Mental Health during the COVID-19 Lockdown over the Christmas Period in Austria and the Effects of Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic a decline in mental health has been reported. This online study investigated mental health and well-being in Austria during a strict lockdown. In total, N = 1505 participants were recruited between 23 December 2020 and 4 January 2021 and levels of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), sleep quality (ISI), well-being (WHO-5), quality of life (WHO-QOL) and stress (PSS-10) were measured. 26% scored above the cut-off for moderate depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 10; ♀ = 32%; ♂ = 21%), 23% above the cut-off for moderate anxiety (GAF-7 ≥ 10; ♀ = 29%; ♂ = 17%) and 18% above the cut-off for moderate insomnia (ISI ≥ 15; ♀ = 21%; ♂ = 16%). Mean-scores for quality of life (psychological WHO-QOL) were 68.89, for well-being (WHO-5) 14.34, and for stress (PSS-10) 16.42. The youngest age group (18–24) was most burdened and showed significantly more mental health symptoms compared with the oldest age group (65+) in depressive symptoms (50% vs. 12%), anxiety symptoms (35% vs. 10%), and insomnia (25% vs. 11%, all p-values < 0.05). Mental health decreased compared to both the first lockdown earlier in 2020 and pre-pandemic data. Further analyses indicate these findings were especially apparent for the under 24-year-olds, women, single/separated people, low incomes and those who do not partake in any physical activity (all p-values < 0.05). We highlight the need for ongoing mental health support, particularly to the most burdened groups.

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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown on Mental Well-Being of Norwegian Adolescents During the First Wave—Socioeconomic Position and Gender Differences

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.717747 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Arnhild Myhr ◽

Linn Renée Naper ◽

Indira Samarawickrema ◽

Renate K. Vesterbekkmo

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Well Being ◽

Socioeconomic Groups ◽

The Impact ◽

Mental Well Being

Background: The lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has been called a crisis in mental health, and adolescents may have been among the most affected. Comparing the first period of societal lockdown in spring 2020 to periods going back to 2014 using a rich cross-sectional dataset based on repeated surveys, we explore the potential changes in self-reported mental well-being across sociodemographic groups among Norway's adolescents.Methods: Norway closed schools and implemented strict restrictions in March 2020; an electronic questionnaire survey was distributed to lower secondary school students in Trøndelag county (N = 2,443) in May 2020. Results were compared with similar surveys conducted annually in the same county dating back to 2014. Logistic regression models were applied to investigate potential changes in depressive symptoms, loneliness, and quality of life and life satisfaction, and to detect possible differences in the impact of lockdown between the genders and socioeconomic groups.Results: The prevalence of boys and girls reporting high quality of life (43–34%; 23–16%) and life satisfaction (91–80%; 82–69%) decreased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic. For girls only, lockdown was associated with higher odds for reporting high depressive symptoms. As expected, the least privileged socioeconomic groups showed the greatest psychological distress. However, our trend analyses provided no evidence that the socioeconomic inequalities in psychological distress (according to prevalence of high depressive symptoms or loneliness) changed substantial in any direction during the first wave of the pandemic [between the pre-pandemic and inter-pandemic periods].Conclusion: Adolescents are vulnerable, and interventions should provide them with mental health support during crises such as societal lockdown. In particular, the social and health policy, public health, and further research should target these least privileged groups.

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Comparative analysis of postoperative sexual dysfunction and quality of life in type a aortic dissection patients of different ages

Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery ◽

10.1186/s13019-021-01468-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zeng-Rong Luo ◽

