Relationships Between Anxiety Symptoms, Hopelessness and Suicidal Ideation Among Parental Caregivers of Mandarin-Speaking Children With Speech Impairment: The Mediating Effect of Depressive Symptoms

Background: Determining the mental health status of parents who chronically care for a child with speech impairment is important for developing appropriate interventions to improve both parents' and children's health and achieve a win-win situation. Unfortunately, no study in China has explored this issue. This study investigated the differences in four aspects of mental health between maternal and paternal caregivers for the Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment and determine whether depressive symptoms mediate the relationships between anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation, hopelessness and suicidal ideation.Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in February 2020 by sending a link to the predesigned electronic questionnaire in WeChat. Standardized assessment tools were employed. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression was conducted to examine the associations between various factors and suicidal ideation, and two separate structural equation models were performed to evaluate the mediating effects of depressive symptoms in the relationship between anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation as well as between hopelessness and suicidal ideation.Results: This study included 446 parental caregivers of Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment. Paternal caregivers had greater score than maternal caregivers on loss of motivation (one of the subdomains of hopelessness). Somatic complications of the child (OR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.09–6.67) and depressive symptoms (OR = 3.38, 95% CI: 1.83–6.30) were positively associated with caregivers' suicidal ideation. Having speech therapy of child (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.29–0.98) was negatively correlated with caregivers' suicidal ideation. There was direct effect of depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation. Depressive symptoms play mediating roles on the relationships between anxiety symptoms (β = 0.171, p < 0.001) as well as between hopelessness and suicidal ideation (β = 0.187, p < 0.001).Conclusions: Paternal and maternal caregivers of Mandarin-speaking children with speech impairment suffered from mental health problems. Preventive strategies and interventions to ameliorate parental psychological well-being, and health care policies to increase the accessibility to speech therapy care of children with speech impairment are imperative.

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Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation in Chinese University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669833 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Shuang-Jiang Zhou ◽

Lei-Lei Wang ◽

Meng Qi ◽

Xing-Jie Yang ◽

Lan Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Graduate Students ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

University Students ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Chinese University ◽

Chinese University Students

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has seriously threatened the global public health security and caused a series of mental health problem. Current research focuses mainly on mental health status and related factors in the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese university students. Data from 11133 participants was obtained through an online survey. The Patient Health Question-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms, the Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS) was used to assess social support. We also used 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) to assess anxiety symptoms. Totally, 37.0% of the subjects were experiencing depressive symptoms, 24.9% anxiety symptoms, 20.9% comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, and 7.3% suicidal ideation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed an increased presence of mental health problems in female students, graduate students, and those with personal COVID-19 exposure. Awareness of COVID-19, living with family were protective factors that reduced anxiety and depression symptoms. In addition, male, personal COVID-19 exposure, depressive and anxiety symptoms were risk factors for suicidal ideation. Social support, COVID-19 preventive and control measures, prediction of COVID-19 trends, living with family and graduate students are protective factors for reducing suicidal ideation.

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Mental health burden of high school students 1.5 years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria

10.31124/advance.17260130.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rachel Dale ◽

MMag. Dr. Andrea Jesser ◽

Teresa O´Rourke ◽

Thomas Probst ◽

Elke Humer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Well Being ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

School Type ◽

School Students ◽

Health Burden

The COVID-19 pandemic and containment efforts seem to be particularly challenging for adolescents. This study assessed mental health in 14- to 20-year-old high school students 1.5 years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. A cross-sectional survey was carried out from 14th September 2021 to 14th November 2021. Well-being (WHO-5), depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7) and sleep quality (ISI) were assessed. A total of 1505 adolescents participated (77.9% girls). The cut-off for clinically relevant depressive symptoms (i.e., PHQ-9 score, ≥11) was exceeded by 61.9% girls and 38.1% boys and 49.3% girls and 28.8% boys had clinically relevant anxiety symptoms (i.e., GAD-7 score, ≥11). Clinically relevant moderate insomnia (i.e., ISI score, ≥15) was reported by 27.5% girls and 16.7% boys. The prevalence of suicidal ideation (item 9 of the PHQ-9) within the last 2 weeks was 46.8% in girls and 32.0% in boys. These data collected in autumn 2021 (at the start of the second semester of reopened schools; t2) were compared to data collected in February 2021 (one semester after almost exclusively remote schooling; t1). A matched pairs analysis according to age, gender, region, school type and migration background resulted in a total sample size of N = 2514 adolescents (70.1% females). Results showed small reduction in mental health (i.e., well-being, depressive symptoms, insomnia, suicidal ideation) in girls at t2 compared to t1, and an increase in suicidal thoughts in boys (all p-values <0.05). Results suggest that mental health burden in adolescents remained high 1.5 years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the need to implement timely psychological support.

