Resilience Resources Scale: A brief resilience measure validated with undergraduate students.

Objective: This paper presents a theory-based brief resilience scale, the Resilience Resources Scale (RRS), and evidence for its factor structure, reliability, and validity in two studies of undergraduate students. Participants: Study 1 sampled 295 students and Study 2 sampled 244 students. Methods: Study 1 participants completed the RRS and other measures online at one of two time points eight weeks apart (n = 193), or at both time points (n = 102). Study 2 participants completed the RRS and other measures online on a single occasion. Results: Factor analyses provided evidence for a one-factor model. Results indicated high internal consistency and strong test-retest reliability. Evidence of concurrent and predictive validity is presented. Conclusions: The RRS measures resilience resources known to be protective of physical and mental health. This brief scale has sound psychometric properties in these initial studies of undergraduate students. We offer possible directions for use of the RRS in this and other populations.

Late Adulthood, COVID-19-Related Stress Perceptions, Meaning in Life, and Forgiveness as Predictors of Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The purpose of this study was to examine multiple direct and indirect pathways of the association between older age and mental health through COVID-19-related stress perceptions, meaning in life, and forgiveness of situations. Participants were 1,382 U.S. adults who were part of the Harvard Digital Lab for the Social Sciences panel who volunteered to complete a 12 min survey in the spring of 2020. The sample had an average age of 56 years, was slightly more male (55%) than female (44%) or other (2%), mostly White (88%), well-educated (70% bachelors degree or more), and middle-income ($60,000-$75,000 annually). Measures included: COVID-19-related stress perceptions (e.g., concerns about infection, job, lack of necessities), presence of and search for meaning in life, forgiveness of situations, psychological distress, hopelessness, and optimism. A latent mental health variable was created that was comprised of psychological distress, hopelessness, and optimism. All hypothesized direct effects were in evidence, and all but one indirect effect were observed. Specifically, older age was related to better mental health through higher presence of meaning and lower search for meaning. Older age was also related to better mental health through a serial indirect pathway from lower COVID-19-related stress perceptions to higher presence of and lower search for meaning and higher forgiveness of situations to mental health. The proposed model was largely supported and confirms existing theory and research on aging, positive psychological processes, and mental health. Findings also offer new insights on the unique potential role of forgiveness of situations and its theoretical relevance to offending situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study offers a beginning for theorists, researchers, and practitioners to consider the connections between aging and mental health and the intricate interconnections between stress appraisal and positive coping resources that may serve to support it.

Clean and Contain: Initial Development of a Measure of Infection Prevention Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer behavioral guidance to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. Cleaning (e.g., cleaning surfaces, washing and sanitizing hands) and containing (e.g., covering coughs, keeping distance from others, especially sick people) behaviors are recommended. PURPOSE: To develop the Clean and Contain Measure, a brief measure of compliance with CDC recommendations for prevention of infectious disease, and validate the measure in individuals experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and social media. RESULTS: In Study 1 (N = 97), exploratory factor analysis revealed two scales: (a) five items assessing cleaning behaviors and (b) four items assessing containing behaviors. Simple structure was obtained and alpha coefficients for both scales were >.83. In Studies 2 (N = 204) and 3 (N = 527), confirmatory factor analysis verified the identical factor structure found in Study 1. All loadings were statistically significant at p < .001. Alpha coefficients for both scales were >.84 for Studies 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS: Our measure is a reliable and valid indicator of compliance with cleaning and containing health behaviors that help to prevent the spread of diseases like COVID-19. Future research should replicate construct validity in more diverse samples and continue to refine items, examine construct validity, including predictive and discriminant validity, and improve the measure for future use. With continued use and refinement, this measure could allow health officials and researchers to accurately assess compliance with important infection prevention behavior guidelines.

Efficacy of the REACH Forgiveness Intervention in Indian College Students.

