The Mental Health Status of Filipinas in Queensland

Objective: To determine the prevalence and investigate potential predictors of psychological distress in Filipino women living in Queensland, Australia. Methods: The sample of n = 487 women (88% response rate) was drawn from Filipino organization membership lists and supplemented by snowball sampling. Participants were interviewed in their homes or at a community event in 1996/1997. Follow-up in 1997/1998 involved n = 346 women (71% response rate) who were interviewed either in their homes or by telephone. The two surveys included measurement of demographic, immigration, physical health, satisfaction with life in Australia and life event variables. The GHQ-28 was included in the follow-up survey as a measure of psychological distress. Results: The proportion of women having an above threshold score (using the cut-off of 4/5) on the GHQ-28 was 23%. Women who were single, dissatisfied with life in Australia, had reported a major change in their financial situation, their relationship or their health in the year between surveys were significantly more likely to have an above threshold score. Conclusions: The level of mental distress among Filipinas in Queensland appears to be slightly higher than the levels reported in the general population but lower than other migrant groups. The determinants of mental distress in this population contrast with those in the general Australian population and other migrant groups. The social context of these determinants in Filipinas needs to be elicited for an understanding of these differences.

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Longitudinal Distress among Brazilian University Workers during Pandemics

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18179072 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (17) ◽

pp. 9072

Author(s):

Murilo Ricardo Zibetti ◽

Fernanda Barcellos Serralta ◽

Chris Evans

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Response Rate ◽

Psychometric Assessment ◽

Household Chores ◽

Modeling Analysis ◽

Three Stages ◽

June July ◽

Open Question

The present study aimed to examine changes in mental distress in Brazilian university workers during the pandemic. All workers (n ≃ 1850) of an institution were invited to respond to a survey that took place in three stages, with collections in May (n = 407), June/July (n = 258), and August (n = 207) 2020, and included questions on demographic, health, general and psychological support, and psychometric assessment of mental distress (Clinical Outcome Routine Evaluation- CORE-OM) combined with an open question about major concerns. The results of the Multilevel Modeling analysis pointed to the absence of significant differences across the repeated measures of distress. The only variable associated with increased psychological distress over time was a lower level of support for household chores. Qualitative analysis of the reported major concerns was carried out with a sub-sample who showed reliable deterioration in CORE-OM across time (n = 17). The diversity of concerns reported by this group reinforced that work–life imbalance contributes to mental distress of university workers during the pandemic. Low response rate, although not unexpected due to the circumstances, limits the generalization of findings. The present data suggest that in addition to issues related to contagion and specific restricted measures to contain the spread of the disease, the personal reorganization of life required to maintain activities at home and work can be an important contributor to pandemic-related psychological distress.

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Mechanisms of COVID-19 Mental Health Burden

10.31234/osf.io/cswde ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joseph Bulbulia ◽

Sofia Piven ◽

Fiona Barlow ◽

Don E. Davis ◽

Lara Greaves ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Health Satisfaction ◽

Civic Attitudes ◽

Social Belonging ◽

Pervasive Health ◽

The Government ◽

Health Burdens ◽

Political Economic

New Zealand's COVID-19 lockdown in March and April 2020 was among the world's most stringent. Similar to other countries, New Zealand's lockdown occurred amidst pervasive health and economic uncertainties. However, New Zealanders experienced comparatively less psychological distress. To test theories of pandemic distress mitigation, we use national longitudinal responses with pre-COVID-19 baselines and systematically quantify psychological distress trajectories within the same individuals during the lockdown (pre-COVID-19 = 2018/2019; stringent-lockdown = March/April 2020; N = 940). Most distress indicators were minimally elevated. However, there was a three-fold increase in feelings of worthlessness. Neither satisfaction with the government, nor business-satisfaction, nor a sense of neighbourhood community were effective distress defences. Perceived social-belonging and health-satisfaction mitigated feelings of worthlessness. A silver lining was a relief from feelings of effort, which social-belonging fostered. That social-belonging and health satisfaction could quell serious distress among those low in government confidence, low in business satisfaction, and low neighbourhood community proves that distress mitigation is possible without shifting a population's general political, economic, and civic attitudes. Protection of income and containment of infectious disease threat reduces mental health burdens. Though feelings of worthlessness surge during lockdown, such feelings attenuate from interpersonal belonging with people one already knows.

