The Mental Health Ecosystem: Extending Symptom Networks With Risk and Protective Factors

Inspired by modeling approaches from the ecosystems literature, in this paper, we expand the network approach to psychopathology with risk and protective factors to arrive at an integrated analysis of resilience. We take a complexity approach to investigate the multifactorial nature of resilience and present a system in which a network of interacting psychiatric symptoms is targeted by risk and protective factors. These risk and protective factors influence symptom development patterns and thereby increase or decrease the probability that the symptom network is pulled toward a healthy or disorder state. In this way, risk and protective factors influence the resilience of the network. We take a step forward in formalizing the proposed system by implementing it in a statistical model and translating different influences from risk and protective factors to specific targets on the node and edge parameters of the symptom network. To analyze the behavior of the system under different targets, we present two novel network resilience metrics: Expected Symptom Activity (ESA, which indicates how many symptoms are active or inactive) and Symptom Activity Stability (SAS, which indicates how stable the symptom activity patterns are). These metrics follow standard practices in the resilience literature, combined with ideas from ecology and physics, and characterize resilience in terms of the stability of the system's healthy state. By discussing the advantages and limitations of our proposed system and metrics, we provide concrete suggestions for the further development of a comprehensive modeling approach to study the complex relationship between risk and protective factors and resilience.

Download Full-text

Psychiatric symptoms, risk, and protective factors among university students in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

10.1101/2020.07.03.20144931 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shufang Sun ◽

Simon B Goldberg ◽

Danhua Lin ◽

Shan Qiao ◽

Don Operario

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

University Students ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Prosocial Behavior ◽

Traumatic Stress ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Risk And Protective Factors ◽

Screen Media ◽

Societal Stigma

This study investigated psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress) during state-enforced quarantine among university students in China. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 1,912 university students during March and April 2020. Psychiatric symptoms in the mild or higher range based on clinical cut-offs were alarmingly prevalent: 67.05% reported traumatic stress symptoms, 46.55% had depressive symptoms, and 34.73% reported anxiety symptoms. Further, 19.56% endorsed some degree of suicidal ideation. We explored factors that may contribute to poor psychological health as well as those that may function as protective factors. Risk and protective factors examined included demographic variables, two known protective factors for mental health (mindfulness, perceived social support), four COVID-specific factors (COVID-19 related efficacy, perceived COVID-19 threat, perceived COVID-19 societal stigma, COVID-19 prosocial behavior) and screen media usage. Across psychiatric symptom domains, mindfulness was associated with lower symptom severity, while COVID-19 related financial stress, perceived COVID-19 societal stigma, and perceived COVID-19 threat were associated with higher symptom severity. COVID-19 threat and COVID-19 stigma showed main and interactive effects in predicting all mental health outcomes, with their combination associated with highest symptom severity. Average screen media device usage was 6 hours and usage was positively associated with depression. Female gender and COVID-19 prosocial behavior were associated with higher anxiety, while COVID-19 self-efficacy associated with lower anxiety symptoms. Study limitations and implications for treatment and prevention of affective disorders during crisis are discussed.

Download Full-text

Correction to: Psychiatric symptoms, risk, and protective factors among university students in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-021-00701-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Shufang Sun ◽

Simon B. Goldberg ◽

Danhua Lin ◽

Shan Qiao ◽

Don Operario

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Risk And Protective Factors

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Download Full-text

The stability of dislocation networks under various oxygen-doping conditions in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy single crystals and their influence on the flux pinning properties

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100171742 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 802-803

Author(s):

Y. Feng ◽

X. Y. Cai ◽

R. J. Kelley ◽

D. C. Larbalestier

Keyword(s):

Single Crystals ◽

Oxygen Content ◽

Basal Plane ◽

Flux Pinning ◽

Pinning Centers ◽

Before And After ◽

Anomalous Peak ◽

Basal Plane Dislocation ◽

The Stability ◽

Further Development

The issue of strong flux pinning is crucial to the further development of high critical current density Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) superconductors in conductor-like applications, yet the pinning mechanisms are still much debated. Anomalous peaks in the M-H (magnetization vs. magnetic field) loops are commonly observed in Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy (Bi-2212) single crystals. Oxygen vacancies may be effective flux pinning centers in BSCCO, as has been found in YBCO. However, it has also been proposed that basal-plane dislocation networks also act as effective pinning centers. Yang et al. proposed that the characteristic scale of the basal-plane dislocation networksmay strongly depend on oxygen content and the anomalous peak in the M-H loop at ˜20-30K may be due tothe flux pinning of decoupled two-dimensional pancake vortices by the dislocation networks. In light of this, we have performed an insitu observation on the dislocation networks precisely at the same region before and after annealing in air, vacuumand oxygen, in order to verify whether the dislocation networks change with varying oxygen content Inall cases, we have not found any noticeable changes in dislocation structure, regardless of the drastic changes in Tc and the anomalous magnetization. Therefore, it does not appear that the anomalous peak in the M-H loops is controlled by the basal-plane dislocation networks.

Download Full-text