Staying Calm and Well in the Midst of the COVID-19 Storm: One University's Longitudinal Outcomes Evaluation of a Mental Health and Well-Being Webinar Series

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic began, wellness leadership at a large Mid-west public university anticipated an increase in mental health problems among faculty and staff. A two-part weekly webinar series entitled "Staying Calm and Well in the Midst of the COVID-19 Storm" was launched to assist faculty and staff in coping with stressful issues related to the pandemic and enhancing their well-being. This series provided the university community with evidence-based knowledge, skills, and resources to enhance their ability in taking good self-care.Aim: To assess participant mental health outcomes during the two-part mental health and well-being educational webinar series over time.Methods: A longitudinal outcomes evaluation was conducted. Evaluation data was obtained from the participants via an anonymous post-webinar survey, which included questions from the Patient-Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) to assess symptoms of anxiety and depression. The first series was conducted over the course of 8 weeks and the second series took place over 7 weeks. Descriptive statistics were used to assess responses to the PHQ-4 over time to evaluate outcomes of the webinar series. An open-ended question also asked participants about the 2 to 3 biggest concerns and worries they had at that moment. Results: The average amount of survey responses received were 1,470.25 (SD = ± 240.3) for Series One and 926.4 (SD = ± 164.3) for Series Two. Ninety-five percent of participants put the skills they learned during both series into practice. When participants reported experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms, they most frequently reported experiencing them several days a week. The number of participants reporting no depressive or anxiety symptoms increased as the webinar series progressed over time. The types of concerns and worries reported varied across time.Conclusion: The Staying Calm and Well During the COVID-19 Pandemic webinar participants had a reduction in symptoms associated with anxiety and depression after completing the series.

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Identifying as American Indian/Alaska Native in Urban Areas: Implications for Adolescent Behavioral Health and Well-Being

Youth & Society ◽

10.1177/0044118x19840048 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 54-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ryan A. Brown ◽

Daniel L. Dickerson ◽

David J. Klein ◽

Denis Agniel ◽

Carrie L. Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Identity Development ◽

American Indian ◽

Behavioral Health ◽

Alaska Native ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

Racial Ethnic ◽

Health And Well Being

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth exhibit multiple health disparities, including high rates of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, violence and delinquency, and mental health problems. Approximately 70% of AI/AN youth reside in urban areas, where negative outcomes on behavioral health and well-being are often high. Identity development may be particularly complex in urban settings, where youth may face more fragmented and lower density AI/AN communities, as well as mixed racial-ethnic ancestry and decreased familiarity with AI/AN lifeways. This study examines racial-ethnic and cultural identity among AI/AN adolescents and associations with behavioral health and well-being by analyzing quantitative data collected from a baseline assessment of 185 AI/AN urban adolescents from California who were part of a substance use intervention study. Adolescents who identified as AI/AN on their survey reported better mental health, less alcohol and marijuana use, lower rates of delinquency, and increased happiness and spiritual health.

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Mental Health and Well-Being Among Individuals With a Sensory Loss During COVID-19 Lockdown Measures

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1580 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 409-409

Author(s):

Natascha Merten ◽

Amy Schultz ◽

Matthew Walsh ◽

Suzanne van Landingham ◽

Paul Peppard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Hearing Impairment ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

Vision Impairment ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Future Research ◽

Sensory Impairment ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract Hearing and vision impairment are highly prevalent chronic conditions and are associated with poorer mental health and well-being. Mental health problems may be exacerbated by COVID-19-related lockdown measures and limitations of in-person contacts may affect those with sensory impairments more severely. We aimed to determine whether hearing and/or visual impairment were associated with worse mental health and psychological well-being during lockdown measures in Spring/Summer 2020 in Wisconsin. We included 1341 (64% women, aged 20-92 years) Survey of the Health of Wisconsin participants of a COVID-19 survey (May-June, 2020). We assessed self-reported current mental health and psychological well-being and vision and hearing impairment. Logistic regression models with vision and hearing impairments as determinants and multiple mental health and well-being outcomes were used and adjusted for age, gender, race, education, heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes. In preliminary analyses, we found associations of vision impairment with increased odds of generalized anxiety disorder (odds ratio=2.10; 95% confidence interval=1.32-3.29) and depression (2.57; 1.58-4.11). Individuals with a vision impairment were more likely to be taking medication for depression (1.75; 1.13-2.68), report being lonely (1.65; 1.00-2.64) and report hopelessness (1.45; 1.01-2.08). Individuals with a hearing impairment were more likely to be taking depression medications (1.72; 1.07-2.73) and to report being lonely (1.80; 1.05-2.98). Sensory impairment was not associated with stress levels or sense of purpose in life. Individuals with sensory impairment may represent a particularly vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should determine underlying reasons and interventions to mitigate this populations’ disadvantages.

