Effects and Side Effects in a Short Work Coaching for Participants with and without Mental Illness.

Employees with mental illness are often the first to be unable to cope with increasingly complex psychosocial work demands. But people without mental illness can also suffer from, for example, high workload. This study compares a short coaching to stabilize work ability for employees with and without mental illness regarding coaching topics, effects on work-related resources, goal attainment, and unwanted events. Individual coaching of three sessions (problem exploration by behavior analysis, practice of new behavior, reflection) was conducted with employees from different professional fields. A medical history was taken to determine whether participants are affected by a mental disorder. All coaching was conducted by the same behavior therapist in training (L.P.W.) under the supervision of an experienced behavior therapist (B.M.). Two hundred and three coachings with three sessions were completed. In total, 103 participants did not have a mental illness (51%), and 100 participants reported a mental disorder (49%). The coaching participants with mental illness had lower initial levels of work-related capacities (more severe impairments) and coping behavior as compared to the participants without mental illness. In the pre-post comparisons, both groups achieved significant improvements in work-related coping after the coaching. There were no differences in goal attainment between both groups. While participants without mental illness reported more unwanted events in parallel to the coaching (30% reported negative developments in life), participants with mental illness reported coaching-related unwanted events (20% felt to be dependent on the coach). Coaching with an individual focus on one topic can improve work-related resources in participants with and without mental disorders. Since participants with and without mental illness experience different unwanted events in coaching, psychotherapeutic expertise is needed in order to set the right focus.

The impact of a "clinical adaptation psychoeducation program" grounded in the psychological flexibility model on perceived stress and coping behaviors among nursing students: A randomized controlled experimental study.

BACKGROUND: The clinical adaptation psychoeducation program grounded psychological flexibility model (PFMCAP) is consisting of six areas, fills a large gap in the literature regarding the effect of nursing students on perceived stress and coping behaviors in the clinical process. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of PFMCAP on perceived stress and coping behaviors of nursing students. DESIGN: This was a simple randomized controlled experimental pre-posttest design. SETTING: This study was conducted with 66 first-year students studying in the nursing department of a university in Türkiye. METHODS: A simple randomization method (computer-generated random number table) was used. Data were collected with "Sociodemographic Data Form", "Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students (PSSNS)" and "Stress-Coping Behaviors Scale for Nursing Students (SCBNS)". PFMCAP was conducted online with first-year nursing students, consisting of a total of six sessions, each lasting 90 min. Data were analyzed using percentiles and frequency distributions, and two-way mixed ANOVA one week after the completion of the PFMCAP. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the groups of descriptive characteristics (p > 0.05). Post-test measurements of students in the experimental group's PSSNS total and sub-dimension scores had a significant decrease compared to the control group (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the groups in the post-test SCBNS total scores of the students (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant increase in the post-test SCBNS-Staying Optimistic sub-dimension scores in the experimental group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The impact of PFMCAP on nursing students' perceived stress levels was not limited to only reducing stress levels; it also contributed to an increase in the students' levels of optimism. These findings demonstrate the potential of PFMCAP in supporting nursing students during the clinical adaptation process. It is observed that the integration of PFMCAP into nursing education could assist nursing students in better adapting to clinical practices and effectively managing stress.

Dyadic coping and associated factors in women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses: Do they interact?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the present situation of dyadic coping in pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses, as well as the relevant factors and the interactions between partners. METHODS: From October 2022 to September 2023, a cross-sectional survey was undertaken, involving 460 pairs of pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy who were hospitalized for childbirth and their accompanying spouses. These participants completed self-assessments on dyadic coping, marital satisfaction, perceived stress, and self-efficacy through the completion of paper questionnaires. The collected data was then subjected to analysis utilizing correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was then developed using the structural equation modeling(SEM) to test the binary association. FINDINGS: Pregnant women preferred to utilize stressful communication, whereas their spouses employed supportive and delegated coping. Both external (such as education level, employment status, and medical insurance) and internal (such as marital satisfaction, perceived stress, and self-efficacy) factors were associated with pregnant women's dyadic coping. Education level and internal factors were also associated with the spouses' dyadic coping. In contrast to spouses, who can only have a partner effect on pregnant women through marriage satisfaction, all pregnant women's internal elements played the partner effect on the spouses' dyadic coping. IMPLICATIONS: The study's findings help identify populations with inadequate coping ability. Promoting marital satisfaction, self-efficacy, and reducing perceived stress are associated with enhancing the dyadic coping ability of pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses. It also suggests that antenatal care should intervene with pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy and their spouses as a whole, and emphasize collaborative coping and effective mutual support between couples rather than spousal support alone.

