scholarly journals Linking Water Scarcity to Mental Health: Hydro–Social Interruptions in the Lake Urmia Basin, Iran

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Ženko ◽  
Filippo Menga
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Lake Urmia ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Hopelessness Depression ◽  
Degraded Ecosystem ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Community Conflicts

Alterations of water flows resulting from the manifestation of powerful hydro–social imaginaries often produce an uneven distribution of burdens and benefits for different social groups or regions, reflecting their social and political power. Marginalized regions can suffer manufactured territorialized water scarcity, which disturbs the natural, economic and socio-political order of water users, and as this article shows, inevitably affects their psychological wellbeing. Set in the context of the surroundings of Lake Urmia in Iran, once one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world and now a severely degraded ecosystem mainly as a result of water overuse in its watershed, this article explores how and through which pathways this manufactured water scarcity impacted the mental health of the water users in the region. The research findings reveal that alterations in this local hydro–social territory and the resulting biophysical, financial and social changes, as well as impacts on physical health of water users, relate to chronic psychological stress, social isolation, intra-community conflicts, despair, hopelessness, depression and anxiety.

scholarly journals Fuzzy Constructs: The Overlap between Mental Health and Technology ‘Use’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany I Davidson ◽  
Heather Shaw ◽  
David Alexander Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Psychometric Scales ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Coherent Body

The mass adoption of media technologies continues to generate debate on how they impact people and society. For example, associations are regularly observed between media use and a variety of negative outcomes including depression and anxiety. However, large, pre-registered studies have failed to replicate these findings. Regardless of direction, the majority of designs rely on self-reported ‘usage’ scales. Given their importance for research integrity, here we consider what these scales are measuring. Across two studies, we observe that many scales align with a single, identical construct despite claims they capture something unique. We then demonstrate overlap between these scales and mental health by examining latent relationships. Our results suggest that communication (and social science more generally) researchers need to critically consider how they proceed both methodologically and conceptually when developing psychometric scales in this domain if research findings are to ever be drawn together into a coherent body of knowledge.

scholarly journals Importance of connectedness for the management of embitterment and loneliness in the era of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 394-399
Author(s):  
Changsu Han
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Sustainable System ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Over The Top ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made ‘untact’ life a new standard (next normal) way of life, minimizing physical contacts among people. Emotional exchanges between people are rapidly being replaced by contact through the Internet, social networks, and over-the-top services.Current Concepts: People are expressing more stress and anxiety that are caused by fear of infection, and also embitterment due to perceived distrust and injustice is increasing. In the era of COVID-19, it is necessary and important to manage burnout, depression, and anxiety symptoms of medical staff and quarantine personnel. The pandemic and the resulting social changes intensifies loneliness, leading to deterioration in mental and physical health. The World Health Organization has warned that loneliness and social isolation are leading to the exacerbation of physical illness and increased mortality due to suicide and other mental health problems.Discussion and Conclusion: It is needed to establish a next standard of mental health service such as untact diagnosis and follow-up support system. Government and society should establish a sustainable system even after the COVID-19 crisis, rather than stopgap measures made with people’s sacrifice as collateral.

PASIFIKA FUTURES WHĀNAU ORA: F’INE – Nurturing the Future for Pasifika LGBTQI

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saneta Manoa ◽  
Phylesha Brown-Acton ◽  
Tatryanna Utanga ◽  
Seini Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
The Future ◽  
Specific Provider

F’INE Aotearoa, through Pasifika Futures Whānau Ora programme, is supporting Pacific Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) individuals and their families to transform their lives and achieve their aspirations.  The LGBTQI community in New Zealand experience significant disadvantage across a range of areas affecting wellbeing, including higher rates of poor mental health, depression and anxiety 1,2,3. For Pacific LGBTQI, the disadvantages are compounded further.  F’INE, an LGBTQI specific provider in New Zealand, is working to change this.

