Annotated Bibliography Topics for Mental Health

Today we’re putting mental health on the study table with clear, student-ready angles you can build into an annotated bibliography. We know the field touches learning, relationships, and campus life, and we see how fast new evidence, tools, and policies are changing the conversation. We aim to help you narrow broad ideas into focused research questions, compare methods and findings, and cite high‑quality sources with confidence. We will share curated topic ideas grouped by core issues, specific populations, interventions and services, policy and ethics, and emerging tech and media.

Best Mental Health Annotated Bibliography Topics

We will pair each topic with a crisp focus so you can spot what to summarize, what to critique, and what gaps to note. We’ve kept the list practical and classroom-ready, so you can pick a lane and start annotating today.

1. We investigate olfactory version control for wet-lab protocols

– How do we encode procedural diffs as reproducible scent profiles to reduce cognitive load in sterile environments?
– Can we improve protocol recall if we train teams to smell-check steps, and do we observe fewer deviations under time pressure?
– What do we learn about cross-lab transferability when we standardize scent libraries across institutions?

2. We map unintended choreographies between delivery drones and migratory birds in mixed-use urban airspace

– How do we fuse radar, citizen science logs, and telemetry to quantify shared corridors and near-miss behaviors?
– Can we co-design adaptive flight etiquette that we validate in situ without disrupting protected species?
– What do we predict about seasonal pattern shifts under climate anomalies, and how do we communicate risk to operators?

3. We measure linguistic drift using weekly household grocery lists as a micro-corpus

– How do we model code-switching, neologism adoption, and semantic compression across bilingual families over a year?
– Can we infer household stress or abundance from list morphology, and do we validate findings against ethnographic diaries?
– What do we learn about intergenerational language transfer when siblings co-author lists on different devices?

4. We prototype a slow-interface email client that enforces communal reflection pauses

– How do we calibrate just-in-time friction so we lower escalation in contentious threads without harming responsiveness?
– Can we demonstrate reductions in toxic language and burnout in academic departments over a semester-long deployment?
– What do we uncover about power dynamics when pause budgets are asymmetrically allocated by role?

5. We explore data fermentation: letting datasets improve through timed, community-curated decay

– How do we formalize beneficial rot where low-consensus samples expire unless renewed by use and review?
– Can we show that fermented datasets yield more robust models in low-resource domains compared to static baselines?
– What do we observe about contributor motivation when we reward preservation versus pruning behaviors?

6. We study biosonic feedback in offices by listening to plant water stress and its effects on human focus

– How do we non-invasively capture ultrasonic cavitation events and map them to indoor environmental controls?
– Can we improve worker concentration if we sonify plant well-being, and do we see reciprocal watering behaviors?
– What do we learn about empathy spillover when teams co-steward plant soundscapes?

7. We design moss media as a civic memory substrate in rainy cities

– How do we pattern living moss QR codes on public stone that persist and self-heal as participatory archives?
– Can we evaluate accessibility, vandal-resistance, and ecological co-benefits relative to metal plaques?
– What do we discover about place attachment when residents contribute to living annotations over seasons?

8. We co-train slime molds and generative models to co-design micromaze sensors

– How do we set up a feedback loop where Physarum growth informs architecture priors that in turn sculpt nutrient gradients?
– Can we fabricate low-power environmental sensors from the resulting patterns, and do we surpass hand-designed baselines?
– What do we learn about hybrid intelligence when we compare failure modes across perturbations?

9. We evaluate neighborhood battery swarms as emergent governance during outages

– How do we choreograph peer-to-peer energy sharing rules that adapt to equity goals and device constraints?
– Can we simulate and field-test fairness, trust, and resilience metrics across mixed-income blocks?
– What do we learn about social norms when we introduce visible energy reciprocity dashboards?

10. We analyze calendar weather: how weekly meeting microclimates shape cognitive load and creativity

– How do we model the thermodynamics of scheduling—heat (back-to-back intensity), pressure (stakeholder count), and turbulence (context switching)?
– Can we reduce idea attrition by reflowing agendas like fluid networks, and do we measure gains in novelty?
– What do we uncover about equity when we redistribute cognitive weather fronts away from marginalized staff?

