Traumatization, Not Habituation: The Impact of a Long Lockdown on Mental Health and the Role of Media Use (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominika Grygarová ◽  
Petr Adámek ◽  
Veronika Juríčková ◽  
Jiří Horáček ◽  
Eduard Bakštein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Continuous Exposure ◽  
Czech Population ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
News Use

BACKGROUND Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech population experienced a second lockdown lasting for about half a year, restricting free movement, and imposing social isolation. It is not known whether the impact of the long lockdown resulted in habituation to the adverse situation or in the traumatization of the Czech population, and whether the media and its specific use contributed to these processes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed at elucidating the effect of the long lockdown on the mental health of the Czech population, and the role of exposure to COVID-19 news reports and specific forms of media news use in mental health. METHODS We conducted two consecutive surveys in the early (November 2020) and late (March/April 2021) phases of the nationwide lockdown on the same nationally representative group of Czech adults (N = 1,777) participating in a longitudinal panel study. RESULTS Our findings show that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression increased in the second observed period, whereby confirming the negative effect of the pandemic lockdown as it unfolded, suggesting that restrictive measures and continuous exposure to a collective stressor did not result in strengthening of resilience but rather in ongoing traumatization. The results also suggest a negative role of the media’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in mental health during the early, and particularly late phase of the lockdown. Furthermore, we found several risk and protective factors of specific media news use. The media practice in news consumption connected to social media use was the strongest predictor of exacerbated mental health symptoms, particularly in the late phase of the lockdown. Also, news media use characterized by internalization of information learned from the news, as well as negative attitudes towards media news, were associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. On the other hand, the use of infotainment, together with an in-depth and contextual style of reading news articles, were related to improvement of mental health. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that the long lockdown resulted in traumatization rather than habituation, and in more pronounced effects (both negative and positive) of media use in mental health.

The Health of Refugees

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Refugee Health ◽  
Mass Movements ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Media ◽  
Multidisciplinary Perspective ◽  
The Impact

There have been significant changes in the numbers, patterns, and circumstances of refugees and in the political landscape to support humanitarianism since the publication of the first edition of this collection. Like the first edition, this volume provides a multidisciplinary perspective on refugee health, tracing the health repercussions on individuals and populations from the drivers of forced mass movements of populations from situations of conflict and other disasters through to the process of resettlement in countries other than their countries of origin. Drawing on the expertise of academics, practitioners, and UN frontline experts, the collection covers three main aspects of refugee health: the concepts, definitions, and context from a human rights, humanitarianism, and social determinants of health perspective; the intersection of vulnerabilities across age groups and settings; and the ethical challenges for practitioners and researchers working with forcibly displaced populations seeking to resettle. The collection concludes with an analysis of the role of the media in shaping our perceptions of refugees and the impact on policy and access to care.

scholarly journals Family Physicians’ Standpoint and Mental Health Assessment in the Light of COVID-19 Pandemic—A Nationwide Survey Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2093
Author(s):  
Tina Vilovic ◽  
Josko Bozic ◽  
Marino Vilovic ◽  
Doris Rusic ◽  
Sanja Zuzic Furlan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
The Impact

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, family physicians (FPs) are the backbone of the healthcare system with considerable impact on the general population, and their well-being is of great importance. The aim of this investigation was to assess FPs mental health, as well as knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) regarding the pandemic, and opinions on non-communicable disease (NCD) health care provided to patients. A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 613 FPs. Anxiety and depression levels were estimated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, subjective perceived stress with the Perceived Stress Scale, while trauma-related symptoms were assessed using the Impact on Event Scale-COVID19. KAPs toward the pandemic and opinions regarding NCD patients were evaluated with questionnaires accordingly. Results have shown that age (β = −0.02, p = 0.013) and personal risk of COVID‑19 (β = 1.05, p < 0.001) were significant independent correlates of the knowledge score. A total of 87.7% FPs expressed moderate/high perceived stress, 45.2% moderate/severe trauma-related symptoms, 60.4% borderline/abnormal anxiety levels, and 52.4% borderline/abnormal depression levels. Knowledge score was an independent predictor of perceived stress (β = −0.33, p = 0.023) and anxiety (β = −0.31, p = 0.006) levels. Limited accessibility to healthcare services and decreased number of newly-diagnosed NCD cases were mostly agreed on. The pandemic puts a considerable strain on FPs mental health, as well as on public health measures, due to the decreased overall quality of NCD patient health care. Educational programs may bridge the gaps between FPs’ knowledge. Thus lowering anxiety and improving patient care.

