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Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) May 2021We examined longitudinal differences in the severity of distress, depression, anxiety, and concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19 during the first two months of this...
We examined longitudinal differences in the severity of distress, depression, anxiety, and concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19 during the first two months of this pandemic, correlations between these variables, and interactions of distress with significant sociodemographics across waves. A longitudinal online survey was conducted in the State of Mexico, from 8 April to 27 May, 2020, in a sample of men and women between 18 and 60 years old, using: Impact of Event Scale-6, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, General Anxiety Disoder-7, and a questionnaire of concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19. Six hundred seventy participants were analyzed. Only a mild difference in distress was observed between the two waves and mild correlations of this variable with contagion in oneself and in a relative. Having a high-risk medical condition proved a considerable effect on distress within both waves. Perception of usefulness of preventive measures, concerns of contagion in a relative, and financial and security situations scored high within our questionnaire but did not change in the follow-up. We hypothesize that habituation to distressful events in the Mexican population (emergent resilience) might explain the absence of meaningful differences. Our research adds to the monitoring of mental health in Mexicans during the COVID-19 pandemic; its findings can serve to perform comparisons in other studies and for further meta-analyses.
PubMed: 34068274
DOI: 10.3390/bs11050076 -
The Hastings Center Report Jan 2023This ethnographic study introduces the term "distressed work" to describe the emergence of chronic frictions between moral imperatives for health care workers to keep...
This ethnographic study introduces the term "distressed work" to describe the emergence of chronic frictions between moral imperatives for health care workers to keep working and the dramatic increase in distress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Interviews and observant participation conducted in a hospital intensive care unit during the Covid-19 pandemic reveal how health care workers connected job duties with extraordinary emotional, physical, and moral burdens. We explore tensions between perceived obligations of health care professionals and the structural contexts of work. Key findings cluster around the moral imperatives of health care work and the distress that work engendered as work spaces, senses of vocation, patient and family interactions, and end-of-life care shifted. While the danger of working beyond limits has long been an ordinary feature of health care work, it has now become a chronic crisis. Assessing this problem in terms of distressed work and its structural contexts can better address effective, worker-informed responses to current health care labor dilemmas.
Topics: Humans; Stress, Psychological; Pandemics; COVID-19; Emotions; Critical Care; Morals
PubMed: 36840335
DOI: 10.1002/hast.1458 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Jun 2021The COVID-19 pandemic generates negative psychological effects such as distress. Social influences on subjective distress associated with COVID-19 remain understudied in...
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic generates negative psychological effects such as distress. Social influences on subjective distress associated with COVID-19 remain understudied in the Chinese context. Wuhan with its surrounding areas in Hubei province was not only the locale where first COVID-19 cases were detected in the world but was also the hardest hit across China. Data from Hubei provide a unique opportunity to investigate COVID-19-related subjective distress and its social correlates.
METHODS
We use original data (N=3,465) from the General Social Survey on COVID-19 in Hubei, China, conducted in August 2020. Regression analysis is employed to examine the impact of socioeconomic status, family structure, and social policies on COVID-19-related subjective distress measured by the Impact of Event-Scale-Revised (IES-R).
RESULTS
First, individuals with higher socioeconomic status are not more immune to distress, and actually it is those better-educated ones who are more distressed. Second, family structure influences distress. Divorced and widowed individuals are more prone to distress than those who are married or single. Those living with COVID-19-infected family members or living with a larger family are particularly more distressed. Third, stricter lockdown measures promote real and perceived protection and also increase individuals' psychological distance from the disease, thereby reducing subjective distress.
LIMITATIONS
The sample is not totally random so we should use caution when generalizing the findings to the general population.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings contribute to our understanding of mental health disparity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain social groups are at a higher risk of distress than others.
Topics: COVID-19; China; Communicable Disease Control; Humans; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 33940318
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.026 -
Journal of Behavior Therapy and... Sep 2020Aim of the current research was to newly conceptualize nightmare distress. The special focus was on the appraisal of nightmare distress while applying a theory-driven...
