Impact of Perceived Severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) on Mental Health of University Students of Pakistan: The Mediating Role of Muslim Religiosity.

Background: Perceived severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) is known to be associated with mental health of people in general and health professionals in particular in Western societies. However, its association with the mental health of students in Pakistan, which is predominantly a Muslim society, remains unclear so far. Moreover, the role of Muslim religiosity for such an association has not yet been investigated. We aimed to examine the association and report findings on the impact of perceived severity on mental health with a sample of students from all five provinces of Pakistan. Methods: We did a cross-sectional online survey from 1,525 Pakistani students in March 2020 using standardized measurement tools. We then determined the prevalence of perceived severity among students and its impact on their mental health. The strength of associations between these variables was estimated using generalized linear models, with appropriate distribution and link functions. Structural equation modeling through SmartPLS (3.0) software was utilized to analyze the results. Findings: The perceived severity of COVID-19 is significantly associated with mental health of Pakistani students, whereas Muslim religiosity is a strong mediator between perceived severity and mental health of Pakistani students. Conclusions: Though the perceived severity of COVID-19 is associated with mental health, this relationship can be better explained by the role of Muslim religiosity. When tested individually, the perceived severity accounted for only 18% variance in mental health that increased up to 57% by the mediating role of Muslim religiosity. This difference clearly indicates the mediating role of Muslim religiosity in the association between perceived severity and mental health for Pakistani students.

Psychosocial risk factors of cardiovascular disease in Pakistani adolescents and young adults: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the number of studies carried out to find the prevalence of various psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in Pakistani adolescents and young adults. METHODS: The systematic review comprised key words searched through databases, such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed and Research Gate, from 2008 to 2017. Articles considered eligible were those reporting the point prevalence of psychosocial risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in the adolescents and young adults of Pakistani population aged 12-40 years. RESULTS: Of the 230 articles found, 21(9%) were from Pakistani. The most relevant 13(62%) of those articles were reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: In Pakistani adolescents and young adults, psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were found to be hypertension, stress, social support, depression, anxiety, physical inactivity and low socioeconomic status.

Self-control Mediates the Relationship between Psychosocial Strengths and Perceived Severity of COVID-19 among Frontline Healthcare Professionals of Pakistan: A Single Center Experience.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between psychosocial strengths (resilience, self-efficacy beliefs and social support) and perceived severity of COVID-19 and also to gauge the mediating role of self-control among frontline health care professionals of Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was utilized from March to April 2020 from one medical teaching hospital of South Punjab. As it was a single center experience so all the doctors were approached and asked to participate in this research. In total, 284 doctors (out of 300 approx.) completed online survey. The data were collected through online google forms consisting of self-report measures i.e. Brief Resilience Scale, Short General Self Efficacy Scale, Brief Scale for Social Support, Risk Behavior Diagnostic Scale and Brief Self-Control Scale. RESULTS: The results were analyzed by using SmartPLS (3.0), direct effect of psychosocial strengths on perceived severity of COVID-19 and indirect effect of self-control were assessed through path coefficients, t-values and r-square values. The results confirmed that there was significant negative relationship between psychosocial strengths and perceived severity of COVID-19 (ß = -0.854, t =14.279) with 72% variance in perceived severity due to psychosocial strengths. Further, the results also suggest that self-control proved significant mediator between psychosocial strengths and perceived severity (ß = -0.604, t = 11.004, variance in perceived severity is 74%). CONCLUSION: In the time of pandemic, medical professionals are working as frontline force and can have several uncertainties regarding the risk associated with outbreak of COVID-19. This study concludes psychosocial strengths can play a significant role in subsiding the risk associated with severity of disease. Whereas, self-control can significantly contribute to buffer the negative influence of COVID-19 among frontline medical professionals. In line with findings of this study, there is a dire need to initiate psychotherapeutic studies for medical professionals to boost up their psychosocial strengths that would make them resilient against COVID-19.