The present study investigated the efficacy of the REACH Forgiveness psychoeducation program for the first time in Indian college students and examined theoretically-based predictors of program response based on the model of relational spirituality and forgiveness. This was an intervention experiment that spanned 5 weeks and included three measurement occasions (weeks 1, 3, 5) and two separate deliveries of the forgiveness intervention (weeks 2 and 4). Participants were N = 124 students at Karnatak University in Darwha, India (100 Hindu; 18 Muslim, 5 Christian, and 1 Jain). This was a manualized, secular intervention led by a trained facilitator in a group, psychoeducational format. Measures included forgiveness and unforgiveness as well as assessments of positive and negative affective states and spirituality. Participants who received immediate forgiveness training showed significant and large positive changes in forgiveness and unforgiveness, as well as, more positive affect and increased self-esteem in contrast to wait-list comparisons. Perceiving one's offender as having a similar spirituality to oneself was a consistent predictor of response to the REACH Forgiveness program. Specifically, perceiving the offender as having a similar spirituality was related to less growth of unforgiveness and more growth in empathy, positive affect, and emotional forgiveness as a result of the psychoeducational program. The REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational approach is efficacious in an Indian college student sample, and some relational spirituality variables are important predictors of response to the program. Future studies should consider the role of Indian culture in promoting forgiveness and possibly tailor the intervention to suit the significant proportions of Hindus and Muslims in India.

Distant from others, but close to home: The relationship between home attachment and mental health during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant consequences for Americans' daily lives. Many people are spending more time in their homes due to work from home arrangements, stay at home orders, and closures of businesses and public gathering spaces. In this study, we explored how one's attachment to their home may help to buffer their mental health during this stressful time. Data were collected from a three-wave, longitudinal sampling (n=289) surveyed at baseline, two, and four weeks after. We found a clear relationship between an individual's attachment to home and positive mental health. Across all three waves, home attachment was negatively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, participants' home attachment at baseline was predictive of subsequent mental health two weeks after, which suggests that one's relationship to their home was particularly important during the initial onset of the national response to the outbreak. Predictors of home attachment included conscientiousness, agreeableness, and restorative ambience. Over the course of the study, kinship ambience also emerged as a predictor of home attachment. In the midst of increased mental health concerns and limited resources due to COVID-19, the home may buffer some individuals from depressive and anxiety-related symptoms by functioning as a source of refuge, security, and stability.

Editor choice: Let it rest: Sleep and health as positive correlates of forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness.

Objective: The present study examined forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, sleep, and health in a nationally representative sample of United States adults. It was hypothesised that sleep would mediate the associations of forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness with health.Design: A nationally representative survey of 1,423 United States adults.Main Outcome Measures: Measures included forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, sleep quantity, sleep quality, psychological distress, life satisfaction, and self-rated physical health.Results: Forgiveness of others (ß = .20, p < .001) and self-forgiveness (ß = .11, p < .01) were associated with sleep and forgiveness of others (ß = .24, p < .001) and self-forgiveness (ß = .27, p < .001) were associated with health. Sleep was associated with health (ß = .45, p < .001) and also acted as a mediator of the associations of forgiveness of others (ß = .09, p < .01) and self-forgiveness (ß = .05, p < .01) with health.Conclusions: Forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness may attenuate emotions such as anger, regret, and rumination and provide a buffer between one's own and others' offenses occurring during the day and offer a restful mental state that supports sound sleep which, in turn, is associated with better health.

Postpartum Depressive Symptoms Following Consecutive Pregnancies: Stability, Change, and Mechanisms.

Postpartum depression is a major mental health issue for women and society. We examined stability and change in symptoms of depression over two consecutive pregnancies and tested life stress as a potential mechanism. The Community Child Health Network followed an ethnically/racially diverse sample from one month after a birth for two years. A subset of 228 women had a second birth. Interview measures of depression symptoms (EPDS) and life stress (life events, perceived stress, chronic stress, interpersonal aggression) were obtained during home visits. Three-quarters of the sample showed intra-individual stability in depressive symptoms from one postpartum period to the next, and 24% of the sample had clinically significant symptoms after at least one pregnancy (9% first, 7.5% second, 3.5% both). Each of the four life stressors significantly mediated the association between depressive symptoms across two postpartum periods. Stress between pregnancies for women may be an important mechanism perpetuating postpartum depression.

