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Prevalences for mental disorders within minor refugees are comparatively high and heterogeneous. To reduce heterogeneity and identify high-risk subgroups, we compared unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) to accompanied refugee minors (ARM) regarding depressive symptoms and mental distress. Furthermore, we examined associative factors of mental distress in URM on a broad scale. We conducted a survey with a cross-sectional design in four German University hospitals. The sample consisted of n = 172 URM and n = 52 ARM aged 14–21. Depressive symptoms were assessed via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Mental distress was assessed by the Refugee Health Screener (RHS-15). Mann–Whitney test was used to examine differences between URM and ARM. Associated factors of mental distress were evaluated via a stepwise multiple regression analysis. URM showed significantly higher mean scores for PHQ-9 (p <.001) and RHS-15 (p <.001) compared to ARM indicating medium effect sizes. Furthermore, URM were significantly more likely to surpass the cut-off for depression (61.6% vs. 30.8%) and overall mental distress (81.4% vs. 53.8%) compared to ARM. The factors Number of stressful life events (SLE), Female gender, and Fear of deportation were found to be associated with an increased mental distress in URM, whereas Weekly contact to a family member, School attendance, and German language skills were accompanied with lower distress scores. All six factors accounted for 32% of the variance of mental distress in URM (p <.001). Within minor refugees, URM are a highly vulnerable subgroup, which should receive particular attention and more targeted measures by health authorities. Our results indicate that these measures should comprise a rapid promotion of family contact, school attendance, language acquisition, and the fast processing of asylum applications. However, the cross-sectional design limits the interpretability of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The russian invasion in Ukraine has significantly affected the mental health (MH) of the local population while access to mental health support remains limited due to multiple reasons coming from both the provider and acceptor sides. The war obviously negatively impacts MH but has also paradoxically given an "open window" for shifting current practices both in the healthcare system and within society. Investigation of current people's attitudes on this matter should be the primary step to address the issue and initiate any change. Objectives: 5 main objectives identified to analyze within the convenience sample were: MH state and self-care behaviors during the full-scale invasion, MH stigma and self-stigma, intention to use professional MH support, beliefs on access to professional MH support, query to change current MH attitudes and practices. Methods: This research was conducted using primary data collection. The online questionnaire consisted of 5 blocks and was designed based on PHQ-9, DASS-21, PCL-5, Brief-COPE and CAMI. 332 civilians underwent the survey in March-April 2023 and were divided by age, gender, location and situation; inclusion criteria were to be >16 y.o. being affected by war and capable of completing the survey in Ukrainian. Relevant ethical measures were applied. Descriptive and correlational analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The majority of respondents rated their mental health as good. Anxiety was the most prevalent emotion, particularly among younger age groups. Different genders and age groups exhibited varying combinations of emotions, such as fatigue, peace, anger, sadness etc. Many participants felt self-reproach for not doing enough; coping strategies varied among age groups. Females were 8.14 times more likely to seek mental health support, and those inside Ukraine were 0.32 times less inclined. 66.2% never seek any MH services, with older men leading; only 8.7% consult specialists during crises, showing gender differences. Distrust in specialist qualifications is one of the barriers on access in people's beliefs and is more prevalent among older generations. The absence of self-mental health stigma makes individuals 1.91 times more open to accessing support. Location affects openness to change, with Ukraine-based individuals being less open. Lastly, 29.5% consider alternative stress-coping methods, with 40% open to future psychological help. Conclusions: Our findings show differences in populational attitudes towards MH in Ukraine during the war and therefore the importance of any potential intervention to precisely tailor certain subgroups, beliefs behaviors and needs within them to have a higher chance of being accepted and increase MH support utilization in the population overall. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of Schizophrenia (SCZ) have provided new biological insights; however, most cohorts are of European ancestry. As a result, derived polygenic risk scores (PRS) show decreased predictive power when applied to populations of different ancestries. We aimed to assess the feasibility of a large-scale data collection in Hanoi, Vietnam, contribute to international efforts to diversify ancestry in SCZ genetic research and examine the transferability of SCZ-PRS to individuals of Vietnamese Kinh ancestry. In a pilot study, 368 individuals (including 190 SCZ cases) were recruited at the Hanoi Medical University's associated psychiatric hospitals and outpatient facilities. Data collection included sociodemographic data, baseline clinical data, clinical interviews assessing symptom severity and genome-wide SNP genotyping. SCZ-PRS were generated using different training data sets: (i) European, (ii) East-Asian and (iii) trans-ancestry GWAS summary statistics from the latest SCZ GWAS meta-analysis. SCZ-PRS significantly predicted case status in Vietnamese individuals using mixed-ancestry (R2 liability = 4.9%, p = 6.83 × 10−8), East-Asian (R2 liability = 4.5%, p = 2.73 × 10−7) and European (R2 liability = 3.8%, p = 1.79 × 10−6) discovery samples. Our results corroborate previous findings of reduced PRS predictive power across populations, highlighting the importance of ancestral diversity in GWA studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]