Experiences of frontline healthcare workers and their views about support during COVID-19 and previous pandemics : a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

Background
Healthcare workers across the world have risen to the demands of treating COVID-19 patients, potentially at significant cost to their own health and wellbeing. There has been increasing recognition of the potential mental health impact of COVID-19 on frontline workers and calls to provide psychosocial support for them. However, little attention has so far been paid to understanding the impact of working on a pandemic from healthcare workers’ own perspectives or what their views are about support.

 

Read more

Associations Between Maternal Depression, Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy, and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: 

To evaluate the associations of depressive symptoms and antidepressant use during pregnancy with the risks of preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age (SGA), and low Apgar scores.

DATA SOURCES: 

MEDLINE, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PsycINFO up to June 2016.

METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: 

Read more

Dance and movement therapy holds promise for treating anxiety and depression, as well as deeper psychological wounds

A few years ago, framed by the skyline of Detroit, a group of about 15 children resettled as refugees from the Middle East and Africa leapt and twirled around, waving blue, pink and white streamers through the air.

Read more

Global climate change and trauma : An International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Briefing Paper

As human beings, our physical and mental health cannot be separated from the environments in which we live. Climate change, if left unaddressed, is projected to have catastrophic consequences on the mental health of entire populations. The impacts of climate change on  traumatic stress and other aspects of mental health arise primarily from problems that are collectively, though not equally, experienced.

Read more

Global Climate Change and Trauma

Overview

 Climate change is defined as significant long-term alterations in average weather patterns (e.g., temperature, precipitation, wind) due to the combination of natural processes and human activity.

 Climate change is associated with adverse impacts on mental health and wellbeing, including trauma.

 In April 2021, ISTSS released a detailed briefing paper describing the current state of knowledge on climate change and trauma and highlighting gaps to inform public health, policy, clinical, and research initiatives on this topic. 

Read more

Mental and physical health of international humanitarian aid workers on short-term assignments : Findings from a prospective cohort study

Research findings show humanitarian work impacts one’s health. We conducted a prospective observational study among 618 international humanitarian aid workers (iHAWs)’ recruited from 76 countries to investigate health changes and ill-health risk factors after mostly short-term (<1 year) medical emergency assignments. The aid workers were assigned to 27 countries. Data collected between 2017 and 2020.

 

Read more

Psychometric properties of the German version of the Depressive and Anxious Avoidance in Prolonged Grief Questionnaire (DAAPGQ)

The Depressive and Anxious Avoidance in Prolonged Grief Questionnaire (DAAPGQ) was developed to measure depressive and anxious avoidance behaviors, which, according to cognitive-behavioral models, are supposed to play an important role in the development and maintenance of prolonged grief. The present study aimed to develop a German version of the DAAPGQ and evaluate its psychometric properties and validity within a representative sample of the German general population (N = 2531). The German-language DAAPGQ was  developed using a forward-backward translation procedure.

Read more

Overcoming barriers to mental health care : multimodal trauma‑focused treatment approach for unaccompanied refugee minors

Background: This study evaluated the feasibility of a short-term, multimodal trauma-focused treatment approach adapted specifically for unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) in the Netherlands. This approach aims to overcome barriers to mental health care and to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.

 

Read more

Feasibility and acceptability of Problem Management Plus with Emotional Processing (PM +EP) for refugee youth living in the Netherlands : study protocol

Background: Refugee youth experience hardships associated with exposure to trauma in their homelands and during and after displacement, which results in higher rates of common mental disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed Problem Management Plus (PM+), a non-specialist-delivered brief psychological intervention, for individuals who have faced adversity. PM+ comprises problem-solving, stress management, behavioural activation and strengthening social support.

Read more

Risk and protective factors, stressors, and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic – First results of the ESTSS COVID-19 pan-European ADJUST study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposes individuals to multiple stressors, such as quarantine, physical distancing, job loss, risk of infection, and loss of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors potentially lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder. 

 

Objective: This cross-sectional exploratory study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, stressors, and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Read more

Pages