Aim of the current research was to newly conceptualize nightmare distress. The special focus was on the appraisal of nightmare distress while applying a theory-driven approach based on Lazarus' transactional model of stress. It was argued that individuals feel the more distressed the more they feel threatened and harmed by their nightmares (primary appraisal according to Lazarus) and the more they lack of adequate coping skills to deal with the stressor (secondary appraisal). Based on these assumptions, the questionnaire of Cognitive Appraisal of Nightmares (CAN) was challenged empirically in two studies of patients who have experienced distressing nightmares using explorative and confirmative factor analyses (N = 504 and N = 402). Items and scales showed good psychometric properties and plausible correlations. The CAN sum score was more distinct from nightmare frequency than the frequently used Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ), underpinning that frequency and distress are both different approaches to what patients suffer from. The NDQ was particularly associated with acted out behaviors after a nightmare, while the CAN was particularly associated with physiological and emotional consequences of a nightmare. In order to obtain a multifactorial and theory-driven picture about how individuals appraise their nightmares, the CAN may be convenient.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cognition; Dreams; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Models, Psychological; Psychological Distress; Psychometrics; Stress, Psychological; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 31884305
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.101517 -
Nursing Reports (Pavia, Italy) Mar 2023Research shows that the longer nurses care for terminally ill patients, the greater they experience moral distress. The same applies to nursing students. This study aims...
BACKGROUND
Research shows that the longer nurses care for terminally ill patients, the greater they experience moral distress. The same applies to nursing students. This study aims to analyze episodes of moral distress experienced by nursing students during end-of-life care of onco-hematologic patients in hospital settings.
METHODS
This study was conducted in the interpretative paradigm using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and data were analyzed following the principles of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
RESULTS
Seventeen participants were included in the study. The research team identified eight themes: causes of moral distress; factors that worsen or influence the experience of moral distress; feelings and emotions in morally distressing events; morally distressing events and consultation; strategies to cope with moral distress; recovering from morally distressing events; end-of-life accompaniment; internship clinical training, and nursing curriculum.
CONCLUSIONS
Moral distress is often related to poor communication or lack of communication between health care professionals and patients or relatives and to the inability to satisfy patients' last needs and wants. Further studies are necessary to examine the quantitative dimension of moral distress in nursing students. Students frequently experience moral distress in the onco-hematological setting.
PubMed: 36976701
DOI: 10.3390/nursrep13010049 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2022A growing literature supports the expansion of mental health assessment to include indicators of mental wellbeing; however, the concurrent use of measures of wellbeing...
A growing literature supports the expansion of mental health assessment to include indicators of mental wellbeing; however, the concurrent use of measures of wellbeing and distress introduces potential sources of measurement error. The current study examines whether the mental health continuum short form is invariant to the level of participants' psychological distress. Measurement invariance testing was conducted within an Australian population ( = 8406) who participated in an online survey. The depression anxiety stress scale was used to construct a non-distressed group ( = 6420) and a severe-distress group ( = 1968). Results showed that metric invariance was not observed, as item loadings on the latent variables were significantly different between the groups. This signifies that wellbeing items may be interpreted and valued differently by distressed and non-distressed individuals. Metric non-invariance indicates that total and subscale scores may not be equivalent, and caution is required when making comparisons between these groups.
Topics: Australia; Humans; Psychological Distress; Psychometrics; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 36011705
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191610072 -
The Journal of Sexual Medicine Apr 2009Gynecomastia (breast development in males) is a side effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PCa). Medical interventions to prevent or treat... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Gynecomastia (breast development in males) is a side effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PCa). Medical interventions to prevent or treat gynecomastia carry risk of additional detrimental side effects. However, untreated gynecomastia can be physically uncomfortable and psychologically distressing. Shame from gynecomastia can lead patients to stop otherwise beneficial exercise.
AIMS
Our first aim is to explore the social context for gynecomastia and how it is interpreted by men with the condition, as well as by others, both male and female. Subsequently, we use our understanding of why gynecomastia is psychologically distressing to propose psychosocial interventions that could help men accept this side effect of ADT.
