scholarly journals Coping Strategies and Psychopathological Responses Among Medical and Non-medical Professionals – a Cross-Sectional Online Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Ciułkowicz ◽  
Julian Maciaszek ◽  
Błażej Misiak ◽  
Anna Pałȩga ◽  
Joanna Rymaszewska ◽  
...  

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was announced on March 11th, 2020, due to a surge of newly confirmed cases that significantly impacted populations worldwide, both directly and indirectly. Based on past epidemics research, the mental health implications of introduced restrictions should be expected and adequately addressed irrespective of the practiced profession.Objective: The study aimed to explore psychopathological responses, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), concerning coping strategy clusters during the COVID-19 pandemic among medical and non-medical workers.Methods: A cross-sectional web survey of the general population of internet users was performed from March 16th to April 26th, 2020, in Poland during the first peak of COVID-19 cases. A sample of 1,831 professionally active respondents, 64.0% of which pursuing a medical career, filled out General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and MiniCOPE, along with the socio-demographic questionnaire exploring personal as well as the work-related possibility of direct exposure to contagion and availability of proper protection, contact with the infected without accurate protective measures as well as the adequacy of workers when compared settings.Results: Individuals labeled with specific clusters had significantly different psychopathological manifestations. Irrespective of performed job maladaptive cluster was associated with significantly higher GHQ-28 and IES-R scores on total subscales and all subscales compared to those representing the non-specific and adaptive cluster. Similar findings were observed concerning the frequency of the GHQ-28 positive score. Moreover, the non-specific cluster was associated with significantly higher GHQ-28 total scores among medical professionals. However, GHQ-28 positive scores were significantly more frequent in medical workers using adaptive clusters when compared to non-specific. Such relations were not observed in the non-medical group.IES-R total and subscales' scores did not significantly vary within medical and non-medical groups when adaptive and non-specific clusters were compared. Pursuing a non-medical career was found to be a determinant of lower scores, while female sex was observed to be determinant of higher scores in both GHQ-28 and IES-R scales.Conclusions: Positive screening for psychopathological and PTSD symptoms was expected regardless of the analyzed groups' coping strategies. Given the dramatically developing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, support initiatives grounded in research evidence may be essential for maintaining the mental well-being and resilience of both the medical and non-medical workforce.

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seçil Bülbül ◽  
◽  
Serin Işiaçik ◽  

Ontological well-being adopts a holistic perspective on well-being similar to the narrative psychology when analyzing life histories by referring to past, present, and future aspects of one's life. Relatedly, the self-memory view proposes that life events are self-evaluated. Based on the narrative psychology and self-memory approach, affective life events and emotions are processed in the memory and play a role in structuring self-perceptions and psychological well-being. Therefore, turbulent external conditions such as the pandemic, uncertain environments and socio-economic challenges may lead to traumatic experiences for individuals. Being exposed to traumatic events and experiencing post-traumatic stress harms mental health, well-being, and work performance. This study aims to examine the relationship between traumatic life experiences and ontological well-being within the period of COVID 19 pandemic. It is intended to reveal the impact of traumatic experiences on ontological well-being of individuals in work life. A cross-sectional study was utilized throughout an online survey with the participation of 270 employees working in various private organizations. Following the statistical analyses, the findings were evaluated and both conceptual and practical discussions were provided.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 869.2-869
Author(s):  
F. Ingegnoli ◽  
M. Buoli ◽  
C. Posio ◽  
R. DI Taranto ◽  
R. Caporali

