COVID-19 and the repercussions on pregnant women's mental health: integrative review / COVID-19 e as repercussões na saúde mental de gestantes: revisão integrativa / COVID-19 y las repercusiones en la salud mental de mujeres embarazadas: revisión integradora

Resumo Objetivo Identificar, a partir das evidências presentes na literatura, os impactos da COVID-19 na saúde mental de mulheres grávidas. Métodos Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura, realizada nas bases de dados/biblioteca eletrônica MEDLINE, CINAHL, PUBCOVID19 e MEDRXIV. A busca aconteceu de forma pareada no mês de dezembro de 2020, com artigos disponíveis na íntegra abordando a saúde mental das grávidas na pandemia. Resultados Os estudos que compuseram a amostra foram publicados entre os meses de abril e dezembro de 2020 e nos 10 estudos incluídos, a depressão e a ansiedade são apontados como fatores impactantes na saúde das gestantes, tendo como elementos contribuintes o medo da COVID-19, estresse e preocupações associadas à pandemia. Conclusão Houve impacto na saúde mental das gestantes na pandemia com repercussões de ordem psicossocial, socioeconômica e de assistência à saúde. Nesse contexto, a abordagem do componente psicológico na consulta de enfermagem pode fazer a diferença na atenção à gestação.

Resumen Objetivo Identificar, a partir de evidencias presentes en la literatura, los impactos del COVID-19 en la salud mental de mujeres embarazadas. Métodos Se trata de una revisión integradora de la literatura, realizada en las bases de datos/biblioteca electrónica MEDLINE, CINAHL, PUBCOVID19 y MEDRXIV. La búsqueda se realizó de forma pareada en el mes de diciembre de 2020, con artículos con texto completo disponible que abordaban la salud mental de embarazadas en la pandemia. Resultados Los estudios que formaron la muestra fueron publicados entre los meses de abril y diciembre de 2020. En los diez estudios incluidos, la depresión y la ansiedad son señaladas como factores impactantes en la salud de las mujeres embarazadas, donde los elementos contribuyentes son el miedo al COVID-19, el estrés y las preocupaciones relacionadas con la pandemia. Conclusión Hubo impacto en la salud mental de las mujeres embarazadas en la pandemia, con repercusiones de orden psicosocial, socioeconómica y de atención a la salud. En este contexto, el enfoque del componente psicológico en la consulta de enfermería puede marcar una diferencia en la atención al embarazo.

Abstract Objective To identify the impacts of COVID-19 on pregnant women's mental health from evidence in the literature. Methods This is an integrative literature review performed in MEDLINE, CINAHL, PUBCOVID19 and MEDRXIV databases/electronic libraries. The search took place in pairs in December 2020, with articles available in full addressing pregnant women's mental health in the pandemic. Results The studies that made up the sample were published between April and December 2020 and in the ten studies included, depression and anxiety were identified as factors exerting impact on pregnant women's health, and the fear of COVID-19, stress and worries associated with the pandemic as contributing elements. Conclusion There was an impact on pregnant women's mental health in the pandemic with psychosocial, socioeconomic and health care repercussions. In this context, the approach to the psychological component in the nursing consultation can make a difference in pregnancy care.

Years of life lost due to the psychosocial consequences of COVID-19 mitigation strategies based on Swiss data.

BACKGROUND: The pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced governments to implement strict social mitigation strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality from acute infections. These strategies, however, carry a significant risk for mental health, which can lead to increased short-term and long-term mortality and is currently not included in modeling the impact of the pandemic. METHODS: We used years of life lost (YLL) as the main outcome measure, applied to Switzerland as an example. We focused on suicide, depression, alcohol use disorder, childhood trauma due to domestic violence, changes in marital status, and social isolation, as these are known to increase YLL in the context of imposed restriction in social contact and freedom of movement. We stipulated a minimum duration of mitigation of 3 months based on current public health plans. RESULTS: The study projects that the average person would suffer 0.205 YLL due to psychosocial consequence of COVID-19 mitigation measures. However, this loss would be entirely borne by 2.1% of the population, who will suffer an average of 9.79 YLL. CONCLUSIONS: The results presented here are likely to underestimate the true impact of the mitigation strategies on YLL. However, they highlight the need for public health models to expand their scope in order to provide better estimates of the risks and benefits of mitigation.

