The relationship of attachment styles and sense of cohesion with perceived stress in the elderly in nursing home during the outbreak of coronavirus: The mediating role of spiritual intelligence

The spread of Coronavirus is an important challenge for health care systems in Iran. Attachment styles, self-coherence and spiritual intelligence are the variables that can have a significant impact on mental health and quality of life in the elderly during the outbreak of Coronavirus. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of spiritual intelligence in the relationship between attachment styles and self-coherence with perceived stress during the outbreak of coronavirus in the elderly. This was a correlational study of path analysis type. The statistical population included all the elderly living in nursing homes in Sanandaj in 2021, among whom 270 (146 men and 124 women) people were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Collins's adult attachment styles, Antonovsky's sense of cohesion, Cohen et al.'s perceived stress, and King's spiritual intelligence scales. The results of path analysis revealed that the hypothetical model has a good fit in the sample of this study. As such, secure, avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles had an indirect relationship with perceived stress in the elderly through spiritual intelligence, and sense of cohesion indicated an indirect relationship with perceived stress in the elderly through spiritual intelligence (P < 0.05). The findings emphasize the importance of the relationship between attachment styles and a sense of cohesion with respect to the mediating role of spiritual intelligence in providing psychological assistance for the elderly in order to manage their perceived stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Workplace attachment: Perceived employee support and commitment: A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological study

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological descriptive study was to understand how employees perceive the level of support received from their employers in the workplace. The study encompassed employees with both secure and insecure attachment style types from across the entire State of Maryland. The study collected data via interviews from the participants, taking note of their perceptions of how they felt supported in the workplace. Twelve participants with varying occupations were selected and completed the following: a qualifying questionnaire, a workplace attachment questionnaire (Self-Reliance Inventory), and a personal semistructured, open audio interview with the researcher. Data was analyzed using the Braun & Clarke 6 Step Thematic Analysis Approach. As a result of the analysis, five themes emerged: Workplace, Work, Agency, Job & Organization;Management;Colleagues & Coworkers;Support & Commitment;and COVID-19. There is a research gap on this topic in workplace studies and employee attachment. By conducting this study, future researchers would be able to build upon this research to continue improving relationships in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Give me your password! What are you hiding? Associated factors of intimate partner violence through technological abuse.

The present study explored the associated factors of intimate partner violence through technological abuse (ITPV) in a sample of 1113 participants aged 18 to 65 (71.3% females). Our research's primary questions were the following: 1). Is there a significant link between relationship attachment styles and ITPV perpetration or victimization?; 2). Is there a significant link between participants' demographic and relationship characteristics (i.e., relationship length and partners' fidelity), online behavior (i.e., benign and toxic disinhibition), moral disengagement, psychological distress), and ITPV perpetration or victimization?; and 3). Did the COVID-19 pandemic increase ITPV perpetration or victimization?. We analyzed our data by creating three different groups, depending on participants' answers concerning ITPV, i.e., the overall sample, abusers' and victims' groups. Our main results suggested significant, positive correlations between ITPV perpetration and victimization, moral disengagement, psychological distress, and online disinhibition. Age negatively correlated with IPVT victimization and perpetration. We also found significant associations between participants' dominant relationship attachment style and their own and partners' cheating behavior, as well as ITPV-victimization and perpetration. Finally, 13.7% to 23% of participants in all three groups considered that the Covid-19 increased the frequency of ITPV behaviors (for both abusers and victims). Results are discussed considering their theoretical and practical implications for domestic violence and the potential related prevention and intervention strategies.

The mediating role of defense mechanisms in predicting perceived stress based on attachment styles in patients with COVID-19

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of defense mechanisms in predicting perceived stress based on attachment styles in patients with COVID-19. The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included all people in Tehran who were infected with COVID-19 in 1399, who completed the questionnaires online. 300 people were selected by available and voluntary sampling method. The research instruments included Collins and Reader attachment style questionnaires, Cohen et al. perceived stress questionnaires, and Andrews et al. Data analysis was performed by path analysis method. The results showed that the hypothetical model had a good fit and was confirmed. Also, the results of path coefficients showed that the path coefficient of immature attachment style to the defense mechanism was immature and psychotic, negative and significant. Also, the results of indirect path coefficient showed that the relationship between undeveloped defense mechanism and perceived stress with mediated secure attachment was significant. Thus, secure attachment style mediated by underdeveloped defense mechanisms predicted the perceived stress level of patients with COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Influences of Social Distancing and attachment styles on the strength of the Halo Effect