11. Mental health of digital nomads and borderless communities

We examine how highly mobile, location-independent work shapes loneliness, anxiety, access to care, and resilience. We ask: (1) Does frequency of relocation predict depressive and anxiety symptoms? (2) Which virtual community features reduce isolation and which exacerbate comparison-driven distress? (3) How do transnational barriers affect help-seeking and continuity of care? We outline: We will perform a systematic review of existing mobility and mental health literature, implement an international cross-sectional survey using PHQ-9/GAD-7 plus mobility metrics, and conduct purposive qualitative interviews; we will triangulate quantitative associations with thematic insights to propose interventions for continuity of care.

12. Microdosing psychedelics, workplace functioning, and mental health trajectories

We investigate the longitudinal mental health and cognitive trade-offs of informal microdosing practices among working adults. We ask: (1) What are short- and long-term effects on mood, anxiety, and cognitive control? (2) Does microdosing change workplace productivity, burnout risk, or help-seeking behavior? (3) What patterns of use and expectation mediate reported benefits versus harms? We outline: We will combine prospective cohort tracking with ecological momentary assessment, standardized cognitive tasks, and propensity-matched comparisons to non-microdosing peers; we will incorporate qualitative diaries to contextualize subjective benefits and adverse events.

13. Algorithmic augmentation of content moderation and moderators’ moral injury

We explore how AI-assisted moderation tools reshape stress, moral distress, and coping among content moderators. We ask: (1) Does reliance on algorithmic triage reduce or shift exposure to harmful content and associated trauma? (2) How does perceived fairness/transparency of AI decisions influence moral injury and turnover? (3) Which organizational supports mitigate negative mental health outcomes when humans and AI collaborate? We outline: We will use mixed-methods: organizational case studies comparing human-only, AI-assisted, and fully automated workflows; psychometric assessments of moral injury and PTSD symptoms; and intervention pilots testing informed consent, debriefing, and workload redistribution.

14. Urban heat islands, social vulnerability, and acute mental health crises

We assess whether chronic exposure to urban heat amplifies acute psychiatric presentations and alters symptom patterns across vulnerable neighborhoods. We ask: (1) Is local heat exposure associated with increased emergency psychiatric visits, aggression, or suicidality? (2) How do socioeconomic and green-space buffers moderate these effects? (3) What temporal lags exist between heat spikes and psychiatric crises? We outline: We will link high-resolution temperature sensors and land-surface data to emergency department and crisis hotline records, apply time-series and spatial regression models, and stratify by social vulnerability indices to inform place-based interventions.

15. Caregiver identity conflict in multigenerational households and mental health outcomes

We analyze how competing role expectations across generational lines produce identity strain and affect caregiver mental health. We ask: (1) How do adult children reconcile filial obligations with professional and personal identities? (2) Which cultural narratives predict higher caregiver burden and depressive symptoms? (3) What support structures reduce identity conflict and psychiatric morbidity? We outline: We will conduct comparative ethnographic work in multicultural cities, administer caregiver burden and identity integration scales, and test culturally adapted psychoeducational interventions in randomized feasibility trials.

16. Long-term efficacy and unintended harms of gamified self-therapy apps

We interrogate whether gamification elements in mental health apps sustain clinical improvement or produce avoidance, gaming of metrics, or overreliance. We ask: (1) Which gamification features predict sustained symptom reduction versus short-term engagement only? (2) Are there iatrogenic effects (e.g., reduced help-seeking, overconfidence in self-management)? (3) How do individual differences (age, clinical severity) moderate outcomes? We outline: We will combine RCTs comparing gamified versus non-gamified app versions with long-term follow-up, analysis of in-app behavior logs, and qualitative exit interviews to map mechanisms of benefit and harm.

17. Disruption of communal religious rituals during public-health crises and grief processing

We probe how interruptions to collective rituals (funerals, mourning rites) during pandemics alter trajectories of complicated grief and community mental health. We ask: (1) Do disrupted rituals increase prolonged grief disorder or PTSD symptoms? (2) What adaptive ritual substitutions (virtual rites, memorials) effectively mitigate distress? (3) How do ritual disruption effects vary by tradition and social capital? We outline: We will use mixed-method longitudinal cohorts of bereaved individuals from diverse faith communities, compare standard grief measures over time, and analyze effectiveness of structured ritual-replacement interventions.