National Trends in Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits Among Youth, 2011-2020.

Importance: There has been increasing concern about the burden of mental health problems among youth, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends in mental health-related emergency department (ED) visits are an important indicator of unmet outpatient mental health needs. Objective: To estimate annual trends in mental health-related ED visits among US children, adolescents, and young adults between 2011 and 2020. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data from 2011 to 2020 in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an annual cross-sectional national probability sample survey of EDs, was used to examine mental health-related visits for youths aged 6 to 24 years (unweighted = 49 515). Main Outcomes and Measures: Mental health-related ED visits included visits associated with psychiatric or substance use disorders and were identified by International Classification of Diseases-Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM; 2011-2015) and ICD-10-CM (2016-2020) discharge diagnosis codes or by reason-for-visit (RFV) codes. We estimated the annual proportion of mental health-related pediatric ED visits from 2011 to 2020. Subgroup analyses were performed by demographics and broad psychiatric diagnoses. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses estimated factors independently associated with mental health-related ED visits controlling for period effects. Results: From 2011 to 2020, the weighted number of pediatric mental health-related visits increased from 4.8 million (7.7% of all pediatric ED visits) to 7.5 million (13.1% of all ED visits) with an average annual percent change of 8.0% (95% CI, 6.1%-10.1%; P < .001). Significant linearly increasing trends were seen among children, adolescents, and young adults, with the greatest increase among adolescents and across sex and race and ethnicity. While all types of mental health-related visits significantly increased, suicide-related visits demonstrated the greatest increase from 0.9% to 4.2% of all pediatric ED visits (average annual percent change, 23.1% [95% CI, 19.0%-27.5%]; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: Over the last 10 years, the proportion of pediatric ED visits for mental health reasons has approximately doubled, including a 5-fold increase in suicide-related visits. These findings underscore an urgent need to improve crisis and emergency mental health service capacity for young people, especially for children experiencing suicidal symptoms.

Exploring COVID-19-Related Stressors: Topic Modeling Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of people globally for over 2 years. Changes in lifestyles due to the pandemic may cause psychosocial stressors for individuals and could lead to mental health problems. To provide high-quality mental health support, health care organizations need to identify COVID-19-specific stressors and monitor the trends in the prevalence of those stressors. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to apply natural language processing (NLP) techniques to social media data to identify the psychosocial stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze the trend in the prevalence of these stressors at different stages of the pandemic. METHODS: We obtained a data set of 9266 Reddit posts from the subreddit \rCOVID19_support, from February 14, 2020, to July 19, 2021. We used the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model to identify the topics that were mentioned on the subreddit and analyzed the trends in the prevalence of the topics. Lexicons were created for each of the topics and were used to identify the topics of each post. The prevalences of topics identified by the LDA and lexicon approaches were compared. RESULTS: The LDA model identified 6 topics from the data set: (1) "fear of coronavirus," (2) "problems related to social relationships," (3) "mental health symptoms," (4) "family problems," (5) "educational and occupational problems," and (6) "uncertainty on the development of pandemic." According to the results, there was a significant decline in the number of posts about the "fear of coronavirus" after vaccine distribution started. This suggests that the distribution of vaccines may have reduced the perceived risks of coronavirus. The prevalence of discussions on the uncertainty about the pandemic did not decline with the increase in the vaccinated population. In April 2021, when the Delta variant became prevalent in the United States, there was a significant increase in the number of posts about the uncertainty of pandemic development but no obvious effects on the topic of fear of the coronavirus. CONCLUSIONS: We created a dashboard to visualize the trend in the prevalence of topics about COVID-19-related stressors being discussed on a social media platform (Reddit). Our results provide insights into the prevalence of pandemic-related stressors during different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLP techniques leveraged in this study could also be applied to analyze event-specific stressors in the future.

