How attachment styles predict changes in sexual desire: A study of sexual dynamics in COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on many aspects of life, including sexual behaviours and preferences. In this longitudinal study, the authors used attachment theory to investigate changes in an individual's sexual desire for their partner as well as changes in their sexual desire for someone other than their primary romantic partner (extradyadic desire) over the first wave of the pandemic in Canada. Based on past research that has shown that avoidant individuals tend to avoid intimacy, the authors reasoned that increased contact with their romantic partner due to physical distancing guidelines and lockdown rules would contribute to avoidant individuals' experiencing less sexual desire for their partner and greater extradyadic desire over time. In contrast, individuals high on attachment anxiety tend to seek proximity, especially during times of stress. The authors predicted that individuals' sexual desire for their partner would increase and their extradyadic desire would decrease. They tested these hypotheses using a cohabiting, dyadic sample (N = 308 individuals);study participants were contacted at 1-month intervals for three successive months and asked to complete an online survey. Our hypotheses were partially supported. As predicted, individuals high on attachment avoidance experienced higher levels of extradyadic desire, and individuals high on attachment anxiety reported lower extradyadic desire over time. Contrary to predictions, however, neither attachment pattern was associated with changes in sexual desire for the partner. The authors examine the theoretical implications of these findings, highlighting the need for a more fine-grained assessment of stress and the interaction between stress and attachment orientations in future research.Copyright © Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, 2023.

The Impact of Prenatal Maternal Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Birth Outcomes: A Study within CONCEPTION Cohort

Background: External natural events, such as hurricanes, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic can contribute to increased populational stress, especially for pregnant persons. Exposure to crises can produce short- and longterm health effects on pregnant persons and their offspring. There has been much interest in the association between maternal depression, anxiety, and stress during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes such as preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW), before and since the COVID-19 pandemic, however results are controversial. Objective(s): Assess the association between prenatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and preterm birth (delivery <37 weeks gestation) and low birthweight (<2,500 grams). Method(s): Pregnant individuals, >18 years, were recruited in Canada and provided data through a web-based questionnaire. We analyzed data on persons recruited between 06/2020-08/2021 who completed questionnaires while pregnant and two months post-partum. Data on maternal sociodemographics, comorbidities, medication use, mental health (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, General Anxiety Disorder-7, stress), pandemic hardship (CONCEPTION - Assessment of Stress from COVID-19), and on gestational age at delivery and birth weight, were selfreported. Crude and adjusted relative risks (aRR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated to quantify the association between PTB/LBW and maternal mental health. Result(s): A total of 1,265 and 1,233 participants were included in the analyses of PTB and LBW, respectively. No associations between PTB and prenatal mental health (depression [aRR 1.01, 95%CI 0.91-1.11], anxiety [aRR 1.04, 95%CI 0.93-1.17], stress [aRR 0.88, 95%CI 0.71-1.10], nor hardship [aRR 1.00, 95%CI 0.96-1.04]) after adjusting for potential confounders. The risk of PTB was increased with nonwhite ethnicity/race (aRR 3.85, 95%CI 1.35-11.00), consistently with the literature. Similar findings were observed for LBW (depression [aRR 1.03, 95%CI 0.96- 1.13], anxiety [aRR 1.05, 95%CI 0.95-1.17], COVID stress [aRR 0.92, 95%CI 0.77-1.09], or overall hardship [aRR 0.97, 95%CI 0.94-1.01]). Conclusion(s): No association was found between prenatal mental health nor hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of PTB or LBW. However, it is imperative to continue the follow-up of mothers and their offspring to detect long-term health problems early.

Effects of Preventive Health Interventions on COVID Positive Employees of Large Commercial Vehicle Manufacturing Company

Background: Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems employees can experience more than four weeks after first being infected with the COVID-19 virus. Long term complications of COVID drastically affects the productivity of working population. Objective(s): A cluster of employees with COVID-19 infection were successively intervened at TATA Motors, Jamshedpur. We aimed to reduce the post COVID complications amongst infected employees thereby reducing the morbidity and improving the productivity at workplace. Method(s): Employees with COVID-19 (confirmed by RAT/ CBNAAT or RT-PCR) were retrospectively enrolled. Based on various international guidelines, Post COVID functional status Scale and Post-COVID Mental Stress Assessment Scale were developed and introduced amongst target population. Employees with poor functional status Scale score (with score 3 and 4) were undergone mandatory preventive health checks (including physical, systemic, radiology/pathology examination). Employees with high mental stress score (with score 15 and above) were undergone psychiatric evaluation. Follow up assessment was done after six months. Result(s): 590 employees who got diagnosed COVID Positive between March 11, 2021, and June 9, 2021, were retrospectively enrolled. Universal sampling method was used for subject selection. The cohort included 519 (88%) men and 71 (12%) women, and the mean age was 45 5 years. The mean number of employees with poor functional status score (score 3 and 4) was 48 (8.1%). The mean number of employees with moderate mental stress score (score 10 to 14) was 27 (4.5%) and severe mental stress score (score 15 to 19) was 11 (1.8%). Employees with history of hospitalization (for more than 3 days) predominantly got diagnosed with poor functional and mental stress score (46 out of total 158 hospitalizations). At the end of six months interventions, around 42 (87%) employees got migrated from poor score category to mild category. The prevalence of major chronic systemic illnesses (3 cases of chronic Cardiac disease, 2 cases of Chronic Respiratory issues and 2 cases of psychiatry illnesses) remained below national prevalence. Conclusion(s): Preventive health interventions are really effective in achieving the prevalence of Post COVID morbidities amongst employees below the average national prevalence. Repeated medical follow up after first and six months of infection ensured better physical and mental wellbeing of employees improving their productivity at workplace. .

