Perceiving Positive Facial Expression Can Relieve Depressive Moods: The Effect of Emotional Contagion on Mood in People With Subthreshold Depression

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon by which an individual’s emotions directly trigger similar emotions in others. We explored the possibility that perceiving others’ emotional facial expressions affect mood in people with subthreshold depression (sD). Around 49 participants were divided into the following four groups: participants with no depression (ND) presented with happy faces; ND participants presented with sad faces; sD participants presented with happy faces; and sD participants presented with sad faces. Participants were asked to answer an inventory about their emotional states before and after viewing the emotional faces to investigate the influence of emotional contagion on their mood. Regardless of depressive tendency, the groups presented with happy faces exhibited a slight increase in the happy mood score and a decrease in the sad mood score. The groups presented with sad faces exhibited an increased sad mood score and a decreased happy mood score. These results demonstrate that emotional contagion affects the mood in people with sD, as well as in individuals with ND. These results indicate that emotional contagion could relieve depressive moods in people with sD. It demonstrates the importance of the emotional facial expressions of those around people with sD such as family and friends from the viewpoint of emotional contagion.

A Digital Platform to Crowdsource, Define, and Support Community Needs Throughout COVID-19 (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has placed strains on communities. In the midst of this public health crisis, health systems have created remote methods of monitoring symptom progression and delivering care virtually. OBJECTIVE Using a text message-based system, we sought to build and test a remote model to explore community needs, connect individuals to curated resources, and facilitate community health worker intervention when needed during COVID-19. The primary aims of this pilot study were to establish the feasibility (ie, engagement with the text line) and acceptability (ie, participant ratings of resources and service) of delivering automated wellbeing resources via smartphone technology. METHODS Eligible patients (18 years or older, cell phone with SMS capability, and recent ED visit) were identified using the EHR. Patients were consented to enroll and begin receiving COVID-19 related information and links to community resources. We collected open- and close-ended resource and mood ratings. We calculated the frequencies and conducted thematic review of open-ended responses. RESULTS In seven weeks, 356 participants were enrolled; 13,917 messages were exchanged including 333 resource ratings (mean 4) and 673 well-being scores (mean 6.8). We received and coded 386 open-ended responses, most elaborated upon their self-reported mood score (29%). Overall, 77% of our participants rated the platform as a service they would highly recommend to a family member or friend. CONCLUSIONS This approach is designed to broaden the reach of health systems, tailor to community needs in real-time, and connect at-risk individuals with robust community health support.

Analysis of the Application Effect of Health Education in Skin Care

<p>Objective: to analyze the effect of health education intervention in clinical nursing of patients with skin diseases. Methods: from January 2018 to March 2019, 122 patients with skin diseases were admitted to our hospital and randomly divided into two groups, with 61 cases in each group. The selected patients gave informed consent to this study. The control group was given routine dermatological care, and the observation group was given systematic health education. The treatment effect, mood score and quality of life score of the two groups were compared. Results: the treatment time, recurrence times and outpatient treatment times of the observation group were lower than those of the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05); the HAMA score and HAMD score of the observation group after intervention were lower than the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: the implementation of health education for patients with skin diseases during the nursing process can effectively promote the recovery of the condition and reduce the number of treatments and recurrences. At the same time, it can improve the patients’ bad mental mood and improve the quality of life of the patients.</p>

Student Moods Before and After Body Expression and Dance Assessments. Gender Perspective