Stress perception, coping behaviors and work-privacy conflict of student midwives in times of COVID-19 pandemic: the "Healthy MidStudents" study in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Student midwives deliver care for women under challenging job demands, which may affect their mental health- thus creating a high need for health promotion. Given the lack of research addressing this topic, the aim of this study is to examine the links between stress perception, coping behaviors, work-privacy conflict, and perception of COVID-19 pandemic impact on studies of student midwives in northern Germany. METHODS: Data were collected using a cross-sectional online-survey at nine midwifery study sites in northern Germany from October 2022 to January 2023. 342 student midwives (response rate: 61.3%) were surveyed on stress perception, coping behaviors, work-privacy conflict, and perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their studies. Descriptive, linear regression and moderation analyses were run to test explorative assumptions. RESULTS: Results revealed that higher levels of perceived stress were reported by 13.4% of student midwives. Social support (M = 13.76, SD = 2.19) and active stress coping (M = 10.72, SD = 2.01) were identified as most prevalent coping behaviors in the present sample. It was found that work-privacy conflict was positively associated with stress perception (ß = 0.53, p =.001) and maladaptive coping behaviors (alcohol and cigarette consumption: ß = 0.14, p =.015), and negatively associated with adaptive coping behaviors (positive thinking: ß = - 0.25, p =.001, social support: ß = - 0.23, p =.001). Students with children reported significantly lower levels of social support than students without children. 55.6% of student midwives perceived a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their studies (mostly on lectures, seminars, and contact with fellow students). CONCLUSIONS: Key findings highlighted moderate stress levels among student midwives during theoretical study stage. Based on current research, prevalence of high stress levels among student midwives remains unclear. Given the overall heterogeneous, limited research on student midwives' stress perception, coping behaviors, work-privacy conflict and perceptions of COVID-19 pandemic impact on studies, implications for research are suggested, e.g. longitudinal studies at different time points and settings and interventional studies. Findings provide a starting point for implementation of workplace health promotion in theoretical and practical stages of midwifery science study programs, e.g. training courses on stress prevention and adaptive coping, and for improvement of working conditions.

Coping strategies, resilience and quality of life: reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic among Romanian physicians.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented multiple psychological challenges for healthcare workers, such as anxiety, depression, burnout, and substance use disorders. In this research, we investigate the different ways Romanian physicians dealt with the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also analyze how positive and negative stress-reducing strategies, as well as demographic variables, affect their psychological resilience and quality of life. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of how physicians coped with the unprecedented global health challenges. METHODS: We carried out a national cross-sectional study of 265 physicians in Romania between January 2021 and January 2022 using a web-based questionnaire. The study employed a web-based questionnaire to assess coping mechanisms using the COPE inventory, resilience through the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 (CD-RISC 25), and quality of life via the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The COPE inventory, consisting of 60 items across 15 subscales, categorizes coping strategies into problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional types, with each item rated on a 4-point scale. The CD-RISC 25 measures resilience on a 5-point Likert scale, with total scores ranging from 0 to 100. WHOQOL-BREF assesses quality of life through 26 items in 4 domains: physical, mental, social relations, and environmental, scored from 1 to 5 and converted to a 0-100 scale for domain scores. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models were employed to discern the intricate relationships between coping strategies, resilience levels, quality of life dimensions, and pertinent demographic factors. RESULTS: The average CD-RISC score among participants was 66.2. The mean scores for the values for the QOL subscales were 64.0 for physical well-being, 61.7 for psychological well-being, 61.2 for social relationships, and 64.7 for environment. Individuals tend to use problem-focused and emotion-focused coping more than dysfunctional mechanisms, according to the COPE inventory. Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping are positively correlated with resilience, while dysfunctional coping is negatively correlated. Resilience is significantly influenced by gender and professional status, with males and senior specialists reporting higher levels while younger physicians and residents reporting lower levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our data points to specific protective characteristics and some detrimental factors on physicians' resilience and quality of life during the pandemic.