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Prevalence of depression, anxiety and suicide among men who have sex with men in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences ◽

10.1017/s2045796020000487 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

Author(s):

D. Wei ◽

X. Wang ◽

X. You ◽

X. Luo ◽

C. Hao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Sex With Men

Abstract Aims Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for depression, anxiety and suicide. The estimated prevalence of these problems is essential to guide public health policy, but published results vary. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and suicide among Chinese MSM. Methods Systematic searches of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, CNKI and Wanfang databases with languages restricted to Chinese and English for studies published before 10 September 2019 on the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicide plans and suicide attempts among Chinese MSM. Studies that were published in the peer-reviewed journals and used validated instruments to assess depression and anxiety were included. The characteristics of studies and the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicide plans and suicide attempts were independently extracted by authors. Random-effects modelling was used to estimate the pooled rates. Subgroup analysis and univariate meta-regression were conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. This study followed the PRISMA and MOOSE. Results Sixty-seven studies were included. Fifty-two studies reported the prevalence of depressive symptoms, with a combined sample of 37 376 people, of whom 12 887 [43.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 38.9–47.5] reported depressive symptoms. Twenty-seven studies reported the prevalence of anxiety symptoms, with a combined sample of 10 531 people, of whom 3187 (32.2%; 95% CI, 28.3–36.6) reported anxiety symptoms. Twenty-three studies reported the prevalence of suicidal ideation, with a combined sample of 15 034 people, of whom 3416 (21.2%; 95% CI, 18.3–24.5) had suicidal ideation. Nine studies reported the prevalence of suicide plans, with a combined sample of 5271 people, of whom 401 (6.2%; 95% CI, 3.9–8.6) had suicide plans. Finally, 19 studies reported the prevalence of suicide attempts, with a combined sample of 27 936 people, of whom 1829 (7.3%; 95% CI, 5.6–9.0) had attempted suicide. Conclusions The mental health of Chinese MSM is poor compared with the general population. Efforts are warranted to develop interventions to prevent and alleviate mental health problems among this vulnerable population.

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Body Dissatisfaction and Mental Health Outcomes of Youth on Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy

10.1542/9781610025423-body ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 101-109

Author(s):

Laura E. Kuper ◽

Sunita Stewart ◽

Stephanie Preston ◽

May Lau ◽

Ximena Lopez

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Suicide Attempt ◽

Body Dissatisfaction ◽

Hormone Therapy ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Over Time

OBJECTIVES Our first aim was to examine baseline differences in body dissatisfaction, depression, and anxiety symptoms by gender, age, and Tanner (ie, pubertal) stage. Our second aim was to test for changes in youth symptoms over the first year of receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy. Our third aim was to examine potential differences in change over time by demographic and treatment characteristics. Youth experiences of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) are also reported. METHODS Participants (n = 148; ages 9–18 years; mean age 14.9 years) were receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy at a multidisciplinary program in Dallas, Texas (n = 25 puberty suppression only; n = 123 feminizing or masculinizing hormone therapy). Participants completed surveys assessing body dissatisfaction (Body Image Scale), depression (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms), and anxiety (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders) at initial presentation to the clinic and at follow-up. Clinicians completed the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms and collected information on youth experiences of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and NSSI. RESULTS Affirmed males reported greater depression and anxiety at baseline, but these differences were small (P < .01). Youth reported large improvements in body dissatisfaction (P < .001), small to moderate improvements in self-report of depressive symptoms (P < .001), and small improvements in total anxiety symptoms (P < .01). No demographic or treatment-related characteristics were associated with change over time. Lifetime and follow-up rates were 81% and 39% for suicidal ideation, 16% and 4% for suicide attempt, and 52% and 18% for NSSI, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Results provide further evidence of the critical role of gender-affirming hormone therapy in reducing body dissatisfaction. Modest initial improvements in mental health were also evident.