Background:Detrimental psychological effects, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress, anxiety, and depression have been related to COVID-19 quarantine measures (1). These aspects may be particularly relevant in stress-related disorders such as fibromyalgia (FM) in which previous evidence demonstrated a causal effect of psychological stressors on chronic non-inflammatory pain of FM (2). Recent studies highlighted a significant worsening of FM symptoms after COVID-19 related lockdown period (3-4), but the levels of perceived stress and distress have not been evaluated yet.Objectives:The aim of this study is to establish the COVID-19 related perceived stress and distress among patients with FM who experienced the COVID-19 quarantine in Italy. Data were retrieved from a larger nationwide online survey involving patients affected by different rheumatic diseases (RD).Methods:We collected data from May to September 2020 from RD patients living in Italy during the COVID-19 quarantine by an ad-hoc online survey. Eleven associations of RD patients sent a call by using their mailing list, webpages and social network. They asked to complete an anonymous online survey which included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Impact Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize results.Results:79 of 507 (15.6%) of RD patients who completed the survey declared to have been diagnosed FM. 77 (97.5%) were females, with a mean (± SD) age of 51.0 ± 12.4 yrs. In FM patients, the mean (SD) PSS score was 23.8 ± 8.1. In particular, 8 (10.1%) reported low, 38 (48.1%) moderate and 33 (41.8%) high PSS scores. Moreover, IES-R mean (SD) score was 38.5 ± 17.2. Among FM patients, 51 (64.6%) reported scores greater than 33, indicating the probable presence of a PTSD. With regard to the IES-R subscale scores, the total sample did not show a prominence of one of the three main domains: intrusion (13.9 ± 7.3), avoidance (11.9 ± 6.1) and hyperarousal (12.6 ± 5.9). In these FM patients, self-reported major sources of anxiety were related to personal and relatives’ health (59.5%), followed by social withdrawal (21.5%) and employment loss/financial difficulties (11.4%). There was a slight increase of self-reported use of antidepressants (15 [18.9%] vs 16 [20.2%]) and anxiolytics drugs (4 [5.1%] vs 5 [6.3%]) after lockdown period.Conclusion:These results confirm that psychosocial stress and distress were highly pervasive in FM after COVID-19 national lockdown. It is known that stressed status may exacerbate and/or precipitate later development of FM symptoms. These data support the substantial worsening of somatic burden of FM after lockdown period reported in previous studies (3-4). Coping strategies should be implemented to ameliorate psychological well-being of these patients in this stressful era.References:[1]Brooks SK, et al. Lancet. 2020;395:912-20.[2]Hung CH, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2020;79:1644-1656.[3]Batres-Marroquín AB, et al. J Clin Rheumatol. 2020 Epub ahead of print.[4]Cavalli G, et al. Rheumatology 2021;60:465-467.Acknowledgements:We wish to thank the Lombard Association of Rheumatic Diseases (ALOMAR) for its invaluable contribution to the planning and dissemination the survey, all the Italian associations among which the National Association of People with Rheumatic and Rare Diseases (APMARR) and National Association of People with Rheumatic Diseases (ANMAR) that disseminated the survey through social media. The authors are grateful to all patients for contributing to this project.Disclosure of Interests:Francesca Ingegnoli: None declared, Massimiliano Buoli: None declared, Cristina Posio: None declared, Raffaele Di Taranto: None declared, Roberto Caporali Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Celltrion, Galapagos, Gilead, Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, Sanofi, Fresenius Kabi, Samsung bioepis, MSD, Consultant of: Galapagos, Gilead, Lilly,Janssen, MSD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Maciaszek ◽  
Marta Ciulkowicz ◽  
Blazej Misiak ◽  
Dorota Szczesniak ◽  
Dorota Luc ◽  
...  

Background: The study aimed to compare psychopathological expressions during the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, as declared on March 11th 2020 by the World Health Organization, with respect to which institutional variables might distinguish the impact of COVID-19 in medical and non-medical professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed nationwide between 16th March and the 26th April 2020 in Poland. A total of 2039 respondents representing all healthcare providers (59.8%) as well as other professionals filled in the sociodemographic section, the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the author’s questionnaire with questions related to exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the availability of protective measures, quarantine, change of working hours and place of employment during the pandemic, as well as feelings associated with the state of the pandemic. Results: Medical professionals more often presented with relevant psychopathological symptoms (GHQ-28 (General Health Questionnaire-28) total score >24) than the non-medical group (60.8% vs. 48.0%, respectively) such as anxiety, insomnia and somatic symptoms even after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Male sex, older age and appropriate protective equipment were associated with significantly lower GHQ-28 total scores in medical professionals, whereas among non-medical professionals, male sex was associated with significantly lower GHQ-28 total scores. Conclusions: Somatic and anxiety symptoms as well as insomnia are more prevalent among medical staff than workers in other professions. Targeting the determinants of these differences should be included in interventions aimed at restoring psychological well-being in this specific population. Apparently, there are present gender differences in psychological responses that are independent of profession.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Kołodziejczyk ◽  
Błazej Misiak ◽  
Dorota Szcześniak ◽  
Julian Maciaszek ◽  
Marta Ciułkowicz ◽  
...  

Background: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 that began from March 2020 is yet to be contained. Consequences of the ongoing pandemic may have a negative impact on the mental health of affected individuals. This particularly refers to those quarantined. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is currently one of the biggest health issues worldwide, a higher demand emerges for research concentrating on the worsening of psychological well-being among the general and the quarantined population, as well as on individual coping strategies that may moderate the occurrence of psychopathologies.Method: Data were collected within the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Participants represented quarantine (+) and quarantine (–) groups. Quarantine (+) group, different from quarantine (–), consisted of people who experienced it themselves or someone close to them did after contacting an infected individual. To measure psychopathological symptoms a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used. For measuring PTSD symptoms, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used. This study followed the coping strategies manifested among the participants using the MiniCope questionnaire.Results: A total of 2,036 individuals participated in this study. Quarantine (+) individuals had significantly higher total and subscales GHQ-28 scores (anxiety, insomnia, and somatic symptoms) as well as a higher IES-R arousal score. The quarantine (+) individuals were more likely to use self-distraction as a coping strategy. This research identified positive and negative correlations between presented coping styles and manifested psychopathology.Conclusion: This nationwide study suggests occurrence of negative effects on mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine. It is observed on most of the measured psychopathological symptoms. The present research provides a line of action that should be followed in the future in case of another epidemic and in the event restrictions like quarantine have to be introduced again.


