scholarly journals Psychological consequences of hospital isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic - research on the sample of polish firefighting academy students

Author(s):  
Irena Walecka ◽  
Piotr Ciechanowicz ◽  
Klaudia Dopytalska ◽  
Agata Mikucka-Wituszyńska ◽  
Elżbieta Szymańska ◽  
...  

AbstractCurrently, a very important thread of research on COVID-19 is to determine the dimension of the psychopathological emotional reactions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. A non-experimental online research project was designed to determine the predictors of the severity of psychopathological symptoms, such as depression and PTSD symptoms, and the nature of the feedback mechanism between them in groups of men, remaining in hospital isolation due to infection and at-home isolation during the COVID-19 epidemic. The presence of symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a sense of threat due to the pandemic were assessed using the following screening tests: IES-R by Weiss and Marmar, PHQ-9 by Spitzer et al., and a self-constructed sliding scale for assessing COVID-19 anxiety. The study was carried out on a group of 57 firefighting cadets, hospitalized in a COVID-19 isolation room (Mage = 23.01), staying in isolation due to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and a control group of 57 healthy men (Mage = 41.38) staying at home during quarantine and national lockdown. COVID-19 pandemic causes many psychopathological reactions. The predictive models revealed that the predictors of symptoms of PTSD in isolated patients included depression and the experienced sense of COVID-19 threat resulting from the disease, while in the control group the symptoms of depression were the only predictor of PTSD. PTSD experiences are usually associated with depression. It may also be a form of the re-experiencing process or the effect of high affectivity, indirectly confirmed by the participation of hyperarousal in the feedback loop. Our findings highlight the importance of mental health aspects in patients treated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic requires social distancing, quarantine and isolation, which may cause psychopathological symptoms not only in affected people, but also in the general population. Moreover, the need for greater psychological support can be emphasized for both: the sick and the general population.

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (5) ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Nataliya E. Kharlamenkova ◽  
◽  
Dariya A. Nikitina ◽  

The article is devoted to the study of delayed (post-traumatic) stress caused by different types of stressful situations (death of a loved one, life-threatening diseases, traffic accidents, situations of physical and emotional violence) during early adulthood, the analysis of specific psychological markers of its intensity. The study involved 509 people (232 men and 277 women) aged 17 to 35 years (Me = 21; SD = 4,3). Methods: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) in the Russian-language adaptation by N. V. Tarabrina and co-authors for the diagnosis of stressful events and their psychological consequences; the list of stress situations contained in the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5) for DSM-5; the Symptom Check List-90-r-Revised (SCL-90-R) technique in the Russian-language adaptation by N. V. Tarabrina and co-authors was used to evaluate psychopathological symptoms. It has been shown that the most severe in intensity posttraumatic stress causes situations that pose a threat to the physical and psychological well-being of a person at the same time (violence and life-threatening disease). Taking into account the level of mental trauma and the type of stressor, an analysis of a number of features of psychopathological symptoms was carried out. The results of the study made it possible to identify markers of severe post-traumatic stress, which were indicators of violation of contact with reality, expressed in distancing a person from the surrounding reality, distrust of the world, suspicion, phobic anxiety.


Author(s):  
Nadezhda N. Kazymova ◽  
Natal'ya Ye. Kharlamenkova ◽  
Dar'ya A. Nikitina

The article analyses the specifics of the psychotraumatic experience associated with the experience of loss of a loved one (due to an accident or natural causes) and the threat to life caused by the presence of a dangerous disease. It is shown that the psychotraumatic effect of the experience of these events is similar in the degree of intensity of post-traumatic stress and some symptoms, with the exception of the symptom of arousal, which takes the highest rates in the sudden nature of the psychotraumatic situation (sudden death, dangerous diseases or injuries). It was found that the closest relationship between the level of post-traumatic stress and psychopathological symptoms (anxiety, somatisation, interpersonal sensitivity, etc.) is observed in the case of delayed experience of a dangerous disease, which allows us to consider it as a special existential situation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-212
Author(s):  
N.E. Kharlamenkova ◽  
D.A. Nikitina