Body expression and dance are activities that contribute to the integral well-being of people. In an educational context, the process of evaluating our students implies variations in their moods. This study tackles the states of mind that students perceive before and after the evaluation of a practice in the subject of Body expression and dance, developed through choreographies, that were, previously rehearsed, and later presented to the rest of the class in a specific session. Our main interest was the obtention of information on the states of mind of the students prior to the evaluation of their choreographies (cooperative task), and again once they had been performed. The study design consisted of two phases: two different choreographies separated by an interval of 2 months. The students were asked about their moods before and after performing their choreographies, which were evaluated. The participants, 167 in total, 35 women (20.5%) and 132 men (79.5%), aged 18 to 22 years old, filled out a POMS (Profile of Mood States) questionnaire, before and after the evaluation of each occasion. Differences were found in the stress-anxiety, vigor-activity, fatigue-immobility scales and the total mood score (PGMS). In all of them, except for the fatigue-immobility scale, we found a decrease in scores after the performance, compared to scores before. For the Stress-Anxiety factor, lower values were observed in the post-tests in comparison to the pre-tests, and also lower values in the pre- and post-test scores regarding the second choreography. We conclude that the practical evaluation of the subject through choreography modifies the mood states of the students, favoring their well-being after its execution, which is why evaluation through practice is considered a positive element in the educational process.

Gamma entrainment frequency affects mood, memory and cognition: an exploratory pilot study

Here we provide evidence with an exploratory pilot study that through the use of a Gamma 40 Hz entrainment frequency, mood, memory and cognition can be improved with respect to a 9-participant cohort. Participants constituted towards three binaural entrainment frequency groups: the 40 Hz, 25 Hz and 100 Hz. Participants attended a total of eight entrainment frequency sessions twice over the duration of a 4-week period. Additionally, participants were assessed based on their cognitive abilities, mood as well as memory, where the cognitive and memory assessments occurred before and after a 5-min binaural beat stimulation. The mood assessment scores were collected from sessions 1, 4 and 8, respectively. With respect to the Gamma 40 Hz entrainment frequency population, we observed a mean improvement in cognitive scores, elevating from 75% average to 85% average upon conclusion of the experimentation at weak statistical significance ($$\alpha$$ α = 0.10, p = 0.076). Similarly, memory score improvements at a greater significance ($$\alpha$$ α = 0.05, p = 0.0027) were noted, elevating from an average of 87% to 95%. In pertinence to the mood scores, a negative correlation across all populations were noted, inferring an overall increase in mood due to lower scores correlating with elevated mood. Finally, correlation analysis revealed a stronger R$$^2$$ 2 value (0.9838) within the 40 Hz group between sessions as well as mood score when compared across the entire frequency group cohort.

The mental health and well-being benefits of exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of medical students and newly qualified doctors in the UK

Background University students have been uniquely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is currently little data upon the measures that medical students and newly qualified doctors have taken to help their mental well-being and mood during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim We aimed to identify the activities respondents found beneficial for their well-being and mental health and recorded a mood score from survey respondents. Methods A nationwide study was completed to investigate the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon medical students and newly qualified doctors (interim foundation year one). We received 2075 respondents from across the UK. Results Physical activity was found to be the most common activity used by the survey respondents to help with their mental well-being (80.1%) (medical students, 83.7%; interim foundation doctors, 72.3%). Participants who stated that exercise helped their well-being had a mean score (SD) of 52.3 (20.7) which was significantly higher (P = 0.048) than those who reported that they did not exercise (49.8 (21.1)). Respondents who stated they had used exercise to help with their mental well-being had (on average) a higher mood score than those who did not. This was seen in both the medical student and interim foundation doctor subgroups. Discussion Exercise can help to benefit the well-being of medical students and interim foundation doctors. It is hoped that higher education providers and employers recognise the importance of promoting physical activity for the well-being of their students and staff, respectively.

