Help-Seeking Buffers the Impact of Grief on Quality of Life: A Study of Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a global challenge for anticipating the support and treatment needs of bereaved individuals. However, no studies have examined how mourners have been coping with grief and which strategies may buffer negative mental health consequences. We examined the various coping strategies being used and which strategies best support quality of life. Participants completed self-report measures of demographic and loss-related characteristics, grief symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and coping strategies used. Despite help-seeking being one of the least endorsed coping strategies used, help-seeking was the only coping strategy that buffered the impact of grief on QOL for individuals with high grief severity. Results support predictions that grief may become a global mental health concern requiring increased accessibility and availability of grief therapies and professional supports for bereaved individuals during and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): study protocol for a phase III randomized controlled trial of the BEAM app-based program for mothers of children 18-36 months.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of maternal depression and anxiety has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and pregnant individuals are experiencing concerningly elevated levels of mental health symptoms worldwide. Many individuals may now be at heightened risk of postpartum mental health disorders. There are significant concerns that a cohort of children may be at-risk for impaired self-regulation and mental illness due to elevated exposure to perinatal mental illness. With both an increased prevalence of depression and limited availability of services due to the pandemic, there is an urgent need for accessible eHealth interventions for mothers of young children. The aims of this trial are to evaluate the efficacy of the Building Emotion Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM) app-based program for reducing maternal depression symptoms (primary outcome) and improve anxiety symptoms, parenting stress, family relationships, and mother and child functioning (secondary outcomes) compared to treatment as usual (TAU). METHODS: A two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) with repeated measures will be used to evaluate the efficacy of the BEAM intervention compared to TAU among a sample of 140 mothers with children aged 18 to 36 months, who self-report moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Individuals will be recruited online, and those randomized to the treatment group will participate in 10 weeks of psychoeducation modules, an online social support forum, and weekly group teletherapy sessions. Assessments will occur at 18-36 months postpartum (pre-test, T1), immediately after the last week of the BEAM intervention (post-test, T2), and at 3 months after the intervention (follow-up, T3). DISCUSSION: eHealth interventions have the potential to address elevated maternal mental health symptoms, parenting stress, and child functioning concerns during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide accessible programming to mothers who are in need of support. This RCT will build on an open pilot trial of the BEAM program and provide further evaluation of this evidence-based intervention. Findings will increase our understanding of depression in mothers with young children and reveal the potential for long-term improvements in maternal and child health and family well-being. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05306626 . Registered on April 1, 2022.

Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of an App-Based Program for Mothers of Toddlers.

Background: Families have faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to increased maternal mental health problems and barriers to accessing care. Innovative programs are needed to support both maternal mental health and parenting, and to buffer the long-term impacts of stress on young children. Using a patient-oriented approach, our research team aimed to co-develop and pilot test an App-based psychoeducation and social-connection platform: Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM). Methods: The co-development process involved a parent advisory board from conceptualization and design, through to direct participation in the program delivery. The BEAM program includes weekly videos and activities based on Unified Protocol therapy modules and emotion-focused parenting strategies, a weekly telehealth group review session, and access to a private online forum for support from other mothers and clinical coaches. A parallel randomized control trial was conducted across two provinces in Canada. Mothers of preschool children (aged 18-36 months old), with moderate-to-severe depression (Patient Health Questionaire-9 ≥ 10), were recruited online and randomized to either the 10-week BEAM intervention or treatment as usual (TAU) control group. Online surveys (ensuring researcher blinding) included questions about feasibility and acceptability of the program and pre/post self-report measures of mental health, parenting, positive coping and child behavior outcomes. The primary outcome measures were symptoms of depression and parenting stress. Data were analyzed using mixed models and an intention-to-treat approach. Results: 65 participants were randomized, by an online allocation tool, to the BEAM (n = 33) and TAU (n = 32) groups. Engagement was relatively high at the beginning of the program, with 78.8% starting the BEAM App and 70.6% attending ≥1 telehealth session. Most respondents felt socially supported, satisfied with the App, and found it easy to use. Pre-post results indicated interaction effects with greater reductions in overall mental health problems, and specifically anxiety and sleep symptoms, among BEAM vs. control participants. There were also time effects with reductions in depression symptoms across both groups. No significant treatment effects emerged for the other mental health symptoms, parenting problems, positive coping, or child behavior outcomes. Descriptive data are included to highlight possible areas of promise for future large efficacy trials. Technological difficulties and other challenges that may have led to attrition and impacted outcomes are discussed. There were no adverse events related to study participation. Conclusions: The BEAM program has promise as a novel, feasible and acceptable intervention for improving mental health among mothers of young children. Clinical Trial Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT04772677].