Family context as a double-edged sword for psychological distress amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the mediating effect of individual fear and the moderating effect of household income.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic drives psychological distress. Previous studies have mostly focused on individual determinants but overlooked family factors. The present study aimed to examine the associations of individual and family factors with psychological distress, and the mediating effect of individual fear and the moderating role of household income on the above associations. Methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey on Chinese adults in Hong Kong from February to March 2021 (N = 2,251) to measure the independent variables of anti-epidemic fatigue, anti-epidemic confidence, individual and family members' fear of COVID-19, and family well-being (range 0-10), and the dependent variable of psychological distress (through four-item Patient Health Questionnaire, range 0-4). Results: Hierarchical regression showed that anti-epidemic fatigue was positively (ß = 0.23, 95% CI [0.18, 0.28]) while anti-epidemic confidence was negatively (ß = -0.29, 95% CI [-0.36, -0.22]) associated with psychological distress. Family members' fear of COVID-19 was positively (ß = 0.11, 95% CI [0.05, 0.16]) while family well-being was negatively (ß = -0.57, 95% CI [-0.63, -0.51]) associated with psychological distress. Structural equation model showed that individual fear mediated the above associations except for family well-being. Multi-group analyses showed a non-significant direct effect of anti-epidemic confidence and a slightly stronger direct effect of family well-being on psychological distress among participants with lower incomes, compared to those with higher incomes. Conclusion: We have first reported the double-edged effect of family context on psychological distress, with the positive association between family members' fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress fully mediated by individual fear and the negative association between family well-being and psychological distress moderated by income level. Future studies are warranted to investigate how the contagion of fear develops in the family and how the inequality of family resources impacts family members' mental health amid the pandemic.

Mental health in biological disasters: From SARS to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), provokes fear, anxiety and depression in the public, which further affects mental health issues. Taiwan has used their experience of the SARS epidemic for the management of foreseeable problems in COVID-19 endemic. AIM/OBJECTIVE: This review summarizes issues concerning mental health problems related to infectious diseases from current literatures. RESULTS: In suspected cases under quarantine, confirmed cases in isolation and their families, health care professionals, and the general population and related effective strategies to reduce these mental health issues, such as helping to identify stressors and normalizing their impact at all levels of response as well as public information and communication messages by electronic devices. The importance of community resilience was also addressed. Psychological first aid, psychological debriefing, mental health intervention and psychoeducation were also discussed. Issues concerning cultures and religions are also emphasized in the management plans. CONCLUSION: Biological disaster like SARS and COVID-19 not only has strong impact on mental health in those being infected and their family, friends, and coworkers, but also affect wellbeing in general public. There are evidenced that clear and timely psychoeducation, psychological first aid and psychological debriefing could amileorate negative impact of disaster, thus might also be helpful amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic as revealed by helpline calls.

Mental health is an important component of public health, especially in times of crisis. However, monitoring public mental health is difficult because data are often patchy and low-frequency1-3. Here we complement established approaches by using data from helplines, which offer a real-time measure of 'revealed' distress and mental health concerns across a range of topics4-9. We collected data on 8 million calls from 19 countries, focusing on the COVID-19 crisis. Call volumes peaked six weeks after the initial outbreak, at 35% above pre-pandemic levels. The increase was driven mainly by fear (including fear of infection), loneliness and, later in the pandemic, concerns about physical health. Relationship issues, economic problems, violence and suicidal ideation, however, were less prevalent than before the pandemic. This pattern was apparent both during the first wave and during subsequent COVID-19 waves. Issues linked directly to the pandemic therefore seem to have replaced rather than exacerbated underlying anxieties. Conditional on infection rates, suicide-related calls increased when containment policies became more stringent and decreased when income support was extended. This implies that financial relief can allay the distress triggered by lockdown measures and illustrates the insights that can be gleaned from the statistical analysis of helpline data.

