scholarly journals Cyberbullying Victimization as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms among Selected Adolescents Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Jeyaseelan Maria Michael ◽  
Marc Eric S. Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Mental Health Concern ◽  
Cyberbullying Victimization

Victimization via cyberbullying has become a significant mental health concern particularly among adolescents at risk of depression and other mental health issues. As the COVID-19 outbreak forced everyone to stay at home and participate in their educational, recreational, and entertainment activities online, this study investigated the relation between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms among 612 college students in Tamilnadu, India. We hypothesized that experiences of cyberbullying victimization would predict depressive symptoms among the participants. Adolescents aged 18 to 19 from colleges in Tamilnadu completed an online survey composed of the Cybervictimization Questionnaire for Adolescents (CYVIC) and the Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results showed a significant positive relation between cyberbullying victimization and depression (r = 0.80, p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that cyberbullying victimization is a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms (r2 = 0.65). Likewise, impersonation (r = 0.70), written–verbal cyber victimization (r = 0.73), visual teasing/happy slapping (r = 0.69), and online exclusion (r = 0.67) contributed to the significant positive association between the variables. These findings can serve as a foundation for intervention programs to alleviate depressive symptoms by addressing cyberbullying experiences and conducting further research on the negative effects of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents.

scholarly journals Care-seeking behavior and disclosure on self-reported mental health among young women in urban Shanghai, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 205510291989738
Author(s):  
Simone Eliane Schwank ◽  
Ewa Andersson ◽  
Birgitta Wickberg ◽  
Shih-Chien Fu ◽  
Yan Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Care Seeking ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Help Seeking Behavior ◽  
Care Seeking Behavior ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Professional Contact

Mental health is a major public health concern in China. Help-seeking behavior typically does not involve professionals. Aim of the study was to assess Shanghai women’s care-seeking behavior for common mental health disorders. Using an online survey, fielding questions regarding perinatal mental health status and help-seeking behavior. A total of 487 women participated. One fifth of participants reporting badwell-being did not seek help for mental distress. A total of 82.2 percent seek online support. A majority entrusted in family and avoided professional contact. Mother-in-laws were the least trusted source of support. Shanghai women avoid seeking professional help for mental health issues. Friends, spouses, and online resources are preferred venues.

scholarly journals Various Facets of Anxiety during the Pandemic in India - Critical Issues

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riddhi Laijawala ◽  
Sushma Sonavane ◽  
Avinash De Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Concern ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Massive Number ◽  
The Many

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a lot of challenges. Among these challenges, the most pressing causes for concern are mental health issues. Anxiety is one such mental health concern that statistics has shown as increasing since the beginning of the pandemic. Numerous causes have contributed to these rising levels of anxiety. Health related concerns, loss of income, are just some of the many reasons that individuals have attributed their anxiety to. The Indian population has especially seen a massive number of jobs that have been lost, and the first lockdown in April 2020 saw a major domestic migrant crisis. In addition, a number of groups, such as the elderly, women, and the youth have faced anxiety provoking situations of their own. While India is currently facing a second wave exactly a year later, the facets of anxiety to take into consideration are numerous. The chapter looks at various facets of anxiety that have been encountered during the pandemic from an Indian context.

scholarly journals Association between Health Practice and Food Stockpiling for Disaster

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1414
Author(s):  
Moeka Harada ◽  
Rie Kobayashi ◽  
Jun Oka ◽  
Nobuyo Tsuboyama-Kasaoka
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Food Shortage ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Health Practices ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Good Score

In this study investigated the association between health practices and food stockpiling for disasters in predicted areas with a high risk of food shortage due to the Nankai Trough earthquake. A survey was conducted during 18–20 December 2019 using a self-administered web-based questionnaire. In total, 1200 individuals registered with an online survey company participated in the study. The association between health practices and food stockpiling status was analyzed (n = 998). 59.1% of participants had a poor Breslow’s seven health practice scores (BHPS), 32.9% had a moderate score, and 8.0% had a good score. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that higher BHPS had a significantly higher prevalence of food stockpiling. Additionally, the interrupted group had the highest percentage of participants with low BHPS. Lower BHPS was significantly associated with interrupted stockpiled in the adjusted models. Among the seven health practices, the odds ratio of the “eating breakfast” practice was high. There was a significant positive association between higher health practice scores and food stockpiling for disasters in areas with a high risk of food shortage due to the predicted earthquake. Particularly, it was clarified that individuals who had fewer good health practices were associated with ending up interrupting food stockpiling.

scholarly journals Psycho-social factors associated with mental resilience in the Corona lockdown

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya M. Veer ◽  
Antje Riepenhausen ◽  
Matthias Zerban ◽  
Carolin Wackerhagen ◽  
Lara M. C. Puhlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Resilience Factors

AbstractThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a threat to physical health but is also having severe impacts on mental health. Although increases in stress-related symptomatology and other adverse psycho-social outcomes, as well as their most important risk factors have been described, hardly anything is known about potential protective factors. Resilience refers to the maintenance of mental health despite adversity. To gain mechanistic insights about the relationship between described psycho-social resilience factors and resilience specifically in the current crisis, we assessed resilience factors, exposure to Corona crisis-specific and general stressors, as well as internalizing symptoms in a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 24 languages during the most intense phase of the lockdown in Europe (22 March to 19 April) in a convenience sample of N = 15,970 adults. Resilience, as an outcome, was conceptualized as good mental health despite stressor exposure and measured as the inverse residual between actual and predicted symptom total score. Preregistered hypotheses (osf.io/r6btn) were tested with multiple regression models and mediation analyses. Results confirmed our primary hypothesis that positive appraisal style (PAS) is positively associated with resilience (p < 0.0001). The resilience factor PAS also partly mediated the positive association between perceived social support and resilience, and its association with resilience was in turn partly mediated by the ability to easily recover from stress (both p < 0.0001). In comparison with other resilience factors, good stress response recovery and positive appraisal specifically of the consequences of the Corona crisis were the strongest factors. Preregistered exploratory subgroup analyses (osf.io/thka9) showed that all tested resilience factors generalize across major socio-demographic categories. This research identifies modifiable protective factors that can be targeted by public mental health efforts in this and in future pandemics.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 restriction measures on loneliness among older adults in Austria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Stolz ◽  
Hannes Mayerl ◽  
Wolfgang Freidl
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opening Phase

Abstract Background To halt the spread of COVID-19, Austria implemented a 7-week ’lockdown’ in March/April 2020. We assess whether the ensuing reduction in social contacts led to increased loneliness among older adults (60+). Methods Three analyses were conducted: (1) A comparison between pre-pandemic (SHARE: 2013-2017) and pandemic (May 2020) levels of loneliness (UCLA-3 scale), (2) an assessment of the cross-sectional correlation between being affected by COVID-19 restriction measures and loneliness (May 2020), and (3) a longitudinal analysis of weekly changes (March-June 2020) in loneliness (Corona panel). Results We found (1) increased loneliness in 2020 compared with previous years, (2) a moderate positive association between the number of restriction measures older adults were affected from and their loneliness, and (3) that loneliness was higher during ’lockdown’ compared to the subsequent re-opening phase, particularly among those who live alone. Conclusion We provide evidence that COVID-19 restriction measures in Austria have indeed resulted in increased levels of loneliness among older adults. However, these effects seem to be short-lived, and thus no strong negative consequences for older adults’ mental health are expected. Nonetheless, the effects on loneliness, and subsequent mental health issues, might be both more long-lasting and severe if future restriction measures are enacted repeatedly and/or over longer time periods.

scholarly journals Contact With Nature as a Mental Health Buffer for Lower Income Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber L. Pearson ◽  
Teresa Horton ◽  
Karin A. Pfeiffer ◽  
Rachel Buxton ◽  
Joseph Gardiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Perceived Access

Despite a growing number of research outputs on the importance of nature contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, we know of no longitudinal research conducted prior to and during the pandemic among low-income and minority ethnicity populations, i.e., those that might be most affected. Furthermore, we have scant information about how and to what degree contact with nature might protect mental health or mitigate worsening of mental health during the pandemic. We filled these gaps using a subset of a longitudinal study of n = 86 individuals in low-income, predominantly African American, neighborhoods in Detroit, MI, USA. The study addressed the following research questions: (1) did self-reported use and perceived value of nature change during, vs. prior to, the pandemic; (2) did perceived access to outdoor spaces buffer people against mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression symptoms; or (3) did objectively measured quality of nature views from home buffer people against mental health issues, taking into account relevant covariates and pandemic experiences (e.g., loss of employment, death of a friend/relative)? While attitudes to nature improved slightly from pre- to during the pandemic, we also observed significant decreases in most types of outdoor physical activity and passive enjoyment of nature (e.g., smelling plants/rain). We found a positive association between visibility of greenspace and perceived stress and anxiety, which not only contradicts previous research findings, but was especially surprising given that overall there was a decrease in perceived stress from 2019–2020. We did not detect associations between perceived access/use of nature and mental health. However, higher depressive symptoms were associated with exposure to more COVID-19-related stressors (lost employment, death of friends from COVID-19, etc.). Taken together, our results indicate that COVID-19 may serve to prolong or exacerbate mental health issues, rather than create them, in this population and that low quality greenspace may perhaps limit the ability for nature view to buffer mental health during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Study Conditions and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among University Students in Germany: Results of the International COVID-19 Student Well-Being Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Mayara Matos Fialho ◽  
Franca Spatafora ◽  
Lisa Kühne ◽  
Heide Busse ◽  
Stefanie M. Helmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
University Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
German Student ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mental Well Being

