Associations of the perceived benefits and harms of COVID-19 with confidence in coping with the pandemic and mental health symptoms: a population-based survey in Hong Kong

Mental health impacts of African swine fever outbreaks on veterinarians in the Philippines

Emergence of African swine fever (ASF) in the Philippines in 2019 caused substantial impacts on animal health and its pig industry. To control ASF, strict policies were applied including zoning and depopulation of infected herds. While ASF's severe impacts on pigs are well recognized, its potential impacts to public health are often overlooked. ASF is not a food safety concern and does not infect humans, but it has the potential to affect mental, emotional, and social well-being during emergency response. Veterinarians may be particularly at risk due to their role in depopulation of pigs and other distressing tasks. The objective here was to assess the effects of the ASF outbreaks on Filipino veterinarians' mental and social well-being. A questionnaire was created and anonymously administered to 13 Filipino veterinarians attending a training workshop in December 2023. All participants had experience responding to the ASF outbreaks. Then, the summary responses were discussed with the entire group, allowing for clarification and verification. Two-by-two contingency tables and Fisher's exact test were used to explore associations between responses. The top five negative signs reported by >50% participants were "reduced energy," "reduced sleep," "new feelings of hopelessness or sadness," "new feelings of anger or frustration," and "reduced enjoyment of life." Some veterinarians also reported negative social interactions such as antagonism and blame toward public veterinarians. These results highlight the often-overlooked impacts of ASF on mental and social well-being and indicate the need for mental health support for veterinarians as part of comprehensive ASF mitigation efforts.

Relationship between benefit finding and volunteer motivation among nursing students: The mediating role of perceived social support

BACKGROUND

Volunteer motivation is essential to advancing community service, education, and career development of nursing students. However, few studies have been conducted on nursing students' volunteer motivation.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the relationship between social support benefit finding and volunteer motivation among nursing students and the role of social support in these relationships.

METHOD

This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. A total of 2166 nursing students were recruited from eighteen medical schools in Henan Province, China. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Social Support Scale, the Benefit Finding Scale, and the Volunteer Motivation Scale online between March and May 2022. Correlation and mediation analyses were used to explore the mediating role of social support in the relationships among social support, benefit finding, and volunteer motivation.

RESULTS

A total of 2166 valid questionnaires were collected in this study. Benefit finding positively affected volunteer motivation (β = 0.422, p < 0.01), and perceived social support positively affected volunteer motivation (β = 0.407, p < 0.01). Perceived social support played a mediating role between benefit finding and volunteer motivation (β = 0.112, 95 % confidence interval 0.076, 0.148).

CONCLUSIONS

The study provides evidence on the mechanisms of action between benefit finding and volunteer motivation among nursing students. Professionals in schools and voluntary organizations should prioritize guiding nursing students to explore the motivations behind volunteering while also fostering a supportive environment for student volunteers in nursing.