HealthDay (2/12, Neff) reports a study “suggests that wearable trackers can detect the subtle signs of a depression relapse weeks or even months before an actual episode.” The study followed 93 Canadian adults with “a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and had previously recovered from a depression episode” for up to two years. The participants “wore a research-grade device similar to a Fitbit or Apple Watch around the clock and had regular in-person visits for depression assessment and data download.” Researchers observed that “a person’s daily rhythms tell a story. Specifically, people with irregular sleep schedules had nearly double the risk of falling back into a depressive episode. The most telling sign wasn’t just how long someone slept, but how different their day was from their night.” Specifically, “when the data showed less of a difference between daytime movement and nighttime rest, a relapse was often right around the corner.” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.

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— “Smartwatches May Soon Predict a Depression Relapse,”Deanna Neff, HealthDay , February 12, 2026

MedPage Today (2/11, Firth) reports, “Drug overdoses, homicides, and suicides accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths among pregnant and postpartum women, an analysis of maternal deaths from 2018 through 2023 showed.” Researchers found that “among 7,901 maternal deaths over this 6-year period, the leading cause was unintentional drug overdose, accounting for 1,152 deaths (5.2 deaths per 100,000 live births), followed by violence, defined as homicide or suicide (866 deaths; 3.9 deaths per 100,000 live births).” They noted that “altogether, homicides accounted for 68% of all violent deaths, and firearms were involved in 77% of homicides and 39% of suicides.” Furthermore, “violence and overdose accounted for 2,018 deaths, while the next four most common causes of death – cardiovascular causes, hypertension, infection, and hemorrhage – together accounted for 2,141 deaths.” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Rheumatology Advisor (2/10, Kuhns) reports, “Greater everyday discrimination is associated with worse patient-reported lupus activity and symptom burden, but these relationships are mediated by depression and anxiety symptoms, according to study results.” Investigators came to this conclusion after conducting an analysis that “included data collected between 2020 and 2021 from adults with physician-confirmed SLE in the San Francisco Bay Area.” The findings were published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

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— “Discrimination Worsens SLE Symptom Burden Through Depression and Anxiety,”Lisa Kuhns, PhD, Rheumatology Advisor, February 10, 2026

Neurology Advisor (2/10, Saha) reports, “Pregnancy and breastfeeding are associated with less later-life cognitive decline, according to” research. Investigators came to this conclusion after conducting “a longitudinal secondary analysis of 2 Women’s Health Initiative cohorts: the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS; n=7427) and the Women’s Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA; n=2304).” The findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

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— “Pregnancy, Breastfeeding Linked to Reduced Cognitive Decline in Older Age,”Rajan Saha, Neurology Advisor, February 10, 2026

MedPage Today (2/10, Jeffrey) reports, “Exercise effectively reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, comparable to results seen with pharmacological or psychological interventions, according to a systematic umbrella review with a meta-meta-analysis of randomized trials.” Researchers observed that “exercise had a medium-sized effect on reducing depression symptoms (standardized mean difference [SMD] -0.61, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.54), while it had a small-to-medium effect on reducing anxiety symptoms (SMD -0.47).” They noted that “while exercise was effective across all age groups, the greatest benefits of exercise on depression were seen in adults ages 18 to 30 years (SMD -0.81), as well as among postnatal women (SMD -0.70).” The review was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/9) reports a study of Swedish registry data found that “the male-to-female ratio of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be more equal than commonly believed.” The research team “analyzed nearly 2.8 million individuals born in Sweden between 1985 and 2020 – identifying 78,522 (2.8%) who were diagnosed with ASD by the end of 2022. Across the whole cohort, the male-to-female ratio of ASD was 1.6:1 – though the data showed that the yearly gap has been shrinking over time.” They noted the “average age of ASD diagnosis was 14 years – among males, diagnoses peaked between ages 10 to 14 while in females diagnoses peaked between ages 15 to 19. In 2022, the ASD male-to-female ratio at age 10 was 3:1 – but by age 20, the ratio dropped to 1.2:1.” The findings “show a pattern of significant ‘catch-up’ in recognizing ASD in females over the past 40 years in Sweden.” The study was published in The BMJ.

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— “Is Autism a Predominantly Male Disorder?, Psychiatric News , February 9, 2026

Psychiatric News (2/6) reported, “Socially isolated older adults who received one of two brief, telephone-based psychosocial interventions showed significant reductions in loneliness at 12 months compared with those who received ‘befriending’ phone calls that didn’t include psychosocial skills,” according to findings from a study of 1,151 older adults in Hong Kong. However, “the findings were mainly applicable to lonely, Cantonese-speaking, older adults with limited resources and may not be generalizable to populations with greater socioeconomic, cultural, or linguistic diversity.” The research was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Brief Lay-Delivered Phone Interventions Can Reduce Loneliness Among Older Adults, Psychiatric News, February 6, 2026

Research by Lauren Osborne, M.D., reproductive psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, has identified a potential biomarker for postpartum depression (PPD). Examining the metabolic progesterone pathway throughout pregnancy showed that a lower pregnanolone-to-progesterone ratio and elevated isoallopregnanolone in the third trimester were associated with PPD risk. Further investigation may help determine who can benefit from earlier treatment intervention.

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— “Dr. Lauren Osborne: Research Uncovers a Potential Biomarker for Postpartum Depression Risk, NYP, February 5, 2026

MedPage Today (2/4, George) reports, “A large longitudinal study challenged longstanding assumptions about the gender prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).” Investigators found that “among 2.7 million people born in Sweden between 1985 and 2022 and followed from birth up to age 37, 2.8% were diagnosed with autism at a mean age of 14.3 years.” The data indicated that “diagnosis rates increased steadily throughout childhood, peaking at 645.5 per 100,000 person-years for males ages 10-14 and 602.6 per 100,000 person-years for females ages 15-19.” The findings were published in The BMJ.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/3) reports a systematic review of 110 studies across more than 20 countries found that “aggressive obsessions – intrusive thoughts of intentionally or unintentionally harming oneself or others – are a common feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).” Researchers observed that “lifetime and current (i.e., past-week) prevalence rates of aggressive obsessions were 70.3% and 52.6%, respectively. Aggressive obsessions were the primary and most distressing symptom for 28% of patients.” In addition, “patients with early-onset OCD and/or suicidal ideation were more likely to report aggressive obsessions than patients with late-onset OCD and/or no suicidal ideation.” The researchers “noted that the results underscore the importance of appropriate recognition and treatment of aggressive obsessions in OCD, given how commonly they are misidentified.” The review was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

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— “Aggressive Obsessions Common in OCD, Psychiatric News, February 3, 2026