The Covid-19 Outbreak: The Latest Challenge to Psychological and Psychiatric Intervention

Navigating the "Mental Health Crisis" in Adolescents in the Aftermath of Covid-19 Pandemic: Experience and Insights from Frontline Psychiatric Service

The COVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on adolescent mental health, with a dramatic rise in psychiatric emergencies that has challenged healthcare systems worldwide. This paper aims at focusing on reporting the authors' experience and their data collected on adolescent emergencies in 2022 in Tuscan, within the context of the "Azienda USL Toscana Nord Ovest", a large department covering about a third of Tuscany's Regional Health Service, in central Italy. The collected findings will be shortly presented and commented on, while providing insights concerning the importance of adapting healthcare systems to adequately respond to this growing crisis and the need for broader strategies to support adolescent mental health in these challenging times.

Nonlinear effects of pandemic uncertainty on depression, pandemic preventive behavior intentions, and positive life attitudes: Moderating effects of high and low uncertainty grouping

Backgrounds

COVID-19 is difficult to end in a short time and people are still facing huge uncertainties. Since people's lives are gradually returning to normal, the sense of control and intolerance of uncertainty, which were mainly focused by past studies, are not specific to COVID-19 and will be more influenced by some factors unrelated to the pandemic. Therefore, they may be difficult to accurately reflect the individuals' perceptions of uncertainty. Besides, past research just after the outbreak mainly investigated people in high levels of uncertainty, we don't know the impact of uncertainties on individuals' psychological states when people gradually recovered their sense of control. To solve these problems, we proposed the concept of "pandemic uncertainty" and investigated its impact on people's daily lives.

Methods

During October 20, 2021 to October 22, 2021, this study obtained data about uncertainty, depression, positive attitude, pandemic preventive behavior intentions, personality, and social support from 530 subjects using convenient sampling. The subjects were all college students from the Dalian University of Technology and Dalian Vocational and Technical College. According to the distribution of uncertainty, we divided the dataset into high and low groups. Subsequently, by using uncertainty as the independent variable, the grouping variable as the moderating variable, and other variables as the control variables, the moderating effects were analyzed for depression, positive attitude, and pandemic preventive behavior intentions, respectively.

Results

The results showed that the grouping variable significantly moderate the influence of uncertainty on positive attitude and pandemic preventive behavior intentions but had no significant effect on depression. Simple slope analysis revealed that high grouping uncertainty significantly and positively predicted positive attitude and pandemic preventive behavior intentions, while low grouping effects were not significant.

Conclusion

These results reveal a nonlinear effect of pandemic uncertainty on the pandemic preventive behavior intentions and positive life attitudes and enlighten us about the nonlinear relationship of psychological characteristics during a pandemic.

Second Line Volunteering in Lombardy Covid-19 Emergency as a Perspective on Medical Education and Psychological Distress

OBJECTIVE

Healthcare personnel across Italy were called to arms during COVID-19 emergency beginning March 2020. Despite their medical training, not all of them were able to fight in first line. Volunteering for COVID-19 Lombardy ICU Network Coordination Centre (C19-LINCC) was an opportunity to volunteer without being under biological threat: a smart-working in direct phone contact with the ICUs. Our aim was to investigate if second line volunteering during the COVID-19 outbreak had an impact on stress levels and whether medical training could mitigate them, along with personality factors, namely psychological flexibility.

METHOD

Volunteers of the C19-LINCC self-rated their own medical education related to SARS-CoV-2 and psychological response to the emergency. The questionnaire included five psychological scales (PSS, IES, MBI, AAQ-II, GHQ-12) addressing burnout, stress, general health, attention, cognitive fusion, and psychological flexibility.

RESULTS

Psychological distress (GHQ p≤0,0001) and perception of personal achievement (MBI_p≤0,0001) change whether the subject is a volunteer or not, while perception of medical education does not have a significant impact between the two groups. No differences were found in acceptance, mindfulness, and psychological flexibility skills, however they inversely correlated with stress, burnout, and anxiety levels.

CONCLUSIONS

During this period of mandatory lockdown, trained and in-training doctors showed to benefit from this smart home-based volunteering in the C19-LINCC. In addition to volunteering, psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and acceptance skills can act as protective factors. Potentially, these are soft skills that could be added to medical education.

Taylor L, Shevlin M, McHugh L, Carr A, Burke T. A remote self-directed psychological intervention for the public: The PAUSE programme protocol

Background: This protocol outlines procedures for the development and evaluation of a remotely accessible intervention tool known as the ‘Psychology And yoU: Self-Enhancement programme’ (i.e., PAUSE programme). The PAUSE programme aims to support and promote psychological well-being using positive psychological concepts and principles. The programme has been developed in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, where effective and evidence-based remote interventions are needed. The PAUSE programme will provide users with valuable tools and skills that they may choose to implement in their daily lives, in order to foster and support positive mental well-being. The programme includes six modules: Well-being and Happiness; Healthy Body and Mind; Being Grateful and Savouring Life; Thought and Action; Strengthening Relationships; and Overcoming Challenges. Methods: Participants will be recruited using media outlets, social media, and professional networking websites in Ireland. Those who choose to participate in this study will be asked to complete a set of measures at baseline, immediate follow-up, and six weeks post-intervention. This will allow for changes in subjective well-being scores to be analysed and interpreted over time. This study adopts a Groups x Time design, with participants being randomly assigned to either an intervention or wait-list control group. Ethical approval is currently under review at the host institution. Dissemination: The dissemination strategy will follow the Evidence-based model for the Transfer and Exchange of Research Knowledge (EMTReK) and study findings will be prepared in line with various formats (e.g. study newsletters, conferences/meetings) in order to meet the needs of different audiences. Targeted and timely dissemination activities are anticipated, and the team intends to disseminate research in an ongoing manner, throughout the lifetime of the project. Registration: This RCT protocol is pre-results and has been registered with an international database resulting in an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN14772616)

Maladaptive Daydreaming in an Adult Italian Population During the COVID-19 Lockdown

During the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals with or without mental disorders may resort to dysfunctional psychological strategies that could trigger or heighten their emotional distress. The current study aims to explore the links between maladaptive daydreaming (MD, i.e., a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment), psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, and negative stress, and COVID-19-related variables, such as changes in face-to-face and online relationships, during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 6,277 Italian adults completed an online survey, including socio-demographic variables, COVID-19 related information, the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 Items (DASS-21). Based on an empirically derived cut-off score, 1,082 participants (17.2%) were identified as probable maladaptive daydreamers (MDers). A binary logistic regression revealed that compared to controls, probable MDers reported that during the COVID-19 lockdown they experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression, decreased online social relationships, and, surprisingly, stable or increased face-to-face social relationships. Given the peculiar characteristics of the pandemic context, these findings suggest that the exposure to the risk of contagion had probably exacerbated the tendency of probable MDers to lock themselves inside their mental fantasy worlds, which in turn may have contributed to further estrangement from online social relationships and support, thus worsening their emotional distress.