Assessment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Levels Among COVID-19 Positive Patients Admitted in Rural Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychiatric distress, including stress, anxiety, and depression levels, among COVID-19 positive patients who were admitted between 01 July 2020 to 31 August 2020 to the COVID-19 isolation ward of the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah India. Participants included 100 patients, with 55 males and 45 females. The majority of admitted patients (81%) were illiterate. Out of 100 patients, 83 were married, 16 were unmarried, and only 1 was a widow. Method(s): Levels of anxiety, depression, and stress level were noted in admitted patients using Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression assessment, and Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4) assessment techniques, respectively. Result(s): Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression assessment results showed minimal, mild, and moderate depression in 9, 25, and 66 patients, respectively, with a 10.6 median score of PHQ-9. Mild, moderate, and severe anxiety (GAD-7 score) was present in 22, 28, and 50 of the patients surveyed. The mean Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4) was also analyzed, and it reported 6.1 values. The results of the study demonstrated that the patients had a high label of psychiatric distress, but still, admitted patients believe that they will come out from this pandemic condition. Conclusion(s): Although patients claimed psychiatric distress and mental health illness, they still denied the requirement of any mental health professionals to minimize stress levels and were satisfied with the medical facilities available in a hospital located in a rural area.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.

Stressors and stress management strategies among young doctors amidst COVID-19 pandemic-Cross-sectional study

Introduction and Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge economic burden and impacted physical and mental health of the people. The young medical graduates are facing a lot of disappointments with regard to career, higher studies, personal life etc. The current research aims to assess the various stressors and their coping strategies among the young medical graduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material(s) and Method(s): The cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of General Medicine at a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. Undergraduate medical students of 228 in number of both genders who completed their residency training just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were enrolled in the study. The data was collected through a preformed questionnaire. Ethics clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Informed consent was obtained. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS software version 18.0. P value < 0.05 was considered statically significant. Result(s): The mean scores obtained in PSS-10 were found to be higher among males than females. Around 79.4% showed moderate stress while 20.6% showed high stress (P=0.001). Males showed more stress compared to females in general as well as academic stressors. Male doctors and female doctors had differing stress coping skills. Conclusion(s): The study highlighted the vulnerable state of mind of the young medical doctors. The best way to overcome stress is by providing adequate resources, training to cope stress and ambient conditions for study and work, social support and relaxation techniques at both individual and organisational levels to help them to achieve a reasonable work-family interface.Copyright © 2023, Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. All rights reserved.

Stress among Teachers in Virtual Classrooms Working in the Higher Education Sector during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions since teachers have many responsibilities to meet the targets such as teaching, lesson planning, classroom management and discipline, supervisory role, extracurricular activity, etc. However, during the COVID-19 outbreak, teaching has become challenging for professional teachers. A total number of 85 professional teachers were screened, by which 73 subjects provided informed consent to take part in the study and were included in the study. A stress questionnaire developed by International Stress Management Association UK (ISMA) was used to assess the stress among professional teachers. Among the 50 subjects, five subjects had a history of hypertension, one subject had diabetes mellitus, 11 subjects had low back pain, five subjects had knee pain, and two subjects had migraine. The stress assessment questionnaire revealed that 64% of subjects were towards moderate risk, 34% high risk, and 2% low risk for stress. The present study concludes that professional teachers are at moderate to high risk of developing occupational-related stress associated with health-related problems.

Validation of stress assessment instruments related to the COVID-19 pandemic in pregnant women

Background: The Pandemic Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) is an instrument that assesses pandemic-related stress in pregnant women. Objective: This study aimed to validate the Indonesian version of the Pandemic Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS). Methods: Validation procedures include forward and backward translation, pretest and cognitive interview, construct validity test, and instrument reliability test. Pregnant women involved in this study agreed to participate with informed consent. Results: The results of the construct validity test showed that each item of the PREPS questionnaire statement had an rcount > rtable (α=0.01;df=28), starting from the lowest 0.562 to the largest 0.847, with an rtable value (α=0.01;df = 28) equal to 0.3610. The Cronbach's alpha value of 0.841 indicates good reliability of the scale. Conclusion: The Indonesian version of the PREPS is valid and has good reliability.

