METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted, using questionnaires sent to selected medical staff in a public hospital in Shandong, China (N = 1012). Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate how psychological strains influencing life satisfactions among medical staff.
RESULTS: The findings indicate that aspiration strain and deprivation strain have significantly negative impact on medical staff's life satisfaction even with other variables controlled for. Weekly working hour was a significant predictor for life satisfaction. Family factors, such as marital status and kids in the family as well as social support were important factors in influencing individuals' life satisfaction.
CONCLUSION: The current study highlights the negative associations between aspiration strain, deprivation strain and life satisfaction. The result underlines the importance of actions taken to prevent and combat psychological strains. It also provides some evidence for policy makers to improve the work environment for medical staff, such as reduce weekly working hours and enhance social support in order to increase medical staff's life satisfaction.
METHODS: 6,305 college students (39.3% men; 60.7% women) from six Chinese provincial-level jurisdictions completed a paper-and-pencil survey with Psychological Strain Scales (PSS-40) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), both validated in Chinese populations.
RESULTS: Both PSS-40 and DASS-21 have high internal consistency reliabilities, and are highly correlated with each other. Hence, Chinese college students with greater psychological strains (value, aspiration, deprivation, or coping) have greater depression, anxiety, and stress. These results still held after controlling for relevant socio-demographic variables in the multiple regression models.
LIMITATIONS: This was a cross-sectional study, and the sample only included several provinces in mainland China, not a representative sample of all of them.
CONCLUSIONS: Mood disorders and psychopathologies are linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The results of this study extend the Strain Theory of Suicide from explaining the risk factors of suicidality to mood disorders and psychopathologies. Hence, these findings can inform prevention measures among college students, and possibly the general population.
METHODS: We collected data from 1583 citizens from four countries via an online survey between October 14 and November 2, 2020. We gathered demographic data and measured mental distress (depression, anxiety, and stress) and fear of COVID-19. Data on sense of control, ego-resilience, grit, self-compassion, and resilience indicators were also collected.
RESULTS: Sense of control was negatively associated with mental distress in all four countries. Self-compassion was negatively associated with mental distress in the samples from Japan, China, and the U.S. We also found an interaction effect for sense of control: the lower the sense of control, the stronger the deterioration of mental distress when the fear of COVID-19 was high.
LIMITATIONS: This study's cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences. Further, lack of data from people who were actually infected with the virus limits comparisons of people who were and were not infected. Finally, as this study only compared data from four countries, comparisons with more countries are needed.
CONCLUSIONS: A sense of control and self-compassion may help buffer against mental health deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sense of control was consistently associated with mental health across cultures.
METHODS: This was a post-hoc analysis of the Cognitive Dysfunction in Asian patients with Depression (CogDAD) study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the most common cognitive complaints by patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine variables associated with perceived cognitive dysfunction (Perceived Deficit Questionnaire-Depression, PDQ-D).
RESULTS: The CogDAD study population is comprised of MDD patients with mild-to-moderate depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item [PHQ-9]: 11.3 ± 6.9) who reported perceived cognitive dysfunction (PDQ-D = 22.6 ± 16.2). The most common cognitive complaints were: mind drifting (42.3%), trouble making decision (39.6%) and trouble concentrating (38.0%). Predictors of perceived cognitive dysfunction were: being Southeast Asians (vs. Taiwanese) (p
METHODS: Participants comprised 1912 college students (16-28 years old, 47.2% female) from three universities in Jilin Province, China, who completed the self-report assessments of psychological strains (40 items Psychological Strains Scale) and suicidal behaviors (Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised). The demographic characteristics included four variables: health status, psychological status, academic status and economic status.
RESULTS: Approximately 15.0% (286/1912) of participants were classified as having suicide risk, based on the cut-off scores of the SBQ-R. The prevalence of suicidal behaviors among males and females was 11.9% (120/1009) and 18.4% (166/903), respectively. Value strain (OR = 1.075, 95%CI: 1.057-1.094), aspiration strain (OR = 1.082, 95%CI: 1.064-1.101), deprivation strain (OR = 1.073, 95%CI: 1.052-1.093), and coping strain (OR = 1.095, 95%CI: 1.075-1.116) were risk factors for suicidality in college students. Coping strain (OR = 1.050, 95%CI: 1.023-1.077) was still positively associated with suicide risk in multivariate logistic regression. Logistic regression analysis indicated that coping strain had the highest correlation with suicidal behaviors.