2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Cheung Chung ◽  
Man Cheung Chung ◽  
Steven Farmer ◽  
Julie Werrett ◽  
Yvette Easthope ◽  
...  

Objectives: The aims of this study were to examine the degree of traumatic stress and the coping strategies employed by community residents who lived on both sides of a rail track where a train collision occurred in 1996 in Stafford, UK. The hypothesis was that there would be a high level of traumatic stress and that emotion-focused coping would be the predictor to distress. Method: This was a cross-sectional survey with a retrospective design in which 66 community residents, who lived between 30 and 100 feet away from the crash site, were interviewed. The study began approximately 7 months after the disaster. The Impact of Event Scale (IES), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Ways of Coping Checklists (WOC) were administered to the residents. Results: On the whole, the results did not entirely support the hypothesis. The residents were found to have experienced some intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviour but their mean scores were significantly lower than those of standardized samples. Thirty-five per cent scored at 4 or above on the GHQ-28. Traumatic stress was predicted by both emotionfocused and problem-focused coping strategies. Conclusion: Although community residents were not on the train or related to the dead or injured in any way, they could, after being exposed to a train disaster, manifest traumatic stress symptoms which had long-lasting effects. Such traumatic stress was found to be associated with coping strategies of community residents characterized by their efforts to manage or alter the source of stress, and by their efforts to regulate stressful emotions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khanh Ngoc Cong Duong ◽  
Tien Nguyen Le Bao ◽  
Phuong Thi Lan Nguyen ◽  
Thanh Vo Van ◽  
Toi Phung Lam ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The first nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic was implemented in Vietnam from April 1 to 15, 2020. Nevertheless, there has been limited information on the impact of COVID-19 on the psychological health of the public. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychological issues and identify the factors associated with the psychological impact of COVID-19 during the first nationwide lockdown among the general population in Vietnam. METHODS We employed a cross-sectional study design with convenience sampling. A self-administered, online survey was used to collect data and assess psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress of participants from April 10 to 15, 2020. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were utilized to assess psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress of participants during social distancing due to COVID-19. Associations across factors were explored using regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 1385 respondents completed the survey. Of this, 35.9% (n=497) experienced psychological distress, as well as depression (n=325, 23.5%), anxiety (n=195, 14.1%), and stress (n=309, 22.3%). Respondents who evaluated their physical health as average had a higher IES-R score (beta coefficient [B]=9.16, 95% CI 6.43 to 11.89), as well as higher depression (B=5.85, 95% CI 4.49 to 7.21), anxiety (B=3.64, 95% CI 2.64 to 4.63), and stress (B=5.19, 95% CI 3.83 to 6.56) scores for DASS-21 than those who rated their health as good or very good. Those who self-reported their health as bad or very bad experienced more severe depression (B=9.57, 95% CI 4.54 to 14.59), anxiety (B=7.24, 95% CI 3.55 to 10.9), and stress (B=10.60, 95% CI 5.56 to 15.65). Unemployment was more likely to be associated with depression (B=3.34, 95% CI 1.68 to 5.01) and stress (B=2.34, 95% CI 0.84 to 3.85). Regarding worries about COVID-19, more than half (n=755, 54.5%) expressed concern for their children aged <18 years, which increased their IES-R score (B=7.81, 95% CI 4.98 to 10.64) and DASS-21 stress score (B=1.75, 95% CI 0.27 to 3.24). The majority of respondents (n=1335, 96.4%) were confident about their doctor’s expertise in terms of COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, which was positively associated with less distress caused by the outbreak (B=–7.84, 95% CI –14.58 to –1.11). CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the effect of COVID-19 on mental health during the nationwide lockdown among the general population in Vietnam. The study provides useful evidence for policy decision makers to develop and implement interventions to mitigate these impacts. CLINICALTRIAL


Author(s):  
Adrianos Golemis ◽  
Panteleimon Voitsidis ◽  
Eleni Parlapani ◽  
Vasiliki A Nikopoulou ◽  
Virginia Tsipropoulou ◽  
...  

