Corrigendum: Religious Conspiracy Theories About the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Associated With Negative Mental Health.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604324.].

COVID-19 Vaccination Refusal-Which Factors are Related in the Czech Republic, One of the Most Affected Countries in the World?

Objective: This study examined the willingness to get vaccinated and the factors influencing this attitude in extreme settings-in the Czech Republic (at the time of the survey, the third-worst affected country in the world). Methods: We used national data from the general adult Czech population (N = 1,401) and measured attitudes towards vaccination, sociodemographic characteristics, government trust, knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines, personal characteristics, depression and anxiety. Results: Respondents who were more likely to refuse the vaccine were: female, younger, living without a partner, self-employed or unemployed, living in a town, believers outside the church, and did not trust the government, obtained information about the vaccine from social media, were extroverts and depressed. Conversely, respondents who were less likely to refuse the vaccine were: pensioners, people with higher education, respondents with better real knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccines, those who obtained information about the vaccine from an expert and those who had higher scores in neuroticism. Conclusion: This study thus offers a deeper understanding of the factors that might influence vaccine intention and subsequently the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID anxiety and its predictors among Slovak adolescents.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions, mainly social distancing, had an impact on the mental health of various groups, including adolescents. Methods: The main goal of our study was to explore the impact of gender, age, resilience (measured using the Brief Resilience Scale), attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance (both measured using the Experiences in Close Relationships Revised Scale for adolescents), and mental and general health (measured using items of SF-8 Health Survey) on COVID anxiety (measured using the COVID Anxiety Scale) among a sample of Slovak adolescents (N = 1,786, age 15 to 19, mean age = 16.8, SD = 1.2). The data were collected online between 13 April and 24 May 2021. Results: Four nested linear regression models were fitted to the data and evaluated. The significant predictors that had a greater effect than our smallest effect size of interest (ß = 0.10) were gender (ß = -0.26, p < 0.001, where boys had lower scores in COVID anxiety), general and mental health (ß = -0.13 and ß = -0.14, respectively, both with p < 0.001), resilience (ß = -0.12, p < 0.001), and attachment avoidance (ß = -0.11, p < 0.001). Similarly, age and attachment anxiety were significant predictors with a lower effect size (ß = 0.06, p = 0.003, and ß = 0.09, p < 0.001, respectively). Discussion: Our results are in line with previous research findings highlighting the importance of prevention and interventions programs focused mainly on preventing loneliness and social disconnection, fostering secure attachment with parents and peers, and increasing the resilience of adolescents, especially in the stressful time of a pandemic, to promote their mental health.

Perceived stress of adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown: Bayesian multilevel modeling of the Czech HBSC lockdown survey

Objective Long-term isolation, including lockdowns and quarantines, may have a distressing effect on anyone experiencing it. Adolescent brain architecture is very sensitive to environmental adversities, and the mental health development of adolescents may be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic era. In order to better understand the triggers for perceived adolescent stress (PSS) during the COVID-19 lockdown, the present study aimed to assess the effects of social well-being and changes in time use during the lockdown, as well as the family COVID experience of adolescents. Methods The sample for this study comprised n = 3,440 adolescents (54.2% girls;mean age = 13.5 ± 1.6 years). Bayesian correlations between PSS, health and well-being variables were assessed. PSS was then modeled as an outcome variable in a series of nested Bayesian multilevel regression models. Results The negative impact of the COVID-19 lockdown was more apparent in girls. PSS was moderately correlated with adolescent health and well-being. The strongest predictor of higher level of PSS was frequent feeling of loneliness. On the contrary, lower level of PSS was most associated with having someone to talk to. Conclusion Long-term social isolation of adolescents could be harmful to their mental health. Psychological coping strategies to prevent the consequences of social isolation and development of mental health problems should be promoted on the individual, family, and even community level.

Religious Conspiracy Theories About the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Associated With Negative Mental Health.

Objectives: Together with the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories have begun to spread. Evidence is lacking for religious conspiracy theories (RCT) related to COVID-19 in a non-religious environment. This study aimed to assess links between religiosity and spirituality (R/S) and RCT about COVID-19, and to examine their associations with mental health. Methods: A sample of Czech adults (n = 1,273, mean age = 47.5, SD = 16.4; 51.5% male) participated in the survey. We measured R/S, RCT, negative religious coping (NRC), feelings impairment and mental health symptoms. Results: We found R/S were significantly associated with RCT with ß 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59-0.82) for the strongest association. Moreover, RCT and NRC were strongly associated with paranoia, anxiety and depression. The most frequent association was found for NRC and paranoid ideation, with ß of 0.35 (95% CI 0.26-0.44). Conclusion: Our findings showed associations between religiosity/spirituality and beliefs in religious conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Moreover, these RCT and negative religious coping were linked to higher possibility of mental health problems. Understanding these associations may help prevent this negative impact and contribute to the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic help.

The Associations of Experiencing the COVID-19 Pandemic With Religiosity and Spirituality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Czech Adults.

