The Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Examining Its Cutoff Scores among Arab Psychiatric Patients and Healthy Adults within the Context of COVID-19 as a Collective Traumatic Event.

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is the most popular measure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been recently validated in Arabic. This instrumental study aimed to determine optimal cutoff scores of the IES-R and its determined six subscales in Arab samples of psychiatric patients (N = 168, 70.8% females) and healthy adults (N = 992, 62.7% females) from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic as a probable ongoing collective traumatic event. Based on a cutoff score of 14 of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed two optimal points of 39.5 and 30.5 for the IES-R in the samples (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.86 & 0.91, p values = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.80-0.92 & 0.87-0.94, sensitivity = 0.85 & 0.87, specificity = 0.73 & 0.83, Youden index = 0.58 & 0.70, respectively). Different cutoffs were detected for the six subscales of the IES-R, with numbing and avoidance expressing the lowest predictivity for distress. Meanwhile, hyperarousal followed by pandemic-related irritability expressed a stronger predictive capacity for distress than all subscales in both samples. In path analysis, pandemic-related irritability/dysphoric mood evolved as a direct and indirect effect of key PTSD symptoms (intrusion, hyperarousal, and numbing). The irritability dimension of the IES-R directly predicted the traumatic symptoms of sleep disturbance in both samples while sleep disturbance did not predict irritability. The findings suggest the usefulness of the IES-R at a score of 30.5 for detecting adults prone to trauma related distress, with higher scores needed for screening in psychiatric patients. Various PTSD symptoms may induce dysphoric mood, which represents a considerable burden that may induce circadian misalignment and more noxious psychiatric problems/co-morbidities (e.g., sleep disturbance) in both healthy and diseased groups.

Challenges to online education during the time of COVID-19: A focus group study.

AIM: To explore the experience of online education during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from the perspectives of nurse educators, postgraduate students, and undergraduate students in two universities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). This article only highlights the challenges faced by nurse educators and students. METHOD: A qualitative design using a focus group strategy was employed. The data were collected from two universities in the OPT from September 2020 to October 2020. The maximum variation sampling strategy was used. FINDINGS: Seven focus groups were conducted with nurse educators (n = 2), postgraduate students (n = 1), and undergraduate students (n = 4). The findings revealed that nurse educators and students faced several challenges when they were abruptly turned to online learning. These challenges included challenges concerning clinical courses, lack of resources, lack of interaction, evaluation, and their home environment. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to demonstrate the challenges involved in nursing education in OPT during the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPACT: The findings of this study can be used to improve the online learning experience during COVID-19. As a recent change to nursing education, it is vital to understand the nature of the problems related to this sudden change.

Online learning in nursing education: a qualitative study in occupied Palestinian territory

Background Online learning has been shown to have a significant effect on education in the 21st century, and it has become indispensable in nursing education because of the requirement to connect theoretical courses with hospital-based practice. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education has shifted abruptly away from traditional face-to-face instruction and towards distance learning. This study explores the experience of online education during COVID-19 from the perspectives of nursing educators, graduate students, and undergraduate students in two universities in the occupied Palestinian territory Method A qualitative study adopting focus group interviews as a data collection method was conducted from September to October, 2020, in two Palestinian universities : Birzeit University in Ramallah city and Arab American University in Jenin city. A homogeneous purposeful sampling strategy was adopted to recruit participants. The data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. Ethical approval for the research was obtained from the ethics committees of both universities. Findings Seven focus groups were conducted. Of these, four focus groups involved undergraduate students (n=30), one involved postgraduate students (n=9), and two involved nursing educators (n=14). The nursing educators and students reported that they faced several challenges when they were required to switch to online learning. The participants perceived online education to be inefficient, particularly for clinical courses, because they perceived difficulties in providing nursing students with the necessary skills in practice. In addition, they reported that a lack of resources harmed the students’ ability to receive a high-quality health nursing education. Some undergraduate students mentioned that when they abruptly switched to online education, certain essential resources such as the internet, library, books, smartphones, laptops, and a quiet environment were unavailable. Furthermore, nursing educators and students perceived the lack of face-to-face interaction imposed by the abrupt shift to online education as a substantial challenge. Nursing educators reported that they encountered difficulties with student evaluation. They recognised that online examinations are not as valid as those held on campus as they believed that grades had been inflated as a result of students utilising alternative online resources to answer exam questions. Finally, home environments were viewed as a barrier, adding to the difficulty of transitioning from the university to the home environment. Interpretation Continuous training of educators is imperative for increasing the use of communication and technology in nursing education. There is a need for updated policies to avoid the perceived negative consequences of online learing and to maximise its benefits. The findings suggest some solutions to overcome these challenges. For example, preparing the nursing educators and students to use technology could relieve the magnitude of the problems that arise when a sudden switch to online education occurs. Funding None.

The Nine-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF): Its Psychometric Properties among Sri Lankan Students and Measurement Invariance across Sri Lanka, Turkey, Australia, and the USA.

The prevalence of internet gaming disorders (IGD) is considerably high among youth, especially with the social isolation imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. IGD adversely affects mental health, quality of life, and academic performance. The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF) is designed to detect IGD according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. However, inconsistent results are reported on its capacity to diagnose IGD evenly across different cultures. To ensure the suitability of the IGDS9-SF as a global measure of IGD, this study examined the psychometric properties of the IGDS9-SF in a sample of Sri Lankan university students (N = 322, mean age = 17.2 ± 0.6, range = 16-18 years, 56.5% males) and evaluated its measurement invariance across samples from Sri Lanka, Turkey, Australia, and the USA. Among Sri Lankan students, a unidimensional structure expressed good fit, invariance across different groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and income), adequate criterion validity (strong correlation with motives of internet gaming, daily gaming duration, and sleep quality), and good reliability (alpha = 0.81). Males and online multiplayers expressed higher IGD levels, greater time spent gaming, and more endorsement of gaming motives (e.g., Social and Coping) than females and offline players. Across countries, the IGDS9-SF was invariant at the configural, metric, and scalar levels, although strict invariance was not maintained. The lowest and highest IGD levels were reported among Turkish and American respondents, respectively. In conclusion, the IGDS9-SF can be reliably used to measure IGD among Sri Lankan youth. Because the scale holds scalar invariance across countries, its scores can be used to compare IGD levels in the studied countries.

Challenges Faced by Mothers Caring for Children with Leukaemia During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the experiences of parents who care for children diagnosed with leukaemia. This paper is focused solely on reporting the interview findings from participating mothers regarding the challenges of caring for children with leukaemia in the context of the COVID-19. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study took place in a Jordanian hospital where a descriptive qualitative design approach was applied on one oncology floor and an oncology clinic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers of children aged 1-12 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Inductive thematic analysis approach was undertaken. Written consent was obtained from all participants. RESULTS: Fifteen interviews were conducted with fifteen mothers. Four major themes reflect the different challenges parents and children face during the COVID-19 pandemic: children refusing to wear masks, social isolation, family relationship and financial concerns. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current study present important data for health care professionals to help them understand the challenges faced by parents and children with leukaemia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This study suggests activating emotional support teams in hospitals. These teams can actively help mothers express their concerns and worries which might otherwise foster self-blame, guilt and isolation.