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COVID-19 Pandemic and Helsinki University Hospital Personnel Psychological Well-Being: Six-Month Follow-Up Results

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052524 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2524

Author(s):

Tanja Laukkala ◽

Jaana Suvisaari ◽

Tom Rosenström ◽

Eero Pukkala ◽

Kristiina Junttila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Well Being ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

University Hospital ◽

Hospital Personnel ◽

Front Line ◽

Hospital District ◽

Variation Explained

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unequally distributed extra workload to hospital personnel and first reports have indicated that especially front-line health care personnel are psychologically challenged. A majority of the Finnish COVID-19 patients are cared for in the Helsinki University Hospital district. The psychological distress of the Helsinki University Hospital personnel has been followed via an electronic survey monthly since June 2020. We report six-month follow-up results of a prospective 18-month cohort study. Individual variation explained much more of the total variance in psychological distress (68.5%, 95% CI 65.2–71.9%) and negative changes in sleep (75.6%, 95% CI 72.2–79.2%) than the study survey wave (1.6%, CI 0.5–5.5%; and 0.3%, CI 0.1–1.2%). Regional COVID-19 incidence rates correlated with the personnel’s psychological distress. In adjusted multilevel generalized linear multiple regression models, potentially traumatic COVID-19 pandemic-related events (OR 6.54, 95% CI 5.00–8.56) and front-line COVID-19 work (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.37–2.39) was associated with personnel psychological distress but age and gender was not. While vaccinations have been initiated, creating hope, continuous follow-up and psychosocial support is still needed for all hospital personnel.

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Forgiveness Interventions for Older Adults: A Review

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10091866 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 1866

Author(s):

Javier López ◽

Maria Inés Serrano ◽

Isabel Giménez ◽

Cristina Noriega

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Intervention Studies ◽

Satisfaction With Life ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Specific Treatment ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Group Treatments ◽

Receive Treatment ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

A meta-analysis of the efficacy of forgiveness interventions in older adults was conducted. International databases (Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science) were searched for studies published from 1990 to 2020 that attempted to promote forgiveness in older adults. Most intervention studies are group treatments targeted towards community-dwelling older adults. Participants in these studies are mainly women. The intervention objectives and contents vary widely and often criteria are not well-defined. Participants that received forgiveness interventions reported significantly higher levels of forgiveness than participants that did not receive treatment. Additionally, forgiveness interventions resulted in more changes in depression, stress and anger than no intervention conditions. Forgiveness treatment also enhances positive states (satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and psychological wellbeing). The reported effects are moderate. The specific treatment model (e.g., Enright’s, Worthington’s) and format (e.g., group-based interventions and individually delivered programs) do not differentially predict better outcomes. In conclusion, future intervention studies should include more male participants and utilize a broader range of follow-up periods. Caution must be exercised because of the limited number of studies developed to date; researchers must be cautious when generalizing the results.

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Persistent level of mental distress in PTSD patients is not reflected in cytokine levels one year after treatment

Acta Neuropsychiatrica ◽

10.1017/neu.2021.11 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Helge Toft ◽

Jørgen Bramness ◽

Terje Tilden ◽

Ingeborg Bolstad ◽

Lars Lien

Keyword(s):

Inflammatory Markers ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Psychiatric Treatment ◽

Blood Collection ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Global Severity Index ◽

Cytokine Levels ◽

One Year ◽

Circulating Inflammatory Markers

Abstract Objective Cross-sectional data show that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients often have increased levels of circulating inflammatory markers. There is, however, still a paucity of longitudinal studies with long follow-up times on levels of cytokines in such patients. The current study assesses patients with and without PTSD diagnosis one year after discharge from inpatient treatment. Methods Patients in treatment for serious non-psychotic mental disorders were recruited at the beginning of their treatment stay at a psychiatric center in Norway. Ninety patients submitted serum samples and filled out the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-90 Revised Global Severity Index (HSCL-90R GSI) questionnaire during their main stay and at a follow-up stay one year after discharge. Of these patients, 33 were diagnosed with PTSD, 48 with anxiety, depression or eating disorder, while nine patients had missing data. The patients were diagnosed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). Results At the follow-up stay (T3), PTSD patients had higher levels of GSI scores than non-PTSD patients (p = 0.048). These levels were unchanged from the year before (T2) in both groups. The levels of circulating cytokines/chemokine did not differ between the PTSD and non-PTSD patients at T3. At T2, however, the PTSD and non-PTSD groups exhibited different levels of IL-1β (p = 0.053), IL-1RA (p = 0.042) and TNF-α (p = 0.037), with the PTSD patients having the higher levels. Conclusion Despite exhibiting different mental distress scores, the PTSD and non-PTSD patients did not differ regarding levels of circulating inflammatory markers at one-year follow-up. Significant outcome PTSD and non-PTSD patients show persistently different scores of mental distress one year after psychiatric treatment. In contrast, their cytokine levels do not differ one year after discharge from a psychiatric treatment inpatient stay. Limitations The patients with higher scores of mental distress were those who attended the follow-up stay, introducing a selection bias to the study. Further, it was not assessed whether the patients were fasting or smoking cigarettes prior to blood collection, or their sleeping or physical exercise status.