Sex-Specific Cardiac Remodeling in Aged Rats after Early-Life Chronic Stress: Associations with Endocrine and Metabolic Factors.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. Rates of cardiovascular disease vary both across the lifespan and between sexes. While multiple factors, including adverse life experiences, impact the development and progression of cardiovascular disease, the potential interactions of biological sex and stress history on the aged heart are unknown. To this end, we examined sex- and stress-specific impacts on left ventricular hypertrophy (VH) after aging. We hypothesized that early life chronic stress exposure impacts behavioral and physiologic responses that predict cardiac remodeling in a sex-specific manner. Methods: Histological analysis was conducted on hearts of male and female rats previously exposed to chronic variable stress during the late adolescent period (postnatal days 43-62). These animals were challenged with a forced swim test and a glucose tolerance test before aging to 15 months and again being challenged. Predictive analyses were then used to isolate factors that relate to cardiac remodeling among these groups. Results: Early-life chronic stress impacted cardiac remodeling in a sex-specific manner. Among rats with a history of chronic stress, females had increased inward VH. However, there were few associations within the female groups among individual behavioral and physiologic parameters and cardiac remodeling. While males as a group did not have VH after chronic stress, they exhibited multiple individual associations with cardiac susceptibility. Passive coping in young males and active coping in aged males related to VH in a stress history-dependent manner. Moreover, baseline corticosterone positively correlated with VH in unstressed males, while chronically-stressed males had positive correlations between VH and visceral adiposity. Conclusions: These results indicate that females as a group are uniquely susceptible to the effects of early-life stress on cardiac remodeling later in life. Conversely, males have more individual differences in vulnerability, where susceptibility to cardiac remodeling relates to endocrine, metabolic, and behavioral measures depending on stress history. These results ultimately support a framework for accessing cardiovascular risk based on biological sex and prior adverse experiences.

The Costs of Coping: Long-Term Mortality Risk in Aging Men.

OBJECTIVES: Prospective associations between coping and all-cause mortality risk are understudied, particularly among nonmedical samples. We assessed independent and joint associations of multiple components of the transactional stress and coping model with all-cause mortality in a cohort of community-dwelling men. We were particularly interested in how coping effort related to mortality. METHODS: Participants included 743 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study who completed 1+ stress and coping assessment in 1993-2002 (baseline age: M = 68.4, standard deviation [SD] = 7.1) and had mortality follow-up through 2020. The Brief California Coping Inventory assessed coping with a past-month stressor. Cox regression evaluated associations of problem stressfulness, coping strategies, total coping effort, and coping efficiency with all-cause mortality risk. RESULTS: Over a mean follow-up of 16.7 years (SD = 7.1), 473 (64%) men died. Problem stressfulness was not associated with mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.98-1.17), adjusted for demographics and health conditions. When examining coping via specific strategies, only social coping was associated with higher mortality risk (HR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.05-1.26) after Bonferroni correction. Total coping effort was associated with 14% greater risk of all-cause mortality (95% CI: 1.04-1.26), independent of problem stressfulness, demographics, and health conditions. Coping efficiency, a benefit-cost ratio of coping efficacy to total coping effort, was not associated with mortality risk in adjusted models. DISCUSSION: Total coping effort may be an important indicator for longevity among aging men, above and beyond problem stressfulness and specific coping strategies, which have been the foci in prior research.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Coping Behaviors among Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit.

