ABSTRACT
Compassion focused therapy (CFT) is an evolution-informed biopsychosocial approach and thereby has sought to explore some of the evolved mechanisms that may underpin depression and how they are activated and regulated throughout the course of a person's life. The essence of a CFT approach is that motivations (social mentalities) regulate multiple functions, and that, when individuals get caught in threat-focused competitiveness and a sense of social isolation and disconnection, they are at risk of stimulating a whole range of psychophysiological states that will move them towards depression states. Depression is often comorbid with many other conditions such as eating disorders, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In regard to the cognitive competencies, depression affects attention, concentration and memory, styles of reasoning, and rumination. There are also multiple changes in the autonomic nervous system and increasing evidence that diets that are 'inflammatory' and can affect the immune system are linked to increasing rates of depression. Sleep difficulties are particularly important and can lead to a spiral of fatigue and depression. Lockdowns associated with Covid-19 have significantly increased the incidence of depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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ABSTRACT In this paper, we have a quick look at the profile of developmental research in terms of its study samples, and then turn our attention to the findings of research on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, suggesting a notable increase in the number of people experiencing significant economic difficulties and a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. While this is obviously a cause of concern for scientists, practitioners and policymakers, we suggest that the digital revolution which accelerated even more with the COVID-19 pandemic may open new ways to support healthy development and psychological wellbeing in socio-economically or developmentally disadvantaged populations. Moreover, acceleration of the digital transformation may also allow us to study the human mind and behaviour in countries economically categorized as 'under-developed' or 'developing', and under-represented in psychological science. Taking the recent advancements as a base, we contemplate the possibility that major technological changes facilitated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic might allow us to meet the scientific and applied goals of psychology more successfully. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to assessing the effect of personal respiratory protective equipment on the vital activity of the human body. In the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the society had to take emergency measures to prevent the spread of infection, the most common of which was the massive and uncontrolled wearing of masks. This further complicated the situation of those who are prescribed to use personal protective equipment for production needs, to protect themselves from hazardous and harmful production factors. The survey revealed the number of physiological and psychological reactions to the effects of masks both during their wearing and after removal. Among the negative consequences: difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, headaches, as well as health-threatening conditions associated with disruption of the heart. A relationship was found between the presence of chronic diseases of the respiratory system in the respondents, and an increase in the number of complaints of difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, fainting and heart failure while wearing a mask. The physiological reactions of the body that occurred after the cessation of the use of personal respiratory protective equipment, especially after prolonged wearing, were analyzed. It is shown that the revealed physiological reactions, especially in chronic manifestation, negatively affect the human immunity, making it vulnerable both to hazardous and harmful production factors, as well as to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, primarily pulmonary. People with diseases of the cardiorespiratory system are at particular risk. © 2022, STC Industrial Safety CJSC. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to assessing the effect of personal respiratory protective equipment on the vital activity of the human body. In the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the society had to take emergency measures to prevent the spread of infection, the most common of which was the massive and uncontrolled wearing of masks. This further complicated the situation of those who are prescribed to use personal protective equipment for production needs, to protect themselves from hazardous and harmful production factors. The survey revealed the number of physiological and psychological reactions to the effects of masks both during their wearing and after removal. Among the negative consequences: difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, headaches, as well as health-threatening conditions associated with disruption of the heart. A relationship was found between the presence of chronic diseases of the respiratory system in the respondents, and an increase in the number of complaints of difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, fainting and heart failure while wearing a mask. The physiological reactions of the body that occurred after the cessation of the use of personal respiratory protective equipment, especially after prolonged wearing, were analyzed. It is shown that the revealed physiological reactions, especially in chronic manifestation, negatively affect the human immunity, making it vulnerable both to hazardous and harmful production factors, as well as to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, primarily pulmonary. People with diseases of the cardiorespiratory system are at particular risk. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR]