Equitable psychiatry, telehealth, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of national data.

Background: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was foreseen that the number of face-to-face psychiatry consultations would suffer a reduction. In order to compensate, the Australian Government introduced new Medicare-subsidized telephone and video-linked consultations. This study investigates how these developments affected the pre-existing inequity of psychiatry service delivery in Australia. Methods: The study analyses five and a half years of national Medicare data listing all subsidized psychiatry consultation consumption aggregated to areas defined as Statistical Area level 3 (SA3s; which have population sizes of 30 k-300 k). Face-to-face, video-linked and telephone consultations are considered separately. The analysis consists of presenting rates of consumption, concentration graphs, and concentration indices to quantify inequity, using Socio Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) scores to rank the SA3 areas according to socio-economic disadvantage. Results: There is a 22% drop in the rate of face-to-face psychiatry consultation consumption across Australia in the final study period compared with the last study period predating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the loss is made up by the introduction of the new subsidized telephone and video-linked consultations. Referring to the same time periods, there is a reduction in the inequity of the distribution of face-to-face consultations, where the concentration index reduces from 0.166 to 0.129. The new subsidized video-linked consultations are distributed with severe inequity in the great majority of subpopulations studied. Australia-wide, video-linked consultations are also distributed with gross inequity, with a concentration index of 0.356 in the final study period. The effect of this upon overall inequity was to cancel out the reduction of inequity resulting from the reduction of face-to face appointments. Conclusion: Australian subsidized video-linked psychiatry consultations have been distributed with gross inequity and have been a significant exacerbator of the overall inequity of psychiatric service provision. Future policy decisions wishing to reduce this inequity should take care to reduce the risk posed by expanding telepsychiatry.

Editorial: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Racial Disparities in Pediatric Mental Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a devastating impact on youth mental health concerns, with rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality doubling.1 With 1 in 5 youth now experiencing a mental health disorder, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Children's Hospital Association, and the US Surgeon General have all declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health.2,3 Although youth mental health has declined overall since the onset of the pandemic, racial minority youth have been disproportionately negatively impacted. Unfortunately, racial disparities in youth mental health have been a long-standing concern, and the impact of COVID-19 has only served to worsen this gap.2 This is consistent with broader population health trends observed throughout the pandemic across age groups, where a higher proportion of racial and ethnic minorities have experienced poverty, violence, educational and vocational disruptions, and poorer health outcomes, including COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths.3,4.

Mental Health Is a Family Affair-Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Associations between Mental Health Problems in Parents and Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

As a multidimensional and universal stressor, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the mental health of children, adolescents, and adults worldwide. In particular, families faced numerous restrictions and challenges. From the literature, it is well known that parental mental health problems and child mental health outcomes are associated. Hence, this review aims to summarize the current research on the associations of parental mental health symptoms and child mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a systematic literature search in Web of Science (all databases) and identified 431 records, of which 83 articles with data of over 80,000 families were included in 38 meta-analyses. A total of 25 meta-analyses resulted in significant small to medium associations between parental mental health symptoms and child mental health outcomes (r = 0.19 to 0.46, p < 0.05). The largest effects were observed for the associations of parenting stress and child mental health outcomes. A dysfunctional parent-child interaction has been identified as a key mechanism for the transmission of mental disorders. Thus, specific parenting interventions are needed to foster healthy parent-child interactions, to promote the mental health of families, and to reduce the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental Health Conditions- and Substance Use-Associated Emergency Department Visits during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nevada, USA.

