Effects of an automatized psychological inoculation (PI) intervention on anxiety, resilience and adherence to COVID-19 recommendations.

OBJECTIVES: The covid-19 pandemic calls for adherence to multiple health behaviours. While authorities mostly use health information to deal with these issues, such an approach may be insufficient. This study examined the effects of a cognitive method, namely psychological inoculation (PI) + health information (experimental) versus health information alone (control) on anxiety, resilience and adherence. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial was used. Participants were assigned to the experimental or control conditions, all provided on an automatized computerized system. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: These included anxiety, adherence to the Covid-19 Israeli health ministry's recommendations, and mental resilience. Participants were assessed before, immediately after and a week after the interventions. RESULTS: Controls increased only in adherence at 1 week compared to baseline. In contrast, those in the PI increased in resilience and adherence and reported lower anxiety immediately after treatment compared to baseline levels. In the PI condition, degree of refuting challenging sentences correlated with less anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Results showed better immediate improvements in anxiety, resilience and intention to adhere in the experimental condition compare to the controls. Authorities may wish to add PI to help the public deal with the effects of such a pandemic and to increase adherence to health recommendations.

Integrated Analysis of Behavioural and Health COVID-19 Data Combining Bayesian Networks and Structural Equation Models.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been highly variable. Governments have applied different mitigation policies with varying effect on social and economic measures, over time. This article presents a methodology for examining the effect of mobility restriction measures and the association between health and population activity data. As case studies, we refer to the pre-vaccination experience in Italy and Israel. Facing the pandemic, Israel and Italy implemented different policy measures and experienced different population behavioral patterns. Data from these countries are used to demonstrate the proposed methodology. The analysis we introduce in this paper is a staged approach using Bayesian Networks and Structural Equations Models. The goal is to assess the impact of pandemic management and mitigation policies on pandemic spread and population activity. The proposed methodology models data from health registries and Google mobility data and then shows how decision makers can conduct scenario analyses to help design adequate pandemic management policies.

Why Does Israel Lead the World in COVID-19 Vaccinations? Applying Mass Casualty Event Principles to COVID-19 Vaccination Programs.

The article examines Israel's experience in managing the COVID-19 vaccination program beginning in December 2020. Utilizing principles of mass casualty event management, such as triaging, flow of casualty care, and flexibility (among others), we analyze Israel's vaccination program. The successful Israeli experience was found to be based on timely coordinated and adaptive health system logistics and operations, as well as cooperative population behaviors.

Regular drinking may strengthen the beneficial influence of social support on depression: findings from a representative Israeli sample during a period of war and terrorism.

BACKGROUND: Social support is consistently associated with reduced risk of depression. Few studies have investigated how this relationship may be modified by alcohol use, the effects of which may be particularly relevant in traumatized populations in which rates of alcohol use are known to be high. METHODS: In 2008 a representative sample of 1622 Jewish and Palestinian citizens in Israel were interviewed by phone at two time points during a period of ongoing terrorism and war threat. Two multivariable mixed effects regression models were estimated to measure the longitudinal association of social support from family and friends on depression symptoms. Three-way interaction terms between social support, alcohol use and time were entered into the models to test for effect modification. RESULTS: Findings indicated that increased family social support was associated with less depression symptomatology (p=<.01); this relationship was modified by alcohol use and time (p=<.01). Social support from friends was also associated with fewer depression symptoms (p=<.01) and this relationship was modified by alcohol use and time as well (p=<.01). Stratified analyses in both models revealed that the effect of social support was stronger for those who drank alcohol regularly than those who did not drink or drank rarely. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that social support is a more important protective factor for depression among regular drinkers than among those who do not drink or drink rarely in the context of political violence. Additional research is warranted to determine whether these findings are stable in other populations and settings.