Introduction: Nurses are expected to experience chronic stress and be involved in unhealthy actions more frequently due to the rising demands of medical care, which impact every aspect of their individual and professional lives. Individuals with higher emotional intelligence could cope and adjust to environmental changes and social constraints better than those with lower emotional intelligence. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between the emotional intelligence and coping behaviors of nurses in the intensive care units (ICUs) in the West Bank. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional method done on convenience sample of 266 ICU nurses. Data collection was performed by "Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test" (SSEIT) and the "Coping Behavior Inventory". Statistical analysis was completed using SPSS version 23. Pearson correlation was used to measure the relationship between the emotional intelligence and coping behaviors. Results: The analysis indicated that emotional intelligence was high (mean ± SD = 150.8 ± 2.1, range 33-165). Also, the analysis indicated that coping behavior of the participants was moderate (mean ± SD = 29.3 ± 15.2, range 0-76). Furthermore, the analysis indicated that there was a moderate positive relationship between nurses' emotional intelligence and their coping behaviors. Conclusion: Coping behavior was indicated to have a moderately positive relationship with emotional intelligence. However, social skills or managing others' emotions indicated low positive relationship and emotional intelligence. There is a negligible correlation between emotional intelligence and perception of emotions, managing emotions in the self, and utilizing emotions. Training in emotional intelligence is essential for nurses since it improves both their personal and professional life and coping mechanisms.

Exploring effective coping strategies for wives living with spouses who have alcohol dependence: Insights from focus group discussions.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol dependence is a prevalent issue worldwide. The wives of persons with alcohol dependence (WPAD) often experience several psychological, physical, and social problems, and it is essential to identify their coping strategies. This study aims to explore the coping strategies employed by WPAD by conducting a focus group discussion (FGD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted among wives of persons with alcohol dependence during their husband's admission in the departments of Psychiatry and gastroenterology of St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India, using qualitative research with phenomenological design. The inclusion criteria were being married and living with a person with alcohol dependence for more than three years and free from major psychiatric disorders and recruited through purposive sampling for six FGDs, which were conducted using a FGD guide and lasted approximately 60 to 90 minutes. The discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The study revealed that the WPAD adhered to various coping strategies to face the challenges of living with their husbands with alcohol dependence. It is observed that WPAD used emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping and avoidance coping. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the effective coping strategies adapted by WPAD to tackle the hardships related to their husband's alcoholic behavior and most of the WPAD used emotion-focused coping. This study provided valuable insights into the coping strategies used by wives of alcoholics and the challenges they faced in managing their spouse's addiction.

The influence of recommendation algorithm's information flow on targeted advertising audience's coping behavior.

Targeted advertising equipped with a recommendation algorithm can achieve accurate matching between users and recommended content, but overly precise recommendations may exacerbate negative audience reactions or behaviors. Improving the transparency of algorithm recommendation is one of the ways to address audience concerns or skepticism, and transparency guarantees the audience's right to know and thus brings more trust, which will reduce the audience's negative behavior. But increased transparency may also make the audience feel pressured or threatened, and requiring more cognitive and behavioral effort, which was called coping behavior. In order to clarify the relationship between the transparency of the algorithm recommendation and the audience's coping behavior, based on the persuasion theory, this study discusses the mechanism of the influence of the characteristics of the algorithm recommendation information flow on the audience's coping behavior of targeted advertising from the perspective of the flow mode and transmission principle of information. Based on the data of 120 online pretests and 297 formal tests, the results show that the perceived trust and perceived threat caused by the information flow characteristics of the algorithm recommendation jointly determine the possible coping behaviors of targeted advertising audiences. Additionally, users' self-efficacy regulates the relationship between mental process and coping behavior. Different from previous studies on audience coping behaviors of targeted ads, which mainly start from the perspective of participants and advertising content, this research tries to start from the perspective of information flow. The research results demystify the relationship between recommendation algorithm information flow and the audience's coping behavior, and enrich the algorithmic persuasion framework. The research results have reference value for the improvement of personalized recommendation effect, and provide a new way to further study the transparency of algorithm recommendation in the field of consumer behavior. Meanwhile, it also provides suggestions for the practices of platforms and advertisers in practice.