18. Algorithmic job-matching platforms and the mental health of the long-term unemployed

We study how opaque recommendation algorithms affect hope, perceived fairness, motivation, and mental health among jobseekers. We ask: (1) Does algorithmic feedback (rankings, rejection reasons) influence job-search self-efficacy and depressive symptoms? (2) What platform design elements reduce search fatigue and learned helplessness? (3) How does personalized versus randomized exposure to opportunities impact re-employment and psychological outcomes? We outline: We will run field experiments on job platforms manipulating feedback transparency and personalization, measure psychological mediators (motivation, attribution), and follow-up for employment and mental-health endpoints.

19. Cross-cultural validity and clinician reliance on AI emotion-recognition tools in psychiatry

We evaluate biases, misclassification risks, and the clinical consequences when clinicians use AI emotion-detection in diverse populations. We ask: (1) How do emotion-recognition models perform across cultures, age groups, and speech/language variants? (2) Does clinician reliance on biased AI outputs alter diagnostic accuracy or therapeutic rapport? (3) Which calibration and training strategies reduce harm and build patient trust? We outline: We will perform multi-site validation studies with ethnically diverse clinical samples, clinician-in-the-loop simulation trials to assess decision changes, and co-design workshops to produce guidelines for safe deployment.

20. Community-based environmental stewardship as an intervention for eco-anxiety

We test whether structured local ecological action (restoration projects, citizen science) reduces eco-anxiety and increases agency compared with individual therapy alone. We ask: (1) Does participation in stewardship reduce rumination and anxiety about climate change? (2) Which program features (collective vs solo, measurable outcomes, education components) most effectively build resilience? (3) How durable are mental-health benefits and do they translate into sustained civic engagement? We outline: We will implement cluster-randomized community trials pairing standardized psychotherapy with facilitated stewardship activities, use validated eco-anxiety measures plus civic-engagement indices, and conduct mediation analysis on agency and social connectedness.

21. Ambient indoor plant microbiome exposure and workplace anxiety

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Does variation in the microbiome of office plants correlate with workers’ anxiety levels and inflammatory markers? Can intentional modification of indoor plant microbiota reduce daily stress and physiological stress responses? What mediating role do immune markers and perceived air quality play? We recommend mixed methods: we would run a controlled intervention introducing microbiome-modified plants, collect salivary cortisol, inflammatory panels, GAD-7 scores, EMA of anxiety, and shotgun sequencing of plant and air microbiomes.

22. Algorithmically curated music playlists and depressive rumination dynamics

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: How do algorithmically personalized playlists influence short-term rumination versus human-curated playlists? Do playlist recommendation features (tempo, lyrical themes) differentially trigger or reduce rumination in people with depressive symptoms? What neural correlates underlie the interaction between algorithmic selection and rumination? We would conduct crossover RCTs with EMA of rumination, acoustic/textual analysis of playlists, and an fMRI sub-study to probe neural responses.

23. Intermittent digital fasting (scheduled social-media abstinence) and adolescent identity consolidation

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Does scheduled, repeated short-term abstinence from social platforms promote more stable self-concept and reduced social comparison in adolescents? What dose and schedule maximize benefit without social harm? Which moderators (peer norms, baseline self-esteem) predict response? We recommend a school-based cluster RCT with baseline/longitudinal self-concept measures, EMA, qualitative interviews, and measurement of social network activity.

24. Urban light pollution, circadian disruption, and bipolar episode timing

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Is local nocturnal light exposure associated with timing and frequency of manic/hypomanic episodes? Is there a dose–response link mediated by sleep/circadian markers? Can targeted reductions in household and neighborhood nocturnal light reduce episode recurrence? We suggest combining GIS-derived light exposure mapping, personal light and actigraphy monitoring, longitudinal mood symptom tracking, and an intervention pilot to reduce light exposure.

25. Conditional microloans for mental-health treatment engagement among low-income adults

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Do small conditional microloans that subsidize transport/therapy attendance increase engagement and reduce depressive symptoms compared to standard referral? How do financial empowerment and stress interact to affect outcomes? Are effects gendered or moderated by baseline financial stress? We propose an RCT pairing microfinance-like conditional support with mental health services, measuring attendance, symptom trajectories, and qualitative economic stress narratives.

26. Food-delivery app interface design as a trigger or buffer for disordered eating behaviors

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Which app UI elements (suggested items, hero imagery, reward nudges) increase risk of binge ordering among individuals with subthreshold or clinical eating disorders? Can redesigns reduce triggering behaviors without harming usability? What ethical frameworks should guide platform changes? We would run lab-based behavioral experiments using mock app interfaces, EMA of eating episodes, A/B tests with consenting users, and stakeholder interviews.