Summary COVID-19 and the related quarantine disrupted young adults’ academic and professional life, daily routine and socio-emotional well-being. This cross-sectional study focused on the emotional and behavioural responses of a young adult population during the COVID-19-related quarantine in April 2020, in Greece. The study was conducted through an online survey. A total of 1559 young adults, aged 18−30 years, completed Steele’s Social Responsibility Motivation Scale and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and answered questions about compliance with instructions, quarantine-related behaviours and coping strategies. According to the results, participants displayed a relatively high sense of social responsibility (M = 16.09, SD = 2.13) and a trend towards moderate feeling of loneliness (M = 2.65, SD = 1.62); young women reported significantly higher levels of loneliness than men. The majority complied with instructions often (46.4%) or always (44.8%). Significantly more women created a new social media account and used the social media longer than 5 h/day, compared with men. Resorting to religion, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted higher levels of social responsibility; humour, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted lower levels of loneliness. Conclusively, COVID-19 is expected to have a significant psychological impact on young adults. Currently, Greece is going through the second quarantine period. This study raises awareness about loneliness in young adults during the COVID-19-related quarantine and highlights the importance of developing online programmes, attractive to younger people, to nurture adaptive coping strategies against loneliness.


Author(s):  
Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas ◽  
Ravi Philip Rajkumar ◽  
Elijah W. Stommel ◽  
Randy Kulesza ◽  
Yusra Mansour ◽  
...  

Quadruple aberrant hyperphosphorylated tau (p-τ), amyloid-β peptide, alpha-synuclein and TDP-43 brainstem and supratentorial pathology are documented in forensic ≤40y autopsies in Metropolitan Mexico City (MMC), and p-τ is the major aberrant protein. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with an elevated risk of subsequent dementia, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is documented in PD, AD, Lewy body dementia and ALS. This study aimed to identify an association between PTSD and potential pRBD in Mexico. An anonymous online survey of 4502 urban college-educated adults, 29.3 ± 10.3 years; MMC, n = 1865; non-MMC, n = 2637, measured PTSD symptoms using the Impact of Event Scale–Revised (IES-R) and pRBD symptoms using the RBD Single-Question. Over 50% of the participants had IES-R scores ≥33 indicating probable PTSD. pRBD was identified in 22.6% of the participants across Mexico and 32.7% in MMC residents with PTSD. MMC subjects with PTSD had an OR 2.6218 [2.5348, 2.7117] of answering yes to the pRBD. PTSD and pRBD were more common in women. This study showed an association between PTSD and pRBD, strengthening the possibility of a connection with misfolded proteinopathies in young urbanites. We need to confirm the RBD diagnosis using an overnight polysomnogram. Mexican women are at high risk for stress and sleep disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor James Davidson ◽  
Keri Lodge ◽  
Alwyn Kam

Purpose To date there has been limited research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic people. This study aims to present the results of a survey of autistic people (n = 51) conducted by a UK specialist autism team. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional online survey. Findings A total of 72% respondents reported either some or significant deterioration in mental health during the pandemic. The issues that caused most negative impact were uncertainty over what will happen next and disruption of normal routine. Respondents reported a variety of coping strategies to help them through the pandemic. Originality/value To date there has been little research looking specifically at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic people. This paper adds weight to the evidence that the pandemic has had a particularly severe impact on autistic adults and includes useful information on potential coping strategies for this population.


Author(s):  
Vaishali Shanmugam

BACKGROUND: COVID -19 pandemic is a very stressful situation for doctors, who face the risk of infection in daily life. Coping is the process by which a person deals with stressful situations or demands. Identifying the coping strategies of our medical professionals will help us to understand their coping styles and to deliver effective interventions to enhance their mental well-being. METHODS: An online survey form with socio-demographic profile and BRIEF COPE tool for assessing different coping strategies was sent to interns, residents, and teaching faculty. The coping strategies were divided into emotion-based, problem-based, and dysfunctional coping, and spearman's correlation was done to determine any correlation between sociodemographic variables and the coping strategies. RESULTS: A total of 84 valid and complete responses were included in the study. There is a variable distribution of mean scores for problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional strategies. Age and marital status had a positive correlation with problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies meaning that older adults and married people used these strategies predominantly. Higher designation used problem-focused coping predominantly. Dysfunctional coping strategies had no correlation with any of the sociodemographic variables. CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic factors affecting the coping mechanisms in medical professionals differ from those of the general population seen in previous studies. Within the group of medical professionals, those with higher age, higher designation and married had predominantly adaptive strategies. Interventions targetting maladaptive components of emotion-focused strategies and dysfunctional strategies should be aimed at a younger age group, unmarried people, interns, and residents among the medical professionals to better cope with this COVID scenario.


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