LIMITATIONS: The directionality of the relationships cannot be deduced because this study is cross-sectional.
CONCLUSION: This study confirms a strong association between psychological strains and suicidal behaviors in college students. Some measures can be taken to reduce psychological strains to mitigate suicide risk among college students. More studies investigating coping strain among college students are warranted.
METHOD: The sample consisted of 520 first-year undergraduate international students. The experimental group contained students who were diagnosed with depression and homesickness and received seven sessions of brief individual CBT for depression to reduce homesickness. The control group contained students who were diagnosed with depression and homesickness and received one session of advice and suggestions. The comparison group contained students who experienced only homesickness and did not receive any interventions. The study used the comparison group to determine if an interaction effect existed between students experiencing only homesickness and students experiencing both homesickness and depression.
RESULTS: Students who received brief individual CBT displayed a significant reduction in their homesickness and depression scores compared to the scores of students in the control group. Students who experienced only homesickness exhibited a significant reduction in the scores on homesickness in the post-assessment compared to the control group's post-assessment homesickness scores.
LIMITATION: The results of this study cannot be generalized as data were collected from three universities in Malaysia. The follow-up assessment was conducted six months after the post-assessment, which also limits generalizability beyond six months.
CONCLUSION: Overall, homesickness is considered a normal reaction. Brief individual CBT for depression is effective in reducing homesickness and depression among international students.
METHODS: The study included individuals from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) who had available data for adiposity measures (body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio), alexithymia (measured by the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: TAS-20), depressive symptoms (measured by the 13-item depression subscale of Hopkins Symptom Checklist: HSCL-13) at age of 31 years (n = 4773) and 46 years (n = 4431). Pearson's (r) correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to investigate the relationships between alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and adiposity measures. The potential mediating role of depressive symptoms was examined via Hayes' procedure (PROCESS).
RESULTS: Positive correlations were confirmed between adiposity measures (BMI and WHR) and the TAS-20 score (and its subscale), but not between obesity and HSCL-13 score. The strongest correlation was between the DIF (difficulty identifying feelings) subscale of the TAS-20 and HSCL-13 at both time points (31 y: r(3013) = 0.41, p
METHODS: Using data from the International Sex Survey (N = 82,243; Mage = 32.39; SDage = 12.52; women: n = 46,874; 57 %), we examined the reliability of depression and anxiety symptom scores of the BSI-18, as well as evaluated evidence of construct, invariance, and criterion-related validity in predicting clinically relevant variables across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations.
RESULTS: Results corroborated an invariant, two-factor structure across all groups tested, exhibiting excellent reliability estimates for both subscales. The 'caseness' criterion effectively discriminated among those at low and high risk of depression and anxiety, yielding differential effects on the clinical criteria examined.
LIMITATIONS: The predictive validation was not made against a clinical diagnosis, and the full BSI-18 scale was not examined (excluding the somatization sub-dimension), limiting the validation scope of the BSI-18. Finally, the study was conducted online, mainly by advertisements through social media, ultimately skewing our sample towards women, younger, and highly educated populations.
CONCLUSIONS: The results support that the BSI-12 is a valid and reliable assessment tool for assessing depression and anxiety symptoms across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. Further, its caseness criterion can discriminate well between participants at high and low risk of depression and anxiety.
METHODS: The research was conducted by correlation method) using Structural Equation Modeling). The statistical population consisted of all women and men with type 2 diabetes. Two hundred fifty-three samples were selected by convenience sampling method. The participants responded to the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills, and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory.
RESULTS: The results showed that the total path coefficient between the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = 0.243, P = 0.005) was positive and significant, and the total path coefficient between the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = -0.453, P = 0.001) was negative and significant. The path coefficient between cognitive flexibility and mindfulness (β = 0.273, P = 0.009) was positive and significant. The indirect path coefficient between the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = 0.094, P = 0.007) was positive and significant, and the indirect path coefficient between the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and mindfulness (β = -0.117, P = 0.009) was negative and significant.
CONCLUSION: Improving emotion regulation skills increases cognitive flexibility and mindfulness in patients with type 2 diabetes.
METHODS: To bridge this gap in the literature, we assessed relationships between facets of alexithymia and multiple, core indices of positive body image in an online sample of adults from the United Kingdom. A total of 395 participants (226 women, 169 men) aged 18 to 84 years completed measures of alexithymia, body appreciation, functionality appreciation, body image flexibility, body acceptance by others, and positive rational acceptance.