27. Domestic animal–scent cued memory interventions for late-life PTSD symptoms

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Can olfactory cues associated with a beloved pet evoke safe autobiographical recall that reduces PTSD intrusions in older adults? What are the neural and autonomic mechanisms of scent-triggered therapeutic effects? Is this approach feasible and acceptable in geriatric populations? We recommend a pilot randomized controlled feasibility trial using personalized scent exposures, PTSD symptom scales, autonomic monitoring, and in-depth interviews.

28. Shared wearable sleep-stage displays among couples and mental health outcomes

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Does mutual visibility of sleep-stage data between partners affect anxiety, perceived surveillance, sleep quality, and relationship satisfaction? Do different sharing modalities (aggregate vs. moment-by-moment) produce divergent outcomes? What privacy boundaries moderate effects? We would run a dyadic experimental study with couples randomized to different sharing conditions, using actigraphy, validated relationship and anxiety measures, and post-intervention qualitative enquiry.

29. Empathetic scripting of voice-activated home assistants to reduce loneliness in older adults

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Does programming voice assistants with validated empathic-response scripts reduce self-reported loneliness and social isolation relative to neutral-response assistants? Does usage pattern shift toward reliance, and what are downstream effects on human social contact? We recommend a randomized trial deploying modified assistant firmware in older-adult homes, measuring UCLA Loneliness Scale, social network changes, usage logs, and acceptability interviews.

30. Intermittent hypoxic training as an adjunctive neuromodulatory treatment for treatment-resistant depression

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose research questions: Can short, controlled intermittent hypoxic exposures safely augment neuroplasticity and clinical response in treatment-resistant depression? What cognitive and neural markers predict responders, and what are safety thresholds? We would pilot a double-blind, sham-controlled trial combining intermittent hypoxia protocols with neuroimaging (BDNF proxies, connectivity) and standardized depression scales, with rigorous safety monitoring.

31. Algorithmic Therapeutic Storytelling: AI-generated narratives as mood-regulation interventions

We ask: How do personalized AI-generated therapeutic stories influence momentary mood and coping compared with standard self-help text?; We ask: Which narrative features (perspective, ambiguity, resolution) mediate reductions in rumination and physiological arousal?; We ask: How do user trust and perceived agency moderate therapeutic effects?
We describe how to work on this: We design an experimental, mixed-methods study using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with randomized exposure to tailored AI narratives versus control texts, collect pre/post mood, HRV and skin conductance, and conduct qualitative interviews about perceived agency and trust to map mechanisms.

32. Ghost Notifications and Social Anxiety: psychological effects of unseen social signals

We ask: How do persistent but unacted-upon digital cues (e.g., unread notifications, seen indicators without reply) affect baseline social anxiety and anticipatory stress?; We ask: Do individual differences in attachment style predict sensitivity to ghost notifications?; We ask: Can brief cognitive-reappraisal interventions reduce their impact?
We describe how to work on this: We implement an EMA protocol combined with passive smartphone sensing to log notification patterns, assess momentary anxiety and cortisol sampling for stress, and run a within-subject trial of cognitive-reappraisal prompts delivered after ghost-notification events.

33. Urban Microclimate Exposure and Mental Health: green roofs, thermal islands, and mood variability

We ask: How does daily exposure to microclimatic variations (heat islands vs. green roofs) predict fluctuations in affect and cognitive fatigue?; We ask: Can micro-exposure to vegetated rooftops buffer against heat-related increases in irritability and sleep disruption?
We describe how to work on this: We recruit urban residents and equip them with wearable temperature sensors, GPS, EMA for mood and cognition, and sleep trackers over hot and cool weeks; we use GIS mapping to quantify microclimate exposure and multilevel models to link exposure to outcomes.

34. Virtual Co-presence in Mourning Rituals: effects on grief processing and social support

We ask: How does participation in live-streamed or avatar-mediated funerary rituals affect acute and prolonged grief trajectories compared to in-person rituals?; We ask: Which ritual features (synchronous interaction, shared artifacts, anonymity) predict sense of closure and social connectedness?
We describe how to work on this: We conduct a longitudinal cohort study of bereaved individuals who choose virtual vs. in-person rituals, combine standardized grief inventories, social network mapping, and in-depth interviews, and analyze ritual transcripts for affordances that facilitate meaning-making.

