Disasters, large-scale crises, and prolonged adversities such as pandemics can place sustained psychosocial pressure on families and disrupt everyday family functioning. Although family resilience is increasingly used to explain why some families adapt better than others, the evidence base is dispersed across conceptual, empirical, and intervention-focused work.

We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science and included peer-reviewed studies that examined family resilience or family coping in disaster, pandemic, or sustained adversity contexts. Study selection followed PRISMA 2020 principles. Data were extracted using a standardized form and synthesized using narrative and thematic approaches.

Forty-two studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Across contexts, family resilience was most often described as a dynamic, system-level process that involves shared meaning-making, organizational flexibility, and effective communication. Parenting practices repeatedly emerged as a key pathway linking family resilience to child adjustment. Resilience-oriented family interventions reported overall beneficial effects across disaster, pandemic, and serious illness contexts, with no evidence of harm.

Family resilience is a critical contributor to psychosocial adaptation during disasters and large-scale crises. Interventions that strengthen family-level processes—especially communication, coping skills, and supportive parenting—may offer a scalable approach to improve preparedness, response, and longer-term recovery.

Weight gain is a common, distressing side-effect of antipsychotic medication prescribed for people with severe mental illness. National guidance for antipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG) encourages early intervention and physical health monitoring; healthcare professionals (HCPs) often struggle to implement these recommendations in routine care.

To explore how HCPs understand and respond to AIWG for patients.

This realist evaluation, part of the RESOLVE project, builds on a realist synthesis. Thirty HCPs participated in realist interviews. A programme theory with nine context–mechanism–outcome configurations (CMOCs) was generated, explaining how HCPs perceive non-pharmacological care provision for patients with AIWG. Clinical and lived experience stakeholders reviewed and refined the theory and CMOCs.

The nine CMOCs spanned three areas: (a) systemic and professional challenges; (b) strategies to enhance individualised and meaningful support; and (c) the role and limitations of non-professional support. HCPs described how lack of training, siloed services and system-level constraints limited their ability to offer integrated care. They highlighted the importance of relational continuity, early and tailored conversations, and alignment with patients’ values and motivations. Peer and family support were valued, but structural barriers undermined their consistent implementation.

AIWG was experienced as compromising professional values for HCPs working in mental health settings. Person-centred care was often undermined by fragmented systems, role ambiguity and insufficient training. These issues require investment in professional development, structural integration, and relationship-based approaches that support timely, collaborative action.

Mental health problems in adolescents are increasing. Universal school-based interventions may play an important preventative role.

The aim of the Approaches for Well-being and Mental Health Literacy: Research in Education (AWARE) trial was to evaluate two universal, school-based interventions that previously yielded evidence of impact in other countries: Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) and The Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide).

AWARE was a multi-school, parallel group, cluster randomised controlled trial in English secondary schools. Schools were allocated on a 1:1:1 ratio to one of two interventions or a usual practice control group, balanced on current levels of mental health provision within schools, school location, deprivation and urbanicity. Eligible participants were pupils in schools across England in Year 9 (aged 13–14 years) at baseline. The statistician, quantitative data analyst and economist were masked. Primary outcomes were depressive symptoms measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for YAM and intended help-seeking, measured with the General Help Seeking Questionnaire for The Guide (both at 3–6 months).

153 schools were randomised, including 12 166 pupils (NYAM = 4028 pupils, Nguide = 3997 pupils, Ncontrol = 4141 pupils). We found that for YAM vs control (N = 5516) there was no improvement in depressive symptoms s.m.d. = 0.02; 95% CI –0.05 to 0.10), and for The Guide vs control (N = 5409) we found increased intended help-seeking compared with the control group (s.m.d. = 0.10; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19). A notable minority of schools were unable to deliver YAM because of challenges in implementing it. Increased depressive symptoms scores were observed in both intervention conditions, compared with control at the longer-term follow-up.

The findings indicate that participating in The Guide is effective at improving intended help-seeking. However, due to the increases in depressive symptoms associated with each intervention at the long-term follow-up, further investigation of the potential negative impacts of these programmes is advised before further rollout in English schools.

Trial registration number: ISRCTN17631228.

Post-migration stressors can exacerbate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reduce treatment effectiveness among refugees. Evidence for integrated care models in high-income settings remains limited.