Severe acute respiratory infection-preparedness (Sari-Prep): A multicenter prospective study

OBJECTIVES: We designed a prospective cohort study to systematically study patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and improve hospital preparedness (SARI-PREP). The goal of this project is to evaluate the natural history, prognostic biomarkers, and characteristics, including hospital stress, associated with SARI clinical outcomes and severity. METHODS: In collaboration with the Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Research Network and the National Emerging Special Pathogen Training and Education Center (NETEC), SARIPREP is an ongoing, prospective, observational, multi-center cohort study of hospitalized patients with respiratory viral infections. We collected patient demographics, signs, symptoms, and medications;microbiology, imaging, and other diagnostics;mechanical ventilation, hospital procedures, and other interventions;and clinical outcomes. Hospital leadership completed a weekly hospital stress survey. Respiratory, blood, and urine biospecimens were collected from patients on days 0, 3, 7-14 after study enrollment and at hospital discharge. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: SARI-PREP enrollment began on April 4, 2020 and currently includes 674 patients. Here we report results from the first 400 patients: 216 are from the University of Washington Hospitals, Seattle WA, 142 from New York University, New York NY and 42 from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Almost all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection (n=397), whereas 3 patients tested positive for an alternative viral pathogen. The mean (±SD) age of the patients was 57±16 years;72% were men, 62% were White, 14% were Asian, 12% were Black, and 31% were Hispanic. Most of the patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (96%). The median (interquartile range) hospital length of stay was 22 (9-46) days. Rates of invasive mechanical ventilation (72%) and renal replacement therapy (19%) were common and the rate of hospital mortality was 35%. CONCLUSIONS: Initial SARI-PREP analysis indicates enrollment of a diverse population of hospitalized patients primarily with SARSCoV-2 infection. The demographics and clinical outcomes of our cohort mirror other large critically ill cohorts of COVID-19 patients. Results of a concomitant, weekly, hospital stress assessment are reported separately.

Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students.

BACKGROUND: Stress and mental health outcomes are negatively correlated among university students throughout the world. Reports of differences in stress perception by gender exist, but there is limited data on students from sub-Saharan African countries. This study describes the burden of perceived and financial stress; characterizes mood and degree of anxiety symptoms; examines stress coping mechanisms, including resilience and repetitive negative thinking (RNT); and explores how students at a Ghanaian university believed the COVID-19 pandemic affected these measures. METHODS: Students (n = 129) were recruited from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana from October 2020 - January 2021. Validated surveys were used. Participants were asked "Are your answers to the questions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?" RESULTS: No differences in mean scores were observed between genders. For female students, financial stress was positively associated with RNT (p = 0.009), negative mood (p = 0.002), and anxiety (p < 0.001). Males were more likely to report decreased stress during the pandemic (p = 0.002), but there was no difference in mental health outcomes by perceived stress (PS) change category among males. Effects of the pandemic on mental health outcomes were mixed, but substantial proportions of students reported improvements or no change in financial stress, mood, anxiety, and RNT. LIMITATIONS: Students from one university particiapted in this cross-sectional survey. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the understanding of how higher education students are experiencing stress and are coping with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

Gaps identification in Saudi anesthesia residency training during early time of pandemic: Trainee view.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic was declared a worldwide crisis, as a response the community established new protocols and clinical pathways to prepare the health system in adapting to the expected surge of cases. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aim to assess the effect of the pandemic on the anesthesia training program residents from their own view. Identification of gaps in training programs will help to overcome the challenge like pandemic in order to have competent anesthesia practitioners. METHODS: We deployed an online survey in early May 2020 targeting the anesthesia residents in Saudi Arabia. We used mixed methods, containing both quantitative and qualitative questions. Our survey had 3 main sections: demographics, pandemic effect on the training, and pandemic effect on the trainees. RESULTS: Our survey showed that in the first 2 months of the pandemic there was a vast decrease in educational activities and clinical activities. However, after that both the Saudi Commission for Health Speciality (SCFHS) and local hospitals employed alternative education methods like electronic learning and simulation to adopt these changes. We also found the average stress level among residents was 6.5 out of 10 with number one stressor is transmitting Covid-19 to family or self. Finally, Wellbeing resources were available to residents however were not used sufficiently by residents. CONCLUSION: During times of pandemic, assessment and gap identification in postgraduate training programs are necessary to help overcome challenges of training anesthesiologists. Other than the clinical competency residents' wellbeing needs to be monitored and make available resources easy to reach for the residents.