An epidemiological study of mental health problems related to climate change: A procedural framework for mental health system workers.

BACKGROUND: The Arab region has witnessed different biological hazards, including cholera, yellow fever, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, changes in rainfall and increased vegetation cover led to locust outbreaks in Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. This problem still exists and affects more than 20 countries and concerns indicate food shortages and food insecurity for more than 20 million people. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to detect mental health problems related to climate change in the Arab world. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was applied to determine the prevalence of mental health problems related to climate change (MHPCC). A random sample consisted of 1080 participants (523 male and 557 female), residents in 18 Arab countries; their ages ranged from 25 to 60 years. The Mental Health Problems related to Climate Change Questionnaire (MHPCCQ) was completed online. RESULTS: The results indicated average levels of MHPCC prevalence. The results also revealed no significant statistical differences in the MHPCC due to gender, educational class, and marital status except in climate anxiety; there were statistical differences in favor of married subgroup individuals. At the same time, there are statistically significant differences in the MHPCC due to the residing country variable in favor of Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Libya, and Oman regarding fears, anxiety, alienation, and somatic symptoms. In addition, Tunisia, Bahrain, Sudan, and Iraq were higher in climate depression than the other countries. CONCLUSION: The findings shed light on the prevalence of MHPCC in the Arab world and oblige mental health system workers, including policymakers, mental health providers, and departments of psychology in Arab universities, to take urgent action to assess and develop the system for mental health to manage the risks of extreme climate change on the human mental health.

The grief of loss among breast cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: How can palliative care workers help?

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients suffer from different losses. Studies have focused on examining grief resulting from cancer diagnosis and grief among caregivers of cancer patients and parents who lost their child to cancer. However, there are no studies on the grief resulting from losing a loved one in cancer patients. OBJECTIVE: This study examined female breast cancer patients' grief and aimed to reveal how palliative care can help breast cancer who experience the grief of losing a loved one. METHODS: The study applied the qualitative case study design conducted with 10 women with breast cancer; their ages ranged from 47 to 54 years. Data were collected during 18 in-depth interviews by asking semi-open-closed questions. RESULTS: Thematic analysis found that losing a partner negatively affected breast cancer patients' mental health. The grief experience among breast cancer patients has many symptoms: sadness, severe anxiety, sleep disturbance, loneliness, and isolation. Results also indicated many risk factors that increase grief symptoms among breast cancer patients, such as quarantine procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak, extreme emotional attachment to a partner, guilt, self-blame, and social relations. Patients with breast cancer can face grief experienced by coping strategies such as: resorting to God, prayer, patience, and reading the Holy Qur'an. The results also emphasize the importance of integrating palliative care with treatment for breast cancer patients who experience the grief of loss. CONCLUSION: The grief of loss among breast cancer patients is a complex experience. These findings have many applied aspects that benefit planning counseling and psychological programs to increase positive coping strategies for those patients with breast cancer suffering from grief of loss disorder and provide psychological services that protect them from risk factors and reduce grief symptoms which reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments due to the symptoms of traumatic loss of a partner. These findings also emphasize the importance of palliative care for cancer patients with complex distress.

Climate values as predictor of climate change perception in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background: Understanding public perceptions of climate change and how individuals perceive it is critical to developing effective communication strategies, policies, and socially robust technologies to relieve the risks of climate change. Despite the growing literature on climate change, until now, researchers in Arab countries have not been interested in studying citizens' perceptions of climate change or identifying the factors that predict it. This study aimed to identify and understand the nature and dynamics of public perceptions of climate change among Arab citizens and detect the level of climate change perception (CCP) and climate values (CV). Also, to detect the predictability of CCP from CV. As well as to reveal the differences between CCP and CV. Methods: A random sample consisted of 465 participants (236 male and 229 female), residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; their ages ranged from 30 years and over. The Climate Change Perception Questionnaire (CCPQ) and Climate Values Questionnaire (CVQ) were applied online. Results: The results found average levels of CCP and CV among the study sample. The results also revealed significant statistical differences in the CCP and CV due to gender in favor of females. As well as, there were significant statistical differences in the CCP due to the career field in favor of agriculture, engineering, and construction workers. Also, there were statistical differences in the emotional subscale of climate perception and CV due to age groups in favor of individuals whose ages ranged from 30 to 45 years. The results also found that the CV were a statistically significant predictor (1.2% of total variance) of climate perception. Conclusion: The current study showed an average level of CCP and CV among individuals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabian. The findings also concluded that individuals' perceptions of climate change are an individual response determined by the individual's gender, age, and career field and are affected by his values about climate. These findings shed light on the need for climate communications to increase the level of CCP and CV, especially among males and individuals in the age group over 45 years and individuals working in various career fields, whether education, engineering and construction, and commerce and business, etc.; to improve the engagement in mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change.