To compare treatment as usual (TAU) with an add-on integrated care intervention for unemployed refugees with PTSD.

We conducted a two-arm, parallel-group superiority trial with 1:1 randomisation to TAU or TAU with an add-on integrated care intervention, delivered at a specialised out-patient clinic in Denmark (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04244864). TAU included sessions with a psychologist and physician over 8–12 months. The integrated care intervention also included structured collaboration with employment services. The primary outcome was functioning, using the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS) interview. Secondary outcomes included symptoms, quality of life and post-migration stressors. Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle, using analysis of covariance and linear regression with multiple imputations.

The study included 195 patients in treatment from 2020 to 2025. No difference was observed in WHODAS score between groups pre- to post-treatment (mean difference 0.30, 95% CI −2.40 to 3.00; P = 0.825). Similarly, no differences were found for secondary or exploratory outcomes, and overall change was limited. However, the integrated care group had a lower rate of early dropout (P = 0.042) and higher level of treatment satisfaction (P = 0.035).

Integrated care was feasible but not superior to TAU in improving outcomes for refugees with longstanding symptoms and unemployment. Future research should examine how the timing and intensity of integrated care interventions influence outcomes, including earlier implementation and adequate support for refugees with longstanding and complex needs.

This systematic review evaluates specialized psychosocial and complex interventions for early bipolar disorder (BD), early borderline personality disorder (BPD), early depression, early psychosis, and first-episode mental illness in general (FEMI).

We included systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions with psychosocial components, excluding trials that focused on pharmacological-only interventions and stand-alone psychotherapies. Searches were conducted in January 2023 across five databases. Review quality was assessed using AMSTAR-2 and risk of bias for RCTs using the Cochrane tool.

Ten studies met the inclusion criteria: seven reviews and three RCTs. High-to moderate-quality evidence supports complex psychosocial interventions combined with pharmacotherapy for early psychosis. The most robust effects were reductions in relapse and improvements in psychosocial functioning; additional benefits were observed for symptom burden, remission, treatment discontinuation, and hospital admissions. Benefits were most sustained in longer-duration, community-based programs. For early BD, limited evidence suggests that combining pharmacotherapy with family-focused therapy or structured psychoeducation may improve the course of illness and treatment satisfaction. One RCT in early BPD reported improved engagement with a developmentally tailored program. Two FEMI RCTs found that nurse-led psychoeducation and psychosocial programs improved in-patient duration, symptoms, insight, self-efficacy, quality of life, and engagement. No eligible studies addressed early-stage depression, indicating a notable evidence gap for multimodal psychosocial interventions.

Complex psychosocial interventions are strongly supported for early psychosis. Preliminary data in BD, BPD, and FEMI suggest consistent benefits for engagement, but further rigorous trials – especially in early depression – focusing on different outcomes – are required.

To describe and assess the overall results of the La Caixa Foundation and the ICO/UVIC Chair of Palliative Care (Former WHO Collaborating Centre) Program “Comprehensive Care of People with Advanced Chronic Conditions” at 15 years (2008–2023).

We used qualitative and quantitative methods, such as prospective, quasi-experimental, and pre-post test designs, to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions led by psychosocial teams providing support to existing healthcare services. Data were collected from the Program’s unique shared online information system, retrieving output and outcomes information, including data obtained from validated psychosocial evaluation instruments and semi-structured interviews with patients, relatives, professionals and other stakeholders, focusing on effectiveness, satisfaction, and perceived quality of different aspects of the Program, as well as outputs.

From 2008 to 2022, the Program implemented 65 teams in Spain and 11 in Portugal across all the provinces, with 379 full-time professionals. They saw 286,644 patients and 371,023 relatives, with a median intervention duration of 2.3 weeks. Patients’ mean (SD) age was 73.2 (14.9) years; 52.3% were women, and most had a cancer diagnosis (60.1%). After 3 consecutive interventions, patients showed significantly improved psychosocial parameters, according to the Assessment of PSS Needs (ENP-E) and Existential Loneliness Detection Scale (EDSOL). Patients, relatives, and stakeholders were highly satisfied. The Program has developed a Master’s degree that has trained over 250 professionals and conducted 371 courses/workshops and 302 lectures. The Program developed tools, manuals, and protocols that were published, available, and common to all professionals involved. It also developed innovative approaches responding to special settings and needs.

