Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study

Internet-Based Self-Help Mindful Self-Compassion Intervention for Parents of Children With Cancer: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Parents of children with cancer may experience persistent psychological distress and impaired physical health throughout their children's diagnosis and treatment.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to develop a mindful self-compassion program for parents of children with cancer and explore its effect.

METHODS

This pre-post-test study without a control group was conducted with 34 Chinese parents of children with cancer, using mixed methods. Participants received a 6-week internet-based self-help mindful self-compassion intervention. Self-compassion, post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and sleep quality were measured at baseline and at 10 weeks post-baseline. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 completers within 10 days after the intervention was completed.

RESULTS

Significant differences were observed in self-compassion, re-experiencing, physical depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. Two participants reported feeling miserable or recalling distressing experiences, of which one withdrew from the study while the other completed the intervention.

CONCLUSION

The program could improve self-compassion, re-experiencing, physical depressive symptoms, and sleep quality in parents of children with cancer, which demonstrated the feasibility of delivering a self-help mindful self-compassion intervention through the internet. Increasing retention rates in future studies merits further discussion.

Factors associated with posttraumatic growth: gratitude, PTSD and distress; one year into the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon

Almost one year since the COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, mental distress remains elevated with high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet studies suggest these challenging circumstances might be conducive of post-traumatic growth (PTG). This study aims to investigate the factors associated with growth after the original trauma. A sample of 252 Lebanese adults filled an online survey to determine levels of PTG, PTSD and gratitude using validated self-rating scales. Participants also subjectively evaluated the sources of their distress such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosion and/or their deteriorating financials. The PTGi-SF evaluated dimensions of growth while the IES-R_22 measured the degree of distress post-trauma. The GQ-6 was used to measure the proneness to experience gratitude daily. Results indicated 41% of participants scored above the cutoff for PTSD symptomatology. Yet, PTSD was positively correlated, alongside gratitude and accumulated subjective distress, with higher levels of PTG. A forward linear regression taking PTG scores as the dependent variable further showed that more gratitude (Beta = 0.57), a higher impact of events (Beta = 0.16), and knowing anyone who died from COVID-19 (Beta = 3.93) were significantly associated with more growth. The study highlights elevated levels of PTSD symptoms in a context of a global pandemic worsened by financial and socio-political instabilities. It mostly identifies personal factors, including high initial symptomatology post-trauma and gratitude, related to the capacity for growth in spite of these accumulating hardships. As such, it advocates the need to investigate and bolster silver linings amidst unprecedented traumas.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Urban Residents-Evidence from China

Based on a nationwide micro-survey in China from 2018 to 2021, this paper empirically estimates the causal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Chinese residents, by exploiting the distribution of the outflow population from Wuhan as an instrumental variable (IV). Our findings suggest that for every 10% increase in the cumulative confirmed cases, the number of mentally unhealthy days reported by urban residents in the past 30 days will increase by 2.19, an increase of 46.90% compared with the mean value. The impact is more significant among females, people aged 30 or above, and private-sector employees. Further evidence highlights the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on residents' expectations of future income and confidence in macroeconomic development, both of which we interpret as mechanisms related to economic concerns. In addition, application of the multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) strategy revealed that the negative impact still exists two years post-pandemic, but it has been dramatically alleviated since the initial stage.

Links between rational and irrational beliefs, trait anxiety and fear of COVID 19

Introduction

Methodology

Results

Discussion

Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis Attending SDG 3 and 4 of the 2030 Agenda

Background: Most universities around the world have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Many students were isolated at home and underwent a forced transition from face-to-face learning to e-learning, at least in the first few months. The subsequent months and years were typically characterised by a slow return to normal learning under COVID-19 protocols and restrictions. A potential consequence of the lockdowns, social restrictions and changes to learning is the development of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in university students, affecting their health and well-being (SDG3) and quality of education (SDG4). Materials and Methods: Medline was searched through PubMed for studies on the prevalence of PTSD in university students from 1 December 2019 to 31 December 2021. The pooled prevalence of PTSD was calculated with random-effects models. Results: A total of six studies were included, across which the prevalence of PTSD among university students was 23%. Meta-regression showed that the prevalence of PTSD was significantly higher with older age, but independent of the percentage of women in a study or its methodological quality. Conclusions: Our results suggest that students suffer from PTSD at a moderate rate. Measures are needed to address the mental health issues of university students that have arisen during COVID-19 all around the world.

Volunteering among Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Volunteering has been found to be not only beneficial to the well-being of recipients but also to the volunteers themselves, particularly from the life course perspective. Although previous studies have identified key factors of volunteering motivation, the literature is less focused on the interplay of public interest and private gains in volunteering motivation. This study used 1871 college students across China to examine how the interplay between public interest and private gains affects general and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-specific volunteering during the pandemic. The results show that the interplay of these two factors constitutes a dynamic process, depending on the volunteering and time-specific context. Overall, undergraduate students with greater concern for public interest and less preference in private gains had the highest rate of overall volunteering, followed by students with high concern for both public interest and private gains. It is crucial to take both public interest and private gains into account when discussing volunteering opportunities among Chinese college students, which may increase the well-being of students in the long run.

COVID-19-related stressful experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among college students in China: A moderated mediation model of perceived control over the future and empathy

The current study aims to investigate the mediating effect of perceived control over the future and the moderating effect of empathy on the association between stressful experiences and PTSD symptoms among college students in China in response to COVID-19. A sample of 1,225 college students (70.69% were female, M age = 20.22 years, SD = 2.02) were recruited using web-based surveys at wave 1 (W1) and wave 2 (W2) longitudinally. Results showed that COVID-19-related stressful experiences were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. Perceived control over the future partially mediated the relationship between these two variables ( indirect effect size = 0.09, p < 0.01). Empathy significantly moderated the path from perceived control over the future to PTSD symptoms, suggesting that the association was stronger for individuals with higher levels of empathy. Findings suggest a protective effect of perceived control over the future on college students’ PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a protective effect was intensified by empathy. Future intervention to manage PTSD symptoms should be tailored to positive future expectations and empathy.