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we have a quick look at the profile of developmental research in terms of its study samples, and then turn our attention to the findings of research on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, suggesting a notable increase in the number of people experiencing significant economic difficulties and a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. While this is obviously a cause of concern for scientists, practitioners and policymakers, we suggest that the digital revolution which accelerated even more with the COVID-19 pandemic may open new ways to support healthy development and psychological wellbeing in socio-economically or developmentally disadvantaged populations. Moreover, acceleration of the digital transformation may also allow us to study the human mind and behaviour in countries economically categorized as 'under-developed' or 'developing', and under-represented in psychological science. Taking the recent advancements as a base, we contemplate the possibility that major technological changes facilitated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic might allow us to meet the scientific and applied goals of psychology more successfully. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Introduction: At Kiskunhalas Semmelweis Hospital, a special mobile container hospital was set up to care for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first wave of the pandemic. Objective(s): We aimed to create a proactive integrated mental health protection system for the frontline healthcare workers that provides an opportunity for psychophysiological monitoring of stress and crisis during shifts, as well as providing staff with more lasting methods of coping with difficulties. Method(s): From the ascending branch of the second wave, every two weeks on the workers'rest day, mental helpers initiated a phone call to each employee participating in the program. If it was necessary, we provided psychological counseling, crisis intervention, brief psychotherapy, and psychopharmacotherapy. In addition, selfoperated psychophysiological screening devices were used at the frontline work site, which provided an opportunity for continuous telemedicine monitoring. Result(s): In our department, three psychologists and three psychiatrists kept in touch with an average of 150 frontline workers per month. Interventions were needed for a total of over 24% in December and January, over 17% in February and March, almost 9% in April, and only 4% in May. Helpers rated an average of twothirds of these cases as moderate. They faced severe stress 2-3 times a month in sum, and for 2-3 workers needed medication. Conclusion(s): Without a mental support system, self-report-based data suggest that nearly half of responders working at the frontline reached the threshold of clinically significant mental syndromes (Greenberg et al, 2021). Using our mental health support system, one-fifth of the workers needed intervention.
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The study of the origin and implications of fatigue in exercise has been widely investigated, but not completely understood given the complex multifactorial mechanisms involved. Then, it is essential to understand the fatigue mechanism to help trainers and physicians to prescribe an adequate training load. The present narrative review aims to analyze the multifactorial factors of fatigue in physical exercise. To reach this aim, a consensus and critical review were performed using both primary sources, such as scientific articles, and secondary ones, such as bibliographic indexes, web pages, and databases. The main search engines were PubMed, SciELO, and Google Scholar. Central and peripheral fatigue are two unison constructs part of the Integrative Governor theory, in which both psychological and physiological drives and requirements are underpinned by homeostatic principles. The relative activity of each one is regulated by dynamic negative feedback activity, as the fundamental general operational controller. Fatigue is conditioned by factors such as gender, affecting men and women differently. Sleep deprivation or psychological disturbances caused, for example, by stress, can affect neural activation patterns, realigning them and slowing down simple mental operations in the context of fatigue. Then, fatigue can have different origins not only related with physiological factors. Therefore, all these prisms must be considered for future approaches from sport and clinical perspectives.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Sports , Exercise/psychology , Fatigue/etiology , Fatigue/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
A failure to naturally resolve posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following exposure to a traumatic event is associated with costly and debilitating consequences. Interventions for PTSS are successful for only 40%-70% of patients, and treatment drop-out and symptom relapse are common. Recent research targeting memory reconsolidation mechanisms to augment the memory may provide important information regarding possible paradigms for improving the efficacy of trauma-focused interventions. This research indicates that the use of prediction error during a memory activation cue may result in memory destabilization allowing for the destabilized memory to be updated. Considering that PTSS are inherently memory-dependent, an intervention targeting memory reconsolidation mechanisms may be especially relevant for the treatment of these symptoms. The current study was designed to translate the memory reconsolidation literature for clinical application in the treatment of PTSS. Participants