# Progress for Goal 2

Learn about the progress NIMH has made toward Goal 2 of the NIMH Strategic Plan for Research: Examine Mental Illness Trajectories Across the Lifespan.

Disparities in Psychotic Disorder Diagnoses and Other Negative Health Outcomes

NIMH researchers found racial and ethnic disparities in rates of psychotic disorders, which were associated with co-occurring medical conditions and negative health outcomes.

Combined, High Maternal Stress and Prenatal COVID-19 Infection May Affect Attention Span in Infants

Prenatal COVID-19 infection increased the risk for impaired attention and delayed socioemotional and cognitive functioning among infants of mothers who experienced high psychosocial stress during their pregnancy. 

Mothers' Difficult Childhoods Impact Their Children’s Mental Health 

In this NIMH-funded study, researchers examined how trauma gets passed from one generation to the next.

Youth Suicide Rates Increased During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

In one of the first studies to examine national youth suicide rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers showed  that the pandemic increased youth suicide rates and the impact varied by sex, age, and race and ethnicity.

Population Study Finds Depression Is Different Before, During, and After Pregnancy

New NIMH-funded research tracked population-level rates of postpartum depression among new mothers before, during, and after pregnancy.

Infants’ Health Record Data May Improve Early Autism Screening

Research supported by NIMH suggests that children’s health records may yield some promising insights that could improve the accuracy of early autism screening.

Attention to Geometric Images May Offer Biomarker for Some Toddlers with Autism

An NIMH-supported study shows that preference for geometric images may be robust enough to serve as a biomarker for identifying some young children with autism.

COVID-19 Pandemic Associated With Worse Mental Health and Accelerated Brain Development in Adolescents

An NIMH-supported study suggests that adolescents living through the COVID-19 pandemic may be experiencing more anxiety and depression symptoms and accelerated brain aging.

Family-Based Intervention Lowers Long-Term Suicide Risk in Youth

In a recent study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers examined the impact of a family-based intervention on suicide risk in youth and found risk-reduction benefits up to 10 years later.

Computational Methods Identify Psychosis Symptoms in Spoken Language

Researchers used computational methods to automatically detect abnormalities in spoken language that could be used to predict symptoms of psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.

Toddlers’ Responses to “Baby Talk” Linked to Social, Cognitive, Language Abilities

In an NIMH-supported study, researchers found that toddlers respond to emotionally expressive speech in different ways, and these varied responses are linked with their social, linguistic, and cognitive abilities.

Low Motivation for Social Bonding May Signal Behavior Problems in Early Childhood

In an NIMH-supported study, researchers found that low social affiliation—low motivation for social engagement and bonding—may be a precursor that identifies children as early as age 2 who are likely to develop callous-unemotional behaviors.

Adult “Picky Eaters” Recall Helpful Parent Feeding Strategies

Researchers asked a group of self-identified adult “picky eaters” to reflect on their parents’ feeding strategies to better understand which strategies were helpful and which weren’t.

Feelings of Detachment After Trauma May Signal Worse Mental Health Outcomes

A new NIMH-supported study shows that experiencing persistent feelings of detachment following trauma is an early psychological and biological marker of worse mental health outcomes.

Study Furthers Understanding of Disparities in School Discipline 

A new NIMH-supported analysis shows that disciplinary disparities occur as early as preschool and that their effects can negatively influence how well students do in later years.

Machine Learning Study Sheds Light on Gaze Patterns in Adults With Autism

NIMH researchers examine what people with ASD and people without ASD look at when viewing a social scene.

Persistent, Distressing Psychotic-like Experiences Associated with Impairment in Youth

In this NIMH-funded study, researchers examined the association between distressing and persistent psychotic-like experiences in youth and important risk factors for psychopathology.

Brain Activity Patterns After Trauma May Predict Long-Term Mental Health

The way a person’s brain responds to stress following a traumatic event, such as a car accident, may help to predict their long-term mental health outcomes, according to NIMH-supported research. 

Mapping ‘Imbalance’ in Brain Anatomy Across the Lifespan

Researchers in the NIMH Intramural Research Program have developed a new way to measure the degree to which the proportions of an individual person’s brain differ from the proportions typically seen in the broader population. This technique yields new insights into brain development and offers tools for further study.

Study Identifies Risk Factors for Elevated Anxiety in Young Adults During COVID-19 Pandemic

A new study has identified early risk factors that predicted heightened anxiety in young adults during the coronavirus pandemic.

NIMH Part of Collaborative Effort to Advance Early Intervention for Individuals at Risk of Developing Schizophrenia

NIMH has joined with other NIH Institutes in launching an new Accelerating Medicines Partnership focused on advancing the development of better ways to identify and treat those at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Outdoor Light Linked with Teens’ Sleep and Mental Health

A large-scale study of U.S. teens shows associations between outdoor, artificial light at night and health outcomes.

Transforming Mental Health Care Through ALACRITY

In 2018, 11.4 million adults in the United States experienced a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, severe bipolar disorder, and severe depression.

Combined Electroconvulsive Therapy and Venlafaxine a Well-Tolerated Depression Treatment for Older Adults

The use of right unilateral ultrabrief pulse (RUL-UB) electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in combination with the antidepressant venlafaxine to treat depression in elderly patients is well tolerated and results in minimal neurocognitive side effects, according to a new NIH-funded study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Using Technology to Help Predict Binge and Purge Episodes in People with Eating Disorders

In binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, people experience recurrent and frequent episodes in which they eat unusually large amounts of food and feel a sense of loss of control. 

Identifying Practices for Reducing Incarceration of Those with Mental Illnesses—A Study of “Stepping Up”

According to a 2017 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately two-thirds of female inmates in prisons and jails and around a third of men in prisons and jails report having been diagnosed as having mental health disorder by a mental health professional.