An Online Solution Focused Brief Therapy for Adolescent Anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial

In this randomized clinical trial, we investigated the efficacy of an online solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) for adolescents' anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 period. Eligible participants were between the ages of 11 and 18 years, scored a 10 or above on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The results found that compared to adolescents who did not receive any treatment, the intervention yielded significant results in alleviating adolescents' anxiety and depressive symptoms while promoting problem oriented coping strategies at immediate post-intervention. The therapeutic benefit has persisted, as shown in our results from the 1-month follow-up.

An online solution focused brief therapy for adolescent anxiety : A randomized controlled trial.

In this randomized clinical trial, we investigated the efficacy of an online solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) for adolescents' anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 period. Eligible participants were between the ages of 11 and 18 years, scored a 10 or above on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The results found that compared to adolescents who did not receive any treatment, the intervention yielded significant results in alleviating adolescents' anxiety and depressive symptoms while promoting problem oriented coping strategies at immediate post-intervention. The therapeutic benefit has persisted, as shown in our results from the 1-month follow-up.

The Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) scale: its psychometric properties and associations with help-seeking during COVID-19.

The Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) scale was designed to measure the extent to which an individual identifies oneself with all human beings. The current research aimed to conduct the validation of IWAH in a Chinese population and its convergent validity, as well as test the implications of IWAH in associations with help-seeking behaviour during COVID-19. A serial of three studies was conducted from September 1st 2020 to the end of October 2020. The series of studies included Study 1- Exploring the dimensions of the IWAH scale with a sample of 2,881 participants, Study 2- Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the Chinese IWAH dimensions with a separate sample of 6,667 participants, and Study 3- Role of the IWAH in the COVID-19 pandemic with a sample of 9,046 participants. Study 1 found the Chinese version of the IWAH scale to be a two-dimensional construct, with factor 1 - Bond with Humanity and factor 2 - Human Kinship. Study 2 confirmed the two-factor construct as found in Study 1. It also showed positive relations between IWAH and moral judgement, collectivism, nature connectedness, and negative relations with callousness, and having anxiety and depressive symptoms. Study 3 found that IWAH was negatively related to fear of COVID-19 and positively related to the likeliness of help-seeking. This is the first research to test the factorial structure of the IWAH scale in a Chinese population, with the adaptation showing good psychometric properties. The implication of IWAH on fear of COVID-19 and help-seeking provided further understanding of the possible practical value of IWAH during times of global stressful life events. Furthermore, study 3 is the first to explore how IWAH relates to anxiety, depression, and callousness.

Suicidal ideation and attempted suicide among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to understand the suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from patients diagnosed with cancer while attending the largest cancer center in the south of China. A structured questionnaire was used to investigate patients' demographic data, suicidal behavior, and factors related to COVID-19. Mental health conditions were measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. Comorbidities and medical conditions of cancer patients were extracted from the electronic healthcare records. Among the 5670 cancer patients, 755 (13.3%) reported suicidal ideation, and 266 (4.7%) reported suicidal attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The age group with the highest risk of suicidal ideation was 20-24 years (23.9%). Lifetime history of suffering from mental disorders, longer time since cancer diagnosis, regional and distant tumor stage, depression, anxiety, hostility, having a higher frequency of worrying about cancer management due to COVID-19, higher frequency feeling of overwhelming psychological pressure due to COVID-19, having a higher level of barriers to manage cancer due to COVID-19, and higher barriers to continue treatment of cancer due to inconveniences caused by COVID-19, were all significantly associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. We also identified the risk factors of suicide attempts. This is the first study investigating the prevalence and risk factors associated with suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts in Chinese cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that it is essential to monitor the mental health conditions of this vulnerable population, especially for cancer patients who have comorbidity with a history of mental disorders. Also, government policymakers should take action to protect cancer patients to avoid any interruption of their continued treatment. Further efforts are urgently required to develop specific psychological interventions to reduce the risk factors among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acute Stress Disorder Among Frontline Health Professionals During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Structural Equation Modeling Investigation.

