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Both the rate of mobile phone addiction and suicidality among adolescents have increased during the pandemic lockdown. However, the relationship between mobile phone addiction and suicide risk and the underlying psychological mechanisms remains unknown. This study examined the associations between mobile phone addiction in adolescents during the first month of lockdown and the suicide risk in the subsequent five months. A two-wave short-term longitudinal web-based survey was conducted on 1609 senior high school students (mean age = 16.53 years, SD = 0.97 years; 63.5% female). At Time 1 (T1), the severity of mobile phone addiction and basic demographic information was collected from Feb 24 to 28, 2020 in Sichuan Province, China (at the pandemic’s peak). Five months later, between July 11 and July 23 (Time 2, T2), mobile phone addiction, daytime sleepiness, depression, and suicidality were measured within the past five months. The regression analysis revealed that mobile phone addiction during quarantine directly predicted suicidality within the next five months, even after controlling for the effect of depression and daytime sleepiness. Meanwhile, mobile phone addiction at T1 also indirectly predicted suicidality at T2, with depression and daytime sleepiness mediating this association. Programs targeting improvement of daytime sleepiness and depressive symptoms may be particularly effective in reducing suicide risk among adolescents with mobile phone addiction.

Background Schizophrenia has a global prevalence of 1% and is a threat to life expectancy and mortality. There is growing evidence that the risk of developing this disorder is higher in males than in females and tends to develop in early adulthood. The Y chromosome is thought to be involved in biological processes other than sex determination and spermatogenesis that affect male health and disease. Studies have found that Loss of Y chromosome (LOY) in peripheral blood is associated with a variety of diseases, cancer and increased all-cause mortality, so an analysis of the relationship between LOY and schizophrenia is warranted. Methods The study included 442 Chinese males (271 patients with schizophrenia vs 171 controls). The copy numbers of Y and X chromosome were detected by the positive droplets targeted with Amelogenin gene (AMEL) located on the Y chromosome and X chromosome (AMELY and AMELX) using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), respectively. The LOY percentage was defined as the difference between the concentration of AMELX and the concentration of AMELY divided by the concentration of AMELX, denoted as (X - Y)/X. Results There was no significant difference in the presence of LOY between the schizophrenia and control groups in Chinese Han population. A remarkable correlation was found between the disease duration and (X - Y)/X ratio by using the mean (R2 = 0.51, p = 0.032). The logistic regression analysis implied that the risk of suffering LOY increases by 5.8% and 5.7% per year with age at onset and duration of the disease, respectively (ponset = 0.013, pduration = 0.017). Conclusions For the Chinese Han population, age of onset and duration of schizophrenia might be risk factors for LOY development in peripheral blood. More clinical information and larger sample size need to be collected for more in-depth and specific analyses.

To investigate the accuracy of the polygraph when used on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to analyze the factors influencing accuracy to enable provision of some field data for expert witnesses. Sixty patients with TBI (experimental group) and sixty normal individuals (control group) were tested by the polygraph with a Stimulation Test; responses of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse were recorded. The intelligence quotient of the experimental participants was measured and the factors influencing the accuracy of the polygraph test were analyzed. According to the computer automatic scoring, the overall accuracy was 76.7% for the control group; the accuracy of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse was 76.7, 35, and 18.7%, respectively, whereas for the experimental group, the overall accuracy was 56.7%. The accuracy of skin conductance, respiration, and finger pulse was 55.6, 23.3, and 25%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the overall accuracy between the two groups (P=0.020). According to the examiner's manual scoring, the overall accuracy was 86.7% for the control group and 61.7% for the experimental group (χ=9.786, P=0.002). The difference in accuracy obtained from the examiner and the computer was not significant. In the experimental group, the intelligence quotient of participants who had the right outcome was 63.2±10.9 and it was 55.3±9.5 for those who had the wrong outcome; this difference was significant (t=2.68, P=0.010).The accuracy of a polygraph test is much lower when it is used on patients with TBI compared with that of normal individuals. In actual application, full communication with the examinees should take place and their comprehension of the protocol should be evaluated. If participants can understand and co-operate with the test, the outcome can be considered reliable; if not, the outcome should not be relied on.

Background Schizophrenia (SCZ) has a global prevalence of 1% and increases the risk of mortality, reducing life expectancy. There is growing evidence that the risk of this disorder is higher in males than in females and it tends to develop in early adulthood. The Y chromosome is thought to be involved in biological processes other than sex determination and spermatogenesis. Studies have shown that loss of chromosome Y (LOY) in peripheral blood cells is associated with a variety of diseases (including cancer) and increased all-cause mortality. An analysis of the relationship between LOY and schizophrenia is warranted. Methods A total of 442 Chinese males (271 patients with schizophrenia vs. 171 controls) were included in this study. The copy numbers of the Y and X chromosomes were detected by positive droplets targeting the amelogenin gene (AMEL) on the Y chromosome and X chromosome (AMELY and AMELX, respectively), using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). The LOY percentage was defined as the difference between the concentration of AMELX and the concentration of AMELY divided by the concentration of AMELX, denoted as (X - Y)/X. Results In the Han Chinese population, the LOY percentage was higher in the schizophrenia group than in the control group (p < 0.05), although there was no significant difference in the presence of LOY between the two groups. A strong correlation was found between the average of the disease duration and the average of the LOY percentage (R2 = 0.506, p = 0.032). The logistic regression analysis implied that the risk of LOY increases by 0.058 and 0.057 per year according to age at onset and duration of disease, respectively (ponset = 0.013, pduration = 0.017). Conclusions In the Han Chinese population, the LOY percentage of the disease group was significantly different from that of the control group. The age of onset and duration of schizophrenia might be risk factors for LOY in peripheral blood cells. A larger sample size and expanded clinical information are needed for more in-depth and specific analyses.