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Mediating Effect of Personal Meaning in the Prediction of Life Satisfaction and Mental Health Problems Based on Coronavirus Suffering

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638379 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Gökmen Arslan ◽

Murat Yıldırım ◽

Mega M. Leung

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Problems ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Personal Meaning ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Health And Well Being

Research Problem: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a multi-faceted crisis worldwide. Researchers and health authorities in various parts of the world echoed the dire condition of the public's mental health. This study sought to examine the mediating effect of personal meaning on the association between coronavirus (COVID-19)-related suffering, mental health problems, and life satisfaction. Participants included 231 adults (mean age = 46.65 ± 13.98; 68% female) and completed measures of suffering related to COVID-19, meaning, life satisfaction, and mental health problems online.Results: Findings from mediation analysis showed that suffering had significant associations with personal meaning, mental health, and well-being. Furthermore, personal meaning was significantly associated with adults' mental health and well-being and mediated the negative effect of suffering on mental health and well-being.Discussion: Overall, results from this study indicate that personal meaning is an important promotive factor that may help to understand the negative effect of coronavirus-related suffering on mental health and well-being amid the public health crisis.

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Deporting immigrant parents: Impact on the health and well-being of their citizen children

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.203 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

A Martinez-Donate ◽

J Tellez Lieberman ◽

L Bakely ◽

C Correa ◽

C Valdez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Behavior ◽

Mexican Immigrants ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Health Problems ◽

Border Region ◽

Health Determinants ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract Background In the United States (U.S.), over 4 million citizen children live with an unauthorized immigrant parent who is at risk of deportation. Children of Mexican immigrants are disproportionately represented among this population, as 1 out of 3 deported immigrants are from Mexico. Parental deportation can have profound and long-lasting consequences for children, yet research on this topic is sparse. We present preliminary findings from an ongoing, longitudinal study examining changes in health, well-being, behavior, and environmental factors among U.S. citizen children of recently deported Mexican immigrants. Methods Forty-eight deported Mexican parents were recruited from deportation processing stations on the Mexican border region. We completed phone interviews with one of their U.S.-based, citizen children and an adult caregiver, collecting retrospective information on health, health behavior, household, academics, and socio-ecological health determinants from a year earlier, as well as shortly after deportation of their parent. Pre-post analyses of caregivers' survey data were conducted to assess changes in outcomes associated with parental deportation. Results Following deportation of their parents, children were reported to have more frequent health problems (p=.008), including mental health problems (p=.002), externalizing (p=.040) and internalizing (p=.011) behaviors, school absences (p=.092), and experiences of food insecurity (p=.007) than a year before. Academic expectations were also significantly worse (p=.006) than those prior to parental deportation. Conclusions Children are the unintended victims of indiscriminate immigration enforcement. Deportation of parents is associated with significant deterioration of physical and mental health, behavior, academics, and home environment for their U.S. citizen children. Our results call for immigration policy reform and interventions to support families affected by the deportation of a parent. Key messages Immigration policies that separate families can have significant detrimental impacts on the health and well-being of U.S. citizen children. Policies must be revised to keep families together and protect children in mixed-legal status families.

