Give Thanks in All Circumstances? Gratitude Toward God and Health in Later Life After Major Life Stressors

Gratitude is foundational to well-being throughout the life course, and an emerging body of work suggests that older adults may be more inclined to attribute gratitude to a non-human target (God). Drawing on life course theory and Erikson’s lifespan development framework, we use data from a national sample of Christian older adults from the United States (N = 1,005) to examine whether gratitude towards God buffers the noxious health effects of the death of a loved one or personal illness. Results suggest that gratitude towards God tends to predict better age-comparative and global self-rated physical health in the aftermath of stress, a moderation effect which is partially mediated by stronger beliefs in God-mediated control (that God is a collaborative partner in dealing with problems). We conclude by proposing some interventions for clinicians and counselors centered around gratitude and religiosity that may assist older adults in coping with major life stressors.

Discrimination and Sleep Impairment in American Indians and Alaska Natives

Background Sleep impairment may be a key pathway through which discrimination undermines health. Links between discrimination and sleep in American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) have not been established. Further, it is unclear if such links might depend on the timing of discrimination or if socioeconomic status (SES) might buffer the impact of discrimination. Purpose To investigate associations between interpersonal discrimination and sleep impairment in urban AI/AN, for both lifetime and recent discrimination, and controlling for other life stressors. Education and income, indices of SES, were tested as potential moderators. Methods A community sample of urban AI/AN (N = 303, 18–78 years old, 63% female) completed self-report measures of sleep impairment, lifetime and recent discrimination, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, other life stressors (childhood adversity and past year major events), and socio-demographic characteristics. Results Lifetime discrimination was associated with impaired sleep in AI/AN after adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics, recent depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and other life stressors. Past-week discrimination was associated with sleep in unadjusted but not adjusted models. Education, but not income, was found to buffer the effects of both lifetime and past-week discrimination on sleep in adjusted models. Conclusion Lifetime discrimination uniquely accounts for sleep impairment and may be especially harmful in those with less education. These findings suggest targeting interventions to those most in need. Limitations include the cross-sectional nature of the data. Longitudinal and qualitative work is needed to understand how education may buffer the effects of discrimination on sleep and perhaps other health problems in AI/AN.

Perceived Stress and Life Stressors in Adults With and Without Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a widespread chronic pain condition often accompanied by comorbid conditions, such as depression, which may impact perception of stress severity. The current study examined perceived stress and life stressors in adults ages 50 and older with and without FM. It was hypothesized that individuals with FM and/or depression would subjectively rate stressors as more severe than those without. Ninety-four participants (52% with FM, 78% female) aged 50 to 93 (M = 67.72, SD = 9.26) were administered the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure perception of stress and an updated version of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) to assess stressors (i.e., major life events). The difference between the SRRS pre-determined values and participants' subjective ratings was calculated. Difference scores indicated that self-reported severity exceeded standardized values. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that older adults and men were less likely to report exaggerated stress severity. Controlling for age and gender, individuals with FM were significantly more likely to report stress severity far above standardized severity scores. Both depression and chronic pain impact stress ratings, but when controlling for the former, FM impact was no longer significant, suggesting that the impact is significantly greater for depression. Results also found a significant interaction between FM status and depression for perceived stress, but not for life event stressors, which may further emphasize the distinctions between the two measures. The findings underline the importance of assessing different types of stress and stressors in individuals with chronic pain and other related comorbidities.

Psychological and Social Factors Contributing to Post-traumatic Growth After Spinal Cord Injury

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in significant changes in a person's life; it has a tremendous psychological impact not only at the individual level but also on their caregiver. There is still little known about the positive psychological changes following SCI. The aim of this study was to determine the psychological and social factors affecting post-traumatic psychological growth after SCI. Methodology: This multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted on 66 patients with traumatic SCI between November 2020 and May 2021 using PWB-PTCQ, HADS, and social support scale. Data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Result: This study included 66 patients from multilabel territorial centers. The Mean ± SD of the patients’ age was 32.1 ± 14.5 years, and 34 (51.5%) of them were aged <32 years. Male patients were more dominant compared to their female counterparts; 48 (72.7%) versus 18 (27.3%), respectively. The most common type of injury was ASIA-A 24 (36.4%), and the most common nature of stress was financial 33 (53.2%). Conclusion: Anxiety and depression were less common among our patients with SCI, whereas there were high life stressors, and financial stress was the dominant type of stress among patients. The most affected dimension of PTG was a sense of mastery, whereas relationships and personal growth were the least affected among patients with SCI. Achieving PTG was significantly affected by depression, education level, and life stressors. There was a regression relation between PTG with depression and anxiety, thus PTG can predict depression and anxiety in patients with SCI.

Impact of Life Stressors on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms: An Australian Longitudinal Study

(1) Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, multifaceted illness. The pathomechanism, severity and progression of this illness is still being investigated. Stressors have been implicated in symptom exacerbation for ME/CFS, however, there is limited information for an Australian ME/CFS cohort. The aim of this study was to assess the potential effect of life stressors including changes in work, income, or family scenario on symptom severity in an Australian ME/CFS cohort over five months; (2) Methods: Australian residents with ME/CFS responded to questions relating to work, income, living arrangement, access to healthcare and support services as well as symptoms experienced; (3) Results: thirty-six ME/CFS patients (age: 41.25 ± 12.14) completed all questionnaires (response rate 83.7%). Muscle pain and weakness, orthostatic intolerance and intolerance to extreme temperatures were experienced and fluctuated over time. Sleep disturbances were likely to present as severe. Work and household income were associated with worsened cognitive, gastrointestinal, body pain and sleep symptoms. Increased access to healthcare services was associated with improved symptom presentation; (4) Conclusions: life stressors such as work and financial disruptions may significantly contribute to exacerbation of ME/CFS symptoms. Access to support services correlates with lower symptom scores.

Mental health burden and self-efficacy among undergraduate students in the health sciences

Perceived professional competence and self-efficacy are complex terms, which have been widely identified in concurrent literature as predictive criteria of future development and settlement of higher education students. The current study aimed at exploring factors affecting perceived professional competence and self-efficacy of Social Work and Nursing students of the Hellenic Mediterranean University. The study employed a sample of 313 students (171 Social Work, 142 Nursing). The questionnaire explored participants' sociodemographic and academic factors, perceived professional competence and self-efficacy (Nursing Competency Self Efficacy (NCSE) Scale for Outgoing Nursing Students), mental health symptoms during the past month (Symptom Checklist List, SCL 90-R) and life stressors during the past year (Life Stress Inventory, LSI). A total of 67.3% of the participants reported life stressors during the past year, with 17.6% reporting the highest burden. All the mental health scales of SCL-90 were found to have a negative linear relationship with perceived professional competence and self-efficacy but no relationship was detected with regard to life stressors. Participants' age, working status, subject and year of studies, as well as prior knowledge and high preference of the study subject, were shown to be significantly related with perceived professional competence and self-efficacy. The study has several implications for the educational and the health policy. Key messages Mental illness is a major public health concern with significant impact on students’ academic achievement. University-based mental health services could reach students in need and facilitate early intervention.