Objectives: We investigated the associations between religiosity/spirituality and respondents' changes in their relationships, feelings, thinking, and behaviour during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic. Methods: A sample of Czech adults (n = 1,434; 48.3 ± 16.4 years; 49.65% women) participated in the online survey. We measured spirituality, religiosity, self-reported changes in relationships, disrupted feelings, and changes in behaviour during the pandemic. Results: Spiritual respondents were more likely to report increased physical activity, sex, reading and self-education, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.09-1.46) to 1.56 (1.31-1.86). The combination of spirituality and religiosity led to an increase in the range of ORs to 1.57-2.69. Spiritual and religious participants were less likely to feel the decrease of hope by 70%, while mere spirituality significantly reduced the decrease of hope by only 30%. Religiosity itself led to a lower risk of reporting a disrupted day structure with an OR = 0.74 (0.58-0.95). Conclusion: Religiosity and spirituality separately help people during a pandemic in some areas. Especially their combination has a more positive impact on relationships, feelings, and behaviour.

Psychotherapists' Reports regarding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Their Patients: A Cross-National Descriptive Study Based on the Social-Ecological Model (SEM).

The COVID-19 outbreak has raised questions about how vulnerable groups experience the pandemic. Research that focuses on the view of individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions is still limited, and so are cross-country comparative surveys. We gathered our sample of qualitative data during the first lockdown after governmental measures against the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus came into force in Austria, Czechia, Germany, and Slovakia. A total of n = 1690 psychotherapists from four middle European countries answered the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic was addressed in sessions by their patients during the early stage of unprecedented public health conditions. We employed a descriptive qualitative methodology to determine themes following levels of the social-ecological model (SEM) regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic affected patients. At the public policy level, stressful environmental conditions concerned the governmental mitigation efforts. At the level of community/society, reported key themes were employment, restricted access to educational and health facilities, socioeconomic consequences, and the pandemic itself. Key themes at the interpersonal level regarded forced proximity, the possibility of infection of loved ones, childcare, and homeschooling. Key themes at the individual level were the possibility of contracting COVID-19, having to stay at home/isolation, and a changing environment. Within the SEM framework, adaptive and maladaptive responses to these stressors were reported, with more similarities than differences between the countries. A quantification of word stems showed that the maladaptive reactions predominated.

Dispositional resilience predicted the perceived stress experienced by psychotherapists during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic elicited huge stress responses in most world populations, and at this time psychotherapy is an important protective service against this stress. However, a somewhat neglected question is: How stressful was the COVID-19 outbreak for psychotherapists themselves? The main aim of the present study was to investigate whether dispositional resilience predicted the perceived stress reported by psychotherapists during the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 338 psychotherapists organized within the national psychotherapy associations of three European countries (Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia) were included in this online study (mean age 46.7, 77.8% female, 22.2% male). The participants were administered the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). For the data analysis, nonparametric ANOVA and two-level (mixed-effect) linear regression models were used. Dispositional resilience significantly predicted the perceived stress reported by psychotherapists during the COVID-19 outbreak. Higher dispositional resilience significantly reduced the level of perceived stress among psychotherapists (adjusted ß = -0.47, p < .001). Those with moderate resilience (between mean ± SD values) had a lower perceived stress score than those with low resilience (mean + SD value) had a lower perceived stress score than the low resilience group by an average of 6.5. The results of this study imply that the involvement of psychotherapists in resilience supportive training may reduce their vulnerability to stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire: A Psychometric Evaluation and Associations with Experiencing the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a common human neurobiological trait that is related to many areas of human life. This trait has recently received increased public interest. However, solid scientific research on SPS is lagging behind. Progress in this area is also hindered by a lack of comprehensive research tools suitable for a rapid assessment of SPS. Thus, the aim of this study was to offer a newly developed tool, the Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire (SPSQ), and to assess its psychometric properties and associations with emotional and relational variables measured during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found the tool to have good psychometric characteristics: high temporal stability (r = 0.95) and excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.92; McDonald's ω = 0.92). The fit of the SPSQ bi-factor model was satisfactory: χ2 (88.0) = 506.141; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.993; TLI = 0.990; RMSEA = 0.070; SRMR = 0.039. Testing of configural, metric, scalar and strict invariance suggested that the SPSQ assesses SPS equivalently between males and females. The scale's validity was supported via a strong association with an existing SPS measure. Further, we observed higher total SPSQ scores among women, students and religious respondents, and we found that more sensitive respondents reported higher feelings of anxiety and more deterioration in relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study also identifies people with this trait as being potentially more vulnerable during periods of an increased presence of global stressors.

Vaccine Refusal in the Czech Republic Is Associated with Being Spiritual but Not Religiously Affiliated.