Working with patients and the mental health of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and concern are among the most common problems facing healthcare workers (HCWs) during epidemic diseases. OBJECTIVE: To identify the predictive factors of anxiety, fears, and psychological distress among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online survey method was used on a sample of 153 of HCWs; (110) frontline and (43) non-frontline HCWs. They answered on the Hamilton anxiety rating scale, the Kessler psychological distress scale (K10), and the COVID-19 Concerns Questionnaire. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that 47.05% of HCWs have a severe level of fear related to COVID-19, 43.13% have very severe anxiety, and 30.71% experience severe psychological distress. The differences between frontline and non-frontline HCWs, female and male HCWs, and HCWs working in medical clinics, on quarantine, or in another place were significant in the three scales. Predictive factors of anxiety, fear, and psychological distress include working on the front lines, being female, and being over 50 years old. Meanwhile, working in a workplace with COVID-19 patients predicted anxiety and psychological distress, but not fears associated with COVID-19. CONCLUSION: HCWs have a high prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders that may interfere with their work. These results may have therapeutic applications during pandemics.

Application of structural equation modeling to develop a conceptual model for entrepreneurship for psychological service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate entrepreneurship predictors among psychological service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and detect the difference in entrepreneurship among psychological service workers due to sex and experience in work. METHOD: A random sample of 321 workers in the field of psychological Services answered an online questionnaire that contained six scales (mental traits, psychological traits, success in work, effectiveness, creativity, and innovation, responsible decision). The data collected from the study participants were analyzed quantitatively by using a t-test, One-way ANOVA, Exploratory Factor Analysis EFA, Confirmatory Factor Analysis CFA, and Structural Equation Model (IBM SPSS statistics 21, and Amos v.25). RESULTS: The findings showed the validity of the conceptual proposed model of entrepreneurship among the psychological service workers. The default model has goodness-of-fit indicators to predict the workers' psychological services' entrepreneurship in their professional practice. The results also indicated significant differences due to the years of work experience in work and responsible decision dimensions in favor of the sample members belonging to the experiences group with more than ten years. Simultaneously, there are no differences in entrepreneurship's total score, mental traits, psychological, effectiveness, and creativity and innovation. The results also showed that there are statistically significant differences between males and females in the success in work dimension in favor of males (males mean = 21.359, females mean = 19.461, t = 2.797, P < 0.05), also in responsible decisions in favor of males (males mean = 9.734, females mean = 6.927, t = 8.853, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Mental traits, psychological traits, success in work, effectiveness, creativity and innovation, creativity, and innovation make responsible decisions significant predictors of entrepreneurship among the workers in psychological services. Thus, we recommend adopting the six criteria for entrepreneurship in professional practice when evaluating the workers in psychological services' performance. These results indicate the need for plaining training programs to increase the entrepreneurship among workers in psychological services whose experience is less than ten years, especially female workers in psychological services.

Quantifying the impact of COVID-19 on the individuals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional descriptive study of the posttraumatic growth.

This study seeks to explore the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak pandemic on the posttraumatic growth among Saudi individuals and also to assess the effect of demographic variables on the PTG. A descriptive design was applied to detect the level of PTG and to determine the differences in PTG due to demographic variables. A randomized sample consisting of 365 participants was chosen; the participants' ages ranged between 20 and 60. The study sample was divided into subgroups according to demographic variables. The posttraumatic growth scale (PTG-21) applied online to the study sample. The results indicated that there were high levels of improved personal relationships, increased emotional strength and resilience, greater spiritual connection, and a heightened sense of gratitude toward life among Saudis, while there were low levels of the new opportunities and the total score of posttraumatic growth. The results also found that there are significant statistical differences in the PTG due to demographic variables except academic degree has not no effect in PTG. The findings highlighting the importance of the psychological service centers, to help who suffer from the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive.