35. Scent Memory Engineering in Public Transit and Commuter Stress

We ask: Can deliberate olfactory interventions in transit hubs reduce commuter stress and aggression during peak hours?; We ask: How do scent-associated autobiographical memories mediate mood changes and commuter tolerance?
We describe how to work on this: We run randomized controlled trials installing controlled scent diffusers in transit stations, measure commuter stress via brief EMA, observational aggression coding, and biometric samples (salivary cortisol), and conduct memory-evocation tasks to assess associative mechanisms.

36. Content Moderation Feedback and Creator Anxiety: psychological costs of algorithmic flags

We ask: How do algorithmic content-moderation signals (flags, demonetization notices) affect content creators’ anxiety, identity, and creativity?; We ask: What coping strategies do creators use, and which predict sustained mental health versus burnout?
We describe how to work on this: We combine a longitudinal survey of creators with digital trace analysis of moderation events, conduct semi-structured interviews to map identity impacts, and test brief supportive interventions (peer moderation debriefs) in a randomized pilot.

37. Wearable Feedback Loops and Health Anxiety: effects of continuous biometric transparency

We ask: Does continuous feedback from consumer wearables increase health-related anxiety in people prone to somatic concerns?; We ask: Can algorithmic smoothing or uncertainty-signaling reduce maladaptive monitoring without diminishing beneficial health behaviors?
We describe how to work on this: We randomize participants to different wearable feedback algorithms (raw vs. smoothed vs. uncertainty-labeled), measure health anxiety, checking behaviors, and daily functioning over 8 weeks, and analyze whether interface design reduces maladaptive effects.

38. Mental Health of Microinteraction Gig Workers: task semantics, emotional labor, and wellbeing

We ask: How do the semantic content and emotional valence of micro-tasks (e.g., content labeling, moderation snippets) influence worker mood and moral injury over time?; We ask: What organizational or platform-level variables mitigate adverse effects?
We describe how to work on this: We undertake an ethnographic and survey study of microtask workers, code task content for semantic/emotional load, link task exposure to mood diaries and sleep data, and model platform policy differences as moderators.

39. Augmented Reality (AR) Community Games and Long-term Social Wellbeing

We ask: How does sustained participation in location-based AR community games influence social connectedness, loneliness, and incidental physical activity across diverse demographics?; We ask: Which game mechanics (cooperative objectives, narrative depth) foster prosocial mental-health outcomes?
We describe how to work on this: We conduct a mixed-methods longitudinal study combining game telemetry, pre/post measures of loneliness and social capital, wearable activity tracking, and cluster analyses of player interaction patterns to identify healthy design features.

40. Cross-cultural Expressions of Workplace Silence in Hybrid Work and Burnout

We ask: How do cultural norms about silence and indirect communication interact with hybrid work modalities to influence emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic symptoms?; We ask: What communication interventions preserve cultural norms while reducing burnout risk?
We describe how to work on this: We perform comparative multinational case studies in hybrid workplaces, use surveys measuring workplace silence and burnout, run focus groups to identify culturally consonant interventions (e.g., structured check-ins), and pilot those interventions with pre/post evaluation.

41. Urban nocturnal soundscapes, ecological grief, and adolescent anxiety

We propose to examine how chronic exposure to altered urban night sounds contributes to ecological grief and anxiety among adolescents. We ask: How does sustained awareness of biodiversity loss, signaled through changes in nocturnal soundscapes, mediate anxiety symptom trajectories in youth? We ask: Which acoustic features (e.g., loss of insect chirps, altered bird calls, increased artificial noise) correlate with measures of ecological grief and sleep disruption? We outline: We will combine passive acoustic monitoring, longitudinal self-report ecological grief scales, actigraphy for sleep, and mixed-effects modeling to attribute variance to soundscape changes versus socioeconomic confounders.

42. Algorithmic psychotherapy: effects of recommender-system drift on therapeutic alliance

We propose to investigate how shifts in AI recommender behavior over time influence client perceptions of therapeutic alliance in digital mental health platforms. We ask: How does recommender-system drift (gradual algorithmic changes) affect trust, perceived empathy, and dropout rates among users of automated CBT apps? We ask: Can transparency notices about algorithmic updates mitigate negative impacts on alliance? We outline: We will run a randomized field experiment embedding controlled drift manipulations in a therapeutic recommender, measure alliance scales repeatedly, and use causal mediation analysis to test transparency interventions.

