ABSTRACT
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to global reports of hazards to mental health. However, reports regarding lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking. Using a convergent mixed methods design, we conducted individual interviews with twelve occupational therapy students and interpreted the results by content analysis. We completed a survey of Thai Sensory Patterns Assessment (TSPA) concerning perspectives from occupational therapy students (n = 99). They identified two major themes: (i) adaptive responses were consistent with areas of occupation during the COVID-19 pandemic; (ii) multidimensional challenges were related to sensory patterns of purposeful and meaningful activities. The participants reported both positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. It had both positive and negative effects on the lifestyle of students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive effect was that most students learned better ways to protect and care for themselves. During the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational therapy students were most concerned about their online learning activities, economic problems, isolation from society, and lifestyle. The negative effects of this include stress, anxiety, loneliness, frustration, boredom, and exhaustion for occupational therapy students. As an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational therapy students adapted to new lifestyles and experienced mental health issues related to their studies, families, friends, economics, social climate, and future job opportunities. Educators may use the findings of this study to prevent negative impacts on mental health and promote academic achievement in the future, as well as general well-being, efficacy, and empowerment of students in the new normal post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: International comparisons found that depression prevalence ranged from 18.3% (China) to 51.5% (Zambia) among school students in some low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The evidence base for treatment of adolescent depression in LMICs is limited and inadequate. Moreover, most treatment interventions are developed in high income countries and the effectiveness of these treatments in LMICs is largely unknown. METHOD: Randomized controlled trials, including cluster-randomized trials that have been implemented in LMICs to reduce adolescent depression, were examined in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Only one-time point (3 months or close to 3 months) of the outcome measures was chosen to evaluate effectiveness of interventions. RESULTS: Studies that used cognitive-behavioral therapy reduced depressive symptoms more effectively than other treatments with standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.27, (95% CI -2.19 to -0.35). Microfinance/economic interventions also reduced depression in adolescents with SMD = - 0.35, (95% CI -0.71 to 0.01) and Interpersonal therapy was used in three studies and depressive symptoms reduced by SMD = -0.23, (95% IC -0.60 to 0.13). Moreover, complex psychotherapeutic interventions that used integrated techniques showed a reduction in depression with SMD = -0.23, (95% IC -0.33 to -0.14) as well. CONCLUSIONS: Across twenty-eight studies, the evidence showed that cognitive behavioral therapy that delivered by nurses, social workers and counselors at community-based settings were more effective treatments in decreasing adolescent depression in LMICs. Future studies should implement these universal treatment approaches to identify accessible, feasible, affordable and sustainable depression treatments in the countries with less available resources.