Risk perceptions of COVID-19 and its impact on precautionary behavior: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: The controlling of the COVID-19 pandemic is influenced by the precautionary behavior of the community, and such behavior is frequently related to individuals' risk perception. The current study aimed to explore risk perceptions and precautionary behavior in response to COVID-19. METHOD: Qualitative in-depth interviews by telephone were undertaken with 26 participants from three affected cities in an initial stage of the disease outbreak, from May 3 to June 5, 2020. The method of analyzing data was inductive. The results were analyzed using interpretation, categorizing, and thematic analysis. RESULTS: The perception of risk is influenced by numerous individual, community, and cultural factors; these perceptions act as triggers for precautionary behavior, with a tendency to deny risks or react with exaggeration in terms of the precautionary reactions related to COVID-19. The thematic analysis produced two major categories: 1) risk perception and 2) precautionary behavior. The analysis provides essential insight into risk perception and precautionary behavior. CONCLUSION: The risk perceptions and patterns of precautionary behavior could be unreliable, unhealthy, and culturally affected, which would influence the effectiveness of pandemic control measures. Further investigations with more data and including risk perception and precautionary behavior in the national response plan for emergency and crisis are highly recommended. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A greater understanding and ongoing assessment of COVID-19 risk perception could inform policymakers and health professionals who seek to promote precautionary behavior. This could also facilitate early interventions during pandemics.

The mediating role of religiosity and hope for the effect of self-stigma on psychological well-being among COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: Over the past few months, there has been a significant increase in mortality and morbidity due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Less attention has been paid to stigmatism, psychological well-being, hope, and religiosity, and how these may impact a patient's recovery. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to detect the difference in religiosity, hope, self-stigma, and psychological well-being (PWB) due to demographic variables (age, education level, social status, and level of income). Additionally, the research sought to test the mediation role of religiosity and hope in the relationship between self-stigma and psychological well-being among COVID-19 patients. METHOD: A random sample of 426 COVID-19 patients answered an online questionnaire that contained four scales (Religiosity, Hope, stigma, and PWB). The data collected from the study participants were analyzed quantitatively by using One-way ANOVA, Exploratory Factor Analysis EFA, Confirmatory Factor Analysis CFA, and Structural Equation Model (IBM SPSS statistics 21, and Amos v.25). RESULTS: The current results showed statistically significant differences due to age in hope and well-being, in favor of the sample members belonging to the age group from 30 years old and over old, while there were no differences in religiosity and stigma due to age. There were no differences due to education level in religiosity, hope, stigma, and well-being. Results showed statistically significant differences in well-being in favor of the married group, while there were no differences in religiosity, hope, and stigma due to social status. Regarding the effect of income level in the study variables, the results showed no differences due to religiosity, hope, stigma, and well-being. Moreover, the findings found that both religiosity and hope play a mediating role. CONCLUSION: Religiosity and hope play a mediating role in the relationship between stigma associated with COVID-19 and psychological well-being. These results indicate several strategies to reduce the adverse effects of the stigma associated with COVID-19 and increase well-being among COVID-19 patients.

Materials extrusion-inspired engineering reflection of social pressure-induced environmental impact on academy community well-being.

BACKGROUND: Existing issues with student mental health are the sources of ongoing violation of academic and educational integrity in learning and instructional dynamics in all educational institutions worldwide. OBJECTIVE: This didactical paper addresses the practical case of educational integrity violations induced by student mental illness. It presents a thought-provoking unified viewpoint of the existence of a non-obvious geometric analogy between the irreversible psycho-social process of mental disorder growth and the irreversible pressure forming-induced deformation process of materials extrusion through an angular domain. METHODS: This paper uses the method of geometric analogy between the dynamics of social irreversible processes in human society and technical irreversible processes in materials extrusion. RESULTS: The novel analogy between the loss of elliptical shape of an initial circular material element within pressure-extruded material and the development of student mental inadequacy during intensive university education was firstly studied and analyzed in detail. CONCLUSIONS: The author-proposed original socio-technical cross-disciplinary analogy improves and broadens student understanding of nonlinear dynamics both in the technical processes of macroscopic rotation formation in pressure-formed material and in the bio-social processes of psycho-neurological pathology development within a learner's mind.