The article presents the results of the theoretical and empirical study of the psychological consequences of the different types of stressors impact on humans. A frequency analysis of extreme stressful events was carried out on the sample n=529 people (from 17 to 41 years old, 233 men and 296 women). In order to study the psychological consequences of certain types of stressors – natural disasters and life-threatening diseases influence, an analysis of post-traumatic stress and psychopathological symptoms was carried out in the part of the sample (n=90 people). The k-means cluster analysis divided the sample into three groups, the first of which included mainly respondents who indicated life-threatening diseases, and the third one – natural disasters; in the second group, events were distributed evenly. Comparison of different groups data allowed us to verify the hypothesis of the study. Revealed that the psychological consequences of natural disasters and life-threatening diseases differ in the level of post-traumatic stress and psychopathological symptoms – depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoia and other symptoms, which are more pronounced in people with a severe somatic disease in anamnesis. The success of coping with psychological consequences of the various stressors influence is analyzed in the context of interpreting these consequences as a collective or individual trauma.


Author(s):  
M. T. Andreeva ◽  
T. A. Karavaeva ◽  
I. V. Kalinin

Attitude towards the disease and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis as a target of personalized psychotherapy for PTSDA chronic, progressive, potentially disabling disease with a poor prognosis can trigger the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The article presents the results of a survey of 127 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), of which 61 patients had PTSD symptoms that developed in connection with the underlying disease were verified. The control group included 67 patients with MS who were resistant to stress. To fulfill the objectives of the study, all patients underwent a thorough collection of anamnestic information. To study the structure of the internal picture of the disease, we used a test technique aimed at diagnosing the type of attitude toward the disease (TOBOL). The study of QOL indicators was carried out using the SF-36 questionnaire.To assess the cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects of anxiety about progression, the following questionnaires were used: “A short questionnaire for assessing the fear of disease progression” A. Mehnert, P. Herschbach, P. Berg (2006), adapted by N.А. Sirota, D.V. Moskovchenko (2014) and “Questionnaire of cognitive ideas about the disease” A. Evers, F. Kraaimaat (1998), adapted by N.A. Sirota, D.V. Moskovchenko (2014). As a result of the study,   it was revealed that the patients of the main group have significantly lower scores of both physical and mental functioning when assessing the quality of life. At the same time, patients with PTSD are characterized by a higher intensity of anxiety about progression, negative thinking, and emotional reactions associated with the disease. An inadequate internal picture of the disease, characterized by the presence of mental maladjustment due to the disease, prevails in the group of patients with PTSD. All of these factors can be predictors of the development of PTSD. It is necessary to conduct further studies of the psychological characteristics of this group of patients in order to identify the targets of psychotherapeutic influence.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1383
Author(s):  
Yueyang Zhang ◽  
Jingjing Zhao ◽  
Juzhe Xi ◽  
Bingbing Fan ◽  
Qiong Wang ◽  
...  

Background: When COVID-19 emerged in China in late 2019, most Chinese university students were home-quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus, considering the great impact of the lockdown on young people habits and their psychological well-being. This study explored the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its associated factors among Chinese university students who are isolated at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: 4520 participants from five universities in China were surveyed by online questionnaire and the PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version (PCL-C) was adopted as a screening instrument. Results: Exposure to virus was significantly related to PTSD outcomes. The most important predictors for PTSD outcomes were parents’ relationship and the way parents educated, and university-provided psychological counseling was a protective factor against developing PTSD. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had adverse psychological consequences on Chinese university students who were isolated at home due to the relatively high prevalence rate of PTSD which was reported. Adverse parental relationships and the extreme way parents educate their children could be the major risk factors for PTSD outcomes. Psychological interventions need to be made available to home-quarantined university students, and those in the worst-hit and exposed areas to virus should be given priority focus.