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Mental health burden of high school students 1.5 years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria

10.31124/advance.17260130 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rachel Dale ◽

MMag. Dr. Andrea Jesser ◽

Teresa O´Rourke ◽

Thomas Probst ◽

Elke Humer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Well Being ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

School Type ◽

School Students ◽

Health Burden

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Job Dissatisfaction Mediated the Associations Between Work Stress and Mental Health Problems

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.711263 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Dan Qiu ◽

Ruiqi Li ◽

Yilu Li ◽

Jun He ◽

Feiyun Ouyang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Path Analysis ◽

Work Stress ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Job Dissatisfaction ◽

Working Adults

Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationships and the underlying mechanisms between work stress and mental health problems, and potential mediation effects through job dissatisfaction in a working population.Methods: A large population-based study among workers in China was conducted. The self-reported scales of assessing job dissatisfaction and work stress were included in the questionnaire. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 were used for assessment of mental health. Univariate logistic regression was conducted to test the associations between work stress and mental health. Path analysis was conducted to test the proposed mediation model.Results: Of the 6,190 included employees, 27.72% reported that they perceived work stress, 14.84% of them reported that they were not satisfied with their work, 5.01% of the employees reported depressive symptoms, and 3.75% of the employees reported anxiety symptoms. The results of univariate logistic regression showed that employees who perceived work stress were more likely to report anxiety symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.78; 95% CI: 2.03–3.79) or depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.22–2.12). The path analysis showed that work stress was positively associated with job dissatisfaction. Job dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between work stress and mental health problems among Chinese working adults.Conclusion: This study suggests the importance of psychosocial work environment for mental health among Chinese working adults. Work dissatisfaction is a stressor that may induce negative consequences on the mental health among Chinese workers. Interventions to help workers with stress management may be beneficial for their mental health.

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Mental Health Assessment of Youth with Sickle Cell Disease and Their Primary Caretakers: Baseline Depression and COVID-19 Pandemic-Associated Psychosocial Stress in a Multi-Site Study

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2020-140866 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 41-42

Author(s):

Nancy S. Green ◽

Deepa Manwani ◽

Kim Smith-Whitley ◽

Banu Aygun ◽

Abena Appiah-Kubi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Research Funding ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Mental Health Symptoms ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

Work Arrangements

Introduction: Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their families are susceptible to stress and depression associated with chronic illness and social factors disproportionately affecting under-resourced U.S. communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted psychosocial and economic well-being, especially in some of these same communities. Our concurrent HABIT multi-site randomized trial aims to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth with SCD ages 10-18 years through an intervention led by community health workers(NCT03462511). Subjects enrolled as youth-primary caretaker dyads; adults were mostly parents. We hypothesized that some HABIT subjects had depressive symptoms at baseline, and many had additional stressors during the pandemic. Methods: Two self-reported assessment tools were used, with options of English or Spanish: 1) PROMIS® pediatric (8a, v1.0) or adult (4a, v1.0) depression measures, completed at HABIT enrollment, nearly all between May 2018 - March 2020 ("baseline"); 2) A pandemic-related open-access survey originated by Johns Hopkins University on established core adult mental health assessed risks and behaviors.[1] Questions were closely adapted for use by youth. The pandemic survey assessed recent mental health symptoms and substance or domestic abuse. Two validated food insecurity screening questions were added.[2] Of 92 HABIT subjects, 84 were offered survey participation between May - July, 2020. Participants completed both assessment tools via electronic linkage to REDCap data capture. Analyses used chi square or Fisher exact test. Results: In all, 75% (63 of 84) responded to the pandemic survey; 31 were youth-parent dyads and one unpaired parent. Baseline demographics were: Youth (N=31): mean age 12.9±1.9 years, 48.4% female, 80.6% grade 6-12, 45.3% hospitalized within the prior 12 months; Caretakers (N=32): mean age 44.0±9.6 years, 87.5% Black, 18.8% Latinx, 37.50% married or living with a partner, 59.4% with at least some college education. At baseline, youth mean PROMIS® Depression T-Score was 49.9±10.1 (normal <50), with 64.5% reporting mild, moderate or severe depressive symptoms, compared to Caretaker' mean score 46.6±9.4 (normal <55) with 15.5% symptomatic (p=0.0002) (Table). In contrast, the pandemic survey revealed that 3 (9.7%) youth and 8 (25.0%) caretakers had recently felt depressed and/or anxious (NS). Loneliness (1 in 5) and especially not feeling hope for the future (1 in 2) were common in both groups. More youth than caretakers (89.1% vs.46.9%) had changes made to their school or work arrangements (p=0.008). Four (12.5%) caretakers and 1 (3.2%) youth had histories of mental illness. Substance use/abuse or verbal abuse were reported in <10% of each group. Food insecurity was reported in 6 (18.8%) families. "Red flag" replies to the pandemic survey necessitated referral of 6 dyads (18.8%) to their SCD social workers for support. Conclusions: In this sample of subjects from the HABIT Trial, at baseline a higher proportion of youth had depressive symptoms compare to their primary caretakers. During the initial pandemic peak in the Northeast, disrupted work arrangements and especially school cancellation were widespread. Fewer youth but similar proportions of caretakers reported feeling depressed and/or anxious. Both groups commonly reported loneliness or not feeling hopeful for the future. History of mental health conditions, current substance use/abuse or verbal abuse were uncommon. Concordant with concerns for under-resourced communities, a sizeable minority of families reported food insecurity. Under the limitations of using 2 different assessment tools, in this modest sample the majority of youth with SCD but not caretakers were mildly-moderately depressed at baseline and that, during the pandemic, the 2 groups reported similar proportions of mental health symptoms. These findings suggest that screening for mental health symptoms, social disruption and food insecurity may be warranted in this high-risk group overall and during the pandemic. References: 1) COVID-19 and mental health measurement working group, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, March 18, 2020 2) Barnidge E., et al., Screening for Food Insecurity in Pediatric Clinical Settings. J. Community Health 42(1):51-57, 2017 The HABIT Trial is supported by 5R01NR017206-04 (Green, Smaldone). The authors have no conflicts to disclose. Disclosures Smith-Whitley: Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Global Blood Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Prime: Other: Education material; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Aygun:bluebird bio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; National Institute of Nursing Research: Research Funding; Patient-Centered Outsomes Research Institute: Research Funding; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: Research Funding.