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Mental Health Status of a Latin American Community in New South Wales

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.3109/00048679609065017 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 457-462 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Robert McDonald ◽

Carmen Vechi ◽

Jenny Bowman ◽

Robert Sanson-Fisher

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Latin American ◽

Employment Status ◽

New South ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

New South Wales ◽

Independent Variables ◽

South Wales ◽

Threshold Score ◽

Hunter Region

Objective: To determine the levels and predictors of psychological distress within a Latin American community in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Method: Participants (n=184) were interviewed in their homes by a bilingual interviewer using a specially prepared questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Results: Of the 13 independent variables examined, two demographic and two immigrant-related variables were significantly associated with an above-threshold score: marital status, employment status, perceived discrimination, and dissatisfaction with life in Australia. Conclusions: Compared to results from other community surveys, the levels of psychological distress within this Latin American community appear to be relatively high.

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Longitudinal Correlates of Loneliness and Psychological Distress During the Lockdown Situation due to COVID-19. Effects of Age and Self-Perceptions of Aging

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbab012 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrés Losada-Baltar ◽

José Ángel Martínez-Huertas ◽

Lucía Jiménez-Gonzalo ◽

María del Sequeros Pedroso-Chaparro ◽

Laura Gallego-Alberto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Mental Health Outcomes ◽

Stressful Situation ◽

Self Perceptions ◽

Personal Variables ◽

Dependent Variables ◽

Perceptions Of Aging

Abstract Objectives To longitudinally analyze the correlates of loneliness and psychological distress in people exposed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown, exploring the effects of age and self-perceptions of aging (SPA). Methods A longitudinal follow-up of 1,549 participants was carried out at four different time points during the lockdown in Spain. Questions about the risk of COVID-19, age, SPA, family and personal resources, loneliness, and psychological distress were measured. Results Changes in loneliness showed a linear longitudinal trajectory through time, but changes in psychological distress showed a U-shaped relationship with time. Age was a relevant predictor of differences in distress, with older people reporting less psychological distress. Change in both dependent variables was related to change in different predictors like family and personal variables and also to negative SPA. Discussion In a stressful situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults may be more resilient to adverse mental health outcomes by using more adaptive resources that strengthen their resilience. Support is provided for the importance of stereotyped views of the aging process that, independently of chronological age, may put people at risk of suffering adverse mental health outcomes such as loneliness and psychological distress in times of crisis.

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Who Gets Lost, and What Difference Does It Make? Mixed Modes, Nonresponse Follow-up Surveys and the Estimation of Turnout

Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology ◽

10.1093/jssam/smy025 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 520-544 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andreas C Goldberg ◽

Pascal Sciarini

Keyword(s):

Voter Turnout ◽

Measurement Errors ◽

Response Rate ◽

Mail Survey ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Political Factors ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Telephone Interviews ◽

Politically Active

Abstract This article assesses whether—and to what extent—turnout bias in postelection surveys is reduced by adding a short nonresponse follow-up (NRFU) survey to a mixed-mode survey. Specifically, we examine how the NRFU survey influences response propensities across demographic groups and political factors and whether this affects data quality. We use a rich dataset on validated voter turnout data, collected across two different ballots. In addition to the main survey that comprises computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and web respondents, both studies include a short follow-up mail survey for nonrespondents. The results demonstrate that collecting extra information from additional respondents on so-called “central” questions is worth the effort. In both studies, the NRFU survey substantially increases representativeness with respect to sociodemographic and participation variables. In particular, voters and politically active citizens are more accurately represented in the NRFU survey. This tends to result in better estimates of turnout determinants in the final (combined) sample than is seen from CATI/web respondents only. Moreover, the increase in response rate and the decrease in nonresponse bias comes at almost no price in terms of measurement errors. Vote overreporting is only slightly higher in the mail follow-up survey than in the main CATI/web survey.

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Psychological distress and coping styles in teachers: A preliminary study

Australian Journal of Education ◽

10.1177/0004944120908960 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 127-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peta Stapleton ◽

Sarah Garby ◽

Debbie Sabot

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Online Survey ◽

Satisfaction With Life ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Coping Styles ◽

Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽

Empirical Measures ◽

Brief Cope

Teaching professionals report higher levels of work-related stress and symptoms of psychological health problems than the general population. This study examined psychological distress, coping styles and wellbeing in 166 Australian teachers (aged 22–65 years; M = 37.74 years, SD = 10.84 years). Participants completed an online survey comprising demographic items and four empirical measures (The Satisfaction with Life Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, The Brief COPE Inventory and The Patient Health Questionnaire). Work, workload and finances were identified as leading sources of stress. Moreover, above-average clinical symptoms of anxiety, depression and physical concerns were reported, and 17% of respondents met criteria for probable alcohol dependence. Results suggested that maladaptive coping strategies employed by teachers may contribute to their risk of increased psychological distress, and decreased life satisfaction and happiness. These findings indicate the need for work-based programmes to enhance teachers’ coping strategies in an effort to reduce psychological distress and improve overall wellbeing in teaching professionals.

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