ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Addiction has a devastating impact in the lives of millions of people worldwide. Mothers constitute a hidden population. Previous research did not focus on mothers' experience of recovery. METHODS: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyze the experiences of 10 mothers whose young adult son/or daughter was in recovery from addiction. FINDINGS: Four themes delineated mothers' lived experience of the long journey from traumatic loss and isolation to traumatic growth and connection: (a) Trauma and despair. Loss of relationships and healthy family life, (b) coping strategies, (c) finding meaning and constructing a new identity, and (d) connection and gratitude. Overall, halting the descent into despair involved a perceptual shift that restored meaning, relationships, and hope and alleviated mothers' feelings of chronic grief and distress over their adult child's addiction problems. CONCLUSIONS: Addiction can have a damaging traumatic impact on mothers which is enhanced by social and self-stigmatizing processes. Ambiguous loss can occur when one's child uses substances, as the child may be physically present yet be psychologically absent in terms of the mother (and the family). Understanding the experience of mothers may help health and social care professionals to develop compassion, patience, and empathy towards mothers of persons with addiction problems. Mental health professionals need to be aware of the devastating impact of addiction problems on all family members in order to validate their experiences and support them in recovering from trauma and loss in the family.
Subject(s)
Emotions , Mothers , Female , Humans , Young Adult , Adaptation, Psychological , Health Status , Mothers/psychology , Social Support , MaleABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Spirituality constitutes a central element of all health and social care professions. The Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale (SCSS) measures both spiritual and religious coping strategiesAim: The aim of this study was to provide evidence for the reliability and validity of SCSS for Greece. METHODS: A total of 301 nurses were selected by convenience sampling and required to complete the SCSS and the FACIT-Spiritual Well-Being Scale-12 non-illness scale. Forward-translations and back-translations were conducted by two bilingual translators (English-Greek) grown up in English-speaking countries (USA, Australia) while cross-cultural adaptation followed strictly the recent WHO guidelines. The reliability and validity of the scale were evaluated by correlation analysis, t-test, and exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: Convergent validity was investigated in comparison to FACIT-Sp-12. Meaning, peace, faith, and total spirituality were positively correlated to SCSS as expected (r = 0.22 for Meaning, r = 0.34 for Peace, r = 0.70 for Faith, and r = 0.66 for Total Spirituality), implying sufficient convergent validity. The Cronbach's α coefficients of the two subscales were 0.91 and 0.78, respectively. Additionally, the Pearson correlation r for both spiritual and religious strategies showed strong correlations between the two measurements (p < 0.001), first administration and three weeks after. CONCLUSION: SCSS has good reliability and validity among nurses in Greece.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Spirituality , Humans , Greece , Reproducibility of Results , Psychometrics , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has accelerated vaccine development. The BNT162b2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine is being administered worldwide. The purpose of this case series is to report a possible association between the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Although rare, CSC has been reported following the administration of anthrax, influenza and smallpox vaccines. METHODS: Four individuals who developed CSC following the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine were examined in our institution using multimodal imaging of the retina, and their demographic data were analyzed and compared to all the similar cases published to date. RESULTS: Four patients (3 males, 1 female) between the ages of 35 and 65 presented with acute CSC (n=3) and relapsed CSC (n=1) within the first week following the administration of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Three individuals demonstrated hyper-reflective foci in the outer segments of the retina. CONCLUSIONS: The timing of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine administration relative to the development of CSC suggests a possible causal relationship. Further research is necessary to explore this possible association.