Background-Mental health conditions and substance use are linked. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conditions and substance use increased, while emergency department (ED) visits decreased in the U.S. There is limited information regarding how the pandemic has affected ED visits for patients with mental health conditions and substance use. Objectives-This study examined the changes in ED visits associated with more common and serious mental health conditions (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and schizophrenia) and more commonly used substances (opioids, cannabis, alcohol, and cigarettes) in Nevada during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic period. Methods-The Nevada State ED database from 2018 to 2021 was used (n = 4,185,416 ED visits). The 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases identified suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, schizophrenia, and the use of opioids, cannabis, alcohol, and cigarette smoking. Seven multivariable logistic regression models were developed for each of the conditions after adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and payer source. The reference year was set as 2018. Results-During both of the pandemic years (2020 and 2021), particularly in 2020, the odds of ED visits associated with suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, schizophrenia, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use were all significantly higher than those in 2018. Conclusions-Our findings indicate the impact of the pandemic on mental health- and substance use-associated ED visits and provide empirical evidence for policymakers to direct and develop decisive public health initiatives aimed at addressing mental health and substance use-associated health service utilization, especially during the early stages of large-scale public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 and unfavorable changes in mental health unrelated to changes in physical activity, sedentary time, and health behaviors among Swedish adolescents: A longitudinal study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had major impact on the daily lives of adolescents. This study examined whether mental health outcomes had changed over the pandemic, and if such changes were related to changes in physical activity (PA), sedentary time, sleep, screen time, and participation in organized sports. Materials and methods: In this longitudinal study, data were collected in autumn 2019 with follow-up measurements in spring 2021. In total, 558 schools were invited and 34 schools around Stockholm with a variation in socioeconomic background were included. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured for seven consecutive days by accelerometry (Actigraph). Anxiety, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), psychosomatic health, stress, sleep duration, screen time, and organized sports participation were self-reported in questionnaires. Linear models were applied to estimate associations between changes in mental health outcomes and exposures. Results: From the baseline sample of 1,139 participants, 585 (55% girls), mean (SD) age 14.9 (0.3) years, participated in the follow-up. Between 2019 and 2021, there was a decrease in HRQoL [mean difference -1.7 (-2.3, -1.2), p < 0.001], increase in psychosomatic health problems [mean difference 1.8 (1.3, 2.3), p < 0.001], and an increase in the number of participants with high stress [from 94 (28%) to 139 (42%), p < 0.001]. Weekly light PA and sleep duration decreased and weekly sedentary time and screen time increased unrelated to changes in mental health outcomes. An increase in sleep duration during weekdays was significantly related to both a decrease in anxiety (B = -0.71, CI: -1.36, -0.06) and an increase in HRQoL (B = 1.00, CI: 0.51, 1.49). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health appears to have been impaired in Swedish adolescents, but unrelated to changes in PA, sedentary time, screen time, or participation in organized sports. However, increased sleep duration on weekdays was related to less anxiety and better HRQoL. The results may help policy makers and other stakeholders comprehend the differential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes and help guiding the planning of policy actions. Trial registration: ISRCTN15689873.

Investigation of sport-related habits in college students after covid-19 epidemic / Investigação sobre hábitos relacionados ao esporte em estudantes universitários após epidemia de covid-19 / Investigación de los hábitos relacionados con el deporte en estudiantes universitarios tras la epidemia de covid-19

