–15 yrs). The main aim was to investigate whether mental health literacy, could be improved by a 3-days universal education programme by: a) improving naming of symptom profiles of mental disorder, b) reducing prejudiced beliefs, and c) improving knowledge about where to seek help for mental health problems. A secondary aim was to investigate whether adolescent sex and age influenced the above mentioned variables. A third aim was to investigate whether prejudiced beliefs influenced knowledge about available help.MethodThis non-randomized cluster controlled trial included 1070 adolescents (53.9% boys, M age14 yrs) from three schools in a Norwegian town. One school (n = 520) received the intervention, and two schools (n = 550) formed the control group. Pre-test and follow-up were three months apart. Linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations models were employed for analysis.ResultsMental health literacy improved contingent on the intervention, and there was a shift towards suggesting primary health care as a place to seek help. Those with more prejudiced beleifs did not suggest places to seek help for mental health problems. Generally, girls and older adolescents recognized symptom profiles better and had lower levels of prejudiced beliefs.ConclusionsA low cost general school program may improve mental health literacy in adolescents. Gender specific programs and attention to the age and maturity of the students should be considered when mental health literacy programmes are designed and tried out. Prejudice should be addressed before imparting information about mental health issues.

The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI-II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV Axis I Disorders-Clinician Version (SCID-CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub-scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84-0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75-0.89). Optimal cut-off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI-II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS-D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20-0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI-II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut-offs as mentioned above.