Author(s):  
Daniele Suzete Persike ◽  
Suad Yousif Al-Kass

AbstractPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a multifaceted syndrome due to its complex pathophysiology. Signals of illness include alterations in genes, proteins, cells, tissues, and organism-level physiological modifications. Specificity of sensitivity to PTSD suggests that response to trauma depend on gender and type of adverse event being experienced. Individuals diagnosed with PTSD represent a heterogeneous group, as evidenced by differences in symptoms, course, and response to treatment. It is clear that the biochemical mechanisms involved in PTSD need to be elucidated to identify specific biomarkers. A brief review of the recent literature in Pubmed was made to explore the major biochemical mechanisms involved in PTSD and the methodologies applied in the assessment of the disease. PTSD shows pre-exposure vulnerability factors in addition to trauma-induced alterations. The disease was found to be associated with dysfunctions of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) and hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid axis. Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity play a role in PTSD by releasing norepinephrine and epinephrine. Cortisol release from the adrenal cortex amplifies the SNS response. Cortisol levels in PTSD patients, especially women, are later reduced by a negative feedback mechanism which contributes to neuroendocrine alterations and promotes structural changes in the brain leading to PTSD. Gender differences in normal HPA responsiveness may be due to an increased vulnerability in women to PTSD. Serotonin and dopamine levels were found to be abnormal in the presence of PTSD. Mechanisms such as the induction of neuroinflammation and alterations of mitochondrial energy processing were also associated with PTSD.


Author(s):  
Katja Leuteritz ◽  
Diana Richter ◽  
Anja Mehnert-Theuerkauf ◽  
Jens-Uwe Stolzenburg ◽  
Andreas Hinz

Abstract Purpose Quality of life (QoL) has been the subject of increasing interest in oncology. Most examinations of QoL have focused on health-related QoL, while other factors often remain unconsidered. Moreover, QoL questionnaires implicitly assume that the subjective importance of the various QoL domains is identical from one patient to the next. The aim of this study was to analyze QoL in a broader sense, considering the subjective importance of the QoL components. Methods A sample of 173 male urologic patients was surveyed twice: once while hospitalized (t1) and once again 3 months later (t2). Patients completed the Questions on Life Satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ-M), which includes satisfaction and importance ratings for eight dimensions of QoL. A control group was taken from the general population (n = 477). Results Health was the most important QoL dimension for both the patient and the general population groups. While satisfaction with health was low in the patient group, the satisfaction ratings of the other seven domains were higher in the patient group than in the general population. The satisfaction with the domain partnership/sexuality showed a significant decline from t1 to t2. Multiple regression analyses showed that the domains health and income contributed most strongly to the global QoL score at t2 in the patient group. Conclusion Health is not the only relevant category when assessing QoL in cancer patients; social relationships and finances are pertinent as well. Importance ratings contribute to a better understanding of the relevance of the QoL dimensions for the patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schlegel ◽  
Sharon A. Carstairs ◽  
Gozde Ozakinci

Abstract Background Many people exercise because they know it is good for their health. Although this is true, it can make us feel deserving of a reward and lead us to eat more indulgent, less healthy food than if we had not done any exercise. Generally, lower energy-dense (LED) foods are recognised as healthier choices than higher energy-dense (HED) options. Despite our intention to make healthy choices, seeing tempting higher-calorie foods on offer often side-tracks us. Priming is a psychological tool that makes specific changes to our environment that remind us of our motivation to be healthy. This makes it easier to choose a healthier option, by nudging us towards it without us even realising. However, it is currently unclear which method of priming achieves the best results. Aims Our study explores whether priming people to expect they will receive LED food leads them to make this healthier choice after exercise, even when also offered tempting less healthy HED foods at the moment of selection. Methods Our study observed the foods selected by university athletes after their sports matches. Before the match, half of the participants were primed by asking them to choose a LED snack from the options we offered, which they would receive after the match. The remaining half of participants were not asked this same question. To distract the athletes from our observation of their food choices, participants completed a task prior to choosing their snack, which was disguised as a ‘thank you’ for taking part. Results Overall, we found the priming group did not choose LED foods significantly more than the control group, hence priming did not increase LED food selection. Conclusion Importantly, our results indicate that priming must be more noticeable to achieve its goal. Additionally, we demonstrated that priming may be less successful for young athletic individuals, compared to older and more overweight adults recruited in other studies. This highlights the importance of studying a broader demographic range of individuals from the general population. We support future research into this area, which will help us to tweak priming to achieve the best outcomes. Trial registration ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN74601698. Date registered: 02/10/2020 (retrospectively registered).


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