Examining interactions of illness perceptions, avoidance behavior and patient status in predicting quality of life among people with irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Illness perceptions (IPs) and avoidance behavior both predict quality of life (QoL) in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study examined whether the effects of IPs on QoL are mediated by avoidance behaviors, and whether this mediation is moderated by participant treatment-seeking status. Methods: People with self-reported IBS (n = 253) answered a survey assessing QoL, IPs, avoidance behaviors, and treatment-seeking status. Moderated-mediation analyses investigated the paths from IPs through avoidance behaviors to QoL, with treatment-seeking status entered as a moderator. Results: The final moderated mediation model included the IPs consequences, timeline and emotional representations as independent variables and avoidance behavior and depressive reactions as mediators. This model explained 68.6% of the variance in QoL. Among treatment-seeking participants five significant mediation effects were found, whereas only one significant mediation effect was found among participants who did not report seeking treatment. Conclusions: IPs seem to drive avoidant behavioral responses to IBS symptoms, which in turn predict reductions in QoL. These relationships seem more pronounced among people who seek treatment for their symptoms. In practice, health care practitioners might help improve the QoL of people with IBS by preventing or remedying the development of negative IPs and avoidance behaviors.

Coping during COVID-19: how attitudinal, efficacy, and personality differences drive adherence to protective measures.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people's lives since its initial outbreak and global spread in 2020. While the U.S. government and public health officials have recommended best practices such as social distancing, wearing a mask, and avoiding large public gatherings, these orders have been met with varying levels of acceptance from the public. Given the disparate compliance, this study builds on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to explore individual differences and personal motivation factors in order to better understand what may influence one's likelihood to adhere to COVID-19 protective measures. METHODS: A U.S. national survey (N = 2,049) was conducted April-May 2020, roughly one month after stay-at-home orders were issued in some states. Participants were asked to report their likelihood of taking individual and community protective measures. Multivariate hierarchical linear regressions were run to analyze the extent to which participants' concerns about COVID-19's impact, individual and collective self-efficacy, coping behaviors, and personality traits influenced the dependent variables. RESULTS: Findings showed that COVID-19-related health concerns, collective efficacy, and proactive coping strategies were positively related to participants' likelihood of taking protective measures. Those with greater concerns about their general well-being and the economy, adverse coping strategies like denial and joking, as well as sensation-seeking personalities, were less likely to take protective measures. CONCLUSION: The discussion considers how individual differences fit into broader global efforts to stem COVID-19. Practical implications for public health messaging are that communication may focus on facilitating efficacy in order to boost compliance with protective measures.

The effect of age on emotion regulation patterns in daily life: Findings from an experience sampling study.

The present experience sampling study investigated the effect of age on emotion regulation patterns (i.e., emotion regulation strategy effectiveness, variability, and differentiation) in daily life. The study further explored the implications of potential age differences in emotion regulation patterns for well-being. A sample of 406 adults (age range: 18-81, 62.8% female) were prompted five times a day for seven days to rate momentary emotions, emotion regulation strategy use, and emotion regulation strategy effectiveness. Based on these ratings, indicators of emotion regulation variability and differentiation were calculated. Well-being outcomes included daily positive and negative emotions, and symptoms of depression and anxiety assessed at baseline. The findings revealed reduced emotion regulation variability with age and a negative association between emotion regulation variability and well-being. There were no associations between age and emotion regulation effectiveness or differentiation. Emotion regulation effectiveness was associated with more positive and less negative daily emotions, and these associations were stronger for younger adults compared to older adults. Drawing on prominent lifespan theories, the findings may indicate that as people age, they select and apply a few strategies that they know will be effective given the context and their resources which leads to reduced emotion regulation variability but ultimately more well-being. Concerning emotion regulation effectiveness, the findings suggest that effectiveness is less important for emotional well-being in daily life in older adulthood possibly because well-being is determined by other factors (e.g., less frequent and more predictable stressors) with age.

