Mediation by coping style in the association between stressful life events and depressive symptoms in young adults

A multisystem model for understanding stress and adaptation in ethnically and racially diverse youth

Contemporary biological and contextually based theoretical frameworks have conceptualized how stress exposure may influence adaptation in youth. However, nearly all of this scholarship neglects the role of specific contextual features and/or biological processes that are involved in ethnic-racial minority youth's responses and adaptation to sociocultural stressors. Drawing on the theoretical principles of the developmental psychopathology framework and contemporary models of stress and adaptation, this article proposes a new multisystem model that explains how multiple levels and systems within and outside of individual youth influence their sociocultural adaptation. We provide empirical evidence to support components of this multisystem model. We propose that research based on our new theoretical framework will capture the sociocultural experiences of ethnic-racial minority youth by centering processes that are relevant to their lived experiences, coping, and adjustment. In doing so, this model will inform psychosocial interventions focused on promoting healthy adaptation among ethnic and racial diverse youth. Finally, we offer recommendations to guide future research on stress and adaptation among ethnic and racial diverse youth, in particular, and developmental psychopathology more broadly.

Influence of childhood trauma on adolescent internet addiction: The mediating roles of loneliness and negative coping styles

BACKGROUND

In the information age, the use of the internet and multimedia tools has large effects on the life of middle school students. Improper use of the internet may result in internet addiction (IA). Thus, actively exploring the factors influencing adolescent and the mechanism of addiction as well as promoting adolescent physical and mental health and academic development are priorities that families, schools, and society urgently need to address.

AIM

To explore the effect of childhood trauma on adolescent IA and to consider the roles of loneliness and negative coping styles.

METHODS

A total of 11310 students from six junior high schools in Henan, China, completed the child trauma questionnaire, IA test, loneliness scale, and simple coping style questionnaire. In addition, data were collected from 1044 adolescents with childhood trauma for analysis with IBM SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 28.0; we examined the relationships among childhood trauma, IA, loneliness, and negative coping styles.

RESULTS

We found that childhood trauma not only directly affected adolescents' IA but also affected IA through loneliness and negative coping styles.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, this study has theoretical implications regarding adolescent mental health and may inform interventions for IA.

Surviving the shift: College student satisfaction with emergency online learning during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic disrupted education systems by forcing systems to shift to emergency online leaning. Online learning satisfaction affects academic achievement. Many factors affect online learning satisfaction. However there is little study focused on personal characteristics, mental status, and coping style when college students participated in emergency online courses.

AIM

To assess factors related to satisfaction with emergency online learning among college students in Hebei province during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1600 college students. The collected information included demographics, psychological aspects of emergent public health events, and coping style. Single factor, correlation, and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify factors that affected online learning satisfaction.

RESULTS

Descriptive findings indicated that 62.9% (994/1580) of students were satisfied with online learning. Factors that had significant positive effects on online learning satisfaction were online learning at scheduled times, strong exercise intensity, good health, regular schedule, focusing on the epidemic less than one hour a day, and maintaining emotional stability. Positive coping styles were protective factors of online learning satisfaction. Risk factors for poor satisfaction were depression, neurasthenia, and negative coping style.

CONCLUSION

College students with different personal characteristics, mental status, and coping style exhibited different degrees of online learning satisfaction. Our findings provide reference for educators, psychologists, and school administrators to conduct health education intervention of college students during emergency online learning.

The mediating effect of distress tolerance on the relationship between stressful life events and suicide risk in patients with major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

Despite widespread acknowledgment of the impact of stressful life events on suicide risk, the understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between stressful life events and suicide risk in major depressive disorder (MDD) remain unclear. This study aim to examine whether the distress tolerance mediates the relationship between the stressful life events and suicide risk in patients with MDD.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out among 125 Chinese patients with MDD, mean age was 27.05 (SD=0.68) and 68.8% were females. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating scale (HAMD-17), the validated Chinese version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) suicide module, Life Events Scale (LES) and Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) were utilized to evaluate depressive symptoms, stressful life events, levels of distress tolerance, and suicide risk, respectively. Mediation analyses was used to test the mediation effect of distress tolerance on the relationship between stressful life events and suicide risk.

RESULTS

The ratio of suicide risk in patients with MDD was 75.2%. Pearson correlation analysis showed that stressful life events were positively correlated with suicide risk(r=0.182, p<0.05). Stressful life events(r=-0.323, p<0.01) and suicide risk(r=-0.354, p<0.01) were negatively correlated with distress tolerance. Mediation analyses showed that the direct path from stressful life events to suicide risk was not significant (B= 0.012, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.017, 0.042]). Stressful life events affected suicide risk indirectly through distress tolerance (B= 0.018, 95% CI [0.007, 0.031]), and the mediating effect accounted for 60.0% of the total effect.

CONCLUSION

Distress tolerance completely played a mediating role between stressful life events and suicide risk. Further suicide prevention and intervention strategies should focus on increasing levels of distress tolerance in patients with MDD.

Mental Health of Students at Polish Universities after Two Years of the Outbreak of COVID-19

BACKGROUND

Mental health deterioration in young adults in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic is being increasingly studied. It is clear that the psychological consequences of the pandemic will be evident for many years, especially among the younger generation, who did not have time to acquire adaptive coping strategies before the outbreak of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to assess the condition of the mental health of students at Polish universities after two years of the pandemic. The types of coping strategies used by the respondents to deal with stress were also evaluated in order to establish which of them could have a beneficial effect on the psyche of young people.

