A Biopsychosocial Approach to Examining Alcohol Consumption among Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study investigated the relationship between biopsychosocial characteristics (age, sex, self-rated health, mental health, parental socio-economic status, family support, teacher support, peer support) and alcohol consumption (weekly alcohol consumption in the past three months, drunkenness in the past three months, and binge drinking in the past month) in adolescents during a crisis event. The study consisted of 1019 Israeli students aged 11-18. Questionnaires were distributed to the students between May and July 2021 during school. Teacher support among those who presented weekly alcohol consumption and drunkenness in the past three months was lower than in those who did not present such behavior. The effects of parental support differed only for drunkenness behavior, with those who engaged in drunken behavior presenting significantly less parental support. Our findings suggest that teacher support and mental health are the two major factors in preventing risky alcohol consumption behavior during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, among adolescents.

The Effects of a Physical Activity Online Intervention Program on Resilience, Perceived Social Support, Psychological Distress and Concerns among At-Risk Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 restrictions have led to social isolation affecting youth's health, particularly at-risk youth. OBJECTIVES: We examined whether an online mentoring health intervention (OMHI) would strengthen characteristics that can prevent risky behaviors: resilience, perceived social support, psychological distress, and crisis concerns. METHODS: Fifty-six secondary-school students participated, 27 in the intervention group and 29 in the control group (mean age 16.18, SD 0.83 vs. 16.62, SD 0.82, respectively). The study took place between March and August 2020. RESULTS: The intervention group was less resilient pre-test, with similar resilience levels as the control group post-test. Intervention group participants presented a significantly higher crisis level pre- and post-test than the control group, as well as an increase in resilience (effect size = 1.88) and social support (effect size = 1.22), while psychological distress significantly decreased (effect size = -1.03). Both groups (intervention vs. control) predicted changes from pre-to-post test for resilience and crisis (adjusted R2 = 0.33, p = 0.001 and R2 = 0.49, p = 0.0001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: OMHI participation was associated with improved resilience and social support, and decreased psychological distress, making it an effective strategy in health promotion for at-risk youth. An online intervention program combining mentoring in physical activity and interpersonal connections may constitute an effective health promotion strategy for at-risk youth, especially in times of crisis.

Beliefs, emotions, and usage of information and communication technologies in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: Health sciences students' perspectives.

Objectives: First, to examine Health Sciences students' discipline, educational level, number of online courses taken, and emotions regarding distance learning; second, to explore a model in which information and communication technologies' (ICT) beliefs serve as mediators among ICT's emotions and ICT usage. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Participants consisted of 210 students from the School of Health Sciences at the University. Perceptions toward ICTs in Teaching-Learning Process Scale and Computer Emotion Scale were used. Results: Nursing students report significantly more ICT-related negative emotions than Management of Health Systems students. Students who took a low or medium number of online courses report significantly more ICT-related positive emotions than students who took a high number of online courses. In addition, ICT-related beliefs did not mediate the effects of ICT-related positive emotions and ICT usage but did mediate ICT-related negative emotions and ICT usage. Conclusions: The digital tools in online courses should be appropriately combined with the learning method, and course content. It requires not only a solid technical foundation but also an educational mentality, as well as an adjustment period.

Risk Behaviors, Family Support, and Emotional Health among Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel.

We investigated the prevalence of risk behaviors among Israeli adolescents (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Associations between different risk behaviors were examined and so was whether specific characteristics could predict risk behaviors in adolescents. The study consisted of 1020 Israeli adolescents aged 15-18. Study subjects completed an online survey between the first and second lockdowns in Israel (April 2020 to September 2020). Participants reported the frequency at which they engaged in four different risky behaviors: general risky behavior, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption (binge drinking), and cannabis use. The most prevalent risky behavior in the sample was binge drinking (33.8%). The four measured risky behaviors were significantly correlated. Among participants who had previously engaged in a risky behavior assessed, most did not change the behavior frequency during the pandemic. All independent variables (sociodemographic characteristics, family support, and emotional, health excluding friends' support, physical activity volume, and coronavirus restrictions) were significantly different between participants engaging vs. not engaging in risky behaviors. Our findings suggest that family support is one of the most influential factors in preventing risky behavior during the pandemic, and they emphasize the importance of family-based interventions with children and adolescents from elementary to high school.

"Fighting for life and losing": Intensive Care Unit Nursing Staff's Experience With COVID-19 Patient Deaths During the First Two Waves: A Qualitative Study.

The study explored the experiences of intensive care unit nursing staff caring for COVID-19 patients who eventually died during the two first pandemic waves. We used - descriptive-qualitative-phenomenological. The findings included four main themes-the first vs the second COVID-19 waves, fighting for life and being unable to win, a chronicle of pre-determined death, and nurse's emotional coping with patient death. Based on these findings, we have concluded that in order to enhance nurses' mental health, policy makers and governments need to create an appropriate support system for them.

