Predictors of changing patterns of adherence to containment measures during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic: an international longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Identifying common factors that affect public adherence to COVID-19 containment measures can directly inform the development of official public health communication strategies. The present international longitudinal study aimed to examine whether prosociality, together with other theoretically derived motivating factors (self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility and severity of COVID-19, perceived social support) predict the change in adherence to COVID-19 containment strategies. METHOD: In wave 1 of data collection, adults from eight geographical regions completed online surveys beginning in April 2020, and wave 2 began in June and ended in September 2020. Hypothesized predictors included prosociality, self-efficacy in following COVID-19 containment measures, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19, perceived severity of COVID-19 and perceived social support. Baseline covariates included age, sex, history of COVID-19 infection and geographical regions. Participants who reported adhering to specific containment measures, including physical distancing, avoidance of non-essential travel and hand hygiene, were classified as adherence. The dependent variable was the category of adherence, which was constructed based on changes in adherence across the survey period and included four categories: non-adherence, less adherence, greater adherence and sustained adherence (which was designated as the reference category). RESULTS: In total, 2189 adult participants (82% female, 57.2% aged 31-59 years) from East Asia (217 [9.7%]), West Asia (246 [11.2%]), North and South America (131 [6.0%]), Northern Europe (600 [27.4%]), Western Europe (322 [14.7%]), Southern Europe (433 [19.8%]), Eastern Europe (148 [6.8%]) and other regions (96 [4.4%]) were analyzed. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that prosociality, self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 were significant factors affecting adherence. Participants with greater self-efficacy at wave 1 were less likely to become non-adherence at wave 2 by 26% (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.77; P < .001), while those with greater prosociality at wave 1 were less likely to become less adherence at wave 2 by 23% (aOR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.79; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that in addition to emphasizing the potential severity of COVID-19 and the potential susceptibility to contact with the virus, fostering self-efficacy in following containment strategies and prosociality appears to be a viable public health education or communication strategy to combat COVID-19.

Patterns of Psychological Responses among the Public during the Early Phase of COVID-19: A Cross-Regional Analysis.

This study aimed to compare the mediation of psychological flexibility, prosociality and coping in the impacts of illness perceptions toward COVID-19 on mental health among seven regions. Convenience sampled online survey was conducted between April and June 2020 from 9130 citizens in 21 countries. Illness perceptions toward COVID-19, psychological flexibility, prosociality, coping and mental health, socio-demographics, lockdown-related variables and COVID-19 status were assessed. Results showed that psychological flexibility was the only significant mediator in the relationship between illness perceptions toward COVID-19 and mental health across all regions (all ps = 0.001-0.021). Seeking social support was the significant mediator across subgroups (all ps range = <0.001-0.005) except from the Hong Kong sample (p = 0.06) and the North and South American sample (p = 0.53). No mediation was found for problem-solving (except from the Northern European sample, p = 0.009). Prosociality was the significant mediator in the Hong Kong sample (p = 0.016) and the Eastern European sample (p = 0.008). These findings indicate that fostering psychological flexibility may help to mitigate the adverse mental impacts of COVID-19 across regions. Roles of seeking social support, problem-solving and prosociality vary across regions.

To Help or Not to Help? Prosocial Behavior, Its Association With Well-Being, and Predictors of Prosocial Behavior During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans' social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants (N = 9,496) from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine mental health outcomes during pandemic induced lockdowns and to examine known predictors of mental health outcomes. We therefore surveyed n = 9,565 people from 78 countries and 18 languages. Outcomes assessed were stress, depression, affect, and wellbeing. Predictors included country, sociodemographic factors, lockdown characteristics, social factors, and psychological factors. RESULTS: Results indicated that on average about 10% of the sample was languishing from low levels of mental health and about 50% had only moderate mental health. Importantly, three consistent predictors of mental health emerged: social support, education level, and psychologically flexible (vs. rigid) responding. Poorer outcomes were most strongly predicted by a worsening of finances and not having access to basic supplies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that on whole, respondents were moderately mentally healthy at the time of a population-wide lockdown. The highest level of mental health difficulties were found in approximately 10% of the population. Findings suggest that public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Interventions that promote psychological flexibility may mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy among Mothers with Children with Disruptive Behavior / Psicoterapia funcional analítica en madres de niños con conductas problemáticas