ABSTRACT Introduction: China's covid-19 epidemic is under control. Universities and schools across the country have resumed physical education classes, but the mental health knowledge of college students in the aftermath of the covid-19 outbreak has not been investigated. Objective: To study college students' mental health and sports-related habits after the covid-19 outbreak. Methods: This study comprehensively used literature materials, expert interviews, mathematical statistics, and other methods to study the sports-related attitudes and health awareness of college students before and after the outbreak of the new epidemic, examining the health knowledge domain of college students. Results: In the survey dimensions related to students' sports knowledge, the highest mean score was for "emotional control" at 3.48, followed by "participation motivation" at 3.41 and "participation attitude" at 3.35. The scores of sports participation attitude, motivation, and sports emotion for males were equal and higher than in females, where the measures of emotional factors and motivation to participate reached significant levels. After the epidemic, the mean scores for students' participation attitude, sports emotion, and motivation to participate in sports exceeded the theoretical mean. Conclusion: After the health awareness and prevention work in the community and school network, university students' sports attitudes and awareness improved significantly compared to before the Covid-19 outbreak. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: A epidemia de covid-19 em China encontra-se sob controle. Faculdades, escolas primárias e secundárias em todo o país retomaram as aulas de educação física, porém o conhecimento sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes universitários no estágio posterior do surto da Covid-19 não foi investigado. Objetivo: Estudar a saúde mental e os hábitos relacionados ao esporte nos universitários depois da epidemia da Covid-19. Métodos: Este estudo utilizou de forma abrangente materiais de literatura, entrevistas de especialistas, estatísticas matemáticas e outros métodos para estudar especificamente as atitudes relacionadas ao esporte e a conscientização na saúde dos estudantes universitários antes e depois do surto da nova epidemia, examinando o domínio do conhecimento em saúde dos estudantes universitários. Resultados: Nas dimensões da pesquisa relacionadas ao conhecimento esportivo dos alunos, a maior pontuação média foi de "controle emocional" como 3,48, seguida por "motivação de participação" como 3,41 e "atitude participativa" como 3,35. As pontuações de atitude de participação esportiva, motivação e emoção esportiva para os homens foram iguais e maior do que nas mulheres, onde as medidas de fator emocional e motivação para participar atingiram níveis significativos. Após a epidemia, as médias de atitude de participação dos alunos, emoção esportiva e motivação para participar do esporte superaram a média teórica. Conclusão: Após o trabalho de conscientização em saúde e prevenção, na rede comunitária e escolar, a atitude esportiva e a conscientização dos universitários foram significativamente aprimoradas em relação aos antecedentes ao surto de Covid-19. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: La epidemia de covid-19 en China está bajo control. Los colegios y las escuelas primarias y secundarias de todo el país han reanudado las clases de educación física, pero no se ha investigado el conocimiento sobre la salud mental de los estudiantes universitarios en la última etapa del brote de covid-19. Objetivo: Estudiar la salud mental y los hábitos relacionados con el deporte en los estudiantes universitarios tras el brote de covid-19. Métodos: Este estudio utilizó de forma exhaustiva materiales bibliográficos, entrevistas a expertos, estadísticas matemáticas y otros métodos para estudiar específicamente las actitudes relacionadas con el deporte y el conocimiento de la salud de los estudiantes universitarios antes y después del estallido de la nueva epidemia, examinando el dominio del conocimiento de la salud de los estudiantes universitarios. Resultados: En las dimensiones de la encuesta relacionadas con los conocimientos deportivos de los estudiantes, la puntuación media más alta correspondió al "control emocional" con un 3,48, seguido de la "motivación para la participación" con un 3,41 y la "actitud para la participación" con un 3,35. Las puntuaciones de la actitud de participación deportiva, la motivación y la emoción deportiva de los varones fueron iguales y superiores a las de las mujeres, donde las medidas del factor emocional y la motivación para participar alcanzaron niveles significativos. Después de la epidemia, las puntuaciones medias de la actitud de participación, la emoción deportiva y la motivación para participar en el deporte de los alumnos superaron la media teórica. Conclusión: Tras el trabajo de concienciación y prevención sanitaria en la comunidad y la red escolar, la actitud y la conciencia deportiva de los estudiantes universitarios mejoraron significativamente en comparación con las anteriores al brote de Covid-19. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Analysis of psychological status and effect of psychological intervention in quarantined population during the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: During outbreaks of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many countries adopted quarantine to slow the spread of the virus of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Quarantine will cause isolation from families, friends, and the public, which consequently leads to serious psychological pressure with potentially long-lasting effects on the quarantined population. Experience of specific practices to improve the psychological status of the mandatory quarantined population was limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological impact of mandatory quarantine, and evaluate the effect of psychological intervention on the quarantined population.We conducted a prospective cohort study to assess and manage the psychological status of a mandatory quarantined population in Beijing, China. A total of 638 individuals completed 2 questionnaires and were enrolled in this study, of which 372 participants accepted designed psychological intervention while other 266 participants refused it. The SCL-90 questionnaire was used to evaluate the psychological status and its change before and after the intervention. The differences of SCL-90 factor scores between participants and the national norm group were assessed by 2 samples t test. While the SCL-90 factor scores before and after intervention were compared with 2 paired samples t test.Compared with the Chinese norms of SCL-90, the participants had higher SCL-90 factor scores in most items of the SCL-90 inventory. The SCL-90 factor scores of participants with psychological intervention significantly decreased in somatization, obsessive-compulsive, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. In contrast, most factor scores of the SCL-90 inventory changed little without statistical significance in participants without psychological intervention.Psychological problems should be emphasized in the quarantined individuals and professional psychological intervention was a feasible approach to improve the psychological status of the mandatory quarantined population in the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2.

