scholarly journals Testing the Impact of Counseling over Time on Non-Urgent Undergraduate Life Satisfaction

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Blau ◽  
John DiMino ◽  
Iris Abreu ◽  
Kayla LeLeux-LaBarge
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
University Counseling Center ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
On Line ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Data for non-urgent undergraduate clients at a University Counseling Center (UCC) were collected using on-line surveys over three time-periods. Despite the expected diminishing number of participants over time, within-time correlations generally showed that level of mental distress and mental health concerns were negatively related to life satisfaction, while self-esteem was positively related. Using a smaller sample of matched-over-three time-periods clients, levels of mental distress and mental health concerns significantly declined, while life satisfaction significantly increased. The strongest changes for this complete data sample were found from Time 1 to Time 3 for reduced mental health concerns and increased life satisfaction. These findings reinforce that additional counseling sessions for undergraduates may be beneficial, and that spreading these sessions out may also be useful. Scientifically demonstrating to higher-level University administration that a UCC can help undergraduates in distress should ideally help the UCC to increase its allocation of university-based resources.

scholarly journals Counseling over Time as a Correlate of Non-Urgent Undergraduate Institutional Commitment

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Gary Blau ◽  
John DiMino ◽  
Iris Abreu ◽  
Kayla LeLeux-LaBarge
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Institutional Commitment ◽  
University Counseling Center ◽  
University Counseling ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
On Line ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
The Right ◽  
Over Time

The general purpose of this study was to examine counseling services as a correlate of institutional commitment and related variables over time on a sample of non-urgent undergraduates. Data for non-urgent clients at a University Counseling Center (UCC) were collected using on-line surveys over four time-periods. Within-time correlations generally showed that mental health concerns was negatively related to institutional commitment, while counseling help belief was positively related. Institutional commitment is defined as a student feeling that he or she selected the right institution to attend Using a smaller sample, i.e., n = 15, of complete-data clients matched-over-time, overall level of mental health concerns significantly declined, while institutional commitment significantly increased. Counseling help belief decreased from Time 1 to Time 2 but then increased over time. Scientifically demonstrating to higher-level University administration that counseling over time can positively influence undergraduates’ institutional commitment can help the UCC to increase its allocation of university-based resources to keep pace with non-urgent client demands.

Human Health Concerns from Pet Ownership After a Tornado

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian E. Heath ◽  
Max Champion
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Preparedness Planning ◽  
Human Animal Bond ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIntroduction:Although 50% to 60% of North American households own pets and many of these pets are considered family members, there is little information on the impact pet ownership on pet-owning families affected by disasters.Methods:This case report describes some of the effects of a tornado on 17 families whose dwellings were destroyed. The setting was a typical urban trailer park.Results:After a tornado at the Sagamore Village Trailer Park in north central Indiana, 104 families were evacuated. Seventeen (16.3%) of these families owned pets. For 14 families (13.5%), pet ownership had an important impact on the families' recovery from the tornado. Public- and mental-health concerns that arose from pet ownership included failure to evacuate a dangerous site, attempts to re-enter a dangerous site, separation anxiety leading to psychosomatic disturbances, and the need for additional animal care.Conclusions:In urban disasters, the behaviors of families with a human-animal bond are likely to pose a significant risk to their own and others' health and safety in urban disasters. In this small study of families affected by a tornado, the most prominent public-health concerns were failure to evacuate because of a pet and attempts of re-entry to save a pet; the most common mental-health concerns resulted from separation anxiety from a pet and refusal to accept medical treatment until a pet's well-being can be assured. These are thought to be typical issues that will arise out of the human-animal bond in urban disaster situations and differ considerably from traditional public-health concerns over dog bites, spread of zoonotic diseases, and human food contamination. Medical disaster preparedness planning should consider the substantial effects that the human-animal bond is likely to have on human recovery from large-scale urban disasters.