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Trauma and Mental Health in Resettled Refugees: Mediating Effect of Host Language Acquisition on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms

Transcultural Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1363461518789538 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

pp. 3-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dzenana Kartal ◽

Nathan Alkemade ◽

Litza Kiropoulos

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Community Sample ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Indirect Pathway ◽

Traumatic Exposure ◽

The Relationship

This study examined the relationship between traumatic exposure, host language acquisition and mental health (posttraumatic stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms) in long-term resettled refugees. Participants included a community sample of Bosnian refugees ( N = 138, 55% male, mean age of 40 years old) that had resettled in Australia and Austria on average 18 years prior. Two mediation models were tested based on two competing theories. Model A examined whether language acquisition mediates the relationship between traumatic exposure and mental health problems experienced by refugees. Model B examined whether mental health symptoms mediate the relationship between exposure to traumatic events and the acquisition of host language. Model A fit the data well (CFI = 1.00, SRMR = .017, RMSEA < .001, χ2 p = .526), while Model B was rejected as an acceptable model for the data (CFI = .556, SRMR = .136, RMSEA = .352). In Model A, the indirect pathway from trauma to mental health via language acquisition was significant for PTSD ( β = .067, p = .028) and anxiety symptoms ( β = .063, p = .026) but not depression symptoms ( β = .048, p = .071). Intervention strategies aimed at improving host language acquisition may be important not only in successful adaptation to daily living in the host country, but also to improve the mental health of traumatized refugees.

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Examining Children’s Mental Health and Parenting Quality before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/b3t5e ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Heather Yarger ◽

Deena Shariq ◽

Alexandra Hickey ◽

Elizabeth Giacobbe ◽

Sarah Louise Dziura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Children’S Mental Health ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Children's Mental Health ◽

Parental Mental Health ◽

Parenting Quality ◽

Permissive Parenting ◽

Children’S Anxiety ◽

At Home

Background: The goal of the current study was to characterize the impact of COVID-19 mitigation efforts (i.e., stay-at-home orders) on children’s mental health and parenting quality, as well as to assess predictors of children’s mental health during the pandemic. Methods: Seventy-nine children (18 with autism, 61 without) and their parents who participated in a previous study and were at least 10 years old (M = 13.8, SD = 1.7) were invited to participate in three online follow-up surveys post initiation of the stay-at-home-order (during May through November 2020). Children were predominantly White (49.4%) and not Hispanic or Latino (78.5%). Parents reported on children’s anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as their own parenting practices. Family togetherness, conflict, financial problems, and parental mental health during the pandemic were also collected. Results: Children without autism experienced a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms across the beginning of the pandemic and a significant increase in depressive symptoms from pre- to post-stay-at-home-order. Children with autism experienced a significant decrease in depressive symptoms from pre- to post- stay-at-home-order. Parents of children without autism reported a significant decrease in positive parenting from pre- to post stay-at-home-order. Higher levels of permissive parenting and financial problems were associated with children’s depressive symptoms. Higher levels of parent mental health difficulties and permissive parenting were associated with higher levels of children’s anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Children are experiencing both improvements and declines in mental health relative to pre-pandemic. Parenting quality and parental mental health have direct impacts on children’s functioning during the pandemic.

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