COVID-19-related media consumption and parental mental health

Currently, little is known about the relationship between COVID-19-related media consumption and mental health among Canadian parents. Consequently, the current study aimed to investigate the associations between the consumption of COVID-19-related news and mental health in a large sample of Canadian families. We recruited 924 Canadian parents, between April 14th and August 9th 2020, to participate in an online survey, which assessed their demographics, media consumption patterns, and their levels of anxiety, and depression. Relationships between COVID-19-related media consumption and parental mental health were analyzed using a series of multiple regression analyses. Multiple regression was also used to examine whether pediatric health status (i.e., chronic disease vs. no chronic disease), parent health status, and the prevalence of COVID-19 in the participant's province of residence moderated the relationship between news consumption and parental mental health. Greater consumption of news related to COVID-19 was associated with higher levels of depression, and anxiety after controlling for a number of covariates. Contrary to predictions, neither the prevalence of COVID-19, parent health status, nor child health status significantly moderated the relationship between media consumption and parental mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (French) A l'heure actuelle, on sait peu de choses sur la relation entre la consommation mediatique liee a la COVID-19 et la sante mentale des parents canadiens. Par consequent, la presente etude visait a examiner les associations entre la consommation de nouvelles liees a la COVID-19 et la sante mentale dans un large echantillon de familles canadiennes. Nous avons recrute 924 parents canadiens, entre le 14 avril et le 9 aout 2020, pour participer a une enquete en ligne, qui evaluait leurs donnees demographiques, leurs habitudes de consommation mediatique et leurs niveaux d'anxiete et de depression. Les relations entre la consommation mediatique liee a la COVID-19 et la sante mentale des parents ont ete analysees a l'aide d'une serie d'analyses de regression multiple. La regression multiple a egalement ete utilisee pour examiner si l'etat de sante de l'enfant (c.-a-d. maladie chronique ou pas de maladie chronique), l'etat de sante des parents et la prevalence de la COVID-19 dans la province de residence du participant moderaient la relation entre la consommation de nouvelles et la sante mentale des parents. Une plus grande consommation de nouvelles liees a la COVID-19 etait associee a des niveaux plus eleves de depression et d'anxiete apres controle d'un certain nombre de covariables. Contrairement aux predictions, ni la prevalence de la COVID-19, ni l'etat de sante des parents, ni celui des enfants n'ont modere de maniere significative la relation entre la consommation mediatique et la sante mentale des parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Significance Statement -Since the outbreak of COVID-19, individuals have turned to the media in record numbers to make sense of the ever-evolving crisis. Consequently, the current study sought to better understand the relationships between COVID-19-related news consumption and parental mental health. We found that parents who consumed more COVID-19-related news reported higher levels of depression and anxiety. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

High anxiety and health-related quality of life in families with children with food allergy during coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: Food allergy has a known effect on quality of life (QoL), but this has not been extensively studied during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the levels of anxiety of mothers of children aged 0 to 8 years with food allergy compared with families of children without a food allergy and the health-related QoL among children with food allergy during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS: In a mixed-methods study, Canadian mothers of children aged 0 to 8 years with (cases) and without (controls) food allergy provided demographic data and completed age-appropriate anxiety questionnaires between April 14, 2020, and April 28, 2020. The cases also provided food allergy-related data and completed the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire. In-depth interviews were subsequently conducted with purposefully selected cases. RESULTS: In a total of 580 participants, 5.5% were cases and 94.5% were controls. For mothers of children aged 0 to 1.5 years, anxiety levels did not differ between cases and controls. For mothers of children aged 1.5 to 8 years, anxiety levels were higher in cases vs controls (P < .05). Among the cases, neither overall nor domain-specific Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire scores differed between age groups (0-3 vs 4-7 years), even after adjustment for confounding variables, including childcare during the pandemic. Qualitatively, the following 3 themes were identified: unexpected challenges of food shopping; less food-related food anxiety during the pandemic; and differences and delays in food allergy testing and therapy. CONCLUSION: Mothers of children with food allergy reported high anxiety and poor health-related QoL. Yet, qualitatively, day-to-day food allergy management was better during the pandemic.