A care program within a collaborative framework between public health services and non-profit foundations is an effective, efficient, and feasible model for organizing the psychosocial and spiritual dimension of care for patients with advanced chronic conditions and their relatives.

The new psychosocial goal-setting and manualised support intervention for independence in dementia (NIDUS-Family) is a manualised dementia care intervention.

To evaluate whether goal-setting plus NIDUS-Family is more effective than the control condition (goal-setting and routine care) in supporting dyads’ (family carers and care recipients with dementia) attainment of personalised goals; and to determine participant-perceived goal relevance over 24 months.

We randomised dyads from community settings (2:1): to NIDUS-Family, a manualised psychological intervention tailored to goals that dyads set by selecting modules, delivered in 6–8 video call/telephone sessions over 6 months then 2–3 follow-ups monthly for 6 months; or to control. Outcomes were goal attainment scaling (GAS) (primary) at 18 and 24 months, functioning, quality of life, time until care home admission or death, carer anxiety and depression. Primary analysis, a mixed-effects model, accounted for randomisation group, study site, time, intervention arm facilitator and repeated measurements.

In the period 2020–2021, 204 participants were randomised to intervention and 98 to control; 164 (54.3%) and 141 (46.7%) dyads completed 18- and 24-month outcomes, respectively.

In the primary analysis, including 277 participants contributing 6-, 12-, 18- or 24-month outcomes, adjusted GAS mean differences (intervention–control) at 18 and 24 months were 11.78 (95% CI 6.64, 16.93) and 8.67 (95% CI 3.31, 14.02), respectively. Secondary outcome comparisons were not significant. The hazard ratio for dying or care home admission was 0.80 (95% CI 0.45, 1.42; intervention versus control), and 0.87 (95% CI 0.41, 1.82) and 0.59 (95% CI 0.26, 1.33) for death and care home admission, respectively. Among baseline GAS goals, carers considered 436 (78.0%) relevant at 18 months and 383 (78.5%) at 24 months.

NIDUS-Family improved attainment of GAS goals over 2 years.

ISRCTN11425138.

An increasing number of children and adolescents are prescribed second-generation antipsychotic medications, which may lead to cardiometabolic or other physical health impairments. It is unknown whether lifestyle interventions can prevent or manage these adverse effects.

To evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for preventing or managing cardiometabolic risks and other adverse physical health outcomes in this population.

Four bibliographic databases were searched up to February 2024. Randomised controlled trials reporting a physical health outcome of children or adolescents (aged 6–17 years) taking antipsychotics and participating in a lifestyle intervention compared with treatment as usual (TAU) were eligible for inclusion. The Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool was used to assess risk of bias. Data were synthesised via a random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis.

Four studies with a total of 370 participants were included. Most (75%) had a high risk of bias. Lifestyle interventions resulted in moderate but statistically non-significant reductions in participants’ body mass index (standard mean difference −0.70, 95% CI: −1.70 to 0.31) compared with TAU. Some studies reported improvements in other physical health outcomes favouring the intervention, although findings were inconsistent and varied across different measures. Reporting of secondary indicators of physical health, including participant or family health behaviours, was limited.

The effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for preventing or managing the cardiometabolic risk and other adverse physical health outcomes in this population is unclear due to the limited number of available trials, small samples and high risk of bias. Larger trials are needed.

Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS) is a co-produced group intervention supporting family carers of children (0–5 years) with additional developmental needs. This study compared online (n = 10) and in-person (n = 11) groups to investigate whether mode of delivery was associated with different outcomes. Participants were 98 family carers reporting on their mental well-being, self-efficacy, child symptoms and knowledge pre and post intervention. Generalised estimating equations compared outcomes between groups, controlling for group cluster effects.

Mental well-being improved significantly across both groups (d = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.63), as did an in-session measure concerning mechanisms of change (d = 1.28, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.59) and all other assessed outcomes. There were no significant differences in measured outcomes between online and in-person groups.

Establishing the equivalence of in-person with online groups is an important first step for improving service reach and support access for families of children with additional developmental needs.