Dong-Shan Liao ◽

Liang-Wan Chen

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Sexual Dysfunction ◽

Aortic Dissection ◽

Physical Health ◽

The Elderly ◽

Type A Aortic Dissection ◽

Postoperative Sexual Dysfunction

Abstract Background To compare postoperative sexual dysfunction (SD) and quality of life (QOL) in Type A Aortic Dissection (AAD) Patients of Different Ages. Methods From January 2018 to December 2019, 204 AAD postoperative survivors in Union Hospital of Fujian Medical University were selected and were divided into young group (less than 50 years old) and elderly group (more than 50 years old). We evaluated SD according to the male International Erectile Dysfunction Index (IIEF-5) and female sexual function index (FSFI). The Short Form 12 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-12) and Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) were used to investigate the QOL, Quick Inventory Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to investigate depressive symptoms. Results One hundred seventy-five patients completed all the questionnaire (85.8%). The total SD prevalence rate was 38.9% (68 cases), with 27.4% of the young (20 cases) and 47.1% of the elderly (48 cases). The age of non-SD and SD patients was 49.0 ± 11.5 and 56.9 ± 10.8 years, respectively (P = 0.03). Compared with non-SD patients, the total physical health of SD patients was significantly worse (P = 0.04), however, the mental health was not significantly worse (P = 0.77); the depressive symptoms did not expressed a significant difference between the SD and non-SD groups (QIDS-SR P = 0.15, BDI-II P = 0.06). Total physical health scores in the young SD group did not show significant better than elderly SD group (P = 0.24), however, total mental health scores showed significantly worse (P = 0.04), depressive symptoms scores were significantly higher (QIDS-SR P = 0.03, BDI-II P = 0.04). Conclusion The postoperative AAD SD prevalence of elderly is higher than that of young, and the total physical health of SD patients is poorer than those without SD patients. The young SD patients did not show a significant higher physical health scores than the elderly SD patients, instead, the young SD patients were more psychologically affected than the elderly SD patients, whose mental health was worse, and depression symptoms were more obvious, suggesting that the factors affecting the QOL of postoperative SD patients are related to physical factors, but the young postoperative SD patients mainly affected by psychological factors.

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Comparison of mental health, well-being and parenting sense of competency among Australian and South-East Asian parents of autistic children accessing early intervention in Australia

Autism ◽

10.1177/13623613211010006 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136236132110100

Author(s):

Jodie Smith ◽

Rhylee Sulek ◽

Ifrah Abdullahi ◽

Cherie C Green ◽

Catherine A Bent ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Early Intervention ◽

East Asian ◽

Well Being ◽

Cultural Background ◽

Autistic Children ◽

Community Based ◽

Health Quality

Parents from individualist cultures (those focused on autonomy of individuals; that is, Australian) may view their autistic children differently compared to parents from collectivist cultures (where community needs are valued over an individual’s, that is, South-East Asian cultures). As most research on autism and parenting has been undertaken in Western individualist cultures, knowledge of parenting beliefs and mental health within collectivist cultures is lacking. We compared the mental health, quality of life, well-being and parenting sense of competency between families raising an autistic child from two groups: 97 Australian parents and 58 parents from South-East Asian backgrounds. Children from both groups were receiving the same community-based early intervention. No group differences were found on the measures of mental health but, when compared to Australian parents, parents from South-East Asian backgrounds reported higher well-being and less impact on their quality of life resulting from their child’s autism-specific difficulties. Furthermore, a positive association between well-being and quality of life was only observed for South-East Asian parents. Hence, the views of, and responses to, disability for South-East Asian parents may act as a protective factor promoting well-being. This novel research indicates that culture plays a role in parenting autistic children and highlights the need to accurately capture cultural background information in research. Lay abstract We know that parents of autistic children experience poorer mental health and lower well-being than parents of non-autistic children. We also know that poorer mental health among parents of autistic children has been observed across different cultures. Most research focuses on Western cultures, so we know little about parental mental health and well-being of parents from different cultural backgrounds; yet, it is likely that cultural background contributes to how parents view their child’s condition and respond to the diagnosis. Here, we compared mental health, quality of life and well-being between families raising an autistic child from Australian backgrounds to families from South-East Asian backgrounds. All children in the current study were receiving the same community-based early intervention. When compared to the general population, parents had poorer mental health overall, but there were no differences between the two groups of parents. However, parents from South-East Asian backgrounds reported higher well-being and fewer difficulties associated with their child’s autism. These findings suggest that cultural background likely influences not only parent’s view of, and response to, their child’s autism, but also their own sense of well-being. As researchers and clinicians working with families of autistic children, we should more explicitly consider family’s cultural background within our work.

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Exploring the quality of life and psychological symptoms of university students in Cyprus during the Covid-19 pandemic

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH ◽

10.24297/jssr.v17i.9112 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

pp. 110-121

Author(s):

Hadjicharalambous Demetris ◽

Loucia Demetriou ◽

Koulla Erotocritou

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Family Income ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Psychological Symptoms ◽

Negative Impact ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Well Being ◽

Idioms Of Distress

The onset of the infectious disease Covid19 originating in Wuhan, China, took over the world in December 2019 and was declared a pandemic in January 2020. Empirical evidence resulting from relevant research illustrated that the effects of the pandemic itself but also of the strict measures to contain the spread of the virus on the mental health and well-being of affected populations were just as unanticipated as the pandemic itself. Data led to the identification of six idioms of distress: (1) Demoralization and pessimism towards the future, (2) anguish and stress, (3) self-depreciation, (4) social withdrawal and isolation, (5) somatization, (6) withdrawal into oneself. Our research explores the psychological impact of the Covid19 pandemic on college students and their quality of life. The study took place in Cyprus with 356 young participants, whereas 256 were female (72%) and 100 were male (28%). They all completed the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the Life Satisfaction Inventory (LSI). The present study's findings revealed that six factors, including residence without family, the deterioration of the financial situation of the family, the loss of employment, the deterioration of social relationships, young age, and gender, have significantly affected in a negative way the mental health and quality of life of young people. Research findings revealed that the strict lockdown and physical/social isolation measures had a significant adverse effect on our sample, whereas participants showed increased symptoms of anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and somatization. Young adults who lost their jobs during the pandemic or had a significant decrease in their family income, and students who stayed away from their families, experienced a negative impact on their quality of life and had to cope with more mental health problems.