scholarly journals Adolescence as a “critical period” in the heritage language use. Polish in Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-315
Author(s):  
Hanna Pułaczewska
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
Role Of Parents ◽  
Qualitative Part ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the article, we consider the impact of adolescence upon the usage of Polish in Polish-German bilinguals raised and living in Germany and demonstrate how adolescence surfaces as a socially based “critical period” in this usage using results from a survey and interviews conducted with 30 teenagers. In the quantitative part of the study, we seek to establish whether adolescents’ age affected the pattern and quantity of their usage of Polish in the media and contacts with age peers, whether the latter two facets of growing up with Polish were interrelated, and which other factors affected peer-relevant activities in Polish. Both age and peer contact turned out to significantly affect the use of the media in Polish, while peer contact in Polish was affected by the parental use of Polish in parent-child communication. The qualitative part presents the context and motivation for using Polish by the youths in peer-relevant activities. We integrate the results with insights provided by child development psychology from the perspective of language socialisation theory and interpret the age-related decline of interest in the Polish media as an effect of a diminishing role of parents and the increasing role of age peers as role models in personal development.

Impact of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) on mental health

2021 ◽  
pp. 002581722098181
Author(s):  
Shweta Sunil ◽  
Manoj Kumar Sharma ◽  
Nitin Anand
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Online Gaming ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Aggressive Behaviours ◽  
Causal Patterns ◽  
The Impact

Online gaming has become a concern for health professionals due to its dysfunctional effects. This study aimed to conceptualise and summarise the impact that gaming platforms like PUBG can have on an individual’s mental health. A systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA model. A total of five papers were shortlisted and reviewed for the purpose of this study. The results indicated the use of gaming platforms like PUBG by players to address and cope with anxiety and depression, and it also highly influences the presence of other concerns like ADHD and suicidality, self-harm and aggressive behaviours. While the literature points to the detrimental effects of PUBG, this study highlights the importance of undertaking more research to establish the causal patterns in PUBG use and how to address the issues posed from both psychological and legal perspectives.

Research on the Effects of Over-the-Counter Drug Advertising

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Kanter
Keyword(s):  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Pharmaceutical Advertising ◽  
Drug Usage ◽  
Over The Counter ◽  
Drug Advertising ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Commercial Advertising ◽  
The Impact

Dr. Kanter presents a summary of his research assessing the role of OTC advertising in Influencing drug usage. His work represents the only systematic study of the impact of commercial advertising on drug usage. He stresses that advertising in itself does not directly lead to drug misuse but should be considered as part of a host of factors in the social environment and in the media environment that have significant influence in determining people's behavior. He also urged that the existing pharmaceutical advertising codes, which are often violated, be reviewed and strengthened.

scholarly journals Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Experienced Discrimination and Daily Stressors

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6354
Author(s):  
Eva Spiritus-Beerden ◽  
An Verelst ◽  
Ines Devlieger ◽  
Nina Langer Primdahl ◽  
Fábio Botelho Guedes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Daily Stressors ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Migrant Groups

The COVID-19 pandemic is a defining global health crisis of our time. While the impact of COVID-19, including its mental health impact, is increasingly being documented, there remain important gaps regarding the specific consequences of the pandemic on particular population groups, including refugees and migrants. This study aims to uncover the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of refugees and migrants worldwide, disentangling the possible role of social and daily stressors, i.e., experiences of discrimination and daily living conditions. Descriptive analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the responses of N = 20,742 refugees and migrants on the self-reporting global ApartTogether survey. Survey findings indicated that the mental health of refugees and migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly impacted, particularly for certain subgroups, (i.e., insecure housing situation and residence status, older respondents, and females) who reported experiencing higher levels of increased discrimination and increases in daily life stressors. There is a need to recognize the detrimental mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on particular refugee and migrant groups and to develop interventions that target their unique needs.

scholarly journals Mental Health Among Employed Family Caregivers: A Gender-Based Analysis on the Role of Workplace Support

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 74-74
Author(s):  
Lun Li ◽  
Yeonjung Lee ◽  
Daniel W L Lai
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Workplace Support ◽  
Employment Adjustment ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Compared to men, women undertake more family caregiving responsibilities, and thus take more toll in health and wellbeing when they are employed. The current study examined the gender difference in mental health among employed family caregivers, focusing on the role of workplace support in balancing work and caregiving roles. Guided by the social role theory and the moderated-mediation model of employment adjustment and mental health, we analyzed a nationally representative data from the 2012 Canada General Social Survey - Caregiving and Care Receiving with a sample of 2,426 participants selected. Moderated-mediation analysis based on the SPSS macro PROCESS 3.3 was used. Women employed family caregivers are more likely to undertake higher intensive caregiving, make more employment adjustment, and further report worse mental health status than their men counterparts. Gender difference was apparent in regards to the workplace support. For women, the moderating effect of workplace support is significant only when there are at least 5 different types of workplace support available at their workplaces, while for men, the moderating effect is significant when there are at least 2-3 different types of workplace support available. Women employed family caregivers experience worse mental health when employment adjustment is needed for their care responsibility. Findings have implications for providing workplace support for family caregivers given that women benefit less from workplace support compared to men. Further study is needed to explore the impact of various types of workplace support for women employed family caregivers, and to provide tailored support to them.

