Logotherapy-Based Interventions for Chinese Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia Through Online Groups: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Chinese family caregivers of people with dementia (PWD) can suffer from physical and psychological burden. This study aimed to examine the effects of logotherapy-based interventions on Chinese family caregivers of older adults with dementia to decrease caregiver burden. This mixed-methods study used a pre-experimental design with pre-posttests and semi-structured interviews. A purposive sample of 13 family caregivers from a suburban district in Shanghai was enrolled with (1) caregiver burden and (2) access and capability to use smart devices. Participants received eight online group logotherapy sessions with a focus on hope and meaning construction. Participants completed the Zarit Burden Interview, a 22-item measure of caregiver burden, before and after the intervention, and a 30-min semi-structured interview post-intervention. From the quantitative data, dementia caregivers reported severe caregiving burdens at the baseline (M = 54.77, SD = 9.33). Caregiver burden significantly decreased after the logotherapy-based intervention (M = 52.15, SD = 8.80, p < .001). Two themes pertaining to participants' experiences in intervention emerged from the qualitative data: (1) improved attitudes toward suffering, and (2) enhanced sense of meaning in life and hope. The cultural relevance of logotherapy to Chinese familism and Confucianism may further enhance its feasibility in the Chinese context.

Mindfulness-based interventions for breast cancer patients in China across outcome domains: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Chinese literature.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the treatment effect of a mindfulness-based intervention for Chinese breast cancer patients across outcome domains, including symptom-related, psychosocial, and quality of life outcomes. METHODS: Following the Cochrane Systematic Review guideline, we searched across five electronic databases, reference lists of eligible studies, professional websites, and major academic journals in Chinese. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plot and Vevea and Woods sensitivity analysis, and risk of bias was evaluated using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials and risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions. A meta-analysis of Hedges' g was conducted using meta-regression with robust variance estimation. RESULTS: Final analysis included a total of 45 controlled trials containing 286 effect size estimates. Across outcome domains, studies reported an overall large and statistically significant treatment effect, d = 0.921, 95% CI (0.805, 1.040), p < 0.001. Subgroup analyses of specific domains of outcome reported overall significant treatment effects for (1) symptom-related outcomes, d = 0.885, 95% CI (0.657, 1.110), p < 0.001; (2) psychosocial wellness outcomes, d = 0.984, 95% CI (0.879, 1.090), p < 0.001; and (3) quality of life, d = 0.990, 95% CI (0.776, 1.200), p < 0.001. Moderator analysis did not identify any significant moderator. CONCLUSION: Chinese literature reported an overall statistically significant and large treatment effect of a mindfulness-based intervention for breast cancer patients in China. Except for physical symptom outcomes, e.g., nausea/vomiting and pain, a mindfulness-based intervention was effective across outcome domains among Chinese breast cancer patients.

The effectiveness of four empirically supported psychotherapies for primary care depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Depressive and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and detrimental in primary care settings. However, there are gaps in the literature concerning effectiveness and generalizability of empirically supported interventions and treatment of both depression and anxiety in primary care settings. The aim of this review is to systematically assess and meta-analyze the effectiveness of brief empirically-supported psychotherapies for treating depression and/or anxiety in primary care. METHODS: Seven electronic databases, five professional websites and manual search of reference lists were searched through April 2017 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of four psychotherapies treating primary care depression and anxiety: cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), problem-solving therapy (PST), motivational interviewing (MI), and solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). RESULTS: From an initial pool of 1140 articles, 179 articles were eligible for full-text review and 65 articles were included for final analysis. Sixty-five articles containing 198 effect sizes reported an overall treatment effect size of d = 0.462, p < 0.001. Single-predictor meta-regression indicated that marital status, treatment modality (individual versus group), and treatment composition were significant moderators. Multiple-predictor meta-regression discovered treatment setting (inside versus outside primary care) significantly moderated treatment effect, b = -0.863, p = 0.039 after controlling for other intervention characteristics. CONCLUSION: Treatment effects were found for CBT and PST, both for depressive and anxiety disorders. Interventions delivered outside primary care settings were more effective than those within, individual treatment had greater treatment effects compared to group treatment, and both technology-assisted and in-person treatments were found to be effective.

The Effectiveness of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care Patients' Depressive and/or Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing demand for managing depressive and/or anxiety disorders among primary care patients. Problem-solving therapy (PST) is a brief evidence- and strength-based psychotherapy that has received increasing support for its effectiveness in managing depression and anxiety among primary care patients. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials examining PST for patients with depression and/or anxiety in primary care as identified by searches for published literature across 6 databases and manual searching. A weighted average of treatment effect size estimates per study was used for meta-analysis and moderator analysis. RESULTS: From an initial pool of 153 primary studies, 11 studies (with 2072 participants) met inclusion criteria for synthesis. PST reported an overall significant treatment effect for primary care depression and/or anxiety (d = 0.673; P < .001). Participants' age and sex moderated treatment effects. Physician-involved PST in primary care, despite a significantly smaller treatment effect size than mental health provider only PST, reported an overall statistically significant effect (d = 0.35; P = .029). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the study supported PST's effectiveness for primary care depression and/or anxiety. Our preliminary results also indicated that physician-involved PST offers meaningful improvements for primary care patients' depression and/or anxiety.

[Animal community structure in greenhouse soils with different planting years in Shouguang City].

By the methods of hand-sorting, Tullgren's and Baermann's, the animal community structure in greenhouse soils with different planting years in Shouguang City of Shandong Province was investigated from March 2006 to April 2007. A total of 20966 soil animals belonging to 3 phylums and 12 classes were obtained. Collembola, Nematoda, Acariformes and Oribatida were the dominant groups, accounting for 82.3% of the total individuals. The soil animals had an obvious vertical distribution pattern, with most of them assembled in surface soil and occupying 75.4% and 14.6% of the total at the depths of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm, respectively. The animals' amount in greenhouse soils was the highest from March to May and from October to December, and the lowest in August; while that in open field soils was the highest from July to September, and the lowest in January. The animal community in greenhouse soils in this region had a high diversity, but the density of dominant groups increased obviously with increasing planting years, resulting in a decrease of diversity index.