The Mediating Effects of Marital Intimacy and Work Satisfaction in the Relationship between Husbands’ Domestic Labor and Depressive Mood of Married Working Women

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between the husbands’ domestic labor and marital intimacy, work satisfaction, and depressive mood in married working women. We used the sixth (2016) dataset from the Women and Families Panel Survey conducted by the Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI). The subjects were 791 married working women who lived with a wage-earner husband and who did not have a housework assistant. The correlations between variables were measured and the fit of the structural equation model was assessed. We used a mediation model in which the husbands’ domestic labor affected the depressive mood of married working women through mediation of marital intimacy and work satisfaction. Bootstrapping was used to verify the significance of the indirect effects of the mediating variables. Husbands’ domestic labor had a significant effect on married women’s marital intimacy and work satisfaction, but no significant direct effect on depressive mood. Marital intimacy had a significant effect on work satisfaction, and these two variables were significantly related to reductions in the depressive mood score. Husbands’ domestic labor was found to be a complete mediator of depressive mood through its effects on marital intimacy and work satisfaction. Husbands’ domestic labor did not directly reduce married working women’s depressive mood scores, but instead reduced them indirectly through effects on marital intimacy and work satisfaction.

The Effect Of Mind-Body-Spirit Therapy On Mood Score In Patients With Chronic Renal Failure With Hemodialysis

Background: The number of new chronic renal failure patients with hemodialysis therapy continues to increase from year to year in Indonesia. When people learn they need to begin dialysis, they typically experience a flurry of emotions. The stress is caused by chronic illness accounts for a wide range of feelings and moods. This includes general irritability, anger and frustration over the problems caused by the illness, and feelings of being hopeless and helpless when faced with a life-threatening disease. Mind-body-spirit therapy (Concepts of Islam) focuses on the ability to manage the mindset and psychic that will affect the physical, attitudes and behavior of individuals in addressing their lives. Purpose : Giving mind-body-spirit therapy to hemodialysis patients to improve quality of life, given for 4 weeks with the frequency twice a week. Methods : Pre-experimental study with one group pre-test post-test. The sample of 23 patients with hemodialysis therapy taken by purposive sampling. The FACES test is a visual analog scale representation of mood was used in this study. Early screening on mood was taken in 23 patients (13 men and 10 women, mean age 51.5 years). Mind-body-spirit therapy (Islamic concept) consisted of Tausiyah (cognitive reconstruction), prayer, dhikr and drinking zam-zam water. The mood score was evaluated at week 4 after 4 weeks of treatments. Wilcoxon test results, obtained a significance value of 0,000 (p <0,05). This suggests "there are significant differences in mood conditions before and after the Mind Body Spirit therapy intervention (Islamic Concept). Result : After the treatments, there is an increase in the mood score of hemodialysis patients. Conclusion : A mind-body-spirit therapy of 4 weeks is effective for improving the mood of patients with chronic renal failure with hemodialysis therapy

Detecting concurrent mood in daily contact networks: an online participatory cohort study with a diary approach

ObjectivesThis paper examines how people express personal mood concurrently with those connected with them by one or two degrees of separation.DesignParticipatory cohort study.SettingOnline contact diary.Participants133 participants kept online diaries for 7 months in 2014, which included 127 455 contacts with 12 070 persons.Main outcome measuresDiary keepers rated a contacted person’s mood during each specific contact, as well as the strength of ties between any pairs of such contacted persons. Such rich information about ties and contacts enable us to construct a complete contact network for each diary keeper, along with the network members’ mood and tie strength. We calculate one’s overall mood by that person’s average mood score during the study period and take the shortest path between any given pair of contacted persons as the degree of separation. We further assume that two connecting persons in a contact network have made contact with each other during the study period, which allows us to examine whether and how personal moods occur concurrently within these contact networks.ResultsUsing mixed-effects models while controlling for covariates at individual, tie and contact levels, we show that personal mood score positively and significantly correlates with the average mood among those directly tied to the person. The same effect remains positive and significant for those connected to the person by two degrees, although the effect size is reduced by about one-half. The mood of anyone separated by more than two degrees is statistically irrelevant.ConclusionsApplying network perspectives and rich data at both tie and contact levels to inquiries about subjective well-being, the current study sheds new light on how an improved diary approach can help explain the sophisticated ways in which individuals express their personal moods concurrently during social interactions in everyday life, contact by contact.