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Video-Based Communication and its Association with Loneliness, Mental Health and Quality of Life among Older People during the COVID-19 Outbreak

10.20944/preprints202104.0520.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tore Bonsaksen ◽

Hilde Thygesen ◽

Janni Leung ◽

Mary C. Ruffolo ◽

Mariyana Schoultz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Older People ◽

Online Survey ◽

Age Groups ◽

Psychological Outcomes ◽

Age Group ◽

Communication Tools ◽

Study Results

The aim of the study was to examine the use of video-based communication and its association with loneliness, mental health and quality of life in older adults (60-69 years versus 70+ years) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Norway, UK, USA and Australia during April/May 2020, and 836 participants in the relevant age groups were included in the analysis. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between use of video-based communication tools and loneliness, mental health and quality of life within age groups, while adjusting by sociodemographic variables. Video-based communication tools were found to be more often used among participants aged 60-69 years (60.1%), compared to participants aged 70 or above (51.8%, p < 0.05). Adjusting for all variables, use of video-based communication was associated with less loneliness (β = -0.12, p < 0.01) and higher quality of life (β = 0.14, p < 0.01) among participants aged 60-69 years, while no associations occurred for participants in the oldest age group. The use of video-based communication tools was therefore associated with favorable psychological outcomes among participants in their sixties, but not among participants in the oldest age group. The study results support the notion that age may influence the association between use of video-based communication tools and psychological outcomes amongst older people.

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Compassionate Coach and Psychological Quality of Life in Portuguese Athletes: Effect of Mediating Variables

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2020-0058 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Sara Oliveira ◽

Marina Cunha ◽

António Rosado ◽

Cláudia Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Path Analysis ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Competitive Sports ◽

Social Safeness ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Proposed Model

This study aimed to test a model that hypothesized that the compassionate coach, as perceived by the athletes, has an impact on athlete-related social safeness and psychological health, through shame and self-criticism. The sample comprised 270 Portuguese adult athletes, who practiced different competitive sports. The path analysis results confirmed the adequacy of the proposed model, which explained 45% of the psychological health’s variance. Results demonstrated that athletes who perceive their coaches as more compassionate tend to present higher levels of social safeness (feelings of belonging to the team) and of psychological health, through lower levels of shame and self-criticism. These novel findings suggest the importance of the adoption of supportive, warm, safe, and compassionate attitudes from coaches in athletes’ mental health. This study also offers important insights by suggesting that feelings of acceptance and connectedness in team relationships may be at the root of athletes’ emotional processes and well-being.

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Spirituality and Religion-Relevance and Assessment in the Clinical Setting

Current Psychiatry Research and Reviews ◽

10.2174/1573400515666190404143104 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 80-87

Author(s):

Ishrat J. Khan

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Original Research ◽

Clinical Settings ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Ovid Medline ◽

Review Articles ◽

Spirituality And Religion

Background:There has been an increasing interest in the past several decades to study the relationship between spirituality and religion with physical and mental health as well as the various quality of life measures. This trend has led to the creation of an area of study called epidemiology of religion and spirituality. The policy shifts at various levels, in the mental health field, has occurred as well to educate healthcare providers, and address patients’ spiritual /religious needs in clinical settings. Despite these advances in research and policy shift, there is still some resistance in the health care community to assess and address the spiritual needs of patients in clinical settings.Objective:The objective is to review the published articles on spirituality/religion and its relationship with mental and physical wellbeing and discuss limitations of such research. The review articles on assessment and interventions to address spiritual or religious needs in clinical settings were also included.Methods:Author conducted a literature search using books@Ovid, Journals@Ovid Full Text, Your Journals@Ovid, Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to January week 4 2019, Ovid Medline® and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Daily without Revisions 2015-January 28, 2019; Ovid MD and Psychiatry Online.Results:A total of 1,040 articles were identified using keywords spirituality, religion, mental health, physical health, psychological well-being, healthy beliefs, psychopathological beliefs and quality of life. The search result included original research papers, review articles and commentaries.Conclusion:The review articles were narrowed to 100 articles based on relevance to the objectives outlined above. Seventy-five articles were referenced at the end.