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Exploring the Associations Between Resilience, Dispositional Hope, Preventive Behaviours, Subjective Well-Being, and Psychological Health Among Adults During Early Stage of COVID-19

10.31234/osf.io/vpu5q ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Murat Yıldırım ◽

Gökmen Arslan

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Early Stage ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Dispositional Hope ◽

The Times ◽

The Relationship ◽

Health And Well Being

During the pandemic, people may experience various mental health problems. Psychological strengths may help them to cope with emerging challenges and foster mental health and well-being. This study examined the associations between resilience, dispositional hope, preventive behaviours, subjective well-being, and psychological health among adults during early stage of COVID-19. A total of 220 participants from general public participated this study completing a battery of measures (134 men [M age = 42.36 years, SD = 8.99, range = 18 to 60] and 86 women [M age = 36.73 years, SD = 7.44, range = 18 to 51]). This cross-section study indicated that resilience mediated the relationship between hope and psychological health and subjective well-being. Results also showed that hope, and resilience had significant direct effects on psychological health, and subjective well-being while preventive behaviours did not manifest a significant effect on these two variables except on resilience. Preventive behaviours mediated the relationship between hope and resilience. The results suggest that we should more pay attention to hope and resilience for the development and improvement of well-being and psychological health during the times of crisis.

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Mental health and well-being from childhood to adulthood: design, methods and results of the 11-year follow-up of the BELLA study

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry ◽

10.1007/s00787-020-01630-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christiane Otto ◽

Franziska Reiss ◽

Catharina Voss ◽

Anne Wüstner ◽

Ann-Katrin Meyrose ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

General Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Problems ◽

Individual Growth ◽

Bella Study ◽

Prospective Longitudinal ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract Mental health and well-being are of great interest in health policy and research. Longitudinal surveys are needed to provide solid population-based data. We describe the design and methods of an 11-year follow-up of the German BELLA study in children, adolescents and young adults, and we report on age- and gender-specific courses of general health and well-being, long-term health-related outcomes of mental health problems, and mental health care use. The BELLA study is the module on mental health and well-being within the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). Standardised measures were used at each of the five measurement points of the BELLA study. In the 11-year follow-up, young people aged 7–31 years participated (n = 3492). Individual growth modelling, linear regression and descriptive analyses were conducted. Self-reported general health and well-being were both better in younger (vs. older) and in male (vs. female) participants according to the data from all five measurement points. Mental health problems in childhood and adolescence (measured at baseline) predicted impaired health outcomes at 6-year and 11-year follow-ups. Approximately one out of four children with a diagnosed mental disorder was not undergoing mental health treatment. With its 11-year follow-up, the prospective longitudinal BELLA study provides new and solid data on mental health and well-being from childhood to adulthood in Germany, and these data are important for health promotion and prevention practices. These results are consistent with previous findings. Promising future analyses are planned.

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Usefulness of the SF-36 Health Survey in Measuring Health Outcomes in the Depressed Elderly

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology ◽

10.1177/089198879600900103 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 13-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Kathleen M. Beusterien ◽

Bruce Steinwald ◽

John E. Ware

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Clinical Severity ◽

Functional Health ◽

Sf 36 ◽

The Impact ◽

Health And Well Being ◽

Over Time

Longitudinal data from a clinical trial were analyzed to evaluate the usefulness of the SF-36 Health Survey in estimating the impact of depression and changes in severity over time on the functional health and well-being of 532 patients, 60 to 86 years of age, who met DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive disorder. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Clinician's Global Impression of Severity and Improvement, and the Geriatric Depression Scale were used to define clinical severity and changes in severity over a 6-week period. Answers to SF-36 questions tended to be complete and to satisfy assumptions underlying methods of scale construction and scoring. As hypothesized, the SF-36 Mental Health Scale and Mental Component Summary measure, shown in previous studies to be most valid in measuring differences in mental health, exhibited the strongest associations with severity of depression in cross-sectional analyses and were most responsive to changes in severity in longitudinal comparisons. We conclude that the SF-36 Health Survey is useful for estimating the burden of depression and in monitoring changes in functional health and well-being over time among the depressed elderly.

