Approach to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy based on some psychological symptoms and attachment theory: A web-based community survey

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, obsession, hostility, and attachment styles, which may be associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Method(s): A total of 504 adult participants were included in the study. The sociodemographic data form, including questions on information about participants' COVID-19 infection history and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines, was filled out by the participants. The participants were evaluated with the anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), hostility, and paranoid ideation subscales of the Symptom Checklist - Revised 90 scale and the Adults Attachment Style Scale (AASS). The participants were divided into three groups: "vaccinated group (VG)," "nonvaccinated but intend to get vaccinated group (IGV)," and "nonvaccinated group and not intend to get vaccinated group (NIGV)." Results: The mean score of the AASS secure subscale was higher (p=0.009), while the SCL-90 anxiety subscale was lower (p=0.003) in the NIGV group. The mean score of the SCL-90 OCD subscale in the NIGV group was lower than that in the IGV group (p=0.040). Regression analysis showed that concerns about the safety of vaccines (OR: 140, p<0.001) and having secure attachment style (OR: 1.787, p=0.019) increase the intention to not be vaccinated. However, it was found that high anxiety scores decreased the intention not to be vaccinated (OR: 0.966, p=0.035). Conclusion(s): The findings of the current study indicate that secure attachment style and clinical psychiatric entities such as anxiety and obsession were effective on vaccine hesitancy. However, this interaction needs to be interpreted carefully in the context of the perceived level of COVID-19 threat, more detailed information about the safety and necessity of vaccines, the relationship of individuals with their social environment, and the predominance of vaccine hesitancy in their social environment.Copyright © 2023 Yerkure Tanitim ve Yayincilik Hizmetleri A.S.. All rights reserved.

Older Adult Companion Animal-Owner Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration

The COVID-19 pandemic placed older adults at a disproportionate risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness and subsequent reduced wellbeing. Evidence suggests companion animals may have the capacity to provide social support, reduce loneliness, and improve wellbeing in older adults. Using a cross-sectional design and online/phone semi-structured survey methodology, this qualitative study explored how companion animal ownership impacted the subjective wellbeing of 177 (89.8% female) older adult companion animal owners aged 65-84 years (M = 70.72, SD = 4.5) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. A template thematic analysis indicated older adult companion animal owners perceived their companion animals to provide mental, social, and physical wellbeing benefits during the pandemic. Participants found providing care for their companion animals offered a light-hearted reprieve from pandemic fears while bringing a crucial sense of motivation and purpose to their days. Participants considered that their companion animals provided "COVID-safe" tactile comfort, social support, and companionship, while older adults also found pleasure forming attachments with wild animals during the pandemic, a novel finding in companion animal research. Our findings suggest that older adults facing barriers to companion animal ownership, including those living in retirement villages, residential aged care facilities, and hospital settings, may gain mental health benefits from forming attachments with wild animals, without being burdened with the sole responsibility of providing full time care for a companion animal. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence to support the creation of two novel theoretical mechanisms of human-animal interactions for further investigation: the motivation and purpose theory and the reprieve theory.Copyright © 2022 International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ).

Child Mental Health and Income Gradient from Early Childhood to Adolescence: Evidence from the UK

Background: Mental health problems are increasingly prevalent among children and adolescents. Children from low income families are likely to have worse mental health than their wealthier peers. Understanding the association between economic deprivation and poor child mental health, how it varies across ages from early childhood to teen years, and the mechanisms underlying the association is of paramount importance to tackle this increasing public health problem which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: This study aims to investigate the relationship between family income and child mental health problems from childhood to adolescence in the UK, its potential variation with age, and the potential mechanisms that may explain the relationship. Methods: Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, child mental health was measured by the Total Difficulties Score (TDS), Internalising and Externalising subscales, all derived from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 years. Family income was operationalised as permanent income, with lagged transitory income used as robustness check. A secondary exposure was frequency of poverty. Cross-sectional analysis using multivariable logistic regression was conducted at each survey age, based on the Grossman health production function. Results: Results were available for 8,096 children, the prevalence of mental health problems (TDS) ranged from 4.6% to 11.1% across all ages. Unadjusted results indicated significant protective effects of higher family income on the likelihood of the child having poorer mental health in all age groups. The relationship weakened after adjustment for confounding and potential mediating factors, and marginal effects of income on TDS were -0.024(SE=0.009), -0.014(SE=0.004), -0.009(SE=0.006), -0.048(SE=0.010) and -0.041(SE=0.011) at age 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years, respectively (p<0.001 in all age groups except age 7 where p=0.163). Adjust- ment for poor maternal mental health and low mother-to-infant attachment reduced the strength of the association between income and child mental health. Fully adjusted model suggested an increased independent effect of poor maternal mental health on children's mental health as children grew older. Discussion: While family income is strongly associated with a child's mental health, much of this effect is explained by other risk factors such as maternal depression, and therefore the direct effects are relatively small. This may suggest that policies targeting income redistribution may reduce child mental health inequalities, and also be beneficial to the wider family, reducing the prevalence of other associated risk factors. This is even more important as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic pushes more families into poverty.

