Welcome to the third issue of 2025. The ten articles selected for this issue will be briefly discussed. The articles come from an international perspective with articles from the Philippines, Pakistan, Algeria, India, Egypt and England. This shows how MHSI continues to publish work from across the globe. A number of papers have a focus on adolescents, the COVID-19 pandemic and several have a technologically-driven focus, providing readers with a variety of articles in the area of mental health and social inclusion. We hope you enjoy this selection of articles in this issue.
The first paper by Viking and Repper, “Interprofessional education for mental health professions and peer support workers – to facilitate learning in teamwork”, adds to the literature on the value of peer support in mental health services. The paper looks at interpersonal learning suggesting an interprofessional education approach for mental health professionals and peer support workers and considers how this approach may look, using the expertise and experiences that both professionals and peer support workers can bring to an interprofessional approach.
The second paper, “Moderating effects of gender and place of residence on the relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction”, by Kingston and Shekhar has a technological angle, with an investigation into the correlation between loneliness and smartphone addiction. The findings suggest that loneliness leads to smartphone addiction irrespective of gender and place of residence. This paper adds to the literature around smartphone addiction and mental health and technology use more broadly.
The next paper again has a technology-driven focus looking at a virtual community-based mental health and substance use program. “A randomized controlled trial of a virtual community-based mental health and substance use program” in the Philippines, by Labastilla and colleagues. It considers the value of a virtual community for Filipino drug users during the COVID-19 pandemic focussing on developing and building recovery skills as well as life skills in clients. The paper provides support for such virtual communities in the recovery process, with more research needed in this area to enable service users to develop the skills to provide a virtual community. The paper adds to the research on the value of virtual environments in the reduction of stigma in accessing services and increasing support for patients in recovery.
The paper “Intersections of family expressiveness and adolescent mental health: exploring parent–adolescent relationships as a mediator”, by Sabah and Alduais, looks at the mediating role of parent–adolescent relationships on adolescent psychological adjustment. The data were collected from middle school students in Algeria. Adding to the area of mental health through insights into the importance of the parent–adolescent relationship as well as family dynamics in promoting adolescent psychological well-being and development.
“Stigma and fear of schizophrenia and severe mental illness: the positive effect of peer support” by authors Gray and Sisto, provides a service user narrative focussing on the role peer support can have to help reduce the stigma and isolation experienced by people diagnosed with schizophrenia. The paper explores the experiences observed in a men’s mental health ward in England. This paper offers the reader insights from Ben’s experience of being diagnosed with Schizophrenia over a 20-year period and Ben’s observations over a 15-month period of working on the ward as a peer support worker. A real insight into the lives of people living with severe mental health conditions and the second paper in this issue looking at the role of peer support workers in supporting people’s mental health.
“The role of religious and financial factors in eudaimonic well-being among Indian adults” article by authors Lekha and colleagues, used information from the India Global Flourishing Study with data from over 9,000 Indian adults. This considered eudaimonic well-being to understand the role of parent–child religious attendance during childhood, religious connectedness and financial-material stability and their impact on eudaimonic well-being among adults from the Indian sample. Findings highlight the importance of feeling financial stable and religious connectedness. This is the second paper in this issue considering the role and importance of the family in mental health for young people.
Another paper, with an adolescent focus as well as a COVID-19 focus in this issue, is the paper by Jester and colleagues “Gains and losses: a phenomenographic study on adolescents’ understanding of isolation due to COVID-19”. Another study with a Filipino sample, it looks at the isolation of adolescents during COVID-19. The research helps the understanding of isolation during the adolescent stage moving forward from the pandemic to support adolescents, who may be experiencing isolation and how to support their emotional and well-being needs.
“Examining the Impact of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Styles on Maladaptive Schemas in Adults with Depression: Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy” by Usman and colleagues takes a look at parenting styles and the influence they have on adults with depression from a sample of adults in Pakistan. The findings highlight the impact of parental involvement on the development of adults with depression, adding to our understanding of mental health in adulthood through a look at the parent dynamic.
Mwogosi and colleagues in their article “AI-driven innovations for enhancing mental health care in Tanzania: opportunities and challenges” consider the role artificial intelligence can play in mental health support in low-resource settings. The research uses a qualitative approach, with interviews and focus groups gaining insights from a range of stakeholders including health-care provides, patient groups, policy makers and experts in the field of AI. AI is an important and growing area of focus with advances in AI technology being developed at a fast pace and being used in all aspects of all lives. This article provides readers with insights on how AI can bridge some of the gaps in mental health service delivery and is a timely piece of research.
The final paper in this issue by Lathabhavan and El-Bardan, “COVID-19 mental health impacts on academic engagement: a study on students of Egypt and India”, considers the COVID-19 pandemic from a student perspective in terms of the pandemic impact on academic engagement, stress and life satisfaction across two countries. From structural equation modelling on a large sample of over 2,000 participants a number of interesting findings were revealed from the data. For instance, gender differences were found across the countries with female Indian students experiencing more mental health and academic concerns than their male counterparts. The strength of the relationship between fear of COVID on engagement and life satisfaction was stronger for the Egyptian participants compared to the Indian participants.
Ten different papers from six different countries. The fact that three of the papers focus on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that over four years later, COVID continues to cast a shadow over the world.
Dr Julie Prescott, Co-Editor Professor Jerome Carson, Editor-in-Chief