Spiritual and Religious Resources in African American Women: Protection from Depressive Symptoms Following Birth.

Many women experience depressive symptoms after birth, and rates among African Americans are as high as 40 percent. Spirituality and religiosity are valued in African American communities, but their relevance to new mothers has not been empirically tested. We examined effects of religiosity and spirituality on trajectories of depressive symptoms during the year following childbirth. Data were collected by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Community and Child Health Network (CCHN) focused on maternal-child health disparities. The sample consisted of 702 low SES African American predominantly Christian women. Participants were interviewed in their homes throughout the year following a birth. Spirituality and religiosity each independently predicted changes in depressive symptoms with low levels predicting increases over time. Effects of religiosity were mediated by a woman's spirituality. Religiosity and spirituality functioned as significant, interrelated protective factors in this study which provides novel insight about lower income African American women following birth.

Prenatal depression and adverse birth outcomes: an updated systematic review.

Complications related to preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) are leading causes of infant morbidity and mortality. Prenatal depression is a hypothesized psychosocial risk factor for both birth outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine evidence published between 1977 and 2013 on prenatal depression and risks of these primary adverse birth outcomes. A systematic search of the PUBMED and PsycINFO databases was conducted to identify studies testing the associations between prenatal depressive symptoms, or diagnoses of depression, and risk of PTB or LBW. We systematically selected 50 published reports on PTB and length of gestation, and 33 reports on LBW and BW. Results were reviewed by two independent reviewers and we evaluated the quality of the evidence with an established systematic review method, the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. We then undertook a narrative synthesis of the results following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Less than a quarter of 50 published reports found that prenatal depression was significantly associated with PTB or gestational age. In contrast, slightly more than half of the 33 reports found that prenatal depression was associated with LBW or BW. When weighing methodological features, we determined that the effects of prenatal depression on LBW are more consistent than effects on length of gestation or PTB. Although the evidence may not be strong enough to support routine depression screening for risk of adverse outcomes, screening to enable detection and timely treatment to reduce risk of postpartum depression is warranted. Further rigorous research on prenatal depression and adverse birth outcomes is needed.

Prospective associations between unforgiveness and physical health and positive mediating mechanisms in a nationally representative sample of older adults.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prospective association between unforgiveness and self-reported physical health and potential positive psychological mediators of this association. DESIGN: Participants were a national sample of 1024 USA's adults of ages 66 years and older. Data were collected at two time points separated by three years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures of trait unforgiveness, self-rated physical health, socio-demographics, health behaviours and positive psychological traits (e.g. life satisfaction, self-esteem) were included in a comprehensive survey known as the 'Religion, Aging, and Health Survey.' RESULTS: The results indicated that unforgiveness was prospectively associated with declines in self-reported physical health three years later, and poor initial self-reported health status did not predict increases in unforgiveness across time. Furthermore, the prospective association of unforgiveness with self-reported health was mediated by a latent positive psychological traits variable. CONCLUSION: These results confirm cross-sectional findings suggesting that unforgiveness is related to health. The present study also suggests that unforgiveness has a prospective, but not reciprocal, association with self-reported physical health. Unforgiveness may have its association with self-reported physical health through its interruption of other positive traits that typically confer health benefits.

Forgive to live: forgiveness, health, and longevity.

This study examined multiple types of forgiveness as predictors of mortality and potential psychosocial, spiritual, and health mechanisms of the effects of forgiveness on longevity. Data from a nationally representative sample of United States adults ages 66 and older assessed forgiveness, health, religiousness/spirituality, and socio-demographics (N = 1,232). God's unconditional forgiveness and conditional forgiveness of others initially emerged as statistically significant predictors of mortality risk. However, only conditional forgiveness of others remained a significant predictor of mortality after controlling for religious, socio-demographic, and health behavior variables. Mediators of the association between conditional forgiveness of others and mortality were examined, and a statistically significant indirect effect was identified involving physical health. These findings suggest that conditional forgiveness of others is associated with risk for all-cause mortality, and that the mortality risk of conditional forgiveness may be conferred by its influences on physical health.