43. Microbiome-targeted psychonutrition in adolescent social anxiety

We propose to test targeted prebiotic/probiotic supplementation as an adjunct to CBT for adolescent social anxiety, focusing on social reward processing. We ask: Does modifying gut microbial metabolites alter neural markers of social reward responsiveness and reduce social avoidance? We ask: Which microbial taxa shifts predict clinical responders? We outline: We will run a double-blind RCT with stool metagenomics, serum metabolomics, social reward fMRI, and clinical outcomes to map microbe–metabolite–brain–behavior pathways.

44. Moral injury in gig economy drivers: prevalence, app-mediated triggers, and coping networks

We propose to study moral injury among gig economy drivers exposed to app-driven ethically fraught decisions (e.g., refusing riders, transporting vulnerable passengers). We ask: What app interface features or platform incentives precipitate moral distress and moral injury symptoms? We ask: Which peer and digital coping networks buffer long-term moral injury outcomes? We outline: We will use ecological momentary assessment, in-depth qualitative interviews, and social network analysis to identify platform-exposure patterns and protective community structures.

45. Intermittent fasting regimens and mood variability in bipolar spectrum disorders

We propose to explore whether time-restricted eating stabilizes mood variability without triggering affective switches in bipolar spectrum individuals. We ask: Does a 10-hour feeding window reduce daily mood lability and inflammatory markers compared with habitual eating patterns? We ask: What biomarkers predict risk of mood elevation under fasting conditions? We outline: We will implement a crossover trial with daily mood diaries, continuous glucose monitoring, inflammatory panels, and safety monitoring for hypomanic/manic switches.

46. Cross-modal sensory integration therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD

We propose to develop a therapy combining patterned tactile stimulation with odor-cued memory reconsolidation to enhance extinction in treatment-resistant PTSD. We ask: Does synchronous tactile-olfactory pairing during memory updating sessions amplify retention of reduced fear responses compared with unimodal approaches? We ask: Which sensorimotor cortical changes predict clinical gains? We outline: We will pilot an RCT with psychophysiological fear-conditioning paradigms, neuroimaging of multisensory cortex, and standardized PTSD outcome measures.

47. Real-time smartphone haptics as an adjunct to DBT for emotion regulation in borderline personality features

We propose to integrate context-aware haptic micro-interventions delivered by smartphone into DBT skills practice to test effects on momentary distress and behavioral outcomes. We ask: Can personalized haptic patterns delivered at identified physiological arousal thresholds reduce impulsive crises more effectively than standard push notifications? We ask: What personalization features (timing, intensity, pattern) optimize adherence and efficacy? We outline: We will develop a closed-loop system combining wearable galvanic skin response sensors, algorithmic detection of crises, and adaptive haptic interventions, then run an N-of-1 aggregated trial series.

48. Financial toxicity, algorithmic tipping, and depressive symptoms among rideshare drivers

We propose to quantify how opaque tipping algorithms and earnings volatility create financial toxicity that predicts depressive symptom trajectories in rideshare drivers. We ask: How does perceived unfairness in platform tipping algorithms mediate the relationship between income volatility and depression? We ask: What platform policy simulations reduce financial toxicity-related mental health burden? We outline: We will merge platform-logged earning datasets, EMA mood reports, and experimental vignettes manipulating perceived algorithm fairness to model policy-relevant mental health impacts.

49. Anticipatory grief and identity formation among climate-displaced children

We propose to study how anticipatory grief over future homeland loss shapes identity development and resilience in children from households planning climate migration. We ask: How does chronic anticipatory grief interact with developing cultural identity, prosocial engagement, and academic trajectories? We ask: Which community-based interventions facilitate adaptive identity integration and reduce pathological grief? We outline: We will conduct a longitudinal mixed-methods study in at-risk coastal communities combining child interviews, caregiver reports, school outcomes, and pilot community narrative interventions.

50. Neurophenomenology of lucid dreaming induction as a rapid adjunct for treatment-resistant depression

We propose to investigate whether trained lucid dreaming induction (LDI) can acutely modulate depressive rumination and hopelessness through dream-based cognitive reappraisal. We ask: Does systematic LDI training reduce rumination scores and suicidal ideation more quickly than sham LDI in treatment-resistant depression? We ask: What neural signatures during REM predict durable benefit from LDI? We outline: We will run a controlled trial with polysomnography-verified LDI training, ecological daily rumination sampling, and REM-sleep EEG/fMRI to link phenomenology, neural markers, and clinical response.