The Use of Medical Crowdfunding to Mitigate the Personal Costs of Serious Chronic Illness: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Persons diagnosed with serious chronic illnesses and their caretakers experience multiple types of financial costs that strain their income and generate financial distress. Many turn to medical crowdfunding (MCF) to mitigate the harms of these costs on their health and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aims to summarize the research on MCF for persons diagnosed with serious chronic illness regarding study designs and methods; the responsible conduct of research practices; and study foci as they relate to stress, stress appraisals, and the coping processes. METHODS: This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Eligible studies were conducted in countries designated as high income by the World Bank and focused on beneficiaries diagnosed with serious chronic illness. The findings of the included studies were summarized as they related to the key concepts in a conceptual framework derived from an established stress, appraisal, and coping framework and a conceptual model of financial toxicity in pediatric oncology. RESULTS: Overall, 26 studies were eligible for inclusion in the review. The main findings included a lack of integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches and the inconsistent reporting of the responsible conduct of research practices. The included studies focused on financial stressors that contributed to financial burden, such as out-of-pocket payments of medical bills, basic living expenses, medical travel expenses, and lost income owing to illness-related work disruptions. Few studies addressed stress appraisals as threatening or the adequacy of available financial resources. When mentioned, appraisals related to the global financial struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic or the capacity of social network members to donate funds. The consequences of MCF included the receipt of 3 forms of social support (tangible, informational, and emotional), privacy loss, embarrassment, and the propagation of scientifically unsupported information. Studies found that friends and family tended to manage MCF campaigns. Although most of the studies (21/26, 81%) focused on monetary outcomes, a few (5/26, 19%) concentrated on peoples' experiences with MCF. CONCLUSIONS: The identified methodological gaps highlight the need for more robust and reproducible approaches to using the copious data available on public MCF platforms. The integration of quantitative and qualitative methods will allow for nuanced explorations of the MCF experience. A more consistent elaboration of strategies to promote the responsible conduct of research is warranted to minimize risk to populations that are vulnerable and express concerns regarding the loss of privacy. Finally, an examination of the unanticipated consequences of MCF is critical for the development of future interventions to optimize existing supports while providing needed supports, financial and nonfinancial, that are lacking.

Espiritualidade e saúde mental em tempos de pandemia pelo COVID-19: um estudo teórico / Spirituality and mental health in times of pandemic by the COVID-19: a theoretical study

A Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) declarou em março de 2020 um estado de pandemia relacionada ao COVID-19. A partir desta declaração as autoridades sanitárias passaram a recomendar mudanças em hábitos para conter a disseminação deste agravo, dentre estes, o isolamento e distanciamento social. Neste sentido, medo, ansiedade e estresse como transtornos em saúde mental aumentaram de forma significativa em todo mundo. Sabe-se que uma das formas de combater ou ressignificar tais processos pode ser alcançada mediante o reconhecimento e prática da espiritualidade, enquanto parte importante da visão do ser integral. Tais práticas melhoram o enfrentamento, visto que proporcionam resiliência e transformação, permitindo aos envolvidos o aproveitamento destes desafios para crescer, aprender e transformar. Como estratégias para este processo, o indivíduo pode buscar apreciar a natureza e as pequenas coisas, realizar reflexões capazes de facilitar as construções ou reconstruções cognitivas, valorizar e praticar o apoio social e promover a compaixão, para enfim fomentar a resiliência. Neste sentido, dois anos após o início da pandemia da Covid-19 o debate de seu impacto permanece necessário, incluindo as relações com a saúde física, mental e espiritual.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic state in March 2020 regarding to COVID-19. Since that declaration the health authorities began to recommend changes in habits to contain the spread of this disease, including isolation, and social distancing. In this sense, fear, anxiety, and stress as mental health problems have increased significantly worldwide. It is known that one of the ways to combat or resignify such processes can be achieved through the recognition and practice of spirituality, as an important part of the vision of the integral being. Such practices improve coping, since they provide resilience and transformation, allowing those involved to take advantage of these challenges for growth, learning and transformation. As strategies for this process, the individual can seek to appreciate nature and trivial things, perform reflections capable of facilitating cognitive constructions or reconstructions, valuing, and practicing social support, and promoting compassion are able to foster resilience. In this sense, more than two years after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate on its impact remains necessary, including relations with physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Impacts of repeated social defeat on behavior and the brain in a cichlid fish.