were assigned to either the Intervention or the Control conditions. Psychophysiological arousal, as well as change in overall symptoms, intrusion symptoms specifically, and subjective distress were assessed one week later. Although initially designed as a randomized trial of a behavioral intervention targeting memory reconsolidation mechanism, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the completion of planned data collection, and the study was discontinued with only five participants' data collected in full. Three participants were in the Intervention condition;two were in the Control condition. As such, this data was examined as a case series to explore the potential efficacy of the paradigm. Results of the case series were mixed, suggesting that the Intervention condition, but not the Control condition, may have been successful at diminishing the spontaneous recovery of psychophysiological responding for some individuals (n = 2), but that the effect is likely not clinically meaningful. The role of case series in treatment design is discussed as are limitations of the current design and future directions. A proposal for a future iteration of this study is presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted research activities globally. Researchers need safe and creative procedures to resume data collection, particularly for projects evaluating infant mental health interventions. Remote research is uniquely challenging for psychophysiological data collection, which typically requires close contact between researchers and participants as well as technical equipment frequently located in laboratory settings. In accordance with public health guidance, we adapted procedures and developed novel protocols for a "virtual assessment" in which women and infants provided behavioral and psychophysiological data from their own homes while researchers coordinated remotely. Data collected at virtual visits included video-recorded parent-child interactions and autonomic nervous system data. Adaptations were designed to optimize safety and data quality while minimizing participant burden. In the current paper, we describe these adaptations and present data evaluating their success across two sites in the United States (University of Delaware and University of Utah), focusing specifically on autonomic nervous system data collected during the well-validated Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). We also discuss advantages and challenges of translating traditional lab procedures into the virtual assessment model. Ultimately, we hope that disseminating these procedures will help other researchers resume safe data collection related to infant mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
La pandemia del COVID-19 ha interrumpido significativamente las actividades de investigación globalmente. Los investigadores necesitan procedimientos seguros y creativos para reasumir la recolección de información, particularmente para proyectos con los que se evalúan intervenciones de salud mental infantil. La investigación remota es particularmente desafiante para recoger información psicofisiológica, lo cual típicamente requiere contacto cercano entre investigadores y participantes, así como también equipo técnico frecuentemente localizado en centros de laboratorio. De acuerdo con las directrices de salud pública, adaptamos procedimientos y desarrollamos protocolos novedosos para una "evaluación virtual," en la cual mujeres e infantes aportaron datos de conducta y psicofisiológicos desde sus propias casas mientras que los investigadores coordinaban remotamente. La información recogida en las visitas virtuales incluyó interacciones progenitor-niño grabadas en video e información del sistema nervioso autónomo. Se diseñaron las adaptaciones para optimizar la seguridad y la calidad de la información mientras que se reducía al mínimo la carga que conlleva la participación. En el presente estudio, describimos estas adaptaciones y presentamos información evaluativa del éxito en dos lugares de Estados Unidos (la Universidad de Delaware y la Universidad de Utah), con enfoque específico en la información obtenida acerca del sistema nervioso autónomo durante el ya bien validado Paradigma del Rostro Inmóvil. Discutimos también las ventajas y retos para transferir los procedimientos tradicionales de laboratorio al modelo de evaluación virtual. En última instancia, esperamos que al diseminar estos procedimientos ayudaremos a otros investigadores a reasumir la segura recolección de información relacionada con la salud mental infantil durante la pandemia del COVID-19 y posteriormente.
La pandémie du COVID-19 a perturbé de manière importante les activités de recherche au niveau global. Les chercheurs ont besoin de procédures sûres et créatives pour reprendre la collecte de données, particulièrement pour des projets évaluant des interventions en santé mentale du nourrisson. Les recherches à distance présentent un défi unique pour la collecte de données psychophysiologiques, qui typiquement exige un contact proche entre les chercheurs et les participants ainsi qu'un équipement technique fréquemment situé en contextes de laboratoire. En accord avec les directives de santé publique nous avons adapté les procédures et développés de nouveaux protocoles pour une « évaluation virtuelle ¼ durant laquelle les femmes et les bébés ont présenté des données comportementales et psychophysiologiques depuis leurs propres domiciles alors que les chercheurs coordonnaient le tout à distance. Les données recueillies durant les visites virtuelles ont inclus des interactions parent-enfant enregistrées à la vidéo et des données liées au système nerveux autonome. Les adaptations ont été conçues afin d'optimiser la sécurité et la qualité des données tout en minimisant le fardeau pour les participants. Dans cet article nous décrivons ces adaptations et présentons les données évaluant leur succès au travers de deux sites aux Etats-Unis (University of Delaware et University of Utah), en s'attachant plus spécifiquement aux données sur le système nerveux autonome obtenues durant le Paradigme de Visage Inexpressif, qui est bien validé. Nous discutons également les avantages et des défis qu'il y a à traduire des procédures traditionnelles de laboratoire en un modèle d'évaluation virtuel. Finalement nous espérons que le fait de disséminer ces procédures aidera d'autres chercheurs à reprendre de manière sûre la collecte de données liées à la santé mentale du nourrisson durant la pandémie du COVID-19 et plus loin.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Data Collection , Female , Humans , Infant , Mental Health , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , United StatesABSTRACT