A fully automated conversational agent with artificial intelligence capabilities (Youper) for treating depression and anxiety: A nonrandomized feasibility trial (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Hamilton Vargas ◽  
Thiago Antonio Marafon ◽  
Diego Fernando Couto ◽  
Ricardo Giglio ◽  
Marvin Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Viable Solution

BACKGROUND Mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders, are significant global concerns. Many people with these conditions don't get the help they need because of the high costs of medical treatment and the stigma attached to seeking help. Digital technologies represent a viable solution to these challenges. However, these technologies are often characterized by relatively low adherence and their effectiveness largely remains empirical unverified. While digital technologies may represent a viable solution for this persisting problem, they often lack empirical support for their effectiveness and are characterized by relatively low adherence. Conversational agents using artificial intelligence capabilities have the potential to offer a cost-effective, low-stigma and engaging way of getting mental health care. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Youper, a mobile application that utilizes a conversational interface and artificial intelligence capabilities to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults. METHODS 1,012 adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety participated in a real-world setting study, entirely remotely, unguided and with no financial incentives, over an 8-week period. Participants completed digital versions of the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) at baseline, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. RESULTS After the eight-week study period, depression (PHQ-9) scores of participants decreased by 48% while anxiety (GAD-7) scores decreased by 43%. The RCI was outside 2 standard deviations for 93.0% of the individuals in the PHQ-9 assessment and 90.7% in the GAD-7 assessment. Participants were on average 24.79 years old (SD 7.61) and 77% female. On average, participants interacted with Youper 0.9 (SD 1.56) times per week. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that Youper is a feasible, acceptable, and effective intervention for adults with depression and anxiety. CLINICALTRIAL Since this study involved a nonclinical population, it wasn't registered in a public trials registry.

Childhood Material Hardship and Adolescent Mental Health

2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110018
Author(s):  
Chrisse Edmunds ◽  
Melissa Alcaraz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Adolescent Depression ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Fragile Families ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Material Hardship ◽  
Critical Age ◽  
The Relationship

Adolescent mental health has implications for current and future wellbeing. While a link exists between poverty and mental health, little is known about how experiencing material hardship, such as insecurity of food, housing, utilities, and medical care, throughout early childhood affects adolescent mental health. We examine the relationship between material hardship in childhood and adolescent mental health. We use Poisson regression to examine the effect of material hardship experienced at different stages of childhood on adolescent depression and anxiety outcomes at age 15. We use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,222). We find that recently experiencing material hardship during childhood is positively and significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms at age 15, even when controlling for material hardship at age 15. Additionally, we find that insecurity during mid-childhood and the stress of lacking basic needs during a critical age may influence mental health in adolescence.

scholarly journals Trauma, Sleep and Mental Health Problems in Low-Income Young Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1145
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Fusco ◽  
Yan Yuan ◽  
Hyunji Lee ◽  
Christina E. Newhill
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Trauma Exposure ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

Low-income young adults are more likely to have exposure to trauma, which increases risk for mental health problems. Although adequate sleep promotes good health, people with histories of trauma are more likely to have sleep problems. The current study explored whether poor sleep mediated the relationship between trauma exposure and mental health. A sample of 143 low-income 18–24-year-old young adults completed depression, anxiety, and trauma exposure measures and wore sleep monitors for four nights. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine both direct and indirect effects of variables. Results showed that higher trauma exposure was associated with depression and anxiety. Mean sleep hours per night was fewer than six, far below recommended guidelines for optimal health and functioning. Fewer sleep hours partially mediated the relationship between both trauma exposure and depression and anxiety, and the direct effect from trauma remained significant after adjusting for the partial mediation from sleep.

Speaking of State of Mind: Maternal Mental Health Predicts Children's Home Language Environment and Expressive Language

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Brandon Neil CLIFFORD ◽  
Laura A. STOCKDALE ◽  
Sarah M. COYNE ◽  
Vanessa RAINEY ◽  
Viridiana L. BENITEZ
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Maternal Depression ◽  
Maternal Mental Health ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Children's Home ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Home Language Environment

Abstract Maternal depression and anxiety are potential risk factors to children's language environments and development. Though existing work has examined relations between these constructs, further work is needed accounting for both depression and anxiety and using more direct measures of the home language environment and children's language development. We examined 265 mother-infant dyads (49.6% female, Mage = 17.03 months) from a large city in the Western United States to explore the relations between self-reports of maternal depression and anxiety and observational indices of the home language environment and expressive language as captured by Language Environment Analysis (LENA) and parent-reported language comprehension and production. Results revealed maternal depressive symptoms to be negatively associated with home language environment and expressive language indices. Maternal anxiety symptoms were found to be negatively associated with children's parent-reported language production. These findings provide further evidence that maternal mental health modulates children's home language environments and expressive language.

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