15th Workshop on Costs and Assessment in Psychiatry 'Mental Health Services, Economics, Policy Research'

The proceedings contain 69 papers. The topics discussed include: valuing mental illness by using the well-being valuation method;psychotropic polypharmacy use among high need children - the role of the individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics;secure attachment and sensitive parenting: potential for longer-term cost savings;workplace disclosure of serious mental illness: theory and evidence;new set of reference unit costs (RUCs) for health economic evaluations in Europe: methods and tools for development;psychiatric emergencies in Los Angeles county during, and after, initial COVID-19 societal restrictions: an interrupted time-series analysis;changes in outpatient care for alcohol use disorders among the commercially insured in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic;and mental health care integration in community health centers and hospital emergency department utilization.

Brand bank attachment to loyalty in digital banking services: mediated by psychological engagement with service platforms and moderated by platform types

Purpose>Various digital banking platforms (website and apps) are offered to bank customers in order to create an experiential service, which is essential in retaining customers and generating brand bank loyalty. The current study aims to examine the dynamics of customer emotional experience generated during digital banking service delivery and investigate the effect of customer psychological engagement with various digital platform types on brand bank loyalty creation.Design/methodology/approach>A conceptual framework was constructed. Data were collected from digital banking customers through a web-based survey conducted via an online Internet panel. It involved 502 participants. The study employs a path analysis method using structural equation modeling.Findings>The empirical results suggest that there are two paths from emotional attachment to bank loyalty: a direct path and an indirect path shaped by customer psychological engagement with service platforms. Additionally, it was found that the digital platform (website vs apps) used by the customer determined the magnitude of the impact of emotional attachment to the bank on psychological engagement with service platforms.Practical implications>This research claims that features of digital banking services are sufficient to enhance affective brand responses and maintain long-lasting relationships with customers. Using experiential services and psychologically engaging the customers, this goal can be achieved. Additionally, well designed apps can improve interaction with services and subsequently enhance loyalty.Originality/value>This study facilitates a better understanding of the customer's emotional–psychological state during engagement with digital service delivery. Its novelty and contribution to the literature focus on the notion that the impact of emotional attachment on bank loyalty is mediated by experiential psychological engagement with the digital platform and moderated by the type of digital platform used.

Religious Affiliation, Daily Spirituals, and Private Religious Factors Promote Marital Commitment Among Married Couples: Does Religiosity Help People Amid the COVID-19 Crisis?

Religious studies are a vital branch of social science that seeks to explain the beliefs of human society and deals with the practices and beliefs of individuals. This distinctive study focuses on such influential aspects of a healthy life, which could play a vital role in the marital quality and matrimonial commitment of individuals. The study principally focused on inspecting the role of religiosity in healthy marital commitment among individuals. It is a distinctive and central value in regulating a healthy social life. This research designed a conceptual model for assessing marital commitment, and the study model comprised two primary variables. The study received datasets through a survey questionnaire based on participants from five private and public sectors. The research study conducted an empirical analysis to test the proposed conceptual framework. The findings exhibited that the value of the R 2 model was 0.484, meaning the level of religiosity had a substantial impression on healthy and lasting marital commitment. According to the final outline of the model factors associated with building religious support factors (ß = 0.491), the marital commitment had a better and healthier impact. The goodness-of-fit of the measurement of the conceptual model showed a value of 0.51, which indicated that the theoretical model had sufficient consistency and rationality, and accurately fitted the data. Such an advanced statistical model is missing from the previous literature. The study results provide helpful insight to elucidate the social dynamics of marital commitment. The findings designate that religious practices strengthen and promote nuptial commitment. The study is novel in the context of religiosity impact on martial commitment with a cultural background of Pakistan. The generalizability of the study does not apply to the entire population or other regions. Future studies can investigate other religious variables to explore further research findings. The findings are helpful for decision-makers and policymakers to concentrate on marital issues and challenges confronted by couples worldwide.