RESULTS: Once the effects of age had been accounted for, alexithymia was significantly and negatively associated with all five body image constructs in hierarchical multiple regressions. In the final models, the alexithymia facet of Difficulties Identifying Feeling emerged as a significant and negative predictor of all indices of positive body image.
LIMITATIONS: The use of cross-sectional data limits the causal conclusions that can be drawn.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings extend previous work by demonstrating the unique relationship between alexithymia and positive body image, providing important implications for body image research and practice.
METHODS: Through stratified random sampling, 1469 students, aged 18-19 years, were enrolled. Participants whose score achieved the aggressive evaluation standard were selected and then 60 participants were randomly divided into 2 groups: G-IPT and control. The participants in the G-IPT group received 16 sessions of treatment, whereas the participants in the control group did not receive any intervention. All participants completed the assessment three times: before, after, and tracking.
RESULTS: The results showed that the total score and the scores of all subscales of aggression dropped significantly (P
METHODS: Data came from a large sample of 11,412 Chinese undergraduate students. A bifactor-IRT model, specifying one general strain factor and four specific strains factors, was examined for fit to the sample data. A detailed item analysis, with analysis of the differential item functioning (DIF) of the items across gender, was undertaken to evaluate the dimensionality of the PSS. The associations among the PSS scale scores with scores on the concurrent measures, assessing psychache and suicidal behaviors, were examined.
RESULTS: IRT-derived specific bifactor indices showed that the PSS was unidimensional, and thus the PSS total scores should be reported. Unidimensional subset of 5 items identified (Item 9, Item 12, Item 14, Item 16, and Item 20), using bifactor-IRT modeling and incremental validation, were selected to construct a potential short form of the PSS (PSS-SF). The PSS-SF scale scores demonstrated strong psychometric properties and associations with scores on the concurrent measures assessing relevant constructs.
LIMITATIONS: This study used cross-sectional data from a non-clinical sample of Chinese undergraduate students.
CONCLUSIONS: The PSS-SF should be considered as a unidimensional instrument with potential in enhancing our understanding and measurement of psychological strains with reduced response burden.
METHODS: Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 were analyzed, adopting Sawyer's broad definition of adolescence encompassing ages 10 to 24. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were used to assess temporal trends.
RESULTS: Globally, from 1990 to 2019, there was a decrease in the ASIR of depression in adolescents (EAPC = -0.23). Notably, this decrease was more pronounced in female adolescents compared to their male counterparts (EAPC = -0.12 and - 0.29, respectively). Conversely, high Sociodemographic Index (SDI) regions experienced a significant increase in the ASIR of depression among adolescents (EAPC = 0.87). Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that individuals aged 20-24 exhibited the highest incidence rate for depression followed by those aged 15-19 and then those aged 10-14. The largest increases in the ASIRs of depression occurred in High-income North America (EAPC = 1.19) and Malaysia (EAPC = 2.4), respectively.
LIMITATIONS: Mathematical models were used to reconstruct and adjust data of different qualities, which might have introduced bias.
CONCLUSIONS: The global burden of disease for depression among adolescents aged 10-24 years declined from 1990 to 2019. Special attention must be paid to older adolescents and areas with higher SDIs.
METHODS: The literature was searched via the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. Weighted mean difference (WMD) or the risk ratio (RR) was used as the effect indicator, and the effect size was represented by the 95 % confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analysis based on the perinatal stage, physical activity intensity, physical activity equivalent, and intervention duration was performed.
RESULTS: Totally, 35 studies including 5084 women were included. Physical activity could reduce the incidence and severity of depression in perinatal women. Among depressed women with prenatal depression, low-intensity physical activity, with metabolic equivalents (METs)-min/week being <450, was associated with lower levels of depression. In the general population, the risk of postpartum depression was lower in the physical activity group when the duration of intervention was ≥12 weeks, being II, III stage, and ≥450 METs-min/week. Both low and moderate-intensity physical activity were beneficial to an improved depression severity among depressed women with postpartum depression, and moderate exercise intervention could decrease the risk of postpartum depression in general pregnant women.
LIMITATIONS: Different types of physical activities may affect the effectiveness of interventions.
CONCLUSION: Our study indicated physical activity specifically targeted at pregnant women could reduce depression risk and severity.