scholarly journals Dynamics of Psychological Reactions at the Start of the Pandemic of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.N. Enikolopov ◽  
O.M. Boyko ◽  
T.I. Medvedeva ◽  
O.U. Vorontsova ◽  
O.Yu. Kazmina

The goal of the work is to study the dynamics of psychological changes unfolding during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper presents an analysis of the responses to the survey on the Internet, received from 03.22.2020 to 04.04.2020, when the spread of COVID-19 begins in Russia. The study was conducted on the Internet using Google Forms. Links to the survey were posted on social networks. The survey involved 430 people, including 188 people in Moscow, and the answers were divided into 3 groups with respect to the date when they were received: March 23–24 (79 people), March 29–30 (46 people), March 31–April 4 (63 people). The survey included a general block of questions and methods SCL-90-R, COPE, OKM97. Statistical processing was carried out with the SPSS statistical package. The results of the study show an increase in psychopathological symptoms (somatization, phobic symptoms, sleep disturbances), a decrease in the level of constructive thinking and indicators of emotional consciousness, an expansion of ideas about esoteric thinking, naïve optimism, categorical thinking, a turn to religion and a search for existential explanations for what is happening. In the Moscow sample, a V-shaped graphs were noted for the parameters of the level of depression, for the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, for the parameters for “turning to religion”, “esoteric thinking,” along with a constant increase in the level of anxious, phobic symptoms and somatization, which leads to the presence of the negation phase after the phase of shock and before the adoption of a situation. Conclusions: with prolonged situation a further increase in psychopathological symptoms is possible, which can have a wide range of negative consequences.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya Yatsymirska ◽  

The article investigates functional techniques of extralinguistic expression in multimedia texts; the effectiveness of figurative expressions as a reaction to modern events in Ukraine and their influence on the formation of public opinion is shown. Publications of journalists, broadcasts of media resonators, experts, public figures, politicians, readers are analyzed. The language of the media plays a key role in shaping the worldview of the young political elite in the first place. The essence of each statement is a focused thought that reacts to events in the world or in one’s own country. The most popular platform for mass information and social interaction is, first of all, network journalism, which is characterized by mobility and unlimited time and space. Authors have complete freedom to express their views in direct language, including their own word formation. Phonetic, lexical, phraseological and stylistic means of speech create expression of the text. A figurative word, a good aphorism or proverb, a paraphrased expression, etc. enhance the effectiveness of a multimedia text. This is especially important for headlines that simultaneously inform and influence the views of millions of readers. Given the wide range of issues raised by the Internet as a medium, research in this area is interdisciplinary. The science of information, combining language and social communication, is at the forefront of global interactions. The Internet is an effective source of knowledge and a forum for free thought. Nonlinear texts (hypertexts) – «branching texts or texts that perform actions on request», multimedia texts change the principles of information collection, storage and dissemination, involving billions of readers in the discussion of global issues. Mastering the word is not an easy task if the author of the publication is not well-read, is not deep in the topic, does not know the psychology of the audience for which he writes. Therefore, the study of media broadcasting is an important component of the professional training of future journalists. The functions of the language of the media require the authors to make the right statements and convincing arguments in the text. Journalism education is not only knowledge of imperative and dispositive norms, but also apodictic ones. In practice, this means that there are rules in media creativity that are based on logical necessity. Apodicticity is the first sign of impressive language on the platform of print or electronic media. Social expression is a combination of creative abilities and linguistic competencies that a journalist realizes in his activity. Creative self-expression is realized in a set of many important factors in the media: the choice of topic, convincing arguments, logical presentation of ideas and deep philological education. Linguistic art, in contrast to painting, music, sculpture, accumulates all visual, auditory, tactile and empathic sensations in a universal sign – the word. The choice of the word for the reproduction of sensory and semantic meanings, its competent use in the appropriate context distinguishes the journalist-intellectual from other participants in forums, round tables, analytical or entertainment programs. Expressive speech in the media is a product of the intellect (ability to think) of all those who write on socio-political or economic topics. In the same plane with him – intelligence (awareness, prudence), the first sign of which (according to Ivan Ogienko) is a good knowledge of the language. Intellectual language is an important means of organizing a journalistic text. It, on the one hand, logically conveys the author’s thoughts, and on the other – encourages the reader to reflect and comprehend what is read. The richness of language is accumulated through continuous self-education and interesting communication. Studies of social expression as an important factor influencing the formation of public consciousness should open up new facets of rational and emotional media broadcasting; to trace physical and psychological reactions to communicative mimicry in the media. Speech mimicry as one of the methods of disguise is increasingly becoming a dangerous factor in manipulating the media. Mimicry is an unprincipled adaptation to the surrounding social conditions; one of the most famous examples of an animal characterized by mimicry (change of protective color and shape) is a chameleon. In a figurative sense, chameleons are called adaptive journalists. Observations show that mimicry in politics is to some extent a kind of game that, like every game, is always conditional and artificial.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Swedo ◽  
Henrietta L. Leonard ◽  
Louise S. Kiessling