The Halo Effect is a widely studied phenomenon that interests multiple disciplines. The relationship between Aesthetics Appearance and perceived Trustworthiness has especially gathered the attention of social scientists. While experimental works compared the strength of the Halo Effect in different situations (e.g. different genders' faces), little is known about the stability of the Halo. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been urged to distance ourselves from others. Similar suggestions may alter the relationship between Aesthetic Appearance and Perceived Trustworthiness. Moreover, previous works reported that individuals' attachment styles affected their emotional responses to the pandemic. Individuals' attachment styles may influence the magnitude of change of the Halo. Here we investigate how priming (Social Distancing or Contact with others) affects the strength of the Halo Effect, with respect to individuals' attachment styles. Participants (N = 298) rated the Aesthetics and Perceived Trustworthiness of strangers' faces (N = 96) presented twice, before and after the presentation of a prime. Results revealed that individuals' attachment styles affect the strength of the Halo. However, we found no evidence supporting the fact that different attachment styles lead to differences in the magnitude of changes after priming. Results help shed light on how attachment styles influence individuals' impression formation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Attachment style and mental health during the later stages of COVID-19 pandemic: the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19 anxiety.

BACKGROUND: An insecure attachment style is an important risk factor for psychological problems. The aim of this study was to use Bartholomew and Horowitz's model (Bartholomew and Horowitz in J Pers Soc Psychol 61(2): 226, 2019) to test a sample of Italian individuals to determine the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms in the relationship between attachment styles and mental health issues in the context of the pandemic. METHOD: A cross-sectional research study was conducted using a sample of 330 Italian participants (82.1% women; mean age = 34.3 years; SD = 13.16) who completed online self-reported measures of attachment styles (RQ), loneliness (RULS), COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms (C-19ASS) and mental health problems (GHQ-12). Serial mediation analyses were performed, and bootstrap tests were included. RESULTS: Our results supported the hypothesized model with respect to each attachment style (p < 0.001). In particular, insecure attachment styles predict mental health problems both directly and indirectly, through loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms. In addition, loneliness directly influences mental health problems and also mediates the relationship between insecure attachment styles and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms which, in turn, positively predict mental health problems. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reinforce the importance of attachment in people's processes of adapting to experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. The study makes an important contribution to developing effective prevention and intervention strategies to support people's wellbeing in the context of the pandemic.

Effectiveness of an online versus face-to-face psychodynamic counselling intervention for university students before and during the COVID-19 period.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased online counselling interventions, including those aimed at university students. The principal aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the online counselling intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic, also with regards to the effectiveness of the face-to-face intervention. METHODS: 34 students (Mean age = 23.74; Female = 27) who requested online university counselling during COVID-19 have been compared with 81 (Mean age = 22.8; Female = 60) students who requested university face-to-face counselling before the pandemic. The psychopathological problems were assessed with the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised, attachment styles with the Attachment Style Questionnaire, adverse childhood experiences with Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, and life satisfaction with the Life Satisfaction Scale. RESULTS: At the pre-intervention phase, psychological distress was similar in both groups with no differences in the General Severity Index of the SCL-90 R, and there were no significant differences for secure/insecure attachment, adverse childhood experiences, and life satisfaction. The online counselling intervention during the pandemic was effective in reducing psychological distress scales as depression (p = .008), obsessive-compulsive (p = .008), interpersonal sensitivity (p = .005), and anxiety (p = .011), and in the total scale of the SCL-90 R (p = .017). The face-to-face counselling intervention was effective in reducing psychological distress in all subscales and in the total scale of the SCL-90 R (p = .000) and in increasing the level of life satisfaction (p = .023). Attachment style did not moderate the effectiveness of the online and face-to-face interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Students seeking counselling, both before and during the pandemic, show similar levels of psychological distress. The online counselling intervention was almost as effective as face-to-face counselling intervention with respect to psychological distress; it was not effective in increasing life satisfaction.

When online and face to face counseling work together: assessing the impact of blended or hybrid approaches, where clients move between face-to-face and online meetings

During the global pandemic, therapists have offered distance-based approaches to counseling and psychotherapy, often online. Although online therapy is not a new phenomenon, until recently it was offered by a minority of practitioners. Now, following the changes imposed by the pandemic, it is familiar to the majority. Therapists and clients have met and worked together in separate spaces in new ways mediated by digital technology following rapidly changing regulations and these changes have had an impact on resulting therapeutic work. This article explores ways in which individuals may respond uniquely and collectively to changing contexts and offers possible explanations for these responses, drawn from existing psychotherapeutic research and leading to recommendations that additional assessment and monitoring procedures should be used with hybrid or blended approaches.