METHODS
We draw on academic literature, media accounts, and web-based testimonials from men with gynecomastia, to understand how gynecomastia is perceived by both patients and the medical community. We examine these resources in light of gynecomastia's impact on sex roles, sexuality, and gender identity issues.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
By exploring what breasts in a male mean to the individual, we produce an understanding of the social context for distress from gynecomastia. From this understanding, we derive hypotheses about who might be most distressed from gynecomastia and strategies for alleviating this distress.
RESULTS
The shame and stigma of gynecomastia is linked to the objectification of women. We suggest that men fear that their breasts will marginalize and subordinate them within gender hierarchies. There is little evidence that breasts on a male erotically attract either men or women. Novel options for living with gynecomastia are contrasted with medicalized strategies including mastectomy.
CONCLUSION
Assessment instruments need to be developed to identify patients most likely to experience distress from gynecomastia and seek out medical interventions. Surgical, radiological, or pharmacological interventions may not be universally necessary if greater acceptance of gynecomastia is made available through psychosocial support programs. For example, PCa patients may learn to accept gynecomastia through reconceptualizing their breasts as autoerotic. Support programs modeled on those of the breast cancer community, including Encore and dragon boat racing, may also help to build communities to serve patients with gynecomastia while defending individuals against shame, isolation, and loss of self-esteem.
Topics: Androgen Antagonists; Depression; Gender Identity; Gynecomastia; Humans; Iatrogenic Disease; Male; Mastectomy; Prostatic Neoplasms; Psychology; Self Concept; Sexual Behavior; Shame; Social Environment; Social Isolation; Social Support; Stereotyping
PubMed: 19175864
DOI: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.01053.x -
China CDC Weekly Jun 2023The literature has consistently demonstrated that distress rumination following a traumatic event has significant implications for mental health. However, the potential...
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC?
The literature has consistently demonstrated that distress rumination following a traumatic event has significant implications for mental health. However, the potential association between distress rumination and suicidality, as well as the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship, remains to be elucidated.
WHAT IS ADDED BY THIS REPORT?
The current study demonstrated a significant, positive correlation between distress rumination and suicidal ideation in college students who have encountered traumatic events. The findings indicate that somatic anxiety serves as a mediator between distress rumination and suicidal ideation.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE?
Interventions aimed at reducing somatic anxiety may contribute to a decrease in suicidal ideation. Assessing and addressing somatic anxiety symptoms in college students experiencing distressful rumination following traumatic events could potentially lower the risk of suicide.
PubMed: 37415792
DOI: 10.46234/ccdcw2023.108 -
Circulation. Cardiovascular Quality and... Sep 2010
Review
Topics: Cardiovascular Diseases; Depression; Evidence-Based Medicine; Humans; Personality; Precision Medicine; Risk Factors; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 20841549
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.109.934406 -
Nursing Ethics Dec 2023Moral distress is a pervasive phenomenon in healthcare for which there is no straightforward "solution." Rhetoric surrounding moral distress has shifted over time, with...
Moral distress is a pervasive phenomenon in healthcare for which there is no straightforward "solution." Rhetoric surrounding moral distress has shifted over time, with some scholars arguing that moral distress needs to be remedied, resolved, and eradicated, while others recognize that moral distress can have some positive value. The authors of this paper recognize that moral distress has value in its function as a warning sign, signaling the presence of an ethical issue related to patient care that requires deeper exploration, rather than evidencing identification of the "right" course of action. Once the experience of moral distress is identified, steps ought to be taken to clarify the moral issue, and, if possible and reasonable, the patient's values ought to be prioritized. This paper offers concrete actions steps, drawn from theory, which can be used in clinical practice to provide peer support or to facilitate self-reflection for morally distressed individuals. This approach empowers morally distressed individuals to explore ethical issues, identify concrete steps that can be taken, and mitigate feelings of powerlessness that are often associated with moral-constraint distress. The questions guide individuals and peers to reflect first on the micro-space and then more broadly on the institutional culture, facilitating meso- and macro-reflection and action.
PubMed: 38149497
DOI: 10.1177/09697330231221220