Several converging lines of evidence suggest that some behavioral and neurological abnormalities of childhood may be mediated through antineuronal antibodies.1-3 These antineuronal antibodies appear to arise in response to group A [beta]-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections and to cross-react with cells within the central nervous system (CNS).4 Based on clinical observations of children with Sydenham's chorea, Tourette's syndrome (TS), and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), we hypothesize that neuroimmunological dysfunction secondary to anti-neuronal antibodies may result in behavioral disturbances, such as anxiety, emotional lability, obsessive compulsive symptoms, hyperactivity, and sleep disturbances; and neurological abnormalities, such as motor and phonic tics, ballismus, chorea, and choreiform movements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66
Author(s):  
Yasser Khazaal ◽  
Anne Chatton ◽  
Lucien Rochat ◽  
Vincent Hede ◽  
Kirupamani Viswasam ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Cyberchondria denotes excessive and repeated online health-related searches associated with an increase in health anxiety. Such searches persist in those with cyberchondria, despite the negative consequences, resembling a pattern of compulsive Internet use. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The aim of the present study was to assess compulsive health-related Internet use in relation to cyberchondria while controlling for related variables. <b><i>Method:</i></b> Adult participants (<i>N</i> = 749) were recruited from an online platform. They completed questionnaires assessing the severity of cyberchondria (via the Cyberchondria Severity Scale [CSS]), compulsive Internet use adapted for online health-related seeking (via the adapted Compulsive Internet Use Scale [CIUS]), and levels of intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety, as well as depressive, somatic, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify predictors of scores above a cutoff value on the CIUS, indicating compulsive health-related Internet use. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The regression output showed that only the CSS total score and sex made a unique, statistically significant contribution to the model, leading to the correct classification of 78.6% of the cases. Of the CSS subscales, compulsion and distress were the most strongly associated with compulsive health-related Internet use. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The finding that the adapted CIUS scores are associated with cyberchondria indicates that cyberchondria has a compulsive component, at least in terms of health-related Internet use. It also suggests that compulsive health-related Internet use persists despite the distress associated with this activity. Males may engage in cyberchondria more compulsively than females. These findings have implications for research and clinical practice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith E. Coles ◽  
Ariel Ravid ◽  
Martin E. Franklin ◽  
Eric A. Storch ◽  
Muniya Khanna

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posit that particular beliefs transform normal intrusions into disturbing obsessions. A wealth of data shows that such beliefs and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms are related in adults. However, there is markedly less information regarding OCD-related beliefs in youth. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between OCD-related beliefs and OC symptoms in unselected adolescents (ages 13–18 years; N = 159). Findings from questionnaires completed on the Internet were consistent with previous findings in adults. Increased levels of OCD-related beliefs were related to increased levels of OC symptoms. Perfectionism and certainty beliefs had a specific relation with symmetry and ordering symptoms. Contrary to expectation, levels of OCD-related beliefs in this unselected sample were similar to those found in prior studies of youth diagnosed with OCD. Implications, limitations, and future directions for the study of OCD-related beliefs in youth are discussed.


Author(s):  
Tatiana I. Medvedeva ◽  
Sergey N. Enikolopov ◽  
Olga M. Boyko ◽  
Oksana Yu. Vorontsova ◽  
Maxim A. Stankevich

Relevance. One of the negative consequences of the pandemic may be an increase in somatization. The analysis of statements about the pandemic makes it possible to identify peculiarities of attitude to the situation by people with different psychological problems. The aim of the study was the identification of implicit characteristics of texts indicating the peculiarities of the opinion about the situation by people with a high level of somatization. Materials and methods. The material was obtained in the online survey (03/23/2020 — 01/29/2021, 1188 people). The survey included an assessment of respondents’ condition, it was offered to express an opinion about what was happening in a free form. Used: SCL-90-R, COPE, Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI). The statements about the pandemic were divided into the two text arrays — “high somatization” and “low somatization”. The frequency of occurrence of vocabulary in these text arrays was estimated. Results. The analysis showed an increase in somatization as the pandemic developed. The relationship between somatization and anxiety, sleep disturbances, and depression was revealed. Higher rates of somatization are associated with a decrease in emotional coping, an increase in categorical thinking and personal superstitious thinking. The connection between somatization and a number of non-constructive copings is shown. Lexical analysis showed a number of features of texts associated with high somatization, among them the number of pronouns of the first person, a decrease in the tonality of words, a vocabulary of suffering, negative, a decrease in the vocabulary of motivation and resistance, a decrease in vocabulary associated with the body. Conclusions. The lexical features of statements, typical for respondents with a high level of somatization, were revealed. The connection between somatization and high emotional distress, which manifests itself in negative emotional vocabulary and is associated with a low level of emotional coping, is shown. In the group with high somatization, a contradiction was revealed in the needs and methods of their implementation — the need for help from others is combined with concentration on the self. The “representation” of the pandemic, presented in the text, is “divorced” from somatic manifestations, fear of illness and death. With this “splitting” of mental and somatic functioning, the somatization can perform the function of emotional coping.