The Communication Challenges and Strength of Nurses' Intensive Corona Care during the Two First Pandemic Waves: A Qualitative Descriptive Phenomenology Study.

Intensive care nurses working with patients with severe COVID-19 illness are at the center and frontline of the dynamic pandemic, which poses communication challenges and demands of unusual strength on their part. The study aim was to capture the lived experience of intensive care COVID nurses' communication challenges and strengths as they cared for COVID-19 intensive care patients during the two first pandemic waves. The study used qualitative descriptive-phenomenology research designs. Twenty-two nurses were selected using snowball sampling, and online interviews were conducted with them. Data were recorded and transcribed, then reflexively double-coded for increased rigor. Four major themes emerged from the data. The first two expressed the communication challenges and difficulties communicating with patients due to the extreme protection needed and/or their medical condition. However, the other two themes expressed the nurses' strengths-sharing feelings with other caregivers and family. Accordingly, we recommend using simple language and ensuring patient comprehension, as well as creating an optimistic environment for fostering caregiver bonding.

Risk Behaviors, Family Support, and Emotional Health among Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel

We investigated the prevalence of risk behaviors among Israeli adolescents (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Associations between different risk behaviors were examined and so was whether specific characteristics could predict risk behaviors in adolescents. The study consisted of 1020 Israeli adolescents aged 15–18. Study subjects completed an online survey between the first and second lockdowns in Israel (April 2020 to September 2020). Participants reported the frequency at which they engaged in four different risky behaviors: general risky behavior, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption (binge drinking), and cannabis use. The most prevalent risky behavior in the sample was binge drinking (33.8%). The four measured risky behaviors were significantly correlated. Among participants who had previously engaged in a risky behavior assessed, most did not change the behavior frequency during the pandemic. All independent variables (sociodemographic characteristics, family support, and emotional, health excluding friends' support, physical activity volume, and coronavirus restrictions) were significantly different between participants engaging vs. not engaging in risky behaviors. Our findings suggest that family support is one of the most influential factors in preventing risky behavior during the pandemic, and they emphasize the importance of family-based interventions with children and adolescents from elementary to high school.

Nursing Students' Eating Habits, Subjective, and Mediterranean Nutrition Knowledge During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Mediterranean nutrition knowledge, healthy eating habits, and subjective nutritional knowledge are crucially important to nursing students' health. The study strives to examine, during the COVID-19 pandemic period: (a) nursing students' eating habits and their subjective nutritional knowledge according to three groups: novice, advanced, and senior; and (b) subjective knowledge and its role as a mediator between Mediterranean nutritional knowledge and nursing students' eating habits. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design with a convenience sample consisting of 212 university nursing students. Participants volunteered to complete a questionnaire that examined their eating habits, subjective nutritional knowledge, and Mediterranean diet knowledge. The university's institutional review board provided permission to conduct the current study. RESULTS: Nursing students from the novice group had better eating habits than the advanced and senior groups, and no significant differences were found between the advanced and senior groups regarding eating habits. Additionally, Mediterranean nutritional knowledge had a positive indirect effect on eating habits through subjective nutritional knowledge. Therefore, subjective nutritional knowledge partially mediated the relationship between Mediterranean nutritional knowledge and eating habits. CONCLUSION: First, especially for the advanced and senior groups, it is important to create opportunities for learning via seminars, symposia, and webinars. Interprofessional teams, such as clinical nutritionists or a registered certified dietitian and nursing student, can engage with important, authentic information. Second, since subjective nutritional knowledge was found to be a partial mediator, it may be assumed that there are other mediating variables that we did not examine in this study. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct further research to examine other factors that can serve as mediators for eating habits, in addition to subjective knowledge, especially during COVID-19 times.

Perceived Efficiency Outcomes, Sources and Awareness of Online Health Information among the Elderly during COVID-19.

The Internet and social media are crucial platforms for health information. Factors such as the efficiency of online health information, the outcomes of seeking online health information and the awareness of reliable sources have become increasingly important for the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine differences between elderly individuals' income above and below the average monthly wage in relation to their online health information efficiency and the outcomes of seeking online health information; to evaluate types of online information sources with online health information efficiency and the outcomes of seeking online health information; and to explore online health information efficiency as a mediator between health status and awareness of online sources. A cross-sectional study design was conducted with 336 elderly participants age 65 or older. The participants volunteered to complete a questionnaire. No differences were found between the two groups regarding efficiency in retrieving health information from official online health sites and Google. Perceived efficiency mediated health status and awareness of online sources. In these challenging times, it is important to provide a tailor-made education strategy plan for reliable sources of online health information for the elderly, in order to enhance their technology safety skills. It is also important to explore other mediating variables between health status and awareness of online sources.