Children's mental problems remain one of the central topics in governments’ agendas because of their negative impact at social and economic levels. The present paper is a single case study, with A-B design with concurrent control through behaviors and participants, aimed to identify the effect of the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) on four mothers who informed about their children's disruptive behaviors in the school setting. A case-control who received psychoeducation based intervention was d in order to observe outcome differences among participants regarding the implemented treatment. Using the FIAT-Q and al analysis, participants' problematic behaviors were identified. Mothers treated with FAP were expected to display behavioral changes within the sessions and generalized them to the natural context in the interaction with their children in order to promote children's prosocial behaviors. Results indicated that FAP reduced the frequency of mothers’ problematic behaviors and, in turn, children reduced disruptive behaviors. Implications of the study results are discussed both at theoretical and applied levels

Los problemas psicológicos en niños constituyen una de las temáticas centrales en las agendas gubernamentales debido al impacto negativo que representan a nivel social y económico en la población. Mediante un diseño de caso único A-B con control concurrente, a través de conductas y participantes, la presente investigación tuvo como objetivo identificar el efecto de la psicoterapia analítica funcional en un grupo de cuatro madres cuyos hijos tenían comportamientos problemáticos. Se incluyó un caso control que recibió entrenamiento en el manejo de contingencias con el fin de observar diferencias en los resultados de acuerdo con el tipo de tratamiento. Por medio del análisis funcional y del FIAT-Q se identificaron las conductas clínicamente relevantes de las cinco participantes a ser modificadas durante la intervención para generalizar los cambios a la interacción con los hijos. Los resultados indican que las madres que recibieron tratamiento basado en FAP presentaron una disminución de los comportamientos problemáticos y, a su vez, sus hijos redujeron los comportamientos problemáticos en el contexto escolar. Las implicaciones de los resultados del estudio se discuten a nivel teórico y aplicado

[Family adherence in serious mental disorder]. / La adherencia familiar en el trastorno mental grave.

OBJECTIVE: Identify attitudes and behaviors that evidence and characterize family adherence to treatment in patients with severe mental disorder. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive, from an interpretative social approach. LOCATION: Chia, Colombia, with professionals in the psychiatric and geriatric settings. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve professionals in psychiatry, nursing and psychology, with experience in care of patients with serious mental disorder and their families. METHOD: Intentional sampling. Twelve semi-structured interviews were carried out. The analysis strategy was made from the procedures of constant comparison and open coding of the grounded theory. As validation strategies, triangulation was done between researchers and methods, as interviews and results survey. RESULTS: Two categories of family adherence were defined: family and treatment (treatment cooperation, knowledge about the disease and attention to the disease evolution), and family attitudes towards the patient (patient's care, patient's promotion of autonomy, and affective attachment with the patient). A third category showed aspects that diminished family adherence, such as lack or distortion of information regarding mental disorder, or family and patient endurance attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Participants agree about the relevance of the construct named «family adherence¼, which describes the behaviors and attitudes of the family regarding the treatment of patients with severe mental disorder. Family adherence can be seen as active participation behavior, but also as a process of strengthening relationships, which can reduce the burden and suffering on family members, caregivers and patients.

Estudio epidemiológico de salud mental en población clínica de un centro de atención psicológica / An epidemiologic study on mental health within clinical patients from a psychological center

Resumen El presente estudio tiene como objetivo la descripción de variables sociodemográficas, del tratamiento, principales categorías diagnósticas y prevalencia de trastornos mentales de la población atendida en un centro de psicología. Se analizaron las historias clínicas de los 1699 consultantes atendidos entre los años 2012 y 2015, por medio de las estadísticas de atención mensual del Centro. Entre los resultados más significativos, se identifican coincidencias con los perfiles epidemiológicos a nivel mundial y nacional. Sin embargo, se identificaron diferencias al analizar la información de acuerdo con los grupos de edad de los consultantes. Las principales categorías diagnósticas de la población estuvieron relacionadas con problemas académicos y con el grupo primario de apoyo. Los trastornos de la conducta fueron los más prevalentes en niños y adolescentes, mientras que en adultos prevalecieron trastornos internalizantes. Se discute la relevancia de los resultados en el contexto clínico.

Abstract The present study aims to describe the demographic characteristics, psychodiagnostic typologies, and mental disorders prevalence of the population in a Psychological Center. The clinical records of 1699 patients treated between years 2012 and 2015 were analyzed using the monthly statistical attention database. The results were similar to international and national epidemiological studies. The main psychodiagnostic categories were related to academic and primary support group issues. However, differences regarding psychodiagnostic categories analyzing the information by age group were identified. In children and adolescents' behavioral disorders were the most prevalent mental disease, whereas in adults were anxiety and mood disorders. The relevance of the results in the clinical setting is discussed.