A strong reduction in the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can be achieved by vaccination. Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) may play an important role in vaccine acceptance. However, evidence is lacking for the associations with religious conspiracy theories (RCT) in a non-religious environment. This study investigated the associations between R/S and RCT about COVID-19 vaccination and the links of R/S with vaccine refusal and hesitancy. A sample of Czech adults (n = 459) participated in the survey. We measured R/S, RCT, religious fundamentalism, and COVID-19 vaccination intentions. We found spirituality to be significantly associated with RCT belief, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-3.19). A combination of R/S groups revealed that spirituality with non-religious affiliation was associated with higher beliefs in RCT, with ORs from 3.51 to 7.17. Moreover, associations were found between spirituality with non-religious affiliation [OR 2.22(1.33-7.76)] with vaccine refusal. Our findings showed associations of spirituality and religious fundamentalism with RCT about COVID-19 vaccination. Furthermore, spirituality was linked to a higher possibility of vaccine refusal. Understanding these associations may help prevent the development of RCT and negative impact of spirituality on vaccine intentions and contribute to the effectiveness of the vaccination process.

The Abbreviated Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) and the Abbreviated Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS): Psychometric Properties and Evaluation of the Czech Versions.

Short and effective tools for measuring depression, anxiety and their resulting impairments are lacking in the Czech language. The abbreviated versions of the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) and the Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS) show very good psychometric properties in English and other languages, and can be used in different settings for research or clinical purposes. The aim of this study was the psychometric evaluation and validation of the Czech versions of the abbreviated forms of both tools in the general population. A nationally representative sample of 2912 participants (age = 48.88, SD = 15.56; 55% female) was used. The non-parametric testing of the differences between sociodemographic groups revealed a higher level of anxiety and depression in students, females and religious respondents. Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggested a good fit for the unidimensional model of the OASIS: x2(4) = 38.28; p < 0.001; TLI = 0.999; CFI = 0.997; RMSEA = 0.078; SRMR = 0.027 and the ODSIS: x2(4) = 36.54; p < 0.001; TLI = 0.999; CFI = 0.999; RMSEA = 0.076; SRMR = 0.021 with the data. Both scales had an excellent internal consistency (OASIS: Cronbach's alpha = 0.95, McDonald's omega = 0.95 and ODSIS: Cronbach's alpha = 0.95, McDonald's omega = 0.95). A clinical cut-off of 15 was identified for the OASIS and a cut-off of 12 for the ODSIS. The study showed good validity for both scales. The Czech versions of the abbreviated OASIS and ODSIS were short and valid instruments for measuring anxiety and depression.

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Occurrence of Psychosomatic Symptoms: Are They Related?

Most studies on the coronavirus pandemic focus on clinical aspects of the COVID-19 disease. However, less attention is paid to other health aspects of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic (risk of infection by virus together with associated measures taken to combat it), and the occurrence of a wide range of psychosomatic symptoms and to explore if there is any factor that plays a role in this association. We collected data from a sample of Czech adults (n = 1431) and measured the occurrence of nine health complaints, respondents' experience during the pandemic and sociodemographic characteristics. The results showed associations between the coronavirus pandemic and increased psychosomatic symptoms and negative emotions. We further found higher risks of increased health complaints in younger people and women. It is also possible that there is higher risk of increased health complaints for respondents with secondary school education, students, and highly spiritual people, but this relationship has to be further investigated. In contrast, respondents with their highest achieved education level being secondary school graduation had a lower risk of increased frequency of stomach-ache. We also found that more negative emotions could increase the frequency of health complaints. Our findings suggest that the coronavirus pandemic and associated government measures could have a significant influence on the prevalence of health complaints and emotional state.

Provision of Psychotherapy during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Czech, German and Slovak Psychotherapists.

Psychotherapists around the world are facing an unprecedented situation with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To combat the rapid spread of the virus, direct contact with others has to be avoided when possible. Therefore, remote psychotherapy provides a valuable option to continue mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the fear of psychotherapists to become infected with COVID-19 during psychotherapy in personal contact and assessed how the provision of psychotherapy changed due to the COVID-19 situation and whether there were differences with regard to country and gender. Psychotherapists from three European countries: Czech Republic (CZ, n = 112), Germany (DE, n = 130) and Slovakia (SK, n = 96), with on average 77.8% female participants, completed an online survey. Participants rated the fear of COVID-19 infection during face-to-face psychotherapy and reported the number of patients treated on average per week (in personal contact, via telephone, via internet) during the COVID-19 situation as well as (retrospectively) in the months before. Fear of COVID-19 infection was highest in SK and lowest in DE (p < 0.001) and was higher in female compared to male psychotherapists (p = 0.021). In all countries, the number of patients treated on average per week in personal contact decreased (p < 0.001) and remote psychotherapies increased (p < 0.001), with more patients being treated via internet than via telephone during the COVID-19 situation (p < 0.001). Furthermore, female psychotherapists treated less patients in personal contact (p = 0.036), while they treated more patients via telephone than their male colleagues (p = 0.015). Overall, the total number of patients treated did not differ during COVID-19 from the months before (p = 0.133) and psychotherapy in personal contact remained the most common treatment modality. Results imply that the supply of mental health care could be maintained during COVID-19 and that changes in the provision of psychotherapy vary among countries and gender.