scholarly journals Evaluation of the E-Mental Health Mindfulness-Based and Skills-Based “CoPE It” Intervention to Reduce Psychological Distress in Times of COVID-19: Results of a Bicentre Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bäuerle ◽  
Lisa Jahre ◽  
Martin Teufel ◽  
Christoph Jansen ◽  
Venja Musche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Secondary Outcomes

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic poses immense challenges for health care systems and population-wide mental health. The e-mental health intervention “CoPE It” has been developed to offer standardized and manualized support to overcome psychological distress caused by the pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of “CoPE It” in terms of reducing distress (primary outcome), depression and anxiety symptoms, and improving self-efficacy, and mindfulness (secondary outcomes). Furthermore, the intervention's usability, feasibility, and participants' satisfaction with “CoPE It” was evaluated (tertiary outcome). The study protocol has been published previously.Methods: A bicentre longitudinal study was conducted from April 27th 2020 to May 3rd 2021. N = 110 participants were included in the analyses. The intervention consisted of four modules featuring different media promoting evidence-based methods of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Difference in psychological distress between baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1) were analyzed by repeated measure analysis of covariance. Mixed linear models were applied to assess moderating effects. Depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety symptoms, self-efficacy, and mindfulness were compared between baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1) via t-tests. Usability of the “CoPE It” intervention and participants' satisfaction was evaluated by calculation means and frequencies.Results:Primary outcome: A significant effect of time on psychological distress at post-intervention (T1) after controlling for age, gender, education, mental illness and attitudes toward online interventions was found. Depressive and anxiety symptoms, and mindfulness were a significant moderators of the relationship between time and psychological distress for consistent wording. Secondary outcomes: There was a significant decrease in depressive symptoms and generalized anxiety, and a significant increase in self-efficacy and mindfulness between baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1). Tertiary outcomes: 95.83% of the participants thought the “CoPE It” intervention was easy to use and 87.50% were satisfied with the “CoPE It” intervention in an overall, general sense.Conclusion: The e-mental health “CoPE It” intervention seems to be an effective approach in reducing psychological distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and in enhancing self-efficacy and mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants' satisfaction and the program‘s feasibility, and usability were proven to be high.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: DRKS00021301.

scholarly journals A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8188
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Riva ◽  
Luca Bernardelli ◽  
Gianluca Castelnuovo ◽  
Daniele Di Lernia ◽  
Cosimo Tuena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Secondary Outcomes

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at least two months of strict social distancing measures followed COVID Feel Good between June and July 2020 for one week. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, perceived stress levels, and hopelessness. Secondary outcomes were the experienced social connectedness and the level of fear experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, we also performed a clinical change analysis on primary outcome measures. As concerning primary outcome measures, participants exhibited improvements from baseline to post-intervention for depression levels, stress levels, general distress, and perceived stress (all p < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness (p = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 (p = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus (p = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up (p > 0.05). Results indicated that the intervention was associated with good clinical outcomes, low-to-no risks for the treatment, and no adverse effects or risks. Globally, evidence suggests a beneficial effect of the proposed protocol and its current availability in 12 different languages makes COVID Feel Good a free choice for helping individuals worldwide to cope with the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 crisis, although large scale trials are needed to evaluate its efficacy.

scholarly journals Emerging Adults’ Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Longitudinal Study on the Importance of Social Support

2021 ◽  
pp. 216769682110399
Author(s):  
Yvonne H. M. van den Berg ◽  
William J. Burk ◽  
Antonius H. N. Cillessen ◽  
Karin Roelofs
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Best Friends ◽  
General Psychological Distress

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate emerging adults’ mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether social support from mothers, fathers, and best friends moderated the change in mental health. Participants were 98 emerging adults (46% men) who were assessed prior to COVID-19 ( Mage = 20.60 years) and during the first lockdown ( Mage = 22.67 years). Results indicated that the pandemic did not uniformly lead to elevated levels of mental health problems, but instead depended on level of mental health problems prior to COVID-19 and the source of support. For emerging adults who already experienced more problems prior to COVID-19, more maternal support was related to decreases in general psychological distress and depressive symptoms, whereas more paternal support was related to increases in general psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Support from best friends were not associated with (changes in) mental health.

scholarly journals Exploring the Association Between Physical Activity and Risk of Mental Health Disorders in Saudi Arabian Adults: Cross-sectional Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora A Althumiri ◽  
Mada H Basyouni ◽  
Nasser F BinDhim
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
World Health ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional

BACKGROUND The relationship between physical activity and mental health, especially the symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), has received increasing attention in recent years. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the association between fulfilling the World Health Organization (WHO) global recommendations on physical activity and the risk and symptoms of MDD and GAD in the Saudi population. METHODS This study was a secondary analysis of data from a large nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted via phone interviews in June and July 2020. In this study, a proportional quota sampling technique was used to obtain an equal distribution of participants, stratified by age and gender, across the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia. The main mental health screening tool used for the risk of MDD was the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Risk of GAD was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. Participants self-reported whether they fulfill the WHO global recommendations on (1) moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (MIPA) and (2) vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (VIPA). The results were then analyzed based on the following two categories: fulfilling the WHO global recommendations or not. RESULTS The data analysis included 8333 participants recruited in the main study between June and July 2020. The response rate was 81.45% (8333/10,231). Of them, 50.3% (4192/8333) were female, and the mean age was 36.5 years, with a median age of 36 years and a range from 18 to 90 years. The average total PHQ-9 score was 5.61, and the average total GAD-7 score was 4.18. For men, the average total PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores were associated with fulfilling recommendations for MIPA; however, there were no associations for VIPA in both sexes. Fulfilling the WHO’s recommendations for MIPA was associated with considerably fewer depressive symptoms in six of the nine items in the PHQ-9. Moreover, fulfilling recommendations for MIPA was associated with considerably fewer anxiety symptoms in six of the seven items in the GAD-7. However, fulfilling recommendations for VIPA was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms in one of the PHQ-9 items (“Thoughts that you would be better off dead or thoughts of hurting yourself in some way;” <i>P</i>&lt;.001). CONCLUSIONS This study has shown that fulfilling guidelines on MIPA is associated with less overall risk of MDD and GAD in males and fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms generally in a nonclinical population. In the general population, an increase in MIPA may improve well-being and general mental health.

scholarly journals Exploring the Association Between Physical Activity and Risk of Mental Health Disorders in Saudi Arabian Adults: Cross-sectional Study

10.2196/25438 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e25438
Author(s):  
Nora A Althumiri ◽  
Mada H Basyouni ◽  
Nasser F BinDhim
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
World Health ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background The relationship between physical activity and mental health, especially the symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), has received increasing attention in recent years. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the association between fulfilling the World Health Organization (WHO) global recommendations on physical activity and the risk and symptoms of MDD and GAD in the Saudi population. Methods This study was a secondary analysis of data from a large nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted via phone interviews in June and July 2020. In this study, a proportional quota sampling technique was used to obtain an equal distribution of participants, stratified by age and gender, across the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia. The main mental health screening tool used for the risk of MDD was the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Risk of GAD was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. Participants self-reported whether they fulfill the WHO global recommendations on (1) moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (MIPA) and (2) vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (VIPA). The results were then analyzed based on the following two categories: fulfilling the WHO global recommendations or not. Results The data analysis included 8333 participants recruited in the main study between June and July 2020. The response rate was 81.45% (8333/10,231). Of them, 50.3% (4192/8333) were female, and the mean age was 36.5 years, with a median age of 36 years and a range from 18 to 90 years. The average total PHQ-9 score was 5.61, and the average total GAD-7 score was 4.18. For men, the average total PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores were associated with fulfilling recommendations for MIPA; however, there were no associations for VIPA in both sexes. Fulfilling the WHO’s recommendations for MIPA was associated with considerably fewer depressive symptoms in six of the nine items in the PHQ-9. Moreover, fulfilling recommendations for MIPA was associated with considerably fewer anxiety symptoms in six of the seven items in the GAD-7. However, fulfilling recommendations for VIPA was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms in one of the PHQ-9 items (“Thoughts that you would be better off dead or thoughts of hurting yourself in some way;” P<.001). Conclusions This study has shown that fulfilling guidelines on MIPA is associated with less overall risk of MDD and GAD in males and fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms generally in a nonclinical population. In the general population, an increase in MIPA may improve well-being and general mental health.

scholarly journals QOLP-04. PILOT STUDY OF A VIDEOCONFERENCE-BASED PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT GLIOMAS

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii175-ii175
Author(s):  
Deborah Forst ◽  
Michelle Mesa ◽  
Emilia Kaslow-Zieve ◽  
Areej El-Jawahri ◽  
Joseph Greer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Coping Skills ◽  
Malignant Gliomas ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
And Coping