METHODS

This study included 721 participants (age [years]: M = 25.7, SD = 5.3; 269 (37.2%) males) recruited using snowball sampling from students at two universities in Lodz, Poland, and full-time doctoral students from across Poland (phase I of the study was conducted in March 2019 (N = 352); phase II of the study was conducted in April 2022 (N = 369)). The following tools were used in this study: The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) by D. Goldberg, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the Inventory for Measuring Coping with Stress (Mini-COPE) by Carver et al. Pearson's chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The results detailing the condition of the mental health of the subjects, as measured using GHQ-28, were significantly worse in the group surveyed after two years of the pandemic than the results of the survey conducted in March 2019 (adjusted odds ratio for GHQ-28 ≥ 5: 3.66, 95%CI 2.12-6.30, p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were seen for each of the subscales of the GHQ-28 questionnaire. Most often, the subjects complained of anxiety symptoms and sleep disorders, in addition to somatic symptoms. The risk factors for worsening mental health included female (odds ratio 1.70, 95%CI 1.20-2.40, p = 0.003) and professional inactivity (odds ratio 1.55, 95%CI 1.04-2.31, p = 0.031). On the other hand, the ages of the people surveyed, their relationship status, whether they had children, or the type of university they attended all proved to be insignificant. The following coping strategies had a positive impact on the mental health of the respondents: positive reframing (Z = -2.951; p = 0.003) and seeking emotional support (Z = -2.351; p = 0.019). In contrast, strategies such as self-distraction (Z = 2.785; p = 0.005), denial (Z = 2.948; p = 0.003), venting (Z = 2.337; p = 0.019), self-blame (Z = 5.511; p < 0.001) and behavioral disengagement (Z = 4.004; p < 0.001) were associated with poorer mental health among the respondents.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Of the students surveyed, 33% reported elevated stress levels after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2. The overall mental health of students at Polish universities, as measured by GHQ-28, was significantly worse in the group evaluated after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly in respect of anxiety symptoms and sleep disorders. 3. Female gender and professional inactivity appeared to be risk factors for the students' worsening mental health, which may be an indication of the need for further research and planning of psychotherapeutic interventions.

Stress, coping, and quality of life in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

While research has widely explored stress, coping, and quality of life (QOL) individually and the potential links between them, a critical dearth exists in the literature regarding these constructs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study aims to identify the salient stressors experienced, describe the coping strategies used, and examine the relationships between stressors, coping, and QOL among individuals during the pandemic. Data are from a sample of 1,004 respondents who completed an online survey. Key measures included stressful life events (SLEs), coping strategies, and the physical and psychological health domains of QOL. Staged multivariate linear regression analyses examined the relationships between SLEs and the two QOL domains, controlling for sociodemographic and pre-existing health conditions and testing for the effects of coping strategies on these relationships. The most common SLEs experienced during the pandemic were a decrease in financial status, personal injury or illness, and change in living conditions. Problem-focused coping (β = 0.42, σ = 0.13, p < 0.001 for physical QOL; β = 0.57, σ = 0.12, p < 0.001 for psychological QOL) and emotion-focused coping (β = 0.86, σ = 0.13, p < 0.001 for psychological QOL) were significantly related to higher levels of QOL, whereas avoidant coping (β = -0.93, σ = 0.13, p < 0.001 for physical QOL; β = -1.33, σ = 0.12, p < 0.001 for psychological QOL) was associated with lower QOL. Avoidant coping partially mediated the relationships between experiencing SLEs and lower physical and psychological QOL. Our study informs clinical interventions to help individuals adopt healthy behaviors to effectively manage stressors, especially large-scale, stressful events like the pandemic. Our findings also call for public health and clinical interventions to address the long-term impacts of the most prevalent stressors experienced during the pandemic among vulnerable groups.

A systematic review of coping skill interventions to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms among adults with hematologic malignancies

BACKGROUND

Patients with hematologic malignancies experience anxiety and depressive symptoms from diagnosis through survivorship. The aim of this systematic review is to determine if coping skill interventions can reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms for persons with hematologic cancer.

METHODS

Databases including PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, APA PyschInfo, Scopus, and Cochrane were searched in June of 2021 for coping skill interventional studies with adult patients with hematologic cancer and outcomes of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Search terms, definitions, and inclusion/exclusion criteria were guided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, and quality appraisal utilized the Johns Hopkins Evidence Based Practice Appraisal tool. The study was registered in PROSPERO under "CRD42021262967."

RESULTS

Eleven studies met inclusion criteria with ten studies evaluating anxiety symptoms and nine studies evaluating depressive symptoms. Of ten studies with 449 participants evaluating anxiety, five studies showed significant reduction (p < 0.05), three found small to moderate effect size reductions not reaching statistical significance (p > 0.05), and only two showed no reduction in anxiety symptoms. Of nine studies with 429 participants evaluating depressive symptoms, three had significant reductions (p < 0.05), three reported small to moderate effect size reductions not reaching statistical significance (p > 0.05), and three found no effect on depressive symptoms. Coping interventions that were problem-focused as opposed to emotion-focused were most effective for both anxiety and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review finds evidence that problem-focused coping interventions reduce anxiety symptoms among patients with hematologic malignancies, with mixed evidence for reduction of depressive symptoms. Nurses and other clinicians caring for patients with hematologic cancers may employ coping skill interventions as a potential way to mitigate anxiety and depressive symptoms.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION ID

CRD42021262967.