Social defeat is a powerful experience leading to drastic changes in physiology and behavior, many of which are negative. For example, repeated social defeat in vertebrates results in reduced reproductive success, sickness and behavioral abnormalities that threaten individual survival and species persistence. However, little is known about what neural mechanisms are involved in determining whether an individual is resilient or susceptible to repeated social defeat stress. It also remains unknown whether exclusive use of reactive behaviors after repeated social defeat is maintained over time and impacts future behaviors during subsequent contests. We used a resident-intruder experiment in the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni to investigate the behavior and neural correlates of these two opposing groups. Behavior was quantified by watching fish during defeat trials and used to distinguish resilient and susceptible individuals. Both resilient and susceptible fish started with searching and freezing behaviors, with searching decreasing and freezing increasing after repeated social defeat. After a 4 day break period, resilient fish used both searching and freezing behaviors during a social defeat encounter with a new resident, while susceptible fish almost exclusively used freezing behaviors. By quantifying neural activation using pS6 in socially relevant brain regions, we identified differential neural activation patterns associated with resilient and susceptible fish and found nuclei that co-varied and may represent functional networks. These data provide the first evidence of specific conserved brain networks underlying social stress resilience and susceptibility in fishes.

Male and Female Discrepancies in Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, and Coping Strategies among Orthognathic Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

With an increasing understanding of the differences between men and women's psychological experiences, this study aimed to probe the sex-based differences in anxiety, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies among orthognathic patients. The study hypothesis was that female patients would show higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms than males, and that coping mechanisms would differ between male and female sexes. A cross-sectional design was adopted, examining orthognathic patients from the Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery at the Emergency Clinical Municipal Hospital in Timisoara, Romania, from 2020 to 2023. Eligible participants (18+ years with no prior orthognathic treatment) completed a comprehensive online questionnaire 6 weeks before scheduled surgery. This was composed of validated self-report instruments comprising the SF-36, GAD-7, and the PHQ-9, and the COPE-60, along with additional sociodemographic data. Of the 127 orthognathic patients analyzed (68 men and 59 women, aged 18 to 65 years, mean age 32), men rated their physical health status slightly better on the SF-36 scale. However, the most notable difference was in mental health, with females scoring higher on both the PHQ-9 (indicative of depression) and the GAD-7 (indicative of anxiety) scales. Specifically, female participants exhibited average PHQ-9 scores 1.8 points higher and GAD-7 scores 1.5 points higher than their male counterparts. Coping mechanisms also varied: 42% of male patients primarily employed "Disengagement" strategies, while 58% of females predominantly used "Engagement" and "Emotion Focused" strategies. Emotion-focused coping was associated with a 1.6-fold increased risk of depressive symptoms. Sex differences play a crucial role in the psychological experiences of orthognathic patients, evident in anxiety and depression levels, perceived health status, and coping strategies. This underlines the importance of sex-tailored psychological support in the preoperative phase for orthognathic surgery patients.