(1) Background: The present study measures the fear of COVID-19 among hospital healthcare workers and identifies several factors associated with increasing fear of COVID-19. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional, hospital-based survey was conducted on healthcare workforce recruited from the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases from 1 October 2021 and 20 October 2021. We selected the participants who have been directly involved in diagnosing, treating, or providing nursing care to patients with COVID-19. The primary data was collected via sending the invitation directly to the participants, utilizing structured self-completed questionnaires. The seven-item fear of COVID-19 scale was used to measure the data. The responses of 208 hospital healthcare workers were included in the final analysis. (3) Results: Total score of COVID-19 fear was 19.62 (SD = 5.22). The COVID-19 fear score of 7 items ranged from 2.38 (SD = 0.83) to 3.21 (SD = 0.96). The lowest and highest scores were the item 'My hands become clammy when I think about Corona' and the item 'I am most afraid of corona' was the highest, respectively. Linear regression of the COVID-19 fear showed that the factors positively correlated with the fear of COVID-19 among hospital healthcare workers were: being influenced by the community (p = 0.001), feeling at very high risk of COVID-19 (p = 0.03), and experiencing traumatic stress with an academic event (p = 0.042). (4) Conclusions: Although these findings merit further elaboration, these preliminary findings suggest relatively great fear of the COVID-19 pandemic among Vietnamese hospital healthcare workers and that social and personal connections are necessary for maintaining the mental wellbeing.
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We introduce the Politics and the Life Sciences special issue on Psychophysiology, Cognition, and Political Differences. This issue represents the second special issue funded by the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences that adheres to the Open Science Framework for registered reports (RR). Here pre-analysis plans (PAPs) are peer-reviewed and given in-principle acceptance (IPA) prior to data being collected and/or analyzed, and are published contingent upon the preregistration of the study being followed as proposed. Bound by a common theme of the importance of incorporating psychophysiological perspectives into the study of politics, broadly defined, the articles in this special issue feature a unique set of research questions and methodologies. In the following, we summarize the findings, discuss the innovations produced by this research, and highlight the importance of open science for the future of political science research.
Subject(s)
Cognition , Psychophysiology , Humans , PoliticsABSTRACT
Physiological responses of two interacting individuals contain a wealth of information about the dyad: for example, the degree of engagement or trust. However, nearly all studies on dyadic physiological responses have targeted group-level analysis: e.g., correlating physiology and engagement in a large sample. Conversely, this paper presents a study where physiological measurements are combined with machine learning algorithms to dynamically estimate the engagement of individual dyads. Sixteen dyads completed 15-min naturalistic conversations and self-reported their engagement on a visual analog scale every 60 s. Four physiological signals (electrocardiography, skin conductance, respiration, skin temperature) were recorded, and both individual physiological features (e.g., each participant's heart rate) and synchrony features (indicating degree of physiological similarity between two participants) were extracted. Multiple regression algorithms were used to estimate self-reported engagement based on physiological features using either leave-interval-out crossvalidation (training on 14 60-s intervals from a dyad and testing on the 15th interval from the same dyad) or leave-dyad-out crossvalidation (training on 15 dyads and testing on the 16th). In leave-interval-out crossvalidation, the regression algorithms achieved accuracy similar to a 'baseline' estimator that simply took the median engagement of the other 14 intervals. In leave-dyad-out crossvalidation, machine learning achieved a slightly higher accuracy than the baseline estimator and higher accuracy than an independent human observer. Secondary analyses showed that removing synchrony features and personality characteristics from the input dataset negatively impacted estimation accuracy and that engagement estimation error was correlated with personality traits. Results demonstrate the feasibility of dynamically estimating interpersonal engagement during naturalistic conversation using physiological measurements, which has potential applications in both conversation monitoring and conversation enhancement. However, as many of our estimation errors are difficult to contextualize, further work is needed to determine acceptable estimation accuracies.