Differences in Distress and Coping with the COVID-19 Stressor in Nurses and Physicians.

BACKGROUND: Since the declaration of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as pandemic, health workers have shown an incredible commitment to their patients, sometimes in apocalyptic conditions. We explored ways to deal with the coronavirus stressor and psychological outcomes among physicians and nurses. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 124 healthcare workers in General Hospital Nasice (Croatia) were invited to participate in a study by performing within the period of March 26 to April 6 2020 questionnaire collected information on socio-demographic characteristics and living conditions that may be risk factors for covid-19 concern, Short form health survey-36, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC; consisting of 8 subscales: Confrontive Coping, Distancing, Self-Controlling, Seeking Social Support, Accepting Responsibility, Escape-Avoidance, Planful Problem Solving, Positive Reappraisal). RESULTS: 11% healthworkers reports moderate to very-severe depression, 17% moderate to extremely-severe anxiety and 10% for moderate to extremely-severe stress. 67% of medical staff are worried. No statistically significant differences in the scales of depression, anxiety, and stress were found between nurses and physicians, but differences were found on Escape-Avoidance and Positive Reappraisal subscales. Nurses use significantly more avoiding coping style and positive reappraisal than doctors. Seeking social support is more pronounced in those over 40 years old, while those under 40 use more avoidable stress management techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring and ensuring the mental health of coronavirus care staff is crucial for global health. The education of medical staff in the field of stress management is a conditio sine qua non of the issue of an adequate relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychological Aid to COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mental Health Response to Crises Management.

Catastrophic Pandemics have been adversely impacted the globe throughout human history. As a consequence psychiatrist, psychologist and mental health practitioners performed their role to mitigate the adverse impacts through its scientific and clinical lenses. It was observed that due to advance nature of COVI-19 pandemic, more advance approach of psychological aid is required. This work gives an overview of the multi-dimensional and trans-disciplinary techniques, which can be helpful to cope up with the crises that emerged from the threat of COVID-19 Outbreak for victims, survivors, health care practitioners and community.

Public Mental Health in Post-COVID-19 Era.

Transmission of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has now rapidly spread around the world, which has alarming implications for individuals and communities, in particular for public mental health. Significant progress has been made in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, but the psychological crisis caused by the epidemic is still not over and may continue to exist. The public mental health in the post-COVID-19 era should not be ignored. This article provides early warning for the public's mental health in the post-COVID-19 era by listing the characteristics and duration of the public mental health crisis following the SARS outbreak. In addition, based on the current situation, specific methods and measures are proposed in order to provide effective reference for the prevention and control of psychological crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.