Background: Results of previous studies examining the impact of the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in 2003 on university students' mental well-being indicated severe mental health consequences. It is unclear how the current COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in study conditions due to federal regulations affected mental well-being in the German student population. We examined university students' perceptions of study conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated associations between study conditions and depressive symptoms.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Germany in May 2020 at four universities (N = 5,021, 69% female, mean age: 24 years, SD: 5.1). Perceived study conditions, as well as sociodemographic information, were assessed with self-generated items and the CES-D 8 scale was used to determine depressive symptoms. Associations between perceived study conditions (academic stress and academic satisfaction), in general, and confidence to complete the semester, in particular, and depressive symptoms were analyzed using generalized linear regressions.Results: Fifty-four percent of survey participants felt that the university workload had significantly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic; 48% were worried that they would not be able to successfully complete the academic year; 47% agreed that the change in teaching methods caused significant stress. Regarding depressive symptoms, the mean score of the CES-D 8 scale was 9.25. Further, a positive association between perceived study conditions and depressive symptoms was found (p &lt; 0.001), indicating that better study conditions were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Results of the generalized linear regression suggest that better student mental well-being was related to higher confidence in completing the semester.Conclusions: This study provides first insights into perceived study conditions and associations with depressive symptoms among students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Findings underline the need for universities to provide intervention strategies targeting students' mental well-being during the course of the pandemic.

scholarly journals Attitudes surrounding the disclosure of mental illness

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S288-S289
Author(s):  
Brishti Sengupta ◽  
Pritha Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
General Population ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Attitude Shift

AimsTo survey the effect of COVID-19 on mental health of both medical professionals and the general population, as well as attitudes surrounding the disclosure of mental illness.MethodAn online survey comprised of two questionnaires, one for medical professionals and one for the general population, were conducted via social media. Both questionnaires asked respondents of the effect of COVID-19 on their mental health, and the former asked respondents about the effect of COVID-19 on their patient group's mental health. The questionnaires went on to ask respondents about their attitudes to mental health disclosure in various scenarios, to varying groups of people. The general population group was also asked how they would react if someone else disclosed their mental illness to them.ResultThe questionnaire for the medical professionals gained 62 respondents and the one for the general population had 122 respondents, with responses from multiple nations. Overall, COVID-19 has affected everyone's mental health to a degree, and all groups had reservations about disclosing their mental health issues to others. The medical professionals were especially reluctant to disclose mental illness to their patients, but were more comfortable when it came to disclosing mental illness to colleagues. The general population, however, was much more reluctant to disclose mental health issues to their colleagues. The general population were, on the whole, willing to listen to and help anyone who came to them with mental health concerns. Both groups surveyed showed reluctance toward disclosure to the wider community.ConclusionCOVID-19 appears to significantly affect not only physical health, but mental health as well. There is at least some degree of stigma surrounding the disclosure of mental health issues. While most would be happy to help anyone who came to them with their mental health problems, there seems to be an attitude shift when people must contend with mental health issues of their own.

scholarly journals Depressive Risk among Italian Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Children and Adolescents during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Serra ◽  
Anna Presicci ◽  
Luigi Quaranta ◽  
Maria Rosaria Erminia Urbano ◽  
Lucia Marzulli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Disadvantaged Children ◽  
Parent Version

Abstract Background Children and adolescents and low-income individuals are considered particularly vulnerable for mental health implications during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Depression is one of the most frequent negative emotional responses during an epidemic outbreak, mainly due to the imposed restriction of social contacts. We aimed to assess depressive symptomatology in a sample of Italian low-income minors and to determine if pandemic-related stressors and pre-existing neuropsychiatric diagnoses would behave as risk factors for depressive symptoms. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study during July 2020, at the end of the Italian first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. We recruited 109 Italian socioeconomically disadvantaged children and adolescents, from 7 to 17 years. We used an online survey to collect socio-demographic and clinical data and information about pandemic-related stressors, and to assess depressive symptoms with the Children’s Depression Inventory 2 (CDI 2), Parent Version (Emotional Problems subscale) and Self-Report Short Form. We performed logistic regression analysis to assess the association between depressive symptoms and potential risk factors for mental health. Results 22% and 14% of participants showed depressive symptoms at the CDI 2 Parent Version and Self-Report, respectively. Participants coming from families experiencing a lack of basic supplies during the pandemic (34.9%) were more expected to show depressive symptoms at CDI 2 Parent Version. Participants with a pre-existing neuropsychiatric diagnosis (26.6%) were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms measured by CDI 2 Parent Version. Conclusions The results of our study may be representative of a particular group of frail subjects, the socioeconomically disadvantaged children and adolescents, who were more vulnerable to depressive symptoms if they suffered from a paucity of essential supplies during the pandemic or had pre-existing neurodevelopmental disorders. The promotion of educational and child-care programs and activities could be crucial in sustaining the prevention of mental distress in those frail subjects who particularly need support outside the family.

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