Author(s):  
Ângela Leite ◽  
Ana Ramires ◽  
Susana Amorim ◽  
Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa ◽  
Diogo Guedes Vidal ◽  
...  

There are different concepts that translate abusive Internet use. Almost all these concepts converge on excessive time spent online, which can trigger the emergence of problematic situations. Most of the studies reported in the literature, both nationally and internationally, focused on a young population and found negative consequences of this Internet misuse. The objective of this study consists of associating the time spent using the Internet—in years, times per week, and hours per day—with psychopathological symptoms, as well as assessing the perception of loneliness, in an adult Portuguese population. A quantitative approach, based on a survey application, was conducted in a convenience sample composed by 418 participants (64.4% female), with a mean age of 29.9 years old (SD = 9.26), ranging from 18 to 73 years. The results suggest that maladaptive patterns of Internet use found in young people seem to be replicated in the adult population. A relationship between time spent on the Internet and psychopathological symptoms, and an association between loneliness and the number of hours spent on the Internet, were also identified. In an individualized and disconnected offline world, Internet impact in individuals’ well-being results must be highlighted, since it should be understood as a public health issue. The novelty of this study lies in the target population: Portuguese Internet users over 18 years of age, for which there is no specific study on the subject, thus emphasizing the transverse nature of the problem.


In order to understand the ways of modification of existing therapeutic and rehabilitation strategies taking into account the confounding stressaction on the specificity of psychopathological manifestations in persons with alcohol dependence, an analysis of the peculiarities of the severity and clinical variability of psychopathological symptoms in persons with different psychotraumatic experiences and levels of psychosocial stress was conducted. It was established that the severity of the symptoms of alcohol dependence directly correlates with the expressiveness of manifestations of depression, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive and paranoid symptoms, phobic anxiety, psychoticism and somatization, which, in its turn, has a close interdependence with the level of psychosocial stress. In combatants, a significant increase in the severity of psychopathological symptoms with an increase in the level of psychosocial stress, and, accordingly, the severity of alcohol dependence, is observed on the basis of depression and obsessive-compulsive response, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity and psychoticism. Reducing severity of psychopathological manifestations with increasing stress was recorded as manifestations of hostility. The growth of expressiveness of paranoyality occurs in cases of mild or severe stress, with a decrease at a moderate level of psychosocial stress. In displaced persons with alcohol dependence, there is a reliable tendency to increasing the expressiveness of manifestations of depression, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoyality and psychoticism with an increase in the level of stress. For the local inhabitants with alcohol dependence, the regularity of increase of expressiveness of all investigated psychopathological manifestations combining with increase of severity of psychosocial stress is characteristic. Among persons with alcohol dependence with the corresponding level of psychosocial stress, the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, manifestations of interpersonal sensitivity and phobic anxiety is greater among combatants and displaced persons; hostility and paranoyality - in combatants; depression - indisplaced persons. The obtained data allow to state that an important factor determining the peculiarities of the severity and variety of psychopathological symptoms in persons with alcohol dependence is the severity of the pathological influence of the psychotraumatic experience and the level of psychosocial stress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Zangoulechi ◽  
Zahra Yousefi ◽  
Neda Keshavarz

Frequent search for health-related data on the internet that escalates anxiety experience is called cyberchondria. The aim of this study was to determine the role of anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the prediction of cyberchondria. The study was performed on 177 students of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran. The samples were recruited using clustering sampling method. Data were collected using Cyberchondria Sensitivity Scale (CSS), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASIR), Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS). According to the regression analysis, anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty and obsessive-compulsive symptoms positively and significantly predicted cyberchondria. According to the results, the interpretation of physical sensations as dangers, uncertainty about the origin of these senses, and the feeling of responsibility and coercion to be sure about the health leads the individual to frequently search medical information through the Internet.


2019 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-452
Author(s):  
Patrick Raynal ◽  
Tiffany Melioli ◽  
Henri Chabrol

Research is scarce regarding personality disorder traits of individuals with subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Cluster analysis based on obsessional, schizotypal, and borderline personality and autism-spectrum features was conducted on the results for 118 students scoring above cutoff on the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised. This identified four groups: O, L, S, and A. One third of the sample was represented by individuals with obsessional traits (O), while another third was composed of individuals with low traits (L); the last two profiles corresponded to a cluster with autistic traits (A) and a group with schizotypal and borderline features (S), both clusters together comprising the remaining third. Significant differences were observed between groups, both on personality traits and on psychopathological symptoms. The S cluster displayed the highest scores of suicidality, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. This study identified meaningful profiles of personality disorder traits, distinct from obsessive-compulsive personality, in individuals with subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms.


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