scholarly journals Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on performance and image enhancing drug use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Dunn ◽  
Timothy Piatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Exercise Habits ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
Image Enhancing ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Emerging research has suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has had some impact on substance use patterns. The aim of the study was to conduct a rapid survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) use and training, and any subsequent negative physical or mental health outcomes. Methods During 2020, a convenience sample of 60 PIED consumers (mean age = 26.69; 68.3% located outside Australia) completed a quantitative anonymous online survey exploring how the coronavirus pandemic impacted patterns of PIED use and associated exercise habits. The survey was administered via the Qualtrics platform and distributed online through PIED forums as well as through the investigator's networks. Participants were asked about their PIED use and exercise habits prior to and during restricted movement ‘lockdowns’. Results Pre-COVID, the majority of the sample opted to ‘blast-cruise’ (an initial high dose, followed by a lower maintenance dose; 71.7%, n = 43). During lockdown, (45%, n = 27) reported a change in PIED use as a result of the restrictions. In light of health concerns during COVID-19, a majority of men (60%, n = 36) did not take any extra precautions relating to their PIED use. A subgroup of men ceased using PIEDs completely (16.7%, n = 10) with the majority (80%, n = 8) of that subgroup following post-cycle therapy (PCT) of some kind. Conclusions This study contributes to the emerging literature of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use, specifically PIED use among men. The results suggest that the pandemic did influence the choice of PIEDs that participants consumed, although there was little disruption to patterns of exercise, an important aspect of PIED use. Of the men who did cease use completely, the majority reported little issue with PCT access; those who reported difficulty accessing PCT compounds indicated experience some mental health concerns related to ceasing their PIED use. Clinicians and those who come into contact with this group should be alert for any negative physical or mental health concerns resulting from disrupted or ceased PIED use.

scholarly journals Social Media Reveals Psychosocial Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koustuv Saha ◽  
John Torous ◽  
Eric D. Caine ◽  
Munmun De Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Psychosocial Effects ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Over Time

AbstractBackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused several disruptions in personal and collective lives worldwide. The uncertainties surrounding the pandemic have also led to multi-faceted mental health concerns, which can be exacerbated with precautionary measures such as social distancing and self-quarantining, as well as societal impacts such as economic downturn and job loss. Despite noting this as a “mental health tsunami,” the psychological effects of the COVID-19 crisis remains unexplored at scale. Consequently, public health stakeholders are currently limited in identifying ways to provide timely and tailored support during these circumstances.ObjectiveOur work aims to provide insights regarding people’s psychosocial concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging social media data. We aim to study the temporal and linguistic changes in symptomatic mental health and support expressions in the pandemic context.MethodsWe obtain ∼60M Twitter streaming posts originating from the U.S. from 24 March-24 May 2020, and compare these with ∼40M posts from a comparable period in 2019 to attribute the effect of COVID-19 on people’s social media self-disclosure. Using these datasets, we study people’s self-disclosure on social media in terms of symptomatic mental health concerns and expressions of support. We employ transfer learning classifiers that identify the social media language indicative of mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, stress, and suicidal ideation) and support (emotional and informational support). We then examine the changes in psychosocial expressions over time and language, comparing the 2020 and 2019 datasets.ResultsWe find that all of the examined psychosocial expressions have significantly increased during the COVID-19 crisis – mental health symptomatic expressions have increased by ∼14%, and support expressions have increased by ∼5%, both thematically related to COVID-19. We also observe a steady decline and eventual plateauing in these expressions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have been due to habituation or due to supportive policy measures enacted during this period. Our language analyses highlight that people express concerns that are very specific to and contextually related to the COVID-19 crisis.ConclusionsWe studied the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 crisis by using social media data from 2020, finding that people’s mental health symptomatic and support expressions significantly increased during the COVID-19 period as compared to similar data from 2019. However, this effect gradually lessened over time, suggesting that people adapted to the circumstances and their “new normal”. Our linguistic analyses revealed that people expressed mental health concerns regarding personal and professional challenges, healthcare and precautionary measures, and pandemic-related awareness. This work shows the potential to provide insights to mental healthcare and stakeholders and policymakers in planning and implementing measures to mitigate mental health risks amidst the health crisis.

The Impact of Gender, Culture, and Society on Korean Women's Mental Health

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Jung Choi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Women’S Mental Health ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Korean Culture ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Women's Mental Health ◽  
Gender Culture ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Disabilities

I review the issue of Korean women's anger from the perspectives of gender, culture, and society, and describe the influences of those factors on the women's mental health. Hwa-byung (HB) is a Korean culture-bound syndrome that translates into English as an anger disorder. In Korea, middle-aged women are the mostly highly represented societal group with HB, the symptoms of which are connected with complex psychological, physiological, behavioral, and social disabilities. In this paper, associations among elements related to Korean women's anger and HB are examined within the frameworks of gender, culture, and society. I concluded that the issue of Korean women's anger is not limited to its own context but is part of the wider issues of gender, culture, and society. These issues produce many difficulties, amplify problems, and generate interrelated women's mental health concerns.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Impact on Pediatric Health: A survey of families in Wayne County, MI

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2333794X2110261
Author(s):  
Raksha Raheja ◽  
Chaya Pitman-Hunt ◽  
Sara Haidar ◽  
Slavica Gjorgjevska ◽  
Jacqueline Leja
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Pediatric Population ◽  
Pediatric Health ◽  
Wayne County ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
The Impact