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Fatigue in patients on oral targeted or chemotherapy for cancer and associations with anxiety, depression, and quality of life

Palliative & Supportive Care ◽

10.1017/s147895151900066x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 141-147

Author(s):

Hanneke Poort ◽

Jamie M. Jacobs ◽

William F. Pirl ◽

Jennifer S. Temel ◽

Joseph A. Greer

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Oral Treatment ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Severe Fatigue ◽

Patient Reported ◽

The Impact

AbstractObjectivesOral treatment (targeted or chemotherapy) for cancer is being increasingly used. While fatigue is a known side effect of intravenous chemotherapy, the rate of fatigue and the impact of fatigue on other patient-reported outcomes are not well described.MethodAt Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, 180 adult patients prescribed oral targeted or chemotherapy for various malignancies enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of adherence and symptom management. Patients completed baseline self-reported measures of fatigue (Brief Fatigue Inventory; BFI), anxiety and depressive symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS), and quality of life, including subscales for physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being ([QOL] Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy — General; FACT-G). We examined clinically relevant fatigue using a validated cut-off score for moderate-severe fatigue (BFI global fatigue ≥4) and tested the associations with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and QOL with independent samples t-tests.ResultsAt baseline, 45 of 180 participants (25.0%) reported moderate-severe fatigue. Fatigued patients experienced more anxiety symptoms (mean diff. 3.73, P < 0.001), more depressive symptoms (mean diff. 4.14, P < 0.001), and worse QOL on the total FACT-G score (mean diff. −19.58, P < 0.001) and all subscales of the FACT-G compared to patients without moderate-severe fatigue.Significance of resultsOne in four patients on oral treatment for cancer experienced clinically relevant fatigue that is associated with greater anxiety and depressive symptoms and worse QOL.

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Well Being of Older Gay and Bisexual Men and Women in England: Results of a Cross-Sectional Population Based Study

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.466 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

I Grabovac ◽

L Smith ◽

D T McDermott ◽

S Stefanac ◽

L Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Older People ◽

Sexual Satisfaction ◽

Well Being ◽

Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

And Bisexual

Abstract Background Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older people are an under-represented population in research, with limited research noting more depression, loneliness, rejection, overall poorer health and well-being outcomes. Our study compared well-being, defined as quality of life (QOL), life satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and depression, among LGB people with their heterosexual peers’. Methods Cross-sectional data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, collected 2012-2013. A total of 5691 participants were included in the analysis, with 326 (5.7%) self-identifying as LGB. We used CASP-19 questionnaire for well-being; the Satisfaction with Life Scale for life satisfaction; and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for depressive symptoms. The question “During the past three months, how satisfied have you been with your overall sex life?” was used for sexual satisfaction. T-test and chi-square tests were used for differences in sociodemographic characteristics between LGB and heterosexual participants. Regression models were used to test associations between sexual orientation and well-being outcomes. Results LGB participants reported significantly lower mean quality of life and life satisfaction, and had significantly lower odds of reporting satisfaction with their overall sex life and higher odds of reporting depressive symptoms in unadjusted models. After adjustment for sociodemographic and health-related covariates, there remained significant differences between groups in mean QOL scores (B= -0.96, 95% [CI] -1.87 to -0.06) and odds of sexual satisfaction (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.82). Conclusions LGB older people report lower quality of life and lower sexual satisfaction than their heterosexual counterparts, possibly associated with experiencing lifelong social discrimination. Main message: Older lesbian, gay and bisexual people in England report significantly lower QOL and sexual satisfaction in comparison to heterosexual counterparts.

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Health-related quality of life determinants in outpatients with heart failure

Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/s0104-11692011000300002 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 451-457 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Viviane Martinelli Pelegrino ◽

Rosana Aparecida Spadoti Dantas ◽

Alexander Michael Clark

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Heart Failure ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Heart Failure Care ◽

Heart Failure Questionnaire ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

This descriptive and exploratory study analyzed variables associated with health-related quality of life among 130 outpatients. Health-related quality of life was measured through the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Significant associations were found between patients’ health-related quality of life and their age (r=-0.177; p=0.044), vitality (r=-0.625; p=<0.001) as well as mental health (r=-0.672; p=<0.001), which are both SF-36 domains. The linear regression showed that heart failure symptom severity, vitality and mental health explained 54% of HRQOL measurement variation. To control symptoms and preserve good mental well-being are important to maintain health-related quality of life and to deliver effective heart failure care.

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