Coping strategies in postpartum women: exploring the influence of demographic and maternity factors.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression is a frequent mental health issue that affects many women due to this stressful phase. The aim of the study is to gain insight into the coping strategies employed by postpartum women and to explore how these strategies are influenced by various demographic and maternity factors. METHODS: The study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 239 postpartum women receiving care at a Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic using self-reported tools, which include the Brief COPE survey and the socio-demographics and obstetric/maternal history form from October 2022 to April 2023. RESULTS: The study findings indicate that individuals aged over 40 tend to use more emotional-focused coping compared to those aged 21-30 (p = 0.002) and 31-40. Additionally, both genders of children were associated with more emotional-focused coping (p = 0.007) compared to only having boys. Cesarean section delivery (p = 0.001) was associated with more avoidant-focused coping than normal vaginal delivery. Avoidant-focused coping was significantly predicted by problem-focused coping (p < 0.001), emotional-focused coping (p = 0.034), age (p = 0.003), and gender of children (only boys, p < 0.001; both boys and girls, p = 0.019). Furthermore, problem-focused coping was significantly predicted by age (p = 0.004), gender of children (male child, p = 0.002; both boy and girl: p = 0.014), and avoidant-focused coping (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study examined how postpartum women cope with the challenges of motherhood and how this relates to their demographic and maternity factors. The results suggest that healthcare professionals should promote effective coping strategies and discourage avoidance-oriented approaches in postpartum interventions.

Psychological factors in Temporomandibular disorders and somatization: A multidimensional analysis of personality, coping, and distress among young adults.

PURPOSE: The association of Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and somatic symptoms with the psychological variables of personality, coping, and distress were analyzed in young adults. Physical and psychological correlates were also explored along with the risk factors for TMDs/somatization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were enlisted from a local university and the presence of TMDs and somatic symptoms was determined with the Short-form Fonseca Anamnestic Index and Patient Health Questionnaire-15. The psychological variables of personality, coping, and distress was assessed with the Big-Five Personality Inventory-10, brief-COPE Inventory, and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales-21 accordingly. Statistical evaluations were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation, and logistic regression analyses (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Among the 455 participants (mean age 22.7 ± 1.2 years), 18.2% and 5.7% had TMDs and medium-to-high somatization respectively. Participants with TMDs exhibited substantially higher somatization and psychological distress scores than those with no TMDs. Significant differences in TMD, conscientiousness, extraversion, and psychological distress scores were observed between participants with no-to-mild and medium-to-high somatization. The association between TMD and somatization scores, albeit significant, was weak. Neuroticism and dysfunctional coping style were moderately correlated to general distress, depression, anxiety, and stress (rs = 0.44-0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that anxiety is the main risk factor for the presence of TMDs and medium-to-high somatization in non-clinical young adults while conscientiousness is a protective factor for somatization.

Experiences of what influences physical activity adherence in Iranian patients with heart failure: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is becoming one of the important health care problems around the world. Physical activity as the foundation of the cardiac rehabilitation program is poorly adhered by patients with HF. This study aimed to understand the experiences of patients with HF in terms of adherence to physical activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using conventional qualitative content analysis. Data were collected by semistructured telephone interviews with 25 patients with HF through open-ended questions. Data were collected from patients with HF in Birjand and Mashhad hospitals and heart departments from December 2021 to March 2022. Data were analyzed using Max-QDA10 and data analysis was continuous, comparative, and simultaneous with data collection. RESULTS: After data analysis, three main categories were identified: (1) patient-related barriers and facilitators, (2) support system-related barriers and facilitators, and (3) environmental barriers and facilitators. These categories were subdivided into two main themes: (1) threatening disease and (2) challenging disease. CONCLUSION: The results showed that beyond patient-related, support system-related, and environmental categories, perceiving the disease as a challenge or a threat is crucial in the activity of patients with HF. Nurses and other health care providers can train problem-solving behaviors to patients with HF to improve their physical and mental well-being. It is suggested that theoretical-behavioral approaches can be used in future clinical trials to improve adherence to physical activity.