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A Review and Response to the Early Mental Health and Neurological Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/zw93g ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lara Beth Aknin ◽

Jan Emmanuel De Neve ◽

Elizabeth Warren Dunn ◽

Daisy Fancourt ◽

Elkhonon Goldberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Social Connection ◽

Short Term ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

High Quality ◽

Neurological Sequelae ◽

The Impact ◽

Health And Well Being

COVID-19 has infected millions of people and upended the lives of most humans on the planet. Researchers from across the psychological sciences have sought to document and investigate the impact of COVID-19 in myriad ways, causing an explosion of research that is broad in scope, varied in methods, and challenging to consolidate. Because policy and practice aimed at helping people live healthier and happier lives requires insight from robust patterns of evidence, this paper provides a rapid and thorough summary of high-quality studies published in 2020 addressing two overarching questions. First, what are the mental health consequences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic? Second, what are the neurological sequelae of contracting COVID-19? Our review of the evidence indicates that some facets of mental health suffered greatly during the early months of the pandemic (e.g., anxiety and depression increased), while other facets (life satisfaction) and correlates (social connection, loneliness) notably displayed resilience. In addition, early neurological data indicate several consequences of contracting COVID-19, both during infection and after recovery. In response to these insights, we present seven recommendations (1 urgent, 2 short-term, 4 ongoing) to support mental health and well-being during the pandemic and beyond.

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Psychosocial singing interventions for the mental health and well-being of family carers of patients with cancer: results from a longitudinal controlled study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026995 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. e026995 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Daisy Fancourt ◽

Katey Warran ◽

Saoirse Finn ◽

Theresa Wiseman

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Control Group ◽

Health And Well Being ◽

Over Time

ObjectiveThe mental health challenges facing people who care for somebody with cancer are well documented. While many support interventions focus on provision of information or cognitive behavioural therapy, the literature suggests that psychosocial interventions could also be of value, especially given the low social support frequently reported by carers. Singing is a psychosocial activity shown to improve social support, increase positive emotions, and reduce fatigue and stress. This study explored whether weekly group singing can reduce anxiety, depression and well-being in cancer carers over a 6-month period.DesignA multisite non-randomised longitudinal controlled study.SettingThe Royal Marsden National Health Service Trust in Greater London.Participants62 adults who currently care for a spouse, relative or close friend with cancer who had not recently started any psychological therapy or medication.InterventionsOn enrolment, participants selected to join a weekly community choir for 12 weeks (n=33) or continue with life as usual (n=29).Outcome measuresThe primary outcome was mental health using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The secondary outcome was well-being using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Using linear mixed effects models, we compared the change in mental health and well-being over time between the two groups while adjusting for confounding variables including demographics, health-related variables, musical engagement and length of time caring.ResultsParticipants in the choir group showed a significantly greater decrease in anxiety over time than participants in the control group (B=−0.94, SE=0.38, p=0.013) and a significantly greater increase in well-being (B=1.25, SE=0.49, p=0.011). No changes were found for depression. Sub-group analyses showed carers with anxiety or below-average well-being were most likely to benefit.ConclusionsThis study builds on previous research showing the mental health benefits of singing for people with cancer by showing that weekly singing can also support anxiety and well-being in cancer carers.

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Contested meanings of mental health and well-being among university students

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0081246317731958 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 453-464 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vinitha Jithoo

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

University Students ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Problems ◽

Care Providers ◽

Health And Well Being

Emerging adults are an important group not only because their opinions and knowledge will determine future attitudes but also because of the emergence of mental health problems during young adulthood. In order to provide relevant support, academics, health care providers as well as policy makers need to be more cognisant of how emerging adults make meaning of their psycho-social developmental context. The objective of the study was to explore how a cohort of 150 university students made meaning of emotional well-being and mental illness, the causes of mental health problems, the negative connotations associated with mental ill health, help-seeking behaviours, and how culture was used as a lens through which mental well-being was understood. The main findings indicate that students struggle to fully understand these concepts mainly because it is shrouded in mystery and complexity and not engaged with freely because of stigma and stereotypical attitudes, and while culture provides a lens to understand the causes and interventions, emerging adults often adopt a level of scepticism and are beginning to vacillate between tradition and modernity. Emerging adults face many barriers to accessing health care services including limited knowledge and stigma related to services, lack of confidentiality, fear of mistreatment, location of facilities, and the high cost of services. Universities and government should actively engage with research evidence to inform policies and programmes to improve the health and well-being of emerging adults.

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