Predicting psychological service providers' empowerment in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak: A structural equation modelling analysis.

This study aimed to investigate the predictors of psychological service providers' empowerment in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The researcher prepared a psychological service providers' empowerment scale that consisted of 28 items, and this scale was applied in a random sample consisting of 975 psychological service providers. The results showed that the empowerment scale has acceptable validity and reliability. The results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that the 28 scale items saturate on seven factors, which accounted for 64.42% of the total variance of the scale: the first factor named expect psychological services effectiveness accounted for 27.86%, the second factor named self-stimulation accounted for 9.71%, the third factor named responsibilities and duties accounted for 7.12%, the fourth factor named psychological services work environment accounted for 6.51%, the fifth factor named psychological service providers' decision-making accounted for 5.37%, the sixth factor named creative psychological service provider behaviour accounted for 4.45%, and the seventh factor named psychological services confidence accounted for 3.82% of the total variance of a psychological service providers' empowerment. In order to study the ability to predict the empowerment among psychological service providers, the researcher developed a structural model for psychological service providers' empowerment and then used the structural equation model analysis. The results showed that the proposed structural model of a psychological service providers' empowerment has goodness-of-fit, and these results emphasised the ability to predict psychological service providers' empowerment by seven tested factors.

The role of university teaching staff members in cognitive awareness and raising the level of health protection, value, and moral of students through the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to detect the role of teaching staff members in increasing university students' awareness, health protection, moral, and value aspects through the e-learning, and to reveal the differences in the level of the teaching staff members about their roles due to the path of college, academic degree, and academic experience. To achieve these aims of the study, the descriptive method was applied. The study sample consisted of (101) teaching stuff member in health, scientific, and human specializations at Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University in Saudi Arabia. The researchers designed a questionnaire to collect the data that reflects the perceptions of teaching staff members about their cognitive, skill, health, and ethical roles toward responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through distance education. The results indicated that there are high levels of teaching staff members' perception of their skill, health, and ethical responsibilities to raise students' awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic, while the level of teaching staff members' perception of their cognitive responsibilities to raise students' awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic was average. The findings indicated there are differences in the perception of the teaching staff members of their cognitive, skill, health, and moral value responsibilities to raise students' awareness about the COVID-19.

Crisis and disaster management in the light of the Islamic approach: COVID-19 pandemic crisis as a model (a qualitative study using the grounded theory).

The current study sought to generate a theory from the data on crisis management in Islam, and also aimed to identify the strategies used by leaders in the crisis management process. The grounded theory approach was applied, which is one of the qualitative designs. The content of the verses of the Noble Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad that dealt with the issue of crises were analyzed. The results of the qualitative analysis of the verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet's noble Sunnah have resulted in four concepts that constitute a broad conceptual theory of crisis management according to the Islamic approach. These concepts are: Crisis management strategies in Islam, the stages of crisis management, the characteristics of a leader who manages crises, and the roles of a leader during the crisis management process. A number of assumptions have been made of this generated theory about Islamic crisis management model. In light of the results of this study, recommendations were formulated that indicate the necessity of training leaders in the Islamic approach to crisis management, its strategies and its scientific steps in crisis management. These results have wide applications in the field of training leaders, and also recommend future studies to verify the assumptions of the theory that emerged from the data in this study on crisis management in Islam (COVID-19 pandemic crisis as a model).

Religiosity, Psychological Resilience, and Mental Health Among Breast Cancer Patients in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the correlations of religiosity and psychological resilience with mental health among cancer patients and to examine whether religiosity and psychological resilience can predict mental health. METHOD: The sample consisted of 329 patients. Researchers applied Islamic Religiosity Scale, Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, and the scale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression. RESULTS: The results showed that there are positive, statistically significant correlations between religiosity and psychological resilience, while there were negative, statistically significant correlations of religiosity and psychological resilience with mental health. And there are correlations between the alternative therapeutic interventions currently used to religiosity and psychological resilience, while there were no statistically significant correlations between alternative therapeutic interventions that the patient will use in the future to religiosity and psychological resilience. The results also revealed the possibility of predicting mental health through religiosity and psychological resilience. CONCLUSION: These results emphasized the importance of increased religiosity and psychological resilience among cancer patients.