Background. In response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the state mandated “Stay At Home” order included closure of schools and public places and physical distancing measures. As a result, social interactions among children were significantly impaired and pediatric outpatient offices and vaccination rates declined. We sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health as well as access to health care in our pediatric population in Wayne County, Michigan. Design/Methods. We conducted a survey through the Wayne County Public School Districts to elicit information regarding subjects’ access to pediatric health care as well as experiences pertinent to their child(ren)’s mental health. Results. Approximately 8500 surveys were sent to families and 278 responses were received. Responses revealed that 46% of children spent more time alone during the pandemic, 36.9% had changes in sleep, 25.6% had little pleasure in doing things, and 32.5% were unhappy or sad. 66.2% were able to make new visits during the pandemic, however, 20.1% missed their child’s doctors’ visits for reasons including clinic cancellations and fear of entering a healthcare setting. Conclusions. The results of this survey demonstrate significant mental health concerns among our pediatric population as approximately 1/3 of families reported changes in behavior or mental health. As school closures persist in response to the ongoing pandemic and social interactions remain limited, it is imperative that pediatricians screen for depression, behavioral problems and other mental health concerns and offer families help to identify appropriate community mental health resources.

scholarly journals Help-Seeking from a National Youth Helpline in Australia: An Analysis of Kids Helpline Contacts

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 6024
Author(s):  
David Watling ◽  
Samantha Batchelor ◽  
Brian Collyer ◽  
Sharna Mathieu ◽  
Victoria Ross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Service Usage ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
Over Time

Counselling helplines or hotlines are key support services for young people with mental health concerns or in suicide and self-harm crises. We aimed to describe young peoples’ use of a national youth helpline (Kids Helpline, Australia, KHL) to understand how usage changed over time. A descriptive analysis was conducted on 1,415,228 answered contacts between 2012–2018. We described the trend of service usage over the observed period, the types of youth who used the service, and the problems young people contacted the service about. Phone (APC = −9.1, KHL: −10.4 to −7.8, p < 0.001) and email (APC = −13.7, 95%CI: −17.1 to −10.2, p < 0.001) contacts decreased over time whereas webchat contacts increased (APC = 16.7, 95%CI: 11.7 to 22.0, p < 0.001). With this increase in webchat contacts, there was an associated increase in total webchat contact duration. Concerns raised in contacts to the service were primarily related to emotional wellbeing and mental health concerns (53.2% phone, 57.3% webchat, 58.2% email) followed by social relationship issues (20.4% phone, 20.3% webchat, 16.8% email) and family relationships (19.4% phone, 17.2% webchat, 21.8% email). The increased preference for online text-based information and counselling services can help inform development of services for young people and allocation of staff/service training and resources.

scholarly journals Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on performance and image enhancing drug use

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Dunn ◽  
Timothy Piatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Exercise Habits ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
Image Enhancing ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Emerging research has suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has had some impact on substance use patterns. The aim of the study was to conduct a rapid survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) use and training, and any subsequent negative physical or mental health outcomes. Methods During 2020, a convenience sample of 60 PIED consumers (mean age = 26.69; 68.3% located outside Australia) completed a quantitative anonymous online survey exploring how the coronavirus pandemic impacted patterns of PIED use and associated exercise habits. The survey was administered via the Qualtrics platform and distributed online through PIED forums as well as through the investigators’ networks. Participants were asked about their PIED use and exercise habits prior to and during restricted movement ‘lockdowns’. Results During pre-COVID, the majority of the sample opted to ‘blast-cruise’ (an initial high dose, followed by a lower maintenance dose; 71.7%, n = 43). During lockdown, 45% (n = 27) reported a change in PIED use as a result of the restrictions. In light of health concerns during COVID-19, a majority of men (60%, n = 36) did not take any extra precautions relating to their PIED use. A subgroup of men ceased using PIEDs completely (16.7%, n = 10) with the majority (80%, n = 8) of that subgroup following post-cycle therapy (PCT) of some kind. Only a small proportion of the sample reported negative mental health issues as a result of PCT access issues. Conclusions This study contributes to the emerging literature of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use, specifically PIED use among men. The results suggest that the pandemic did influence the choice of PIEDs that participants consumed, although there was little disruption to patterns of exercise, an important aspect of PIED use. Of the men who did cease use completely, the majority reported little issue with PCT access; those who reported difficulty accessing PCT compounds indicated experience some mental health concerns related to ceasing their PIED use. Clinicians and those who come into contact with this group should be alert for any negative physical or mental health concerns resulting from disrupted or ceased PIED use.

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