OBJECTIVE: The outbreak of COVID-19 that commenced in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has caused extensive public health concerns and posed substantial challenges to health professionals, especially for those in the center of the epidemic. The current study aimed to assess the prevalence, related factors, and mechanism of acute stress disorder (ASD) among health professionals in Wuhan during this critical period. METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional design. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the frontline health professionals in Wuhan hospitals from January 28 to February 1, 2020. Mental health-related measurements included ASD, depression, anxiety, conflict experiences, hostility, and psychosomatic symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the factors associated with ASD among health professionals. RESULTS: A total of 332 frontline health professionals were included in the analysis (mean [standard deviation] age = 32.21 [8.77] years; 78.0% women). ASD was a prominent mental health problem in the health professionals surveyed, with a prevalence of 38.3%. Anxiety (24.7%) and depression (20.2%) were also common. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that emotional distress (i.e., anxiety and depressive symptoms) fully mediated the association between conflicts with ASD (the standardized indirect coefficient ß = 0.47, p = .016). The most common reported symptom was chest pain (51.2%). ASD was significantly associated with psychosomatic symptoms. The majority (67.8%) reported being easily annoyed or irritated, and ASD was associated with hostility. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 outbreak, a substantial number of health professionals in Wuhan suffered from ASD. Furthermore, ASD was found to be associated with psychosomatic symptoms as well as the hostility. The poor mental health of health professionals has detrimental impacts both on the well-being of staff in health care systems and may adversely affect the quality of patient care. We call for interventions that aim to relieve the psychological and occupational stress. Considering that most of our participants were young, female frontline health professionals, the results may not be generalized to more heterogenous samples.

Changes in network centrality of psychopathology symptoms between the COVID-19 outbreak and after peak.

The current study investigated the mechanism and changes in psychopathology symptoms throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and after peak. Two studies were conducted separately in China during outbreak and the after peak stages, with 2540 participants were recruited from February 6 to 16, 2020, and 2543 participants were recruited from April 25 to May 5, 2020. The network models were created to explore the relationship between psychopathology symptoms both within and across anxiety and depression, with anxiety measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and depression measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Symptom network analysis was conducted to evaluate network and bridge centrality, and the network properties were compared between the outbreak and after peak. Noticeably, psychomotor symptoms such as impaired motor skills, restlessness, and inability to relax exhibited high centrality during the outbreak, which still relatively high but showed substantial remission during after peak stage (in terms of strength, betweenness, or bridge centrality). Meanwhile, symptoms of irritability (strength, betweenness, or bridge centrality) and loss of energy (bridge centrality) played an important role in the network after the peak of the pandemic. This study provides novel insights into the changes in central features during the different COVID-19 stages and highlights motor-related symptoms as bridge symptoms, which could activate the connection between anxiety and depression. The results revealed that restrictions on movement were associated with worsen in psychomotor symptoms, indicating that future psychological interventions should target motor-related symptoms as priority.

Epidemiology of mental health problems among patients with cancer during COVID-19 pandemic.

The current study aimed to explore mental health problems in patients diagnosed with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cluster sampling, cross-sectional survey with 6213 cancer patients was conducted in one of the largest cancer centers in China. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, psychosomatic conditions, interpersonal relationships and social support, COVID-19 infection-related psychological stress, and mental health status were measured. Medical conditions were extracted from patients' electronic healthcare records. Among the 6213 cancer patients, 23.4% had depression, 17.7% had anxiety, 9.3% had PTSD, and 13.5% had hostility. Hierarchical liner regression models showed that having a history of mental disorder, excessive alcohol consumption, having a higher frequency of worrying about cancer management due to COVID-19, having a higher frequency feeling of overwhelming psychological pressure from COVID-19, and having a higher level of fatigue and pain were the predominant risk factors for mental health problems in cancer patients. However, there were only 1.6% of them were seeking psychological counseling during COVID-19. We also revealed the protective factors associated with lower risk of mental health problems among cancer patients. The present study revealed a high prevalence of mental health problems and gaps in mental health services for cancer patients, which also indicated high distress from COVID-19-elevated risks. We call for systematic screening of mental health status for all cancer patients, and developing specific psychological interventions for this vulnerable population.