Religiosity, stress, and depressive symptoms among nursing and medical students during the middle stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Morocco.

Background: Recent studies on nursing and medical students showed a higher prevalence of depression and stress than the general population. Religiosity and spirituality are common in Muslim countries and are usually used as a means of coping strategy for psychological and mental disorders. Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the association between religious actions, depressive symptoms, and stress among students of nursing education lasting 3 years and students from the first 3 years of medical education lasting 7 years. The study was conducted at Ibn Zohr University of Agadir, Morocco. Method: A sample of different stages of nursing and medical students was recruited. Religiosity was assessed by Muslim Belief into Action (M.BIAC) scale. The depressive symptoms and stress were, respectively, assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Four hundred and thirteen students participated in this study. Our results showed a high prevalence of depressive symptoms (62.2%) and stress (66.8%). The depression scores were higher in the following subsample categories: students in the first 2 years of studies, female medical students, and nursing students with significant differences. The recorded religiosity was greater among students without depression compared to students with depression (p < 0.001). In the multivariate regression, the BIAC score demonstrated religiosity as neither a risk factor nor a protective factor of depression. Conclusion: Religiosity constitutes a protective factor of depression and stress among nursing and medical students. This should improve the student's ability to cope with stressful situations during their training. Prospective studies are needed to further investigate this association and how religiosity improves mental health. This would contribute to improved academic performance and wellbeing among medical and nursing students.

Induced Depressive Disorder Following the First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine.

INTRODUCTION: Several COVID-19 vaccines have been implemented. However, some side effects of the vaccine have been reported, which are sometimes very harmful. Reported cases and data are still very limited regarding the psychiatric side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. To our knowledge, only one case has been reported. In this paper, we report the case of a patient who presented an acute depressive episode 24 hours after receiving his first dose of the BNT162b2mRNA vaccine. CASE REPORT: The case was a 26-year-old man with a history of Down syndrome with moderately good autonomy for daily routine tasks. The patient, who presented hypothyroidism at 10 years old and schizophrenia at 15 years old, was doing well before the vaccination and received his first dose of the BNT162b2mRNA vaccine. Twenty-four hours later, he presented depressive symptoms that resolved spontaneously after one week. Then, fifteen days later, the symptoms reappeared, and the episode lasted for 5 weeks. The patient received 10 mg/day of escitalopram besides his usual treatment. The depressive symptoms improved considerably by the second day of treatment. DISCUSSION: The presented case illustrated significant diagnostic challenges, especially when taking into account the sequential relationship between the COVID-19 vaccine and the occurrence of depressive symptoms. A single case of depression has been reported after the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Scientific evidence suggests the important role of the immune system in the pathophysiology of various psychiatric disorders, including depression. CONCLUSION: Health professionals must take into consideration the potential psychiatric side effects even being rare so far, especially in vulnerable subjects. Further studies are required to establish the causal effects of depressive symptoms occurring during the weeks following the COVID-19 vaccine bolus injection.

The cultural epidemiology of stigma among people with schizophrenia : Adaptation and cross-cultural validation of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC), in Dialectal Arabic (Darija), Morocco.

INTRODUCTION: Stigma underlies the violation of certain social, economic, and cultural rights of patients with schizophrenia, including their access to treatment and care. Measurement of stigma remains as complex and multifaceted as the phenomenon itself. Several measurement tools are available to assess the prevalence, intensity and qualities of stigma. The aim of the study was to carry out a cross-cultural adaptation of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC), in the Moroccan Arabic dialect commonly known as "Darija". PATIENTS AND METHOD: The study was conducted in three psychiatric departments of public hospitals in the Souss-Massa region, located in southern Morocco. For the diagnosis of schizophrenia, the study was based on the decisions of the psychiatrists practicing at the study sites. The cross-cultural adaptation in Moroccan Darija of the stigma scale developed by Michel Weiss in the EMIC was carried out according to the six-step scientific method developed by Dorcas et al. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency) was 0.845. Convergent validity determined by Pearson's coefficient showed a significant inter-item correlation and the intra-class correlation coefficient (test-retest) was 0.975 (0.993; 0.991). The item added in relation to the COVID-19 situation presented psychometric values similar to the others. CONCLUSION: The Darija version is culturally acceptable and can be used to approach the phenomenon of stigmatization in Morocco.

[Acute psychotic episodes related to the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Les accès psychotiques aigus liés à la pandémie COVID-19.

The world is currently going through an extremely stressful time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This exceptional and alarming situation could increase the incidence of mental health problems, including acute psychotic disorders. Our observation reports two cases of patients with an acute psychotic episode, with a delusional theme related to the coronavirus pandemic. The two patients, who did not have a previous history of psychiatric disorders, were hospitalized in our psychiatry department, after the start of mandatory sanitary confinement in our country. The clinical symptoms found were mainly a hallucinatory syndrome and a delusional syndrome with a religious theme, and delusional ideas centered on COVID-19. This case report suggests that intense psychosocial stress, caused by the current global crisis and confinement measures, may be a trigger for new-onset psychotic episodes, and impact the clinical and delusional expression of acute psychosis.