scholarly journals Transnational Religious Tourism in Modern China and the Transformation of the Cult of Mazu

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Yanchao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Tourist Attraction ◽  
Religious Tourism ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Temple

This article explores transformations in the worship of popular goddess Mazu as a result of (religious) tourism. In particular, it focuses on the role of transnational tourism in the invention of tradition, folklorization, and commodification of the Mazu cult. Support from the central and local governments and the impact of economic globalization have transformed a traditional pilgrimage site that initially had a local and then national scope into a transnational tourist attraction. More specifically, the ancestral temple of Mazu at Meizhou Island, which was established as the uncontested origin of Mazu’s cult during the Song dynasty (960 to 1276), has been reconfigured architecturally and liturgically to function as both a sacred site and a tourist attraction. This reconfiguration has involved the reconstruction of traditional rituals and religious performances for religious tourism to promote the temple as the unadulterated expression of an intangible cultural heritage. The strategic combination of traditional rituals such as “dividing incense” and an innovative ceremony enjoining all devotees of “Mazu all over the world [to] return to mother’s home” to worship her have not only consolidated the goddess as a symbol of common cultural identity in mainland China, but also for the preservation of Chinese identity in diaspora. Indeed, Chinese migrants and their descendants are among the increasing numbers of pilgrims/tourists who come to Mazu’s ancestral temple seeking to reconnect with their heritage by partaking in authentic traditions. This article examines the spatial and ritual transformations that have re-signified this temple, and by extension, the cult of Mazu, as well as the media through which these transformations have spread transnationally. We will see that (transnational) religious tourism is a key medium.

What is the impact of staff wearing uniforms in psychiatric inpatient settings?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Collingwood ◽  
Laura McKenzie-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Psychiatric Inpatient ◽  
Ideal Self ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Mental Health Settings ◽  
Inpatient Settings ◽  
The Impact

Background: Uniform has traditionally been worn in psychiatric inpatient and other mental health settings, but there has been a move to non-uniform in recent years. Some services have made the change back to uniform, raising questionsabout the potential impact on patients and staff.Aim: To review the impact of uniform within a psychiatric inpatient or mental health setting.Method: Databases were searched for articles exploring the impact of uniform use using specified search terms. Articles were assessed for suitability with inclusion and exclusion criteria, critically appraised, then analysed for themes using thematic analysis.Results: 17 papers were included in the review. Thematic analysis identified five main themes and 29 subthemes. Main themes were Attitudes and interactions, A freer environment, Are you both nurses?, The ‘ideal self’ and There are more important things. A critical appraisal of the articles suggested issues with validityand reliability, which are discussed.Discussion: Studies identified that wearing non-uniform facilitated positive changes in both patients and staff. This raises the potential negative impact of uniform on both patients and staff, and the role of power imbalance in these settings is discussed. Further themes around identification of staff out of uniform were considered.Implications for practice: The use of uniform in mental health and psychiatric inpatient settings should be considered carefully, due to the potential negative impact, whilst also recognising the importance of staff identification and supporting professional identity.

The Evolution of the Role of U.S. School Nurses in Adolescent Mental Health at the Individual, Community, and Systems Level: An Integrative Review

2022 ◽  
pp. 105984052110681
Author(s):  
Ashwini R. Hoskote ◽  
Emily Croce ◽  
Karen E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
School Nurse ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
Integrative Review ◽  
School Nursing ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

School nurses are crucial to addressing adolescent mental health, yet evidence concerning their evolving role has not been synthesized to understand interventions across levels of practice (i.e., individual, community, systems). We conducted an integrative review of school nurse roles in mental health in the U.S. related to depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. Only 18 articles were identified, published from 1970 to 2019, and primarily described school nurses practicing interventions at the individual level, yet it was unclear whether they were always evidence-based. Although mental health concerns have increased over the years, the dearth of rigorous studies made it difficult to determine the impact of school nurse interventions on student mental health outcomes and school nurses continue to feel unprepared and under supported in this area. More research is needed to establish best practices and systems to support school nursing practice in addressing mental health at all levels of practice.

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