Abstract BACKGROUND Caregivers of patients with malignant gliomas experience substantial anxiety symptoms while caring for someone with progressive neurological decline. Yet, interventions to reduce psychological distress and improve quality of life (QoL) in this caregiver population are lacking. METHODS We conducted an open pilot study evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention for caregivers of patients with malignant gliomas with clinically significant anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder [GAD-7] score ≥ 5). Caregivers participated in six videoconference sessions with a mental health provider. We defined the intervention as feasible if ≥ 70% of eligible caregivers enrolled and ≥ 70% of those enrolled completed ≥ 50% of sessions. We evaluated intervention acceptability in semi-structured interviews. Caregivers completed baseline and post-intervention surveys assessing anxiety and depression symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), QoL (Caregiver Oncology Quality of Life Questionnaire), caregiving burden (Caregiver Reaction Assessment), self-efficacy (Lewis Cancer Self-Efficacy Scale), and perceived coping skills (Measure of Current Status-Part A). We explored post-intervention changes using paired t-tests. RESULTS We obtained consent from 70.0% (21/30) of caregivers approached, of which 66.7% (14/21) had clinically significant anxiety and thus were eligible to participate (mean age=55.7 years, 64.3% female). Among enrolled caregivers, 71.4% (10/14) completed ≥ 50% of sessions. In semi-structured interviews, all participants found the intervention helpful and valued the ability to participate remotely via videoconference. Among caregivers who completed at least one session, 80.0% (8/10) completed all assessments and were included in analyses. Post-intervention, caregivers reported reduced anxiety symptoms (P=.02) and improved QoL (P=.03) and coping skills (P=.001). We found no significant change in depression, caregiving burden, or self-efficacy. CONCLUSION Our videoconference-based intervention is feasible and acceptable to caregivers. Participants reported significant improvements in anxiety symptoms, quality of life, and coping skills post-intervention, supporting further investigation of the intervention in a randomized controlled trial.

scholarly journals A randomized controlled trial on a self-guided Internet-based intervention for gambling problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Bücker ◽  
Josefine Gehlenborg ◽  
Steffen Moritz ◽  
Stefan Westermann
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Gambling Problems ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
Internet Based Intervention

AbstractThe majority of individuals with problematic and pathological gambling remain untreated, and treatment barriers are high. Internet-based interventions can help to address existing barriers, and first studies suggest their potential for this target group. Within a randomized controlled trial (N = 150) with two assessment times (baseline and post-intervention), we aimed to investigate the feasibility, acceptance, and effectiveness of a self-guided Internet-based intervention targeted at gambling problems. We expected a significant reduction in gambling symptoms (primary outcome) and depressive symptoms as well gambling-specific dysfunctional thoughts (secondary outcomes) in the intervention group (IG) compared to a wait-list control group with access to treatment-as-usual (control group, CG) after the intervention period of 8 weeks. Results of the complete cases, per protocol, intention-to-treat (ITT), and frequent user analyses showed significant improvements in both groups for primary and secondary outcomes but no significant between-group differences (ITT primary outcome, F(1,147) = .11, p = .739, ηp2 < .001). Moderation analyses indicated that individuals in the IG with higher gambling and depressive symptoms, older age, and comorbid anxiety symptoms showed significant improvement relative to the CG. The intervention was positively evaluated (e.g., 96.5% rated the program as useful). Possible reasons for the nonsignificant between-group differences are discussed. Future studies should include follow-up assessments and larger samples to address limitations of the present study. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03372226), http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03372226, date of registration (13/12/2017).

System intervention in community pharmacy setting: Leading to better patient care through reducing harm associated with coprescribing benzodiazepines and opioids

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 445-453
Author(s):  
Angelina Vascimini, PharmD ◽  
Kevin Duane, PharmD ◽  
Stacey Curtis, PharmD
Keyword(s):  
Chart Review ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Retrospective Chart Review ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
System Intervention ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
Pharmacy Setting

Objective: The opioid epidemic is frequently discussed including the staggering numbers involved with coprescribing opioids and benzodiazepines associated with death. Community pharmacists, with the help of a system intervention, have a unique opportunity to help reduce the coprescribing of benzodiazepines and opioids and reduce the associated risk of death.Design: A single center retrospective chart review was conducted after a system intervention was placed, as a quality improvement project, from November 2019 to May 2020.Setting: Independent community pharmacy.Patients/participants: Data included demographics, dosing of each medication pre- and post-intervention, and naloxone status.Main outcome(s) measures: The primary outcome evaluated was reduction in dose/discontinuation of these prescriptions. The secondary outcome evaluated was the number of naloxone prescriptions ordered per protocol and picked up.Results: The primary outcome did not show statistical difference; however, the secondary outcomes showed statistical significance.Conclusion: In conclusion, community pharmacists, with the help of